Sunday, January 17, 2010
Kalamazoo 2010 Program!!!
The International Medieval Congress at Kalamazoo, May 13-16, 2010, has been posted!! Let the good times roll...Ah, wine hours. I'm really looking forward to this one, and will probably be more than ready for a break at the end of the semester. See you there!
Web links for Medieval Studies
Well, it's taken me long enough, but I finally put my collection of medieval studies links and bookmarks in order, and they are now up on my webpage. Currently, they are just titles and links, although eventually I hope to get some annotations written as well. The links will naturally grow in number over time. So, there's one thing done...
In other news, here's a link to GameTrailers.com's brief notice of an up-coming video game on the crusades, entitled Lionheart: Kings' Crusade. Apparently this is a follow-up game to an earlier release entitled Crusaders: Thy Kingdom Come. A bit more info can be found here. Might be worth checking out. I'm of the opinion that academics should keep up on fields such as video games, since many of our students draw their initial knowledge from such things.
In other news, here's a link to GameTrailers.com's brief notice of an up-coming video game on the crusades, entitled Lionheart: Kings' Crusade. Apparently this is a follow-up game to an earlier release entitled Crusaders: Thy Kingdom Come. A bit more info can be found here. Might be worth checking out. I'm of the opinion that academics should keep up on fields such as video games, since many of our students draw their initial knowledge from such things.
Saturday, January 16, 2010
King John, the Dark Ages, oh my...
So, Bad King John's castle/palace at Kings Clipstone has been repaired...Good-o. Medieval News and Chad.co.uk have more details:
http://medievalnews.blogspot.com/2010/01/king-johns-palace-saved-from-collapse.html
http://www.chad.co.uk/sherwood/King-John39s-Palace-repair-scheme.5972642.jp
Here's an interesting, and fairly recent, article, by Rabbi Avi Shafran, critiquing aspects of the BBC's The Crescent and the Cross. In some respects he has a point, since casting the wars for control of Jerusalem in terms of "ownership" will strike modern ears with a very particular significance, and will only assist interested parties in highjacking the historical narrative for their own ends (yes, yes, I know, who doesn't do that, but that's not the point). The point is that by subtly portraying the Jewish presence in the Levant as fairly recent, the BBC is giving fodder to current political/moral debates.
On the other hand, to put the crusades in context, in 1095 any Jewish presence in and/or claims to the Holy Land were a non-factor. Neither the Frankish armies, nor the Byzantines, nor the Fatamids, nor the Seljuks gave much thought to the Jewish communities, unless it was to persecute them (the Franks, naturally, being the worst offenders here). Rabbi Shafran says, "And so, an ignorant but attentive student of the BBC will conclude from the network’s history lesson that Jerusalem is sacred to Christians and Muslims, and that adherents of the two faiths have fought over it for centuries" That "ignorant but attentive student" would be broadly correct in those conclusions. His next sentence, concerning the consequences of portraying the Jewish presence as a recent phenomenon, is more on point, but the fact of the matter is that, for both Gregory VIII and Saladin in 1188, the issues had nothing to do with the Jewish faith, since they would have agreed that Judaism had been superseded centuries earlier. The larger lesson here, I suppose, is that historians do not work in a vacuum, and, especially with a subject like the crusades, we need to consider the consequences of our words and works...
Now, HERE is the mother-load of badly written, pompous, slick, condescending, twisted, bulls*** attempts to write a "smart" bit of popular "history." So much wrong with Rob Kezelis' analysis here that I can hardly begin to analyze it. And I'm not talking about the modern political commentary, only the medieval "facts" he claims to be presenting. Worse than William Manchester's A World Lit Only By Fire, just when I thought that wasn't possible...And the absurdity of trying to use Charlemagne's situation as a historical comparison with President Obama should be patent to anyone who knows anything about medieval history. Ugh...well, I'll come back to this piece of nonsense later. (Pardon my anger, but this is really an affront to everything I believe is valuable, honorable, and worthy in the historical profession. I'll probably be told I'm over-reacting.)
And I wonder sometimes where my students get some of their ideas about the past...
http://medievalnews.blogspot.com/2010/01/king-johns-palace-saved-from-collapse.html
http://www.chad.co.uk/sherwood/King-John39s-Palace-repair-scheme.5972642.jp
Here's an interesting, and fairly recent, article, by Rabbi Avi Shafran, critiquing aspects of the BBC's The Crescent and the Cross. In some respects he has a point, since casting the wars for control of Jerusalem in terms of "ownership" will strike modern ears with a very particular significance, and will only assist interested parties in highjacking the historical narrative for their own ends (yes, yes, I know, who doesn't do that, but that's not the point). The point is that by subtly portraying the Jewish presence in the Levant as fairly recent, the BBC is giving fodder to current political/moral debates.
On the other hand, to put the crusades in context, in 1095 any Jewish presence in and/or claims to the Holy Land were a non-factor. Neither the Frankish armies, nor the Byzantines, nor the Fatamids, nor the Seljuks gave much thought to the Jewish communities, unless it was to persecute them (the Franks, naturally, being the worst offenders here). Rabbi Shafran says, "And so, an ignorant but attentive student of the BBC will conclude from the network’s history lesson that Jerusalem is sacred to Christians and Muslims, and that adherents of the two faiths have fought over it for centuries" That "ignorant but attentive student" would be broadly correct in those conclusions. His next sentence, concerning the consequences of portraying the Jewish presence as a recent phenomenon, is more on point, but the fact of the matter is that, for both Gregory VIII and Saladin in 1188, the issues had nothing to do with the Jewish faith, since they would have agreed that Judaism had been superseded centuries earlier. The larger lesson here, I suppose, is that historians do not work in a vacuum, and, especially with a subject like the crusades, we need to consider the consequences of our words and works...
Now, HERE is the mother-load of badly written, pompous, slick, condescending, twisted, bulls*** attempts to write a "smart" bit of popular "history." So much wrong with Rob Kezelis' analysis here that I can hardly begin to analyze it. And I'm not talking about the modern political commentary, only the medieval "facts" he claims to be presenting. Worse than William Manchester's A World Lit Only By Fire, just when I thought that wasn't possible...And the absurdity of trying to use Charlemagne's situation as a historical comparison with President Obama should be patent to anyone who knows anything about medieval history. Ugh...well, I'll come back to this piece of nonsense later. (Pardon my anger, but this is really an affront to everything I believe is valuable, honorable, and worthy in the historical profession. I'll probably be told I'm over-reacting.)
And I wonder sometimes where my students get some of their ideas about the past...
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Brief round-up of random medieval items...
Here's a few new stories that involve medieval figures in some way...Yes, yes, some of it's pretty random, but whatever. The Black Prince is the Black Prince is Edward of Woodstock...
Let's lead off with a great article from Telegraph, about why we're more interested in the Middle Ages than ever!!!
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/6952220/Why-were-in-the-grip-of-medieval-mania.html
Speaking of the Black Prince, apparently it was one of the early ironclads...
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/dec/31/new-era-dawns-in-naval-warfare/
The Bardi and Peruzzi put in historical economic meltdown perspective. There's nothing new under the sun.
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/finance/2009/1231/1224261470650.html
An interesting ramble from a chap who seems to conflate the Hundred Years' War with the Wars of Religion. And I wonder why my students seem to have trouble grasping the complexities of medieval society.
http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977991420&grpId=3659174697241980
A recent assessment of the war against fundamentalist terrorist activity somehow manages to mention Bosworth, Castillon, and the Hundred Years' War. Not too bad on the whole...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/jan/03/al-qaida-taliban-iran-afghanistan
Henry V (Shakespeare's version, anyway) becomes a model for CEO's and business strategists--you see, he "transformed his noisiest and most disruptive doubter into a vociferous supporter" [sic]. That's one way of looking at the St. Crispin's Day speech, I guess...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/08/AR2010010803780.html
And lastly, for now anyway, the reference in this short piece to poor farmers getting rich from aristocratic ransoms doesn't really have it right. YES, theoretically it was possible to have this kind of rags-to-riches story, and military indentures were careful to spell out procedures for prisoner ransoms, exchanges, and reimbursements. In practice archers, especially earlier levies raised by array, often didn't land the big prisoners, and if they did they would sometimes be obliged to surrender the prisoner, or sell him at a comparative loss to their captain (or sometimes, depending on the prisoner's status, the king). Not everyone was John Copeland at Neville's Cross, 1346. And receiving knighthood and some money often had problems of its own, since the new knight still didn't have the resources to support his position. Sooooo, relating "combat pay" to plunder and ransom is rather over-simplistic. Anyway...
http://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htmoral/articles/20091230.aspx
Ok, this last one was pushing relevancy limits, but whatever. Good night!
Let's lead off with a great article from Telegraph, about why we're more interested in the Middle Ages than ever!!!
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/6952220/Why-were-in-the-grip-of-medieval-mania.html
Speaking of the Black Prince, apparently it was one of the early ironclads...
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/dec/31/new-era-dawns-in-naval-warfare/
The Bardi and Peruzzi put in historical economic meltdown perspective. There's nothing new under the sun.
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/finance/2009/1231/1224261470650.html
An interesting ramble from a chap who seems to conflate the Hundred Years' War with the Wars of Religion. And I wonder why my students seem to have trouble grasping the complexities of medieval society.
http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977991420&grpId=3659174697241980
A recent assessment of the war against fundamentalist terrorist activity somehow manages to mention Bosworth, Castillon, and the Hundred Years' War. Not too bad on the whole...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/jan/03/al-qaida-taliban-iran-afghanistan
Henry V (Shakespeare's version, anyway) becomes a model for CEO's and business strategists--you see, he "transformed his noisiest and most disruptive doubter into a vociferous supporter" [sic]. That's one way of looking at the St. Crispin's Day speech, I guess...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/08/AR2010010803780.html
And lastly, for now anyway, the reference in this short piece to poor farmers getting rich from aristocratic ransoms doesn't really have it right. YES, theoretically it was possible to have this kind of rags-to-riches story, and military indentures were careful to spell out procedures for prisoner ransoms, exchanges, and reimbursements. In practice archers, especially earlier levies raised by array, often didn't land the big prisoners, and if they did they would sometimes be obliged to surrender the prisoner, or sell him at a comparative loss to their captain (or sometimes, depending on the prisoner's status, the king). Not everyone was John Copeland at Neville's Cross, 1346. And receiving knighthood and some money often had problems of its own, since the new knight still didn't have the resources to support his position. Sooooo, relating "combat pay" to plunder and ransom is rather over-simplistic. Anyway...
http://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htmoral/articles/20091230.aspx
Ok, this last one was pushing relevancy limits, but whatever. Good night!
Chinese 1602 world map
This just in from Medieval News:
http://medievalnews.blogspot.com/2010/01/rare-1602-world-map-first-map-in.html
Very interesting, and I'm always fascinated by just how accurately they could make maps in the days before satellite. And also, it's a reminder why the University of Minnesota enjoys the reputation it does.
It is cold as heck there, just so you know. Fantastic history department...
http://medievalnews.blogspot.com/2010/01/rare-1602-world-map-first-map-in.html
Very interesting, and I'm always fascinated by just how accurately they could make maps in the days before satellite. And also, it's a reminder why the University of Minnesota enjoys the reputation it does.
It is cold as heck there, just so you know. Fantastic history department...
Haiti and Bipolar disorder, really?
Here's a link from a short piece Dr. Grimsley posted on his blog a short while ago.
http://warhistorian.org/wordpress/?p=2184#more-2184
Interesting, but I'm not sure when being financially careful (a trait I don't seem to have, incidentally) suddenly became a symptom of bipolar disorder. Now, I fully intend to donate some part of my funds to Haitian relief, but anyone who's done something like that can tell you that not all charities and philanthropies are equal, not by a long shot. Ideally, you need to do a bit of background research on the group in question, because, especially with large ones, it is possible that few cents of your dollar actually make it to the front lines--that Red Cross scandal some years back is simply a case in point. Hopefully the situation is somewhat improved, since they are the donation link on the page.
Also, at times of crisis like this, there are any number of "charity" scams that suddenly sprout up and take advantage of people's generosity. CNET's article is helpful here: http://news.cnet.com/8301-13577_3-10434237-36.html. And here is the FBI bulletin, http://www.fbi.gov/pressrel/pressrel10/earthquake011310.htm. Hopefully these will be of some use...
So, I wouldn't be too hasty in attributing brief hesitation to a disorder. But that's just me. And incidentally, my total credit line is less than $20,000--comes with the grad student territory, I guess.
http://warhistorian.org/wordpress/?p=2184#more-2184
Interesting, but I'm not sure when being financially careful (a trait I don't seem to have, incidentally) suddenly became a symptom of bipolar disorder. Now, I fully intend to donate some part of my funds to Haitian relief, but anyone who's done something like that can tell you that not all charities and philanthropies are equal, not by a long shot. Ideally, you need to do a bit of background research on the group in question, because, especially with large ones, it is possible that few cents of your dollar actually make it to the front lines--that Red Cross scandal some years back is simply a case in point. Hopefully the situation is somewhat improved, since they are the donation link on the page.
Also, at times of crisis like this, there are any number of "charity" scams that suddenly sprout up and take advantage of people's generosity. CNET's article is helpful here: http://news.cnet.com/8301-13577_3-10434237-36.html. And here is the FBI bulletin, http://www.fbi.gov/pressrel/pressrel10/earthquake011310.htm. Hopefully these will be of some use...
So, I wouldn't be too hasty in attributing brief hesitation to a disorder. But that's just me. And incidentally, my total credit line is less than $20,000--comes with the grad student territory, I guess.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Program up for St. Louis crusades conference
Well, the program for the crusades conference has been posted. This looks very exciting--not quite as exciting as that conference over in Syria and Jordan recently, but close. I'm afraid nothing quite beats going to a conference session in the Krak de Chevaliers...
Here's the link to the program: http://crusades.slu.edu/symposium/schedule.htm
The annoying thing is that the sessions are concurrent, which will necessitate a bit of jumping around--I've learned that, at events like this, time is too precious to adhere to the normal dictates of politeness and attend an entire session just to hear one paper. The chance to hear my former advisor, Eva Haverkamp, give what will doubtless be another excellent presentation, is my main reason for going. However, the program looks very exciting in any case, and I've observed that conferences are, for my own part, extremely exciting and dynamic occasions...Among the papers I'm looking forward to hearing (barring the plenary sessions, which will happen as a matter of course):
"Turks on the Hills: The Seljuks of Asia Minor Fighting Crusaders and Byzantium"
Roman Shlyakhtin, Central European University
"The Rhetoric of Reconquest: Pope Urban II and the Populus Christianus"
Matthew Gabriele, Virginia Tech University
"What Pope Urban II Understood by Crusading"
Paul E. Chevedden, Ctr. for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, UCLA
"Rough Diplomacy in the Crusade of Henry VI"
Daniel Webb, Saint Louis University
"National Identity, Language, and Internal Conflict in the Armies of the First Crusade"
Alan V. Murray, University of Leeds
"'A Man Totally Devoted to War and to God': The Spiritualization of Godfrey of Bouillon, 1100-1145"
Simon John, Swansea University
"The Self under Siege: Ideas of Identity and the "Other" in the Era of the Crusades"
Mith Barnes, University of Louisville
"Gregory VII and the Idea of a Military-Religious Order"
Paul Crawford, California University of Pennsylvania
"Visionary Intellectual or Ordinary Knight? The Early Career of Philip of Mézières"
Anne Romine, Saint Louis University
"The Last Crusade in Medieval Spain: the War for Granada (1482-1492)"
Bárbara Boloix-Gallardo, Washington University
"Ecclesiastical Chivalry: A New Model of the Military Orders"
Sam Conedera, S.J., Fordham University
Can't wait...
Here's the link to the program: http://crusades.slu.edu/symposium/schedule.htm
The annoying thing is that the sessions are concurrent, which will necessitate a bit of jumping around--I've learned that, at events like this, time is too precious to adhere to the normal dictates of politeness and attend an entire session just to hear one paper. The chance to hear my former advisor, Eva Haverkamp, give what will doubtless be another excellent presentation, is my main reason for going. However, the program looks very exciting in any case, and I've observed that conferences are, for my own part, extremely exciting and dynamic occasions...Among the papers I'm looking forward to hearing (barring the plenary sessions, which will happen as a matter of course):
"Turks on the Hills: The Seljuks of Asia Minor Fighting Crusaders and Byzantium"
Roman Shlyakhtin, Central European University
"The Rhetoric of Reconquest: Pope Urban II and the Populus Christianus"
Matthew Gabriele, Virginia Tech University
"What Pope Urban II Understood by Crusading"
Paul E. Chevedden, Ctr. for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, UCLA
"Rough Diplomacy in the Crusade of Henry VI"
Daniel Webb, Saint Louis University
"National Identity, Language, and Internal Conflict in the Armies of the First Crusade"
Alan V. Murray, University of Leeds
"'A Man Totally Devoted to War and to God': The Spiritualization of Godfrey of Bouillon, 1100-1145"
Simon John, Swansea University
"The Self under Siege: Ideas of Identity and the "Other" in the Era of the Crusades"
Mith Barnes, University of Louisville
"Gregory VII and the Idea of a Military-Religious Order"
Paul Crawford, California University of Pennsylvania
"Visionary Intellectual or Ordinary Knight? The Early Career of Philip of Mézières"
Anne Romine, Saint Louis University
"The Last Crusade in Medieval Spain: the War for Granada (1482-1492)"
Bárbara Boloix-Gallardo, Washington University
"Ecclesiastical Chivalry: A New Model of the Military Orders"
Sam Conedera, S.J., Fordham University
Can't wait...
Sunday, January 10, 2010
La Chanson de Roland, 1978
Does anyone know where to find a copy of this film: La Chanson de Roland, 1978, dir. Frank Cassenti? I have been unable to turn up anything on Amazon.com, Ebay, or iOffer, to name a few websites.
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