Goodbye London

Well, it's the last evening here in London, and I must say that it's been quite a time. I don't really have time for a post, since it's getting late, I'm tired, and I have a bunch of odds and ends to piece together before leaving tomorrow morning.

I'll see what I can find by way of internet when I get to Avignon (God willing) tomorrow evening. Good night to you all!

Continuing from yesterday...

As I was saying yesterday, when time constraints forced me to post the post quickly, I regard the whole "Allen Affair" as a tempest within a teapot, which will mostly survive in the memories of those who were offended by her satirical prose. I must confess, I found the article quite amusing, if somewhat mean-spirited in parts--but then again, my fields of scholarly endeavor (military, crusades, 14th-century England, and Staufen Germany) were not included in the diatribe, so perhaps that's simply a laugh at other people's expense. Sorry (sort of...not really) about that. The way I see it, Allen simply took all the funny/ridiculous bits of Kalamazoo and put them all in one cauldron, which she then brought to a slow boil...Of course the final result will look distorted. Clothing sense? There's much to laugh at--I laugh at myself some times for the same reason. And anyone who can't chuckle at her description of the infamous dance needs to stop taking themselves so seriously, because others certainly will over time.

On the other hand, her mocking of poor medievalists stuck in small liberal arts colleges with no one to talk to but themselves struck me as rather a low blow. I would say that that is one of the advantages of Kalamazoo, and colleagues in that situation deserve a beer and our sympathy, not derision. Also, from the various vehement (and occasionally profane) discussions of her article on the blogs, one gets the impression that Allen didn't go to many of the sessions she critiques, since her factual details are incorrect. Papers she discusses were not actually given, quotes are taken out of context, and so on. Some folks who have done background research on her have discovered that her previous entries at the 'Zoo have mostly been Chaucer-related, so her 'Byzantine studies' label is something of a mystery.

Here is some of the most relevant blog coverage of this little thunderstorm:

Dr. Richard Nokes has some of the best entries at Unlocked Wordhoard: http://unlocked-wordhoard.blogspot.com/2008/05/dark-age-for-medievalists.html.
Gabriele's pointed question probably the best. It is a serious issue, that.
Nokes has also usefully provided a summary of other blog comment, at
http://unlocked-wordhoard.blogspot.com/2008/05/dark-age-for-medievalists-round-up.html.

Of course, Larry Swain's page, mentioned in my previous post.

Lisa Spangenberg also has an interesting page:
http://www.digitalmedievalist.com/news/2008/05/about-that-dark-age-for-medievalists.html.

And Melissa Snell, who blogs on/for About.com (never quite knew what to make of About, but their info is usually quite good...)
http://historymedren.about.com/b/2008/06/04/misrepresented-medievalists.htm.


As you will soon see by clicking on any of the above links, it's all pretty negative.

But, just to leave you with a positive, and perhaps a little perspective on this supposedly well-publicized put-down of our field, here's an email which I recently received from the ICM Leeds (edited for brevity): note the emboldened text. I guess that, despite articles such as Allen's, medieval studies aren't in such bad shape...Like I said, funny, more than anything else. To be continued...

Dear colleague,

Please find below the latest instalment of the Leeds International Medieval Congress
Newsletter. The newsletter will also be available online at
http://www.leeds.ac.uk/ims/imc/IMCNewsletter.pdf from 15 August. We hope through the
newsletter to keep in touch with IMC participants past and present, and to inform
them of forthcoming IMC events.

We would appreciate if you could print out this leaflet and display it in your
institution or department/school.

We aim to make this newsletter a regular occurrence - if you prefer not to receive
this newsletter in the future please let us know by return email. We always
appreciate your feedback, so do please feel free to suggest improvements to this
newsletter, and to let us know what you would like to see included in future issues.

With best wishes for the summer,

Axel E. W. Müller
Director, International Medieval Congress

1.1 Academic Programme
The IMC 2008 took place between 7-10 July at the University of Leeds, UK. 1464
medievalists attended, from 41 different countries, making this yet another
successful year.

The Congress continues to draw in international participants with 30% coming from
Europe (excl. UK) and over 12% from the US and Canada. This year also attracted a
wide number of delegates from as far afield as Australia, China and Israel. Some 325
sessions and roundtable discussions explored all aspects of the European Middle Ages,
with papers on subjects as diverse as 'Grenzen und Grenzmarkierung in den
mittelalterlichen Natur', 'Le souverain dans l'exégèse carolingienne', 'Medieval DNA:
On the Use of Molecular Genetic Methods for Exploring the Past', and 'Come la grazia
eccede l'agire etico e realizza la politica della convivenza civile e della
comunicazione'.

Press coverage of the IMC explored a number of topics arising out of sessions and
roundtables at the Congress. These were linked to the special thematic strand and
ongoing research as well as specific IMC events and resulted, amongst others, in
articles by the Guardian Online and local press, showing that medieval studies is
still generating interest from the general public.

Amongst many positive comments about the Congress, participants said that IMC 2008
was 'a smashingly good Congress' and that the 'plenaries were outstanding'. This
year's special thematic strand, Natural World, was particularly challenging and
generated both interest and enthusiasm, with more than 150 sessions presented under
the auspices of the strand, including keynote addresses by Oliver Rackham, (Corpus
Christi College, University of Cambridge) and Richard C. Hoffmann, (Department of
History, York University, Toronto, Ontario). The Natural World strand was
co-ordinated by Brigitte Resl, (School of History, University of Liverpool) and we
would like to take this opportunity to thank her for all her work this past year. The
strand opened up new avenues of interest in these subjects, and we hope all who
presented in or attended sessions on the Natural World found the experience a
positive one.


Section 2: Looking Ahead
2.1 IMC 2009: 13-16 July 2009
Paper proposals must be submitted by 31 August 2008, session and roundtable proposals
by 30 September 2008.
Plans for next year's Congress are well underway. As in previous years, papers and
sessions on all aspects of the study of the European Middle Ages are most welcome, in
any major European language.

A focus for 2009 will be the special thematic strand on 'Heresy and Orthodoxy'. The
full call for papers is available on our website at
http://www.leeds.ac.uk/ims/imc/imc2009_call.html

The Core Strands are:
* Anglo-Saxon Studies
* Archaeology
* Art and Architecture
* Byzantine Studies
* Celtic Studies
* Central and Eastern European Studies
* Church History and Canon Law
* Crusades and Latin East
* Culture and Society
* Daily Life
* Drama
* Gender Studies/Women's Studies
* Geography and Settlement Studies
* Government and Institutions
* Hagiography and Religious Writing
* Historiography (Medieval and Modern)
* Jewish Studies
* Language and Literature -Comparative
* Language and Literature -Germanic
* Language and Literature -Middle English
* Language and Literature -Romance Vernacular
* Late Antique and Early Medieval Studies
* Latin Writing
* Literacy and Communication
* Material Culture
* Medievalism and Reception of the Middle Ages
* Mediterranean and Islamic Studies
* Monasticism and Religious Life
* Music and Liturgy
* Philosophy and Political Thought
* Scandinavian Studies
* Science, Technology and Military History
* Social and Economic History
* Sources and Resources
* Theology and Bible Studies

We prefer proposals to be completed online - a quick, easy, and secure method. To
submit a proposal, go to http://imc.leeds.ac.uk/imcapp/

Remember to order your equipment for 2009 on your proposal form! Check
http://www.leeds.ac.uk/ims/imc/equipment.html for more details.


3.2 International Medieval Bibliography: Call for Contributors
The International Medieval Bibliography (IMB), based at Leeds since 1967, is a
multi-disciplinary database of Medieval Studies which helps underpin the work of the
IMC. Now, after the implementation of the IMBOnline, the bibliography is working to
greatly expand its coverage of publications. To this end, the editorial team is
looking for individuals or organisations to become contributors to join its existing
range of partners throughout the world. Contributors take responsibility for
identifying and cataloguing publications relating to specific subject or geographical
areas, and are rewarded with free subscriptions to IMB (online or print), other free
publications and other benefits. Contributors are sought who are based in the USA,
France, Germany, Italy, Sweden, Russia, Portugal, Israel, Lithuania, Greece, Cyprus,
Latvia, Romania, and the Arab world, particularly with interests in archaeology, art,
regional and local history, and vernacular languages. If you are interested in
becoming a contributor, cont
act the editor, Dr Alan V. Murray, at A.V.Murray@leeds.ac.uk.

Seven stories high...

That's how high London is: 7 stories. Occasionally 8. Anywho...Well, here I am, Saturday evening, a very hard week of studying under my belt, and a good meal (for once) in my belly, and it's time to think about the weekend. Yes, my weekend tends to be one day, and that's Sunday. I've never really had a problem with a six-day workweek, as long as I generally have the flexibility to use Saturday as I need to. I actually broke down and bought a filling meal of fish and chips...or more accurately, fish and french fries, with mushy peas and washed down with a cold beer. It was a fine change of pace from ice cream bars, Cadbury bars (nothing wrong with them, but...), cookies, pies, and water. So, now I can sit back, work on my conferencen proposal for Kalamazoo 2009, my lesson plans for my classes, and what will now be a much-improved conference paper for next week. Seriously, without these British libraries, I would have missed much. Just goes to show you, right when you think you know your subject, you really don't know it at all.

Apparently what the MGH has been turning to in recent years is commisioning scholars to prepare critical editions of medieval correspondence. So you have, for example, the Admonter Briefsammlung, of which I heard too late to make much of an impact on my second year paper in 2007. Browsing the IHR's very complete collection of the MGH today, I grasped by chance Die Juengere Hildesheim Briefsammlung, which is a fascinating collection of letters held by the chancery of the bishopric of Hildesheim. Most interesting of all, it has an entire series of correspondence around the years 1187-1189, when Barbarossa and Philip of Cologne were at loggerheads. There has apparently been a lot of controversy over the validity of these letters, which older historians dismissed as stylistic exercises of the chancery school (so-called Stiluebungen), or as too doctored to use. More recently, Ferdinand Opll has defended the validity of many of these letters, as has another chap, can't remember his name right now, Brent or Brendt, I think. This is a relief, since they should come in quite useful for this book chapter I'm finishing on Barbarossa's crusade preparations. And, giving the letters a quick look-through, I must say that they strongly support my interpretation of the months between Audita tremendi (Gregory VIII's crusade bull of 1187) and the departure of the imperial army from Regensburg in May, 1189. They fit with the rest of the evidence, and to my mind it points to a very serious political/military situation in northwest Germany during that time--far more serious than current historians like to admit. If you doubt me, you can read about it in a year or so...if they still want the chapter when I'm done with it (long-passed deadlines...).

Apparently some of the reservations about the collection center on the formulas for opening and closing letters, to which many in this collection do not strictly adhere. But, while we must be cautious, I think there is a great danger of becoming too dogmatic about what was, in the end, an undogmatic process, particularly in the case of letters which were not meant for public distribution. That may not have been many letters, as Giles Constable has discussed in an old French publication (can't remember the title right now), but there were still some which were meant as communications between person and person, and not person and community.

Well, enough of that. If you want to read further, and are fluent in German and Latin, the link is http://mdzx.bib-bvb.de/dmgh_new/. Click on ''Epistolae,' and then on 'Die Briefe der deutschen Kaiserseit.'

I have eight minutes left on my computer time, so let me toss out another bone on which folks can chew...Here's one to which I will return in the weeks to come.

A few weeks after Kalamazzo, this very provocative article was published in the Weekly Standard, called 'A Dark Age for Medievalists
At their annual congress in Kalamazoo, it's no longer your grandfather's Middle Ages,'
by one Charlotte Allen. .http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/015/146etleh.asp. The reaction this article has drawn from the medieval blogging world (such as it is) has been absolutely devastating, and (as I see it) out of proportion to its punch or predictable impact. This despite Larry Swain's passionate post at The Ruminate, http://theruminate.blogspot.com/2008/06/allen-furor.html.

Well, anyway...to be continued.

University of London

The Brits continue to impress with their courtesy and hospitality. I was welcomed as a visiting graduate student who needed to use the collections for a couple days, and received a visitor's permit without any problem. Also, between the Warburg Institute and the Institute for Historical Research, you should have all the medieval books you need. Toss in the Senate House Library and the University of London's main library, and you're all set. Capital, capital.

Also, the next time you plan a trip to London, you might not want to schedule it during the August Bank Holiday...Sigh.

Goodnight all.

More news from London

Well, this is definitely what blogs are for: to help folks back home keep up with you, and to vent your thoughts when you don't have anyone else to talk to....

Day 2 at the archives. I'm not sure that I really needed to spend an entire week here in London, since I'm not ready to actually start researching the dissertation, and I think I've done about all I can with the records for the time being. Of course, I still need to look into lodging and such for the spring. Also, tomorrow I think I'm going to avail myself, if possible, of the University of London's holdings. Mostly in connection with that conference next week...

I think that the only way to become familiar with the medieval records is, well, to become familiar with them. Like anything, you can't learn it overnight.

Now, I don't (yet) claim to be an expert, but I am becoming more than ever convinced that those who argue for a peaceful, law-abiding England under Edward III are creating castles out of air, for three reasons. First, volume of surviving petitions from all the counties; these are people who want royal intervention to end oppressions, felonies, etc. Second, the layers and layers of legal officials, not all of whom either a) heard the same cases, or b) were royal officials. This last has been pointed out by Charles Donahue, as an oft-overlooked category of English justice and administration. Third, and contrary to the views of G. L. Harriss and Christine Carpenter, it seems that violence was NOT the 'last resort' of the desperate, the losers, and the fringes of society (close paraphrase of a quote from Harriss), but was business-as-usual for a large portion of the landed and powerful in society. In petitions which I have read, both here at the archives and more extensively in the Patent Rolls, there is often no mention of previous litigation. Rather, it seems that a disagreement between individuals turned violent before the king's justice became involved or was asked to intervene...

Ok, time to go. More tomorrow.

Btw, I have the greatest respect for Harriss and Carpenter as scholars--this is simply a professional disagreement....

Yesterday Evening's Report from London

Excuse some of the prose: it was late, and I haven't had a chance to post it until now...

First Impressions…

Well, I’m in London now, and have already accumulated a number of observations and comments on the great metropolis…

1. I had to walk about five miles before I could find a shop which sold bath towels. Apparently they hide them in various places throughout the city, in anticipation of the arrival of students who forgot to bring their own towels to the hostel…
2. A haircut costs about $20. There goes the idea of getting a trim before the conference. Well, I’m not the only academic with long-ish hair.
3. A pack of cigarettes costs between $11 and $12. Wow.
4. Motorists have no hesitation in honking the horn at pedestrians (such as yours truly) who aren’t crossing fast enough, or who are crossing against the signal.
5. Far too many people have a strange fascination with the latest techno/disco type music videos. Not that I’m knocking that—some of that stuff is really good. But when that’s ALL you play/watch/listen to, I start wondering…
6. Clearing customs was 20 minutes waiting in line, 15 seconds for the chap to stamp my passport. Hardly gave me a second glance. “What’s the purpose of your visit?” “Research at the National Archives.” “Ok, have a great day.”
7. British people are, overall, the most polite folk I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting. Cheers!
8. I’m not sure what to make of British cities, on the whole. If you look for it, there is plenty of evidence of what the doom-sayers like to call the “decline of British civilization.” Whatever that means. Rows and rows of small shops that sell exotic fruits and vegetables, a 99-cent store, hearing less English and more foreign languages on the streets. Sure. Fine. I don’t really regard those as negative points, however. Ethnic diversity = good, as far as I’m concerned. But then, that’s probably the immigrant in me talking. Descending from that whole 1919-1920s wave, I’m less concerned with homogeneity than others. What impresses me, however, is the curious, cramped uniformity of English cityscapes. In the United States, I love passing old buildings, from say the 1890s or early 1900s, since they often look very picturesque, have a history, and look charming. London is full of such houses, but they lack the full charm. Rows upon rows of apartment houses, curiously uniform in look, dimensions, smut in all the same places, whitewash ditto, and simply no space. Perhaps that’s it. The slightly smaller scale of everything here. All those jokes about Americans and size come to mind, but I can’t help it. There is a curiously depressed air to many buildings, even the ones which are in good repair. It’s as if the buildings themselves realized that there is no more room, and they’ve shrunk in on themselves, receding into a certain Dickensian retrospective…

Ok, that was overwrought.

9. The National Archives are excellent. A much more pleasant experience than the U.S. archives at College Park. At the latter, you can’t bring in anything not directly associated with your work. In the PRO, you can bring in walkmans, iPods, and such, as long as they don’t disturb other people. Quite the festive atmosphere, almost. Everyone is simply bustling and pleasant, very helpful, and busy. Like a beehive.
10. So, my advisor once spoke to us about one’s first time at the PRO (this is now the National Archives, but as a medievalist I really have to keep calling it the PRO whenever I can. Public Records Office, for those of you who are brand new to the field. Which won’t be many of you). And he was right. The exhilaration as the librarian hands you your first stack of documents. Here it is! Real parchment. Faded writing from almost 800 years ago. The odd imperfection in the parchment. The thrill, as Trevelyan wrote, in realizing that someone sat at a desk and wrote what you are holding now. This sort of imagined connection between you and the dead across time, that they would help you if they could, but since they can’t cross the gulf they just watch in frustrated amusement as you make the most elementary (and probably incorrect) observations about their lives.
11. Some remarks about working at the PRO…
1. Remember to bring evidence of your current address!!!! Without it, you can’t get a reader’s card. I happened, by the purest happenstance, to have brought a letter from the IRS which, happening upon me just before I left the US, I did take. Old, but still valid, address was inscribed thereon. I am more than ever convinced that there is a divine power in the universe. Mock as you please.
2. Paleography, paleography, paleography. Don’t put it off, as I have. Without it, you will get nowhere. I remember enough to make out some words, but Kaeuper’s stories about thinking you know the material until you come face to face with a document are vividly proved correct. Note to self…
3. The situation is complicated by the often poor and faded condition of the documents you are so anxiously seeking. An interesting indictment is completely faded at the beginning and illegible at the bottom of the parchment. The writing is standard, nicely spaced, and then suddenly some new hand, writing very cramped, ovular prose.
4. Something I discovered by accident: if your parchment is faded on front, flip it over, and think about transcribing it from the back. Backwards. Sheer genius, or not. Haven’t tried it myself. Yet. Often, the ink bled into the skin, so that it has lasted much longer on the back than the front…Not sure why that is.
5. Digital Camera. ’nough said.
6. You can order 3 documents at a time, and a max of 21 in a day. I figure that, with a moderate pace, I should be able, in the spring, to get through between 7 and 14 a day. Probably optimistic. At first I thought, “21? What’s with that arbitrary number?” But they know what they’re doing.
12. Well, that’s it for today. What to do now…work on tomorrow’s plan for the PRO, work on the conference paper, go to bed. Bed. Sounds good. Several days of little and bad sleep will wear down even the strongest person. Someone switched the channel, and now we’re watching X Men 2. Good grief.

time to get more contentious...

Well, it's been dawning on me for some time that I'm going to have to start posting more opinion-type things on this here blog space, since there are only so many links in the world. And besides, after seeing some of the other medievalist blogs, I think a rather different perspective (not necessarily well-balanced, mind you!) may be useful...So, if anyone's reading this, get ready for some bones on which to chew...