Procopius’ indictment of ‘outlandish theories of natural science’

"During those times there was a plague that came close to wiping out the whole of mankind. Now for all the calamities that fall upon us from the heavens it might be possible for some bold man to venture a theory regarding their causes, like many marvelous theories about the causes that the experts in...

St Michael, the Plague, and Castel Sant’ Angelo

Gregory the Great's vision of St Michael is one of the best known and most charming legends of the first plague pandemic. Gregory was elected Pope after the death of his predecessor from the plague in the 590s. In an effort to plead with God for an end of the plague, the new Pope Gregory...

Heavenfield, Hefenfeld, and Caelestis Campus

Not the cross at Heavenfield! A little while ago Tim Clarkson of Senchus brought an Andrew Breeze paper  about the history and derivation of the name Hefenfeld*, the Old English version of Heavenfield, to my attention. Its taken me a while to get to it but here is what I think. It is clear to...

Heavenfield Round-up 1: Long Live the King (in the Blogosphere)

I tried for a while to do round-ups on my history of medicine blog that included medieval links, but I'm back to thinking that they need to be separate. Putting King Arthur and Norwalk Virus in the same round-up just seems wrong. Not all of my readers have as diverse taste in blogs as I...

A Hoard of Gold Scrap

The Staffordshire Hoard is easily the biggest Anglo-Saxon news of the last two years, if not decade. Not only spectacular bling, but also intriguing mystery. National Geographic recently aired two documentaries on the hoard of which "Secrets of the Lost Gold" (Nat. Geo., Nov. 2011) was the most interesting because they reveal some of the...

Benedict Biscop

I've gained a new appreciation for Benedict Biscop this week after rereading the History of the Abbots and the Life of Ceolfrith, along with Ian Woods' contribution to the new Cambridge Companion to Bede. What follows is a little musing on Biscop and questions his life open up. I used to think of Biscop as...