Magistra et Mater

In response to: "Medieval attitudes and mental exercises" 2 days old
by ben3nevis ^Pro

Your essays, your own and those of your contributors, prompted me to re-read Juliet Gardiner’s article in ‘History Today’.

I can see that historical fiction raises problems for academic historians. I have a similar difficulty with television drama based on medical practice. However, I do accept that History and Medicine are b more…

In response to: "What can historical fiction do that history can’t?" 2 days old
by Theo [Visitor]

To answer the question posed at the start: maybe a successful novel would count as 'impact' under the new Research Excellence Framework? - http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/the_tls/article6915986.ece more…

In response to: "What can historical fiction do that history can’t?" 5 days old
by dr ngo [Visitor]

FWIW, I started reading this thread here but wound up posting my comment over at Bavardess's blog, since it followed on most immediately from her question about how much historians are taught how to write.

My (short) answer: quite a bit, but not necessarily in a way that makes history more like a novel. more…

In response to: "What can historical fiction do that history can’t?" 5 days old
by Jonathan Jarrett [Visitor]

One friend of mine wrote a thesis on ‘Magic and Impotence in the Middle Ages’, another on 'History and Coinage in Southumbrian England, c. 750-865’. Which one do you think is more likely to get a best-selling book out of their work, regardless of the merit of either work?

In response to: "What can historical fiction do that history can’t?" 5 days old
by Jonathan Jarrett [Visitor]

One friend of mine wrote a thesis on ‘Magic and Impotence in the Middle Ages’, another on 'History and Coinage in Southumbrian England, c. 750-865’. Which one do you think is more likely to get a best-selling book out of their work, regardless of the merit of either work?

In response to: "What can historical fiction do that history can’t?" 5 days old
by Bavardess [Visitor]

Yes, I’ve outed myself! Although as I said in my post, I see my fiction writing as purely recreational, and as a way to relax and escape the rules and conventions of academic and business writing (I’ve always made my living as a writer in some form or another). I also find it quite useful as a way to get myself ‘unstuck’ if I’m struggling with a pi more…

In response to: "Why I no longer read historical fiction" 8 days old
by Stephanie Draven [Visitor]

I think the mission of historians and the mission of historical novelists are only tangentially related. To some extent, I think the job of the historian is to tell what really happened. The job of the historical novelist is to make a reader care enough to find out what really happened.

There are always going to be errors--biographers more…

In response to: "Why I no longer read historical fiction" 9 days old
by katya maddison [Visitor]

i came across this interesting blog when working on the issue of dialogue in historical fiction as a general topic, with particular relevance to a novel i am attempting. I've been a reader of historical fiction for years, Eco, Graves and Maurice Druon being amongst my favourites because they made tricky history more accessible. Religion, politics e more…

In response to: "Interfaith dialogue for six year olds" 13 days old
by menhir [Member]

Children are full of cerebral and physical vitality. It is not easy to assess an individual child's total cognitive ability, perceptions and so on. As a mum you will have a fair idea of what works. I like your approach to our pluralistic society and its faiths.

When sprog was about 3 years old sprog noticed a little Downs girl in th more…

In response to: "Bloglite" 15 days old
by Gesta [Visitor]

Best of luck with the book, Magistra! more…

In response to: "Interfaith dialogue for six year olds" 16 days old
by dr ngo [Visitor]

My experience echos ChrisC's, largely. When I abandoned the church/faith my parents prayed for me, and after some awkward moments, we tried to avoid all related topics when we got together. But I (an avowed atheist) remained a loving and loved son of fundamentalist parents for many decades before their deaths. (45+ years later in the case of my more…

In response to: "Five year olds and gay marriage" 16 days old
by ChrisC [Visitor]

Hilarious ! But I agree with your final paragraph.

Let's hope the subject of the Sudanese gentleman who was recently married to a goat does not come up for a (long) while ! more…

In response to: "Interfaith dialogue for six year olds" 16 days old
by ChrisC [Visitor]

You said : "If my relationship with her is tightly bound up with my factual claim that Christianity is true, then if she rejects that claim, it is difficult for her to do so without rejecting me as well."

I disagree with that; it is not my experience.

I also was brought up in a 'Christian' household where questioning of more…

In response to: "Interfaith dialogue for six year olds" 16 days old
by Bavardess [Visitor]

It sounds like you are doing a great job - it can't be easy to explain something so complex and rich in language a six-year old can understand. I was raised in a very fire-and-brimstone Protestant household where you either conformed to the system or you were wrong, and that was very damaging to my relationship with my parents when I came to reject more…

In response to: "Louis the Pious’ parenting problems" 17 days old
by deleted user [Visitor]

Blogs are so informative where we get lots of information on any topic. Nice job keep it up!!
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Dissertation Help more…

In response to: "Bloglite" 28 days old
by menhir [Member]

Work well and wishing you a brilliant outcome.

I pleased Eric Hobsbawm is in your list of mentions, I think I still have a book of his floating about the domestic bookshelves. more…

In response to: "Bloglite" 28 days old
by Another Damned Medievalist [Visitor]

sad, yet it will give me time to catch up! good luck with the book! more…

In response to: "Medieval attitudes and mental exercises" 32 days old
by GazTHFC [Member]

I think the understanding and thinking of the medieval period along with the dark ages is perhaps the fastest moving and opion changing area of history.
I will perhaps have to return and reread this again and dig out some books at home.(just trying to remember the historical division between dark ages and medieval not that I really subscribe more…

In response to: "Louis the Pious’ parenting problems" 32 days old
by GazTHFC [Member]

Interesting and Poor Loius is one them characters that can provide plenty more interesting material to read on. more…

In response to: "Bloglite" 32 days old
by Bavardess [Visitor]

I like Hilary Mantel as a writer (though I haven't read Wolf Hall yet), but it is annoying in that Guardian piece that she sets up a sort of false opposition between historical novelists and historians. Especially since she seems to have only a rudimentary grasp of how history is practised these days. I hope all goes well with your manuscript. more…

In response to: "Can we believe Gregory of Tours about Obama?" 35 days old
by Balbulus [Visitor]

Einhard may have been propagandist, like all those writing in the early middle ages, but he was certainly not a 'standard historian' He knew that he was doing something original, he tells us so, and he did not think he was writing history. more…

In response to: "Louis the Pious’ parenting problems" 45 days old
by Cullen Chandler [Visitor]

Just a small thing:

Louis had to re-divide the empire in the 820s because a new son was born. Sure, he maybe could have expected the elder three to be displeased, but what else could he have done? And then he used re-re-dividing as a way to punish his sons for the rebellions they already had undertaken as the end result of earlier de more…

In response to: "Louis the Pious’ parenting problems" 46 days old
by technomist [Member]

Interesting piece. more…

In response to: "Can we believe Gregory of Tours about Obama?" 49 days old
by menhir [Member]

These discussions are wonderful; I view them as a member of an audience,in this instance an audience that will reflect lack of in-depth subject knowledge but, I do have some intellect to work out what is nonsensical. On the other hand, I also fear that there are others who will not use intellect, at whatever level, to assess the evidence, however more…

In response to: "Can we believe Gregory of Tours about Obama?" 55 days old
by Jonathan Jarrett [Visitor]

I think Gregory and Liutprand compare pretty well, though I've always figured Notker as more moralising, telling worthy stories to the young monks. The oddest thing about Notker is his number of comedy bishops, really. Of course, Gregory kind of has comedy barbarians. I don't know any of these authors as well as I should, of course, and the histori more…

In response to: "Can we believe Gregory of Tours about Obama?" 55 days old
by magistra [Member]

The issue of audience is certainly an important one, but I’m not sure it’s entirely about class/education. I think what we’re seeing increasingly in the US is what are sometimes called information bubbles, or what I’d call closed systems: people addressing an audience of ‘believers’ who don’t really hear dissenting voices. It’s not really propagand more…

In response to: "Can we believe Gregory of Tours about Obama?" 56 days old
by Jonathan Jarrett [Visitor]

There was something else I meant to work that into, which is an extension of the argument. There is a gap in the range of audiences, I think, between Birthers and the people who believe in death panels, and the audience of Gregory of Tours. Whatever else you may think of Martínez's analysis of the text, I thought his argument that the text is for a more…

In response to: "Can we believe Gregory of Tours about Obama?" 57 days old
by Jonathan Jarrett [Visitor]

This is interesting, as ever, and comes just at the right time for something I'm writing for eventual blogging too, so thankyou for that. As to the question, I don't claim to have an answer but I suppose that we have to think about audience. I agree with you that the audience is too often used as a kind of truth-governor and that it's very hard to more…

In response to: "Carolingian lordly women" 59 days old
by Bavardess [Visitor]

Magistra - it was actually the Caster Semenya story that was in the back of my mind when I was reading this post. It's an interesting question as to how much medical views of biological sex influenced the beliefs of the wider population (and also how far they reinforced or conflicted with theological ideas about gender and sex difference). For the more…

In response to: "Can we believe Gregory of Tours about Obama?" 59 days old
by Bavardess [Visitor]

Excellent post. You make a great point about the problmes involved in reading sources like Gregory as evidence for social history (especially in the early medieval period, where sources of all kinds are thin on the ground). more…