Medieval News

This past week's news:

Possible Viking Ship found in Ireland:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070126/sc_afp/irelandhistoryvikings_070126222912

Mitteldeutscher Archäologiepreis:
http://www.archaeologie-online.de/magazin/news/detail.php?n=779

A little early, but interesting: Normandy grave hints at 300-year
defiance of the Roman Empire,
http://news.independent.co.uk/europe/article2190045.ece

Hunting for Hadrian Along the Wall:
http://www.newsandstar.co.uk/news/viewarticle.aspx?id=458908

Cowdray Manor:
http://www.chichestertoday.co.uk/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=452&ArticleID=1991556

Lost Treasure of Maxentius:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0%2C%2C13509-2575075%2C00.html

SHARP: Sedgeford Historical and Archaeological Research Project has some
Medieval Era finds etc. http://www.sharp.org.uk/

Medieval Africa:
http://historymedren.about.com/od/africanplaces/a/splendorafrica.htm

Medieval Boat in Israel: http://historymedren.about.com/b/a/257881.htm



The Past Week in Medieval History:

Jan. 26:

Saints:
166 St. Polycarp
404 St. Paula
684 St. Conan

Death:
724 Caliph Yazid II (of grief over the death of his favorite singing girl)
1100 St. Eystein of Norway 1
1108 St. Alberic (Aubrey)

Events:
1266 Charles of Anjou becomes King of Sicily
1316 Revolt in Wales by Llywelyn Bren
1316 ARDSCULL (Edward Bruce and Irish fight English)
1347 University of Prague authorized by the Pope


Jan 27:

Death
844 Pope Gregory IV
847 Pope Sergius II
1039 Robert Burton

Events:
1166 Marriage of Prince Henry of Germany to Constance of Sicily
1186 Fredrick Barbarossa crowned ruler of Burgundy
1302 Black faction in Florence sentences its opponents (including
Dante) to exile or death
1302 Dante expelled from Florence


Jan. 28:

Birthday:
1457 Henry VII (Tudor) of England

Death:
814 Charlemagne; Louis "the Pious" inherits Frankish Empire
1232 Pedro de Montaigu, 15th Master of the Templars
1256 St. Peter Nolesco

Events:
893 Coronation of Charles III, "the Simple" as King of France
1077 King Henry IV submits to the Pope at Canossa
1256 William, King of the Romans, was killed
1393 "Bal des Ardents;" Death of the Count de Joigny, Yvain de Foix,
Aimery Poitiers, and Huguet de Guisay

Jan. 29:

Deaths:
591 St. Sulpicius
1118 Pope Paschal II
1119 Pope Gelasius II

Events:
904 Sergius III crowned pope - beginning of the "Pornocracy"
1327 Coronation of Edward III of England

Jan. 30:

Saints:
Holiday of Three Hierachs (Eastern Orthodox)
http://www.goarch.org/en/chapel/saints.asp?contentid=408

Death:
680 St. Bathild, Queen to Clovis II of France

Events:
435 Rome made peace with the Vandals, ending the "Fall" (some say that
this is the beginning of the Middle Ages)
1118 Election of Gelasius I as Pope
1328 King Edward III of England re-marries Phillippa of Hainaut
1349 Election of Guanther of Schwarzberg as King of Germany
1380 St. Catherine of Siena suffers a stroke
1487 Bell chimes invented

Jan. 31:

Death:
410 St. Marcella
626 St. Aidan (Madoc) of Ferns

Events:
314 St. Sylvester becomes Pope
1298 Peace of Tournai
1405 Jean de Bethencourt goes to France to obtain materials to
establish a colony on the Canary Islands


Feb. 1:

Death:
523 St. Bridgid
1328 Charles IV, "the Fair," King of France

Events:
Candlemas Eve
772 Election of Adrian I as Pope
1327 Coronation of Edward III as King of England
1411 First Peace of Thorn


Words of the Week:

quotidian--a terrific word, borrowed from French, cotidien, from Latin
quotidianus, from Latin adv. quotidie....daily, every daily, the every
day. Interesting word, comes into English in the 14th century and is
first used by Richard Rolle, soon to be followed by Wycliffe and Gower a
half century later or so. But it does rather roll off the tongue.

creel--a fifteenth century word in English whose roots are unknown.
OIrish had criol, a chest, and since this is a Scottish and Northern
word, this might be the source of the English word, but the vowels are
difficult to explain (going from OI to ME). Likewise Old French had
greille, from Latin craticula, hurdle work, which some think may have
had a variant *creille. Its a largem deep wicker basket in English used
to transport goods, now used chiefly of fishermen's creels for keeping fish.

guile-- guile is an intereseting word indeed. It first shows up in
English the early 13th century, c. 1225. But its etymology and spelling
are uncertain. It is related to "wile" as in "wiley". But Old
English/Middle English "wil" doesn't show up in the language until 1154
for an entry in the Parker Chronicle. Further, it seems to show up in
places of Scandinavian influence, and so may be a borrowing of Old Norse
vel, an artifice, a craft. It is unlikly though that the ON form gave
immediate rise to "guile". The "guile" form does appear in OF, and may
come into OF from ON, or may result from Frankonian. *wigila related to
Old Frisian wigila, a trick, sorcery, witchcraft. Things etymologically
are further confused by the trying to figure out the precise
relationship between OE/ME wil, and Old English wiglian, to practice
divination or sorcery, wiglere, a sorcerer, and wiglung, sorcery,
divination. That they stem in some way from the same roots is true.
Ah, confusion on multiple levels, gotta love it.

cudgel--as confusing and uncertain as guile/wile/wiel (descendant of
wiglian) are, a far more simple word etymologically speaking is our cudgel. It is used in the Old English period and then as now is a short, thick stick used as a weapon, a small club. It probably comes from a Proto-Germanic *kuggilo, possibly from a PIE root *geu- to bend or curve. What makes it interesting and worth mentioning here is that it is not known in cognate languages.


Upcoming Medieval Television:

Sat. Feb. 3, Castles and Dungeons, History International

Mon. Feb. 5, Conquest, a look at Chivalry

Wed. Feb. 11 Meet the Ancestors looks at a site below Bamburgh Castle

Thur. Feb. 8, Line of Fire, a look at the Battle of Agincourt and Henry V

Thu Feb 8, 2 parts of a 3 part series on the program Ancient Almanac looks at the Normans

Random Site of the Week: http://orkneyjar.com/index.html The Orkeny Jar, a site that focuses on Orkney.

Quote of the Week:

Our abode in this world is transitory, our life therein is but a loan, our breaths are numbered and our indolence is manifest. Al-Siddiq (Abu Bakr)