Jackie Randall

speakingmarginally:

blackpaint20:

This is lovely!

The moaning of miserable medieval monks who transcribed books.

Source

Check out this collection of medieval monks’ marginalia on Brain Pickings, courtesy of the new issue of Lapham’s Quarterly.

(via medievaliz)

obitoftheday:

Obit of the Day: End the Beguines*

When Marcella Pattyn died on April 14, 2013 she took 800 years of history with her. Ms. Pattyn was a Beguine. A creation of the Middle Ages, beguines were lay women who formed communities that allowed them independence, both socially and economically.

During the Medieval period women of the upper class were given two choices for their adult lives: marriage or religious life. They were to either be under the rule of their husband or the rule of God, serving as a nun. (Women of the lower classes could sometimes live alone and run a business but usually only as widows.)

In the 12th century in Flanders (a region that now is part of Belgium and The Netherlands) lay communities sprang up in cities where widows of the Crusades would congregate but without the rules of a convent or giving up their freedom. They could travel freely on their own. They could marry at any time. Some even lived in homes with servants.

At their peak Beguines were found across northern Europe and could have thousands of members. They would provide services for the poor and needy as well as sell handmade textiles.

To no one’s surprise, the group was quickly considered a threat. Independent women who were without strict supervision? It must be heresy. And in 1311 Pope Clement V banned the movement. (Less than a century earlier in 1233 Pope Gregory IX had given papal backing to the Beguines.)

In order to maintain their existence some of the Beguine orders partnered with monastic orders in order to continue their work with some level of “supervision.” (Random note: There were male communities similar to the Beguines called the Beghards who were also considered heretics but less for their service than for their theology which bordered on anarchism.)

Although the orders persisted for centuries in France, Germany, The Netherlands, and Belgium their numbers dwindled. Belgium at one time had 94 Beguine communities. In 1856 they were down to 20.

In 1941 when Marcella Pattyn, a partially blind 21-year-old, was sent to the beguinage in Ghent there were two. Unable to join convents because of her disability, a wealthy aunt sponsored her entrance into the Beguines. This last small group of Beguines moved to the town of Courtrai and in 1960 there were nine left. 

By 2008 Marcella Pattyn was the last of her order. The town of Courtrai celebrated her with chocolates and champagne and had a bronze statue made in her likeness to stand outside the beguinage. 

Ms. Pattyn died at the age of 92, taking with her a glimpse into medieval life.

Sources: The Economist, The Telegraph, The Catholic Encyclopedia, The Economist (on the Beguines), and a 1992 paper by Elizabeth Knuth

(Image of Marcella Pattyn and her statue is courtesy of FOCUS-WTV in Belgium.)

* The title of the post is a play on the Cole Porter song, “Begin the Beguine,” written in 1935. The two words are unrelated. There is no known etymology for the order, although the community in Lieges, Belgium was founded by Lambert de Begue. By the time of the Porter song the term “beguine” was commonly used to mean a “close couples’ dance” in the Caribbean. - Wikipedia

(via medievaliz)

medievaliz:

thepsychicclam:

I haven’t watched Knight’s Tale since I started my Ph.D. Now, just to make it clear, I love this movie. I don’t care how wrong it depicts the Middle Ages. Paul Bettany as Chaucer? Alan Tudyk? Heath Ledger? Crazy-eyed Rufus Sewell? Hell yes, I’m in :P

But watching it now, I realize how wrong certain things are.

1. They meet Chaucer naked on the road. He says:

You’ve probably read my book? the Book of the Duchess? 

• Not a book - a poem. He never would have called it a book.
• A random peasant on the road definitely would not have heard of the poem.
• Chaucer was famous in his lifetime, but not the most famous. Poets like William Langland (or Piers Plowman as they would have thought him to be) and John Gower would have been much more popular. Plus, it would be years before the Canterbury Tales, so this is super early in his career.
• He talks about writing stuff down on parchment. No one would have wasted parchment to let someone scribble something down - even Chaucer :P It cost too much. Plus, there is no evidence in any of the manuscripts that Chaucer wrote anything in his own hand. He would have had scribes do it. There’s even a funny poem he wrote about how much of an idiot Chaucer’s scribe is.

2. If Chaucer had already written The Book of the Duchess, that means he was somewhat already steeped in the court. BOD was in 1368, and written in response to the death of Blanche of Lancaster, the wife of John of Gaunt. John of Gaunt was King Edward III’s son, and brother to Edward the Black Prince (aka Colville).

Chaucer had a lot to do with JoG, so he may have very well knew Edward the Black Prince. And he may have outed him for who he was if he saw him. Plus, why would a man who is hanging out with the court and the king’s family want to help a bunch of peasants? If he was caught, there’d be a lot at stake for him to lose. Or, since The Black Prince was actually fighting in the Hundred Years’ War in France, he may not have known him. But he wouldn’t have shown up at the tourney, either.

3. Supposedly, the movie is set in 1356 because of a reference to the Battle of Poitiers. If that’s true, then:

• The Book of the Duchess hasn’t been composed yet
• Chaucer is only 13 years old, since he was born (probably) in 1343. Paul Bettany is most definitely not 13 :P

4. Chaucer was well-respected within the courts by the time BOD was written, and there’s no evidence that he had a gambling problem. If he did have a gambling problem, he had money and social status…plus, he was married, too. It’s hard for me to believe a man who rubbed elbows with the king’s bastard son and who would later know and interact with King Richard II would have a gambling problem. Especially if he’s already written the Book of the Duchess (see how that keeps being my point of contention? Prior to him being “Chaucer,” I’d believe anything).

5. I do love, however, the threat to the pardoner and the summoner. PWNED by Geoffrey Chaucer.

6. The later 1300s were very socially conscious. After the Black Plague, since over half of the population was wiped out, many peasants moved into the city, and other ones wanted to charge more money because of the labor shortage. This caused a lot of tension between the classes, and the nobility became even more terrified of the rising middle class.

On top of this, a peasant wouldn’t have been able to act like a nobleman, not even a country one, as Sir Crazy-eyed!Rufus Sewell accuses Heath Ledger of being. The prince and the pauper fantasy would never have happened - which breaks my heart because I love that idea! *sniff* This is why I still have movies and tv :P Keeps the fantasy alive.

But unlike some of my colleagues who get all pompous and pretentious and hate things that are “wrong,” I laugh and just love.

Because really? Nothing is better than Paul Bettany as Geoffrey Chaucer. Every time I think of Chaucer, that’s still who I think of in my head :D And James Purefoy as Edward the Black Prince is pretty hawt, too.

Preach. 

mediumaevum:

How parasites went on Crusade

When the crusaders of the Order of St John first built a 35-latrine toilet complex in the medieval city of Acre in the Kingdom of Jerusalem, they could scarcely have considered that researchers would be sifting through its contents 900 years later.

Yet the 13th-century latrine soil is providing another chapter in understanding the long history of our relationship with intestinal parasites.

More

mediumaevum:

A German historian named William Pehle, asserted that bowling began in Germany around 300 AD. Monks would set up pins called kegels, which represented human sins or temptations. They would then throw stones at the pins, thus conquering sin. Kegling is another term for bowling, even today. There are records indicating that some variation of bowling has been played throughout history all over the world.

image: Bruegel’s “Children’s Games” (Detail) 1560

Entire piece 6567x4770!