IMC Leeds 2011 report, II: Normans and Norman historians

Tuesday’s sessions continued the Norman theme with the strand ‘Normans, Normandy and the wider Norman world: 911 from a 2011 perspective’, bookended by David Bates and me, a fact which in no small way contributed to the pre-paper jitters of the previous evening. There were four sessions in all, though the third was the subject of an annoying clash and I ducked out to take part in a rebellion or two.

IMC Leeds 2011 report, I: southern Italian Normans

Best Leeds ever just about sums up IMC just gone. If last year was all about ‘good papers, good beer and good company‘, then this year’s IMC continued that theme with better weather and an energy about the place I haven’t felt in a while (and as evidenced by the number of people who joined in the dancing). As this year marks the eleven-hundredth anniversary of the traditional date of the foundation of Normandy, there was a decided Norman theme to parts of the conference and most certainly my session attendance. Well, let’s start with Monday and see how far I get.

Five years on

It would appear that On boundaries is five years old. Given my readiness to hide away for periods of time and Reivers’ general unwillingness to communicate through the medium of words, it is a small miracle that we have managed to keep this blog going for a reasonable length of time and contribute to a number of debates, albeit in a small and rather quiet fashion (at times very quiet). Some posts are good, some are not and some are downright rubbish. There are, I think, several pieces which are as relevant now as they were then so to speak, and I want to highlight my selection below.  Reivers is also compiling a list. His will be more amusing, I promise.

IMC Leeds 2010 report

After a couple of nights in Whitley Bay with my sister’s family, it was on to Leeds for the annual International Medieval Congress. This was, in fact, the ninth congress I’d attended, which makes me feel rather old. This year can be summed up simply as ‘good papers, good beer and good company’.

Looking forward to … IMC 2009

The middle of July, as ever, will see many medievalists descending on University of Leeds for the International Medieval Congress. The theme of this year’s conference is ‘Heresy and Orthodoxy’ so what can we expect?

Chris Wickham and the dialogue of the deaf

Last Wednesday, I escaped to London to hear Chris Wickham give the first Sir David Wilson lecture in medieval archaeology on ‘The problem of the dialogues between medieval history and medieval archaeology’. Given I have been wrestling with this very question in my own research and teaching of late, I was looking forward to hear Prof. Wickham’s thoughts on the matter; also it gave me the chance to catch up with some fellow bloggers, Jonathan Jarrett and Magistra et Mater. If what follows is slightly disjointed, then I apologise as I’ve written this post over several days.

Stuff I am thinking about

Neither Reivers nor I have blogged for a while. The start of term has been more than usually chaotic, leaving little brain space for blogging, but thankfully just enough for shooting. In lieu of a proper post (which will be remedied after Chris Wickham’s lecture on Wednesday I hope), here is a list of things I am currently thinking about that will generate posts sometime in the future.

Teaching historians and archaeologists: pondering the difference

Once upon a time, I was an archaeologist; a real hands (and knees, legs, arms, face) dirty spending a lot of time in holes whilst getting very wet field archaeologist. In fact, I was a field archaeologist before I was an academic historian, having picked up a trowel before I picked up a UCAS form. I have switched between the two disciplines for much of my working life. At my current institution, I’ve done the occasional class on monasteries or the church for colleagues needing a break. Now I find myself co-teaching a survey course on the archaeology of the medieval world: it’s a scary prospect.

IMC Leeds 2008 report

The International Medieval Congress 2008 will be memorable for two things in particular: rain and cloves. It was the wettest Leeds for a good few years and it did cut down on the opportunities for catching up and bumping into people on the grass. As for the cloves, more of them later.

Cake man – the proto Medici

A weekend visit by gesta and myself to the Alfred exhibition in Winchester was interesting as a day (or half-hour, given the low attendance) out. A bit hagiographical, and given the subtitle (“Warfare, Wealth and Wisdom”) and location (Winchester library) it was perhaps unsurprising which topic was the focus.