Medieval History and Reptiles

[twasadark]

Do I have any Medievalists on my flist?  I need to ask some very dumb questions regarding basic Medieval literature for a book project I'm working on. 

Also, my turtle appeared again today!  I haven't seen her for a good 3 months and I was beginning to fear that she had managed to crawl out of her fenced in pond area and was killed by one of my dogs, so I'm happy that this is not the case! 

Comments

[irreparable.livejournal.com]

Yup. Have a degree in medieval history, have had articles published in academic journals related to same and have been a medieval reenactor for 15 years. :) Hit me with your questions, bb. :D

[twasadark.livejournal.com]

AWESOME!!! I totally hit the jackpot with you! Here's the deal - I'm writing a book on the history of graveyards in the Middle Ages - just turned the first chapter in to the publisher today, and I want to get a jump start on the next one asap. I know how to find all the scholarly books and journal articles on my own when it comes to history, but since the Middle Ages isn't my area of expertise, I'm seriously lacking when it comes to literature and primary sources. For instance, in the first chapter I focused on 300 - 500 AD in Rome (mainly the Catacombs) and I was able to use St. Augustine's writings and Gregory of Tours's histories to great effect as sources. These are pretty standard texts that anyone who knows anything about medieval history knows about. I'm basically looking for more of these as I progress through the Middle Ages. My time period is 300 AD through 1200 AD.

My next chapter will focus on Anglo Saxon burial sites and Merovingian sites, so any primary sources or literature you can think of from around 400 - 700 AD that might include material about graves or tombs or death would be ideal. There's the Venerable Bede and Beowulf, but I'm not sure what else I should be looking at. Any ideas that you have are greatly appreciated!

[irreparable.livejournal.com]

Hm, righto. You're in luck, actually, there's been a recent Archeological find in Britain of an amazing burial site from the early medieval period (600-1000). A couple of links that might be of use to you:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/01/060131091935.htm
http://www.culture24.org.uk/history+%2526+heritage/archaeology/art26611
http://www.jpost.com/Home/Article.aspx?id=169405
The Staffordshire Hoard is the most recent find: http://www.staffordshirehoard.org.uk/ and is *amazing*.

The Maciejowski Bible would have a few ideas about burials:
http://www.medievaltymes.com/courtyard/maciejowski_bible.htm

I'd also suggest looking for medieval family Bibles - like the Maciejowski Bible, the illuminations give a lot of information about how people lived, worked and died. If you need anything else, let me know. :D

[twasadark.livejournal.com]

Wow! Thank you SO much! These will keep me busy for a while, definitely. Yay!!!