Hello and welcome to week 3.

I’ve been busy all week with socials and coursework.  Yesterday I had one my infamous Introvert Shutdowns.  Which basically means I wrapped myself in a duvet and didn’t leave the flat all day and I was asleep by 7.30.  It’s not that I hate people, I just get really tired when I’m around them constantly and need time to recharge.  Illustration below:

But, I’m up and (semi)functioning today.  I’ve been working on tutorial reading for my Medieval History course.  The tutorial on Monday is over the 13c Papacy and whether or not Innocent III and Boniface VIII used their papal authority to restrict the autonomy of lay princes over their kingdoms.  Spoiler alert: they did.  Between the various papal bulls issued during the late 13c and early 14c, it is clear that the Papal States felt threatened by the sudden rise in power of secular kingdoms, especially those of England and France.  This came to a head when Philip IV of France basically stormed Rome and captured Boniface XIII after Boniface had threatened to excommunicate Philip for exerting ‘too much control’ over the clergy in France.  This established the Avignon Papacy which led to the Great Schism of the 14c and is arguably the roots of the Reformation.

I’ve also been reading for my Archaeology lab which is also Monday.  We will be looking at artifacts and learning the basics of how to catalogue, draw, and record finds.  Finishing my coffee, I went to the NMS (again).  I tend to go there a lot.

Other news.

This Easter Holiday (April 9-21st) I will be taking part on the Poulton Research Project in Chester.  This project focuses on the excavation of a Medieval cemetery!  I’ve been in contact with the excavation supervisor and will get a chance to work not only on the excavation but in the osteology labs as well. I am very excited for this opportunity!

I’ve definitely started to narrow down my range of study and would ideally like to pursue a career in Medieval Osteology, preferably looking at the remains (and burial practices) of Medieval knights and what we can tell about the role of conflict as a means of prestige and rank in society… or something along those lines.

I’ve always viewed good Military Archaeology as a bit of an under-represented topic.  Most academics tend to stray away from the nitty gritty details of conflict and focus instead on more gentile issues leaving out the messy topic of conflict.   This is fine, but I would argue that it curtails our understanding of the Middle Ages greatly.  As we must remember, a king had to be both a warlord and a statesman.  It wasn’t until the reign of Henry VII in 1485 we truly saw the birth of a ‘politician king,’ but by then it could be argued had already moved from the Medieval Period to the beginning of the ‘Early Modern Period.’

Anyway.  I should have so more news on the archaeological front with the days to come as well.  That’s all for now.  Enjoy the playlist.