11.18.08
Criseyde: the Opera
Thought you might be interested in this retelling of Chaucer’s love story. Note the brief sketch of Chaucer’s plot.
11.09.08
Touching the Past
Nine students (six from our class; three from Shakespeare) attended the Medieval conference in Washington, D.C. last weekend. It was a very enjoyable time. We found out that Professor Tompkins is a heroic driver, that we could spend a lot of time driving around in circles in a parking garage, that Dan might never catch up with the Penske truck, and that, indeed, it can be enjoyable to listen to folks ask questions.
Here is the write up on the conference on In the Middle, Jeffrey Cohen’s blog where we saw the conference announced in the first place.
11.04.08
Order
Someone asked for more info on what I meant by “order” in the take home.
Specifically I mean social order. The middle ages recognized hierarchical order from god to angels, man, animals, plants, rocks, etc. In the “order” of things men were above women in social order; upper class above middle class. etc.
More generally I’m thinking about how Chaucer orders things — genders, classes, ideas. At times he seems to “think against” the commonly accepted social order. That is interesting.
11.01.08
GW symposium
For students heading to the symposium with Professor Tompkins and me on Friday:1. We are leaving from in front of the sign on Big Blue at 8:30am.
2. We will probably stop at least once on the way down.
3. Here is the site for the conference: http://gwmemsi.blogspot.com/2008/09/touching-past-november-7.html
4. Here is a google map on how to get there:
4. To avoid Friday afternoon traffic it makes sense for us to delay our departure until around 7pm which gives us time to eat near the University. According to JJ Cohen there are plenty of good, exotic restaurants nearby.
5. JJ Cohen says we can park nearby:
There is a garage directly across the street from us. It is expensive ($15) but always has space. The garage can be entered via 22nd, H, or I streets. The symposium is at 801 22nd St NW romm 411 (Academic Center).
If you have questions this week or if your plans change, let us know. If I think of anything else, I’ll post it here or email you. Finally, watch your email the night and morning of the trip in case there are important last minute changes.
10.28.08
Dating advice from medieval historians
I’ve scanned through this quickly and think it’s advisable reading for a generally medieval-reading audience: http://www.nerve.com/regulars/datingadvicefrom/medievalhistorians/.
10.04.08
Medieval Cats
Here are a few references on Medieval Cats. “Pangur Ban” at the bottom is a favorite. The page was forwarded to me by Professor Tompkins.
09.28.08
The Knight’s Tale in a Hurry
Chaucer’s “Knight’s Tale” is deeply significant to a thorough understanding of The Canterbury Tales. Given our 13-week semester (oops, I mean 15 weeks), though, we will be saving our deep dose of chivalry for later in the semester with Troilus and Criseyde.
It’s still a good idea to understand the bare bones of the “Knight’s Tale.” To that end I’ve linked to three “summary” pages. Are they an adequate substitute for reading the tale? No. but they’ll cover the major points against which we can better understand the “Miller’s Tale.”
The “Knight’s Tale” from Gradesaver
The “Knight’s Tale” from BookRags
The “Knight’s Tale” from CliffNotes on Yahoo
09.23.08
Wimple
Wimple. I love the word. Below is a painting of one by Robert Campin.
from the University of British Columbia, Theatre pages on costume.
09.18.08
Humours
Kruger touches upon the late medieval belief in the four humours — blood, phlegm, yellow bile (choler), and black bile (melancholy) — said to rule or effect the human body (or at least to explain our maladies). You can find an interesting piece on humours here.