February, 2023 | The Eighth Century and All That

Charlemagne’s elephant

February 26, 2023February 25, 2023 by bentonian

Several months after Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne emperor of the west (no big deal) the great man was again on the move, touring the Italian north in the spring of 801. While in Pavia, “he was told that legates from Aaron Amir al Muminin,^1.Known to us as Harun al-Rashid. There are several versions of his name in the sources. the rex of the Persians, had arrived at the port of Pisa.”^2.King, Royal Annals, 801, p. 94.

This was news indeed. As Charlemagne’s vision had expanded past the European scene, as a good Christian his attention had naturally turned to Jerusalem and the holy lands of Palestine. At some point the sad state of Christian communities to the east had been made known to him, and he had decided to remedy this unacceptable state of affairs. But as those lands were not under his rule and obviously outside the reach of his armies, he would need to use the softer skills of politics and charm to work his will. In those days that meant the dispatch and reception of personal envoys.

Footnotes[+]

Footnotes
↑1	Known to us as Harun al-Rashid. There are several versions of his name in the sources.
↑2	King, Royal Annals, 801, p. 94.

The lonely life of a medieval leper

February 2, 2023 by bentonian

I would not wish leprosy on anyone. It is an insidious disease, taking anywhere from months to many years to manifest itself.^1.World Health Organization – Leprosy. You, too, can become an expert on anything with the help of the internet. Once it takes hold nerve damage causes victims lose sensation in their skin. An inability to feel pain results in untreated injuries, which eventually leads to significant damage as infections take hold and destroy tissue. As fingers and toes are lost other symptoms include degraded eyesight and terrible skin lesions. The victim’s appearance gradually becomes grotesque.

While today a highly effective multi-drug therapy cures leprosy, for most of human history there was no treatment. In the absence of a treatment and the horrific effects of the disease, the medieval church and state enforced a strict policy of exclusion. A leper’s life was one of stigma and ostracism.

Footnotes[+]

Footnotes
↑1	World Health Organization – Leprosy. You, too, can become an expert on anything with the help of the internet.

Archaeology in Europe Regularly updated. Some early medieval stuff.
Carolingian Canon Law I'm not quite sure how useful this site is, as almost everything in it is in Latin, but I don't want to lose sight of it. The site "is a searchable, electronic rendition of works of canon law used by Carolingian readers." Sounds good to me.
Early Medieval Europe Subscription only scholarly journal, for good or ill. Occasionally they will have some free articles, and you can review the abstracts.
Early Medieval Inscriptions If you're into medieval inscriptions (epigraphy, as opposed to paleography, the study of handwriting), this is your place.
Europeana Searchable portal to the collections of many museums and repositories in Europe.
Medieval History Geek "An amateur's blog about medieval history, books, etc." An amateur, writing about history??? This guy does it, with good humor and a lot of reading. His focus is the early medieval era, and he has many thoughtful posts on various aspects of history and historiography.
Medieval Wall Medieval blog site that hasn't been active since late 2013, but there are some good entries.
Medievalists An excellent site with entries that cover a wide variety of topics. Some 550 citations using the keyword "carolingian."
Networks and Neighbors Open source scholarly journal, "[T]o advance early medieval scholarship in radical directions and towards truly alternative ways of thinking and emerging the early medieval past." For anyone who likes using "emerging" as a verb. Published twice a year, although the home page hasn't been updated since late 2016.
OmnesViae An overlay of Roman and medieval roads on a Google map. Includes a route-finder functionality.
ORBIS Fascinating site that allows you to recreate journeys across the Roman transportation network. Of use for us since early medieval transport was primarily over Roman roads.
Past Horizons This site used to have some archaeological articles, but now they function exclusively as a clearinghouse for fieldwork that are available for public participation. I like that sort of thing, so I'm keeping the link up.
The Appendix "A reader-supported quarterly journal of experimental and narrative history." They stopped publishing in 2015, but the site offers a complete archive. Look for the Index link at the bottom of the home page.
The Heroic Age Semi-scholarly journal about our time period. They have had problems getting issues out, but there is a 2018 issue available. There is a translation of Alcuin's Virtues and Vices in the 2015 issue.
The History Blog A new well-written entry EVERY DAY, covering a wide variety of topics. My go-to site.
The Making of Charlemagne's Europe This site brings together hundreds of charters from the 8th and 9th centuries, in a completely searchable and cross-referenced database. This is a huge resource, both because there are hardly any translated charters, and because the database allows for real research.