Could this be the site of a medieval monastery?

A COMMUNITY project to identify the visible and accessible archaeological features of Ceannabeinne township, near Durness, and provide information about the biggest well preserved pre-clearance farm town in Sutherland has got under way.

Funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, Scottish Natural Heritage and Highland Year of Culture, Glasgow University’s archaeology research division this week are carrying out a programme of surveys and trial trenching at the township to gather information on the medieval and post-medieval occupation of the area.

The survey will involve trial trenching of what is thought to be a monastic or hermitage site on the rock stack at Traigh na h’Uamhag, at the coastal edge of Ceannabeinne. To date few if any such sites have been examined archaeologically along the northern coast of mainland Scotland, and the results will provide important information on the medieval ecclesiastical occupation of the region. If it does prove to be a monastic site, it would be an exciting discovery for the northern Highlands in general and for Durness in particular.

Further archaeological work scheduled for July will provide insights into the nature of life in the township up to its clearance in 1842. It may also help establish how long the township had been occupied and whether that occupation extended back into the late medieval period.

(The Northern Times - 4 May 2007)

More than 3,000 expected to attend medieval congress

KALAMAZOO--Scholars from around the globe will descend on Kalamazoo Thursday through Sunday, May 10-13, for Western Michigan University's 42nd International Congress on Medieval Studies.

More than 3,000 people are expected to attend the event, including scholars from more than 25 nations. Sponsored by the University's Medieval Institute, this year's congress takes place at locations across campus and features more than 600 sessions offering scholarly papers, panel discussions, roundtables, workshops and performances covering nearly every facet of life in the Middle Ages.

"Interest in the congress continues to grow among professional medievalists," says Dr. Rand Johnson, interim director of the Medieval Institute. "For these four days in May, the international conversation on medieval topics moves to Kalamazoo. And the conversation includes students, a feature of the conference, which sets it apart from many others in the profession. Many of these junior scholars, in fact, present their first papers here, making the experience an important part of their entrée into the profession. The congress has become a favorite event for many area residents as well. They attend a variety of paper sessions and performances, and especially enjoy the exhibits hall, where they find rare books and manuscripts, current books by international presses, seals and coins, and many other items."

"Topics for this year's congress include such medieval standards as the Vikings, "Beowulf," Chaucer, Thomas Aquinas and King Arthur. This year's program also includes several sessions on early Islamic/Christian relations, J.R.R.Tolkien, the Knights Templar, medieval anti-war movements and Bohemond's crusade of 1107, for which this year is the 900th anniversary.

Highlights of the congress this year include a reconstruction of the evening prayer service for the feast of Corpus Christi, newly introduced into the Catholic church in the 1200s, as well as readers' theater performances of "Mankind," an English drama of the 1400s, and "The Tale of Sir

Launcelot," from Sir Thomas Malory's "Morte Darthur." There will also be a festival of three films on medieval themes: "A Knight's Tale" from 2001, 1954's "The Black Knight" and "Kriemhilds Rache" (Kriemhild's Revenge) part of Fritz Lang's 1924 silent epic based on the medieval German epic "Nibelunglied."

A number of session and paper titles reflect the intersection of popular culture and medieval studies.

A series of sessions focuses on the Middle Ages on television. "Getting Medieval on Television I: Dateline Camelot" and "Getting Medieval on Television II: Dateline Sherwood Forest" examine everything from "Fractured Fairytales" to "Stargate."

There's an entire session on "Monastic Breweries in the Middle Ages," with one paper in the session titled "Sacred Suds: Monastic Asceticism and the Rationalization of Beer Making in the Middle Ages."

"One-Hit Wonders: Troubadours Represented in the Corpus by a Single Work" will feature a roundtable discussion organized by the Societé Guilhem IX and include comments from five U.S. scholars on the topic.

Some 70 international publishers, book dealers and artisans who specialize in the Middle Ages also will exhibit in the dining hall of the Goldsworth Valley III complex from 8 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and 8 a.m. to noon Sunday.

Everyone who attends any part of the congress, including the exhibit hall, must register. The late registration period has begun, but Kalamazoo County residents and WMU students, faculty and staff need only pay the $25 late-registration fee. The additional fee for others attending the event is $130. For students and family members accompanying registrants, the fee is $80.

Also in connection with the congress, the famed Newberry Consort will present a concert titled "Puzzles and Perfect Beauty" at 8 p.m. Friday, May 11 at First Baptist Church, 315 W. Michigan. Ave. in downtown Kalamazoo. The concert, which marks Mary Springfels' farewell performance as the director of the ensemble she founded, features music from late medieval France and Italy performed on original instruments. General admission tickets are $20.

To download the full conference catalog, visit the congress at www.wmich.edu/medieval/congress. On-site registration will begin at noon, Wednesday, May 9, in the lobby of Eldridge-Fox residence halls and continue throughout the event. More information also is available by calling the Medieval Institute at (269) 387-8745.

Information about the congress, including a link to order concert tickets, is available at www.wmich.edu/medieval/congress. For additional information, contact the Medieval Institute at mdvl_congres@wmich.edu or (269) 387-8745.

Media contact: Cheryl Roland, (269) 387-8400, cheryl.roland@wmich.edu

WMU News
Office of University Relations
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1903 W Michigan Ave
Kalamazoo MI 49008-5433 USA
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(WMU News - 4 May 2007)

12th century target for dig in ashes of Cowgate

A MAJOR archaeological dig is to go ahead on the site of the massive Old Town fire in a bid to find remains which, it is hoped, will date back as far as the 12th century.

City council archaeologist John Lawson and his team will spend several days hunting for artefacts in a trench to be dug just off the Cowgate.

The dig will be the biggest since the devastating 2002 blaze which destroyed a number of buildings on the Cowgate and South Bridge.

The archaeological team is to move on to the site at the end of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, during which the area is to become home to a huge temporary venue.

Over the next few months the fire site will be completely cleared by a developer. The work will include the removal of the remains of a number of 19th century buildings, kept on site when everything else was demolished. It is hoped clearance work will also solve a persistent fly-tipping problem.

Previous archaeological digs overseen by Mr Lawson have unearthed remains dating back as far as the 17th century.

He said he hoped the forthcoming dig would discover remains and artefacts dating back to the 15th century - or even earlier.

The area was heavily populated in the 15th and 16th centuries, when the great and the good lived in what were known as "the palaces of the Cowgate".

However, Mr Lawson said it was known that people had lived in the area - which had declined to become a notorious slum by the mid-1880s - from as far back as the 12th century.

He added: "This will be the biggest dig we've been able to do on the fire site so far and obviously the last before the work on the development starts. We're going to be doing a full archaeological evaluation of the area.

"It's difficult to predict what we may find, but we know there were a lot of buildings in this area in the 15th and 16th centuries, and the earliest records go all the way back to the 12th century."

In the wake of the fire, Mr Lawson's team spent nine months piecing together a "jigsaw puzzle" of photographs of the fire-hit buildings, drawings and accounts from historical archives in a bid to shed new light on the area. A more modest dig was also carried out in 2004.

Fragments of medieval pottery, bits of leather and wood, the remains of shoes and old kitchen barrels dating as far back as the 15th century have been found on various sites in the Cowgate area in recent years.

A spokesman for developer Whiteburn, which is planning to create a hotel, leisure, retail and residential development on the site, said the firm would be working closely with Mr Lawson to ensure any historical remains were properly safeguarded.

Clearance work is to start within the next few weeks while vacant offices in a neighbouring Chambers Street building, which is to be part of the development, will also be cleared of old furniture and other materials.

David Kilgour, project manager with Whiteburn, said: "The work will enable us to prepare the site so the temporary Edinburgh Festival Fringe venue can be established safely and will ensure the site is also in the best possible condition for visitors in August."

The site was previously home to shops, offices and pubs, as well as the Gilded Balloon comedy venue, the Bridge Jazz Bar, La Belle Angele nightclub, Leisureland amusement arcade and Edinburgh University's School of Informatics.

(by Brian Ferguson, news.scotsman.com - 21 April 2007)

Trace Your Viking Roots At Jorvik Viking Centres New Exibition

A new exhibition hitting the JORVIK Viking Centre in York in May 2007, will be sure to cause a storm, as it delves into the historic ‘melting pot’ of York that was created by immigration and trade in Viking times.

The unique ‘Are you a Viking’ exhibition, which opens to the public on the 26th May, will bring together bio-scientific and artefactual evidence to determine if visitors could have Viking ancestors. Using computer technology, a 3-dimensional walk-through Viking riverside scene, graphics and interactive activities visitors will be able to investigate:

DNA and gene mapping, using evidence generated by gene related studies bone material unearthed by archaeologists and used to map genetic disorders, such as Dupuytren’s disease (known as the Viking disease) an oxygen isotope analysis of Viking-age bones and teeth, used to determine where people originate from archaeological environmental evidence, used to reveal what people ate, where the food came from, and what levels of pollution existed in the city of York at the time Viking migration patterns and trading routes to determine if this affected who and what was brought into York, revealed in the biological remains the assimilation of language and the development of dialects

Sarah Maltby, Head of Attractions at the JORVIK Viking Centre, commented: “We’re very excited about the new exhibition; it’s a combination of modern technology and important Viking era evidence that really will bring the past to life for our visitors. We think it will be hugely popular with families who will be intrigued to work out if they could have Viking ancestors!”

The exhibition will include tactile, audio, and smelling activities to ensure its widest appeal to visitors with disabilities and the very young.

(Femalefirst - 21 April 2007)

The Fairest Feast

Churches tap creativity to portray medieval pageantry of Boar's Head festivals

For three years, a cast of more than 200 people rehearsed and prepared for medieval-style revelry in Connecticut. In January, parishioners of Trinity Church in Southport presented their first Boar's Head and Yule Log Festival with the cooperation of Southport Congregational Church.

Entire families from both churches participated in the cast, led by retired Bishop Clarence Coleridge of the Episcopal Diocese of Connecticut, and his wife as the lord and lady of the manor; John Bedford Lloyd as the minstrel; and a brass quintet and percussionist assembled by Trinity Choirmaster Charles Dodsley Walker. Live animals -- a camel, a donkey and a peregrine falcon named Isis -- added to the spectacle. The performance was produced and written by Jean Whitney.

The Boar's Head Festival began in Oxford, England, in 1340 and is the oldest of the Anglican pageants and celebrations of the Twelve Days of Christmas. It is an allegory about the triumph of good over evil, with the evil represented by the boar and good by the light of Christ going out into the world. The medieval banquet celebrating families, health and material wealth ends with the merry "Waits" cavorting about the sanctuary as mummers, jesters, a magician, a juggler, acrobats and marionettes.

The second half begins with the entrance into a darkened church of a tiny sprite bearing a lighted candle. She hands the light to the rector, who lights the Pascal candle and holds it high so that its blessed light can fall on the shoulders of the congregation.

As the rector reads the ancient gospel of the Christmas story, torchbearers herald the entrance of the Holy Family into Bethlehem and the ancient Pageant of the Nativity begins. Hosts of angels sing of the glory of God, and the humble shepherds arrive to see the Christ Child in the manger. The kings arrive with their gifts, and the prophesy of Isaiah is fulfilled.

Ancient festival, modern cause

Five congregations in the Diocese of Bethlehem joined forces for a Boar's Head Festival there in January and used the event to support a new youth anti-violence project.

Two hundred performers from the combined congregations of St. Thomas, Morgantown; St. Gabriel's, Douglassville; St. Alban's, Sinking Spring; and St. Mary's and Christ Church, Reading, celebrated with costumes, song and fellowship. They drew an audience of more than 400.

Christ Church member Kathy Kreitz had organized a bus trip so friends and fellow church members could attend the festival at her brother's church. Plans developed after that excursion. As more churches decided to participate, organizers decided to pledge proceeds from the event to a summer camp for youths, CampPeaceWorks.

They raised $4,000 for the five-day summer day camp at Blue Mountain Camp near Hamburg, Pennsylvania. Students from each of the area school districts and churches will be invited, all on scholarship. They will be trained as mentors against violence in the teen community. Organizers hope the efforts -- the festival and the camp -- will become an annual commitment of the five congregations.

(The Episcopal Life Online - 24 April 2007)

The Games That We Play

FANCY a game of hide and seek with the children this summer?

What d’you mean no! Of course you do, which is why you’ll be heading to Aydon Castle on the outskirts of Corbridge.

Admittedly, the 13th century manor house was not originally built as a children’s play area.

But with an excess of nooks and crannies in the ancient building, how could anyone resist hiding in a cubby hole before jumping out to surprise the family with a medieval war cry?

To start your game you won’t go far wrong by heading straight to the inner courtyard.

March up the steps towards the hall, noting along the way an old roofline cut into the wall.

You’ve got a choice now. Turn left and you’re in the hall, once a communal living room and sleeping space for everyone except the Lord of Aydon’s immediate family.

It was here where people were entertained. They used to sit at a long table and tuck into a meat stew while listening to the minstrels in the gallery.

The only problem is, there aren’t too many hiding places, although you can always sit in the lord’s chair at the head of the table and pretend to be a dummy.

If you’d have turned right at the top of the steps, you’d have had more luck in the kitchen – the 14th century fireplace is worth trying out.

The fireplace is big enough to conceal more than one person because, just like modern-day chefs, medieval cooks had to prepare several things at once.

Cauldrons of soups and stews were usually top of the menu rather than a whole ox stuck on a spit.

Slabs of bread soaked up the gravy and everything was washed down with home brewed ale. Everyone drank proper beer in those days instead of tasteless keg lager.

A doorway in the corner of the kitchen leads to the wall walk – no good hiding places here, but inquisitive adults will enjoy the bird’s-eye views of the outer courtyard, curtain walls and orchard. Look closer and admire the finely-made battlements which alternate with arrow slits.

At the end of the wall walk you’ll notice a double lancet window on the north-facing wall in front of you. The bearded fellow above the twin light windows is likely to be God – evidence that the window was carved for a chapel that was never built.

If the children have had enough of hide and seek by now, extra entertainment is often put on during the season, ranging from re-enactments of Tudor life to theatre shows.

Bring a picnic and eat it in the orchard where tables are laid out under the shadow of the trees. This used to be the kitchen garden.

From there, you can walk through a doorway for a stroll around the outside walls of the castle.

Aydon Castle – an English Heritage property – is open from April 1 to September 30, Thursday to Monday, 10am-5pm.

(Hexham Courant - 23 April 2007)

State Theatre presents The Canterbury Tales

The Aquila Theatre Company brings the classic literary text, Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales, down to earth Sunday, April 29 at 3pm at the State Theatre. In this production, Aquila brings a modern sensibility and freshness to a classic without diminishing it. As if Monty Python met Umberto Eco at a Medieval pageant, Aquila’s The Canterbury Tales promises to be a fast moving, deliciously saucy, slightly naughty, romp.

Tickets range from $20-35 (group, college student, and senior discounts available).

The Canterbury Tales, written in Middle English by Chaucer in the late 14th century (two of them are in prose, the rest in verse), is a collection of tales told by a group of pilgrims to pass the time on a pilgrimage from Southwark to Canterbury to visit the shrine of Saint Thomas Becket at Canterbury Cathedral. Some make the journey out of a sense of piety, others for spiritual renewal, or just for the sheer fun of it.

The Canterbury Tales is considered one of the cornerstones of western drama. It draws on a rich tradition of classical Greek and Roman poetry and Medieval literature to produce a work of sublime storytelling that is poignant, hilarious, spiritually uplifting, wonderfully lewd yet thoroughly thought provoking. Some of the tales are serious and others comical. All are highly accurate in describing the traits and faults of human nature. Religious malpractice is a major theme. Most of the tales are interlinked with undercurrents of similar themes, and some are told in retaliation for other tales in the form of an argument. The work is sophisticated, visceral, and surprisingly challenging and entertaining for audiences of all ages.

This stage adaptation follows in Aquila’s tradition of theatrical utilitarianism—making the greatest classical works understandable to the largest audience, thus rendering them fresh and accessible to a new generation of viewers.

Aquila believes passionately that the stage is the place for Chaucer’s tales to entertain and captivate a new generation of American audiences. Aquila has become internationally renowned for its uncanny ability to bring a modernly hip sensibility and a universally accessible freshness to classical texts without diminishing these great works. -- www.statetheatrenj.org

(www.huliq.com - 24 April 2007)