Category Archives: Latin

Identifying and understanding the Old English -ing3 patronymic constructions in the ‘Historia de Sancto Cuthberto’

Posted on March 17, 2019 by Robert J S Briggs

A year and a half later, and I still can’t get a good handle on what I actually achieved in my time studying for a PhD (not that I even got as far as completing the MPhil bit, but hey, … Continue reading →

Posted in Anglo-Saxon, Church, Dating, Documents, Genealogy, Hagiography, History, Language, Latin, Literature, Monasteries, Northumbria, Old English, PhD | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

New work: Kingston upon Thames revisited

Posted on August 5, 2018 by Robert J S Briggs

Nowadays, you’ll find me in Kingston upon Thames maybe four times a week as it’s my main place of work. However, save for a driving lesson in 2003 when I passed through but didn’t actually set foot in the town, … Continue reading →

Posted in Anglo-Saxon, Archaeology, Charters, Folklore, History, Landscape, Latin, Old English, Place-Names, Pottery, Ritual, Thames, Topography, Trade | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Not in my name or theirs: in defence and celebration of the diversity of what I study

Posted on February 27, 2017 by Robert J S Briggs

In my previous post, I attempted to underline that medieval studies nowadays finds itself in a position of having an unusually high level of political relevance. Not through any moves obviously engineered by academic medievalists, rather through the rise in Europe and the US … Continue reading →

Posted in Anglo-Saxon, Annals, Archaeology, Bede, Charters, Coins, Dating, History, Language, Latin, Literature, Old English, PhD, Place-Names, Politics, Twitter | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

1307 and all that: Puttenham in the Register of Bishop Henry Woodlock

Posted on November 3, 2016 by Robert J S Briggs

My fourth and final post for Puttenham Church Week (now ticking towards being a fortnight – maybe next time around I should avoid any embarrassment by calling the next instalment a Surrey Medieval … Spectacular?) takes us to the early years of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Church, Documents, Excuses, Latin, Puttenham, SMPCW, Winchester | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The beech, pannaging, and the unexpected relevance of Riddle 40

Posted on August 19, 2015 by Robert J S Briggs

As seems to be becoming an annual inevitability, summer in the UK has been another overcast letdown. Luckily, I skipped these shores for a week at the start of the month for the altogether more hot and sunny climes of … Continue reading →

Posted in Aldhelm, History, Language, Latin, Literature, Old English, Pigs, Riddles, Switzerland | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

SMMEFNW 2: le Spych

Posted on January 29, 2015 by Robert J S Briggs

The second field-name to get the SMMEFNW treatment is actually the first to appear in the copied charter text that is the sole testament to all three being analysed. The key information is provided by the following phrase: ‘unu[m] p[as]tu[ram] … q[uam] vocat[um] le Spych‘ = … Continue reading →

Posted in Documents, Field-names, History, Landscape, Latin, Middle English, Place-Names, SMMEFNW, Surrey | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

SMMEFNW 1: Le Osthaghe

Posted on January 27, 2015 by Robert J S Briggs

Welcome to the first proper instalment of Surrey Medieval Middle English Field-Names Week! The trio of lost field-names that form the basis for this and the next two posts are all contained in a single source, a charter by which Henry … Continue reading →

Posted in Agriculture, Charters, Dating, Documents, Landscape, Latin, Place-Names, Puttenham, Travel | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The forgetful frater, or, an eighth-century reminder to make good notes

Posted on April 30, 2014 by Robert J S Briggs

Here’s a little late-night blast from the library, not because I have something urgent I want to get off my chest but because it concerns something I came across earlier which chimed with me because of the nature of my current workload … Continue reading →

Posted in Anglo-Saxon, Books, Church, Excuses, Hagiography, History, Latin, Monasteries, Northumbria, Religion, Ritual | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Respect your elders: thoughts on a brace of under-appreciated Bedan place-names

Posted on April 25, 2014 by Robert J S Briggs

I get the sense many people who are normally diligent in publishing blog posts at fairly regular intervals are otherwise occupied right now with things related to the impending end of the academic teaching year. I’ve long given up any pretence to regularity … Continue reading →

Posted in Anglo-Saxon, Bede, Books, Charters, Church, Dating, Folklore, History, Landscape, Latin, Monasteries, Northumbria, Old English, Place-Names, Religion | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment