Category Archives: PhD

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

An interrupting interruption

Posted on July 24, 2017 by Robert J S Briggs

I’ll get straight to the point. After months of frustration, followed by a sudden stroke of inspiration and then a lot of deliberation, I’ve made the arrangements necessary to interrupt – that is, take time out from (I never know … Continue reading →

Posted in London, News, PhD | 2 Comments

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

On trying to be a better medievalist (and make the world a better place)

Posted on February 27, 2017 by Robert J S Briggs

I spent a large chunk of the first few weeks of the new year away from this blog working on a funding application for my PhD research. Consequently, of late, I have spent a lot of time thinking about what I study, … Continue reading →

Posted in Anglo-Saxon, Annals, Archaeology, History, internet, Language, Literature, News, Old English, PhD, Place-Names, Politics, Publishing, Soapbox, Twitter | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Off the Record — 20th October — UCL Institute of Archaeology — yours truly!

Posted on October 15, 2016 by Robert J S Briggs

Super quick post to say this coming Thursday I’ll be giving the first of the IoA World Archaeology Section’s Off The Record lunchtime seminars of the new academic year. I’ll be running through my past, present and future research into -ingas name … Continue reading →

Posted in Archaeology, London, PhD, Place-Names, Talk | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Godalming and Old English -ingas name formations

Posted on June 12, 2016 by Robert J S Briggs

On Saturday just gone, I was in Godalming for an Surrey Archaeological Society Medieval Studies Forum study day, both to hear about and see corners of the town and parish church that are of medieval (or general historical) importance, and to … Continue reading →

Posted in Anglo-Saxon, Archaeology, Godalming, Old English, PhD, Place-Names, Surrey, Talk | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Getting to the root of Getinges: tribal memory and group identity in Early Anglo-Saxon Surrey

Posted on June 4, 2016 by Robert J S Briggs

Recently, I uploaded a revised version of my Nottingham MA dissertation under the Work tab. To sum up its purpose and content in a sentence, the dissertation constitutes a predominantly-linguistic reassessment of all place-names in the historic county of Surrey which might … Continue reading →

Posted in Annals, Charters, Chertsey, Genealogy, History, Nottingham, Old English, PhD, Place-Names, Surrey | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

The origins of Surrey: two scholars’ work and my two pennies’ worth

Posted on February 3, 2016 by Robert J S Briggs

(This is a long post. I didn’t set out to write such a whopper, rather it grew and grew as a result of choosing such a big, juicy topic which requires time to do it justice. Which is not to claim … Continue reading →

Posted in Anglo-Saxon, Archaeology, Brittonic, Language, London, Old English, PhD, Place-Names, Portable Antiquities Scheme, Roman, Surrey, Thames, Topography | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

London to Norwich express

Posted on June 8, 2015 by Robert J S Briggs

I’ve come to realise there are essentially two types of blog post. The first is the sort that is true to the name, whereby the author(s) log(s) on the web what they have been/are/will be doing. The second exists out … Continue reading →

Posted in Archaeology, PhD, Place-Names | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments