Classicist Liz Bourke on Aragorn's tax policy (but with the dangerously flawed concept of "surplus") https://lizbourke.wordpress.com/2026/02/19/137-aragorns-tax-policy-and-other-weird-shibboleths/ #tolkien #worldbuilding #economics #earlyMiddleAges
137. Aragorn’s tax policy and other weird shibboleths

Yesterday I found myself diverted by people on Bluesky revisiting the issue of Aragorn’s tax policy that George R.R. Martin so memorably quibbled over back in 2014. The vast majority of my wr…

κῆπος τῶν βιβλιοθηκῶν | a garden from the libraries
I wish I had time and energy to draw comics. I have at least three different epic storylines to finish in my lifetime, spinoffs not included. Here are the three heroes of my "600 AD" project, an Early Middle Ages picaresque. Basically I shoehorn some character concepts that I came up with as a teenager into what we currently know about that time period, which isn't much, but it's a fun thought experiment! #characterdesign #historicalfiction #historicalfantasy #HistoricalFashion #earlymiddleages #lateantiquity #600ad #avars #goths #gepids #inkdrawing
A New Episode of The Medieval Podcast: Early English Queens with Matthew Firth https://www.medievalists.net/2025/01/early-english-queens-with-matthew-firth/ #MedievalQueens #EarlyMiddleAges #Podcasts
Early English Queens with Matthew Firth - The Medieval Podcast, Episode 273 - Medievalists.net

This week on The Medieval Podcast, Danièle speaks with Matthew Firth about what early queenship looked like, the role queens played in legitimizing a king’s right to rule, and how three incredible women shaped English royal history.

Medievalists.net
Caroline Goodson speaking about 'Urban Gardening in Early Medieval Italy' https://www.medievalists.net/2024/11/urban-gardening-in-early-medieval-italy/ #EarlyMiddleAges
Urban Gardening in Early Medieval Italy - Medievalists.net

This paper charts changing attitudes to urban agriculture between the late Roman and early medieval periods, with attention to how Christianity changed people’s views on flowers, how new regional economies affected what people ate, and how people in medieval Italy viewed gardens and gardening. 

Medievalists.net
A Date with the Two Cerne Giants: Results of the National Trust’s Excavation in 2020 - Medievalists.net

The research has provided an accurate, scientifically verified date for the Cerne Giant. These unexpected results, together with the land-use history and ominous ‘disappearance’ of the Giant for six centuries, provide the platform for reconsideration and new discussion and debate … including some stunning discoveries.

Medievalists.net

CADBURY CASTLE :
IS IT A MODEL FOR CAMELOT?

Here are links I gathered together recently. The main illustrations I have in mind are the one at the top plus the row below it. (see Illustrations link below.)

Though other candidates have been proposed, chances are quite good that Cadbury Castle may have been the model for Camelot; and, as we know, there's simply not a more congenial spot.

Wikipedia article

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cadbury_Castle,_Somerset

Illustrations

https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.earlybritishkingdoms.com%2Farchaeology%2Fimages%2Fcadrecon.gif&tbnid=I4G_L4iakWeEUM&vet=12ahUKEwi69fiWtZCFAxW4FGIAHQmdBUwQMygLegQIARBk..i&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.earlybritishkingdoms.com%2Farchaeology%2Fcadbury.html&docid=xYfieN2viTVyZM&w=300&h=205&q=%22south%20cadbury%20castle%22&ved=2ahUKEwi69fiWtZCFAxW4FGIAHQmdBUwQMygLegQIARBk

Suggested Dates for the Battle of Badon (Mons Badonicus)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_conflict_in_Anglo-Saxon_Britain

(It is my opinion that the Battle of Badon took place in the range of 492-494 AD, squarely in the fifth century.)

It seems to me the topic of the historic Arthur deserves a major rethinking. Lucky for us, this process was begun by Christopher Gidlow, which he presented in his book, "The Reign of Arthur."

It is commonly understood that Picts and Saxons did, in fact, attack Britain in the fifth century; and the Britons did mount a successful counterattack. It is widely accepted that the Battle of Badon (Mons Badonicus) is an actual historic event. The earliest sources attribute this decisive victory to Arthur. In short, Arthur did exist. One early source credits the Badon victory to Ambrosius Aurelianus, which brings in the venerable thought that Ambrosius Aurelianus equals Arthur.

We keep learning more about the Arthurian period - and before it and after - through such means as archaeology, aerial photography, scans that penetrate deep into the ground, fresh looks at old texts, and on and on.

A genealogist took Geoffrey of Monmouth's "House of Constantine" seriously, if not necessarily literally, and plotted a plausible family tree including Aurelius Ambrosius and Uther. Could the historic Riothamus be the same person as Aurelius or Uther? According to some scholars, Saint Ambrose seems to have had family in Britain, suggesting some connection to Geoffrey's Aurelius Ambrosius and/or to the historic Ambrosius Aurelianus. Who knows?

Most theories do not prove out. A thing one person "knows" contradicts what another person "knows," if you get my drift. But we can keep inching forward by considering new information, giving new looks to old information, and sorting out most ideas while keeping a few.

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Closely related names

Geoffrey Ashe
Leslie Alcock

History of the Kings of Britain (Historia Regum Britanniae)

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#ambrose #ambrosiusaurelianus #ancienthistory #arthur #aureliusambrosius #badon #battleofbadon #britain #britons #cadburycastle #camelot #christophergidlow #darkages #darkageshistory #earlymiddleages #earlymiddleageshistory #fifthcenturyad #geoffreyofmonmouth #historiaregumbritanniae #history #historydarkages #historyearlymiddleages #historyofthekingsofbritain #houseofconstantine #medievalhistory #monsbadonicus #picts #reignofarthur #riothamus #saintambrose #southcadburycastle #thereignofarthur #uther #utherpendragon

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Cadbury Castle, Somerset - Wikipedia

The Gododdin of Aneirin: Text and Context from Dark-Age North Britain - John Koch [pdf 410pp] https://www.academia.edu/109991544/The_Gododdin_of_Aneirin_Text_and_Context_from_Dark_Age_North_Britain #EarlyMiddleAges #DarkAge #YGododdin #Aneirin

𝗪𝗜𝗞𝗜𝗣𝗘𝗗𝗜𝗔'𝗦 𝗙𝗘𝗔𝗧𝗨𝗥𝗘𝗗 𝗔𝗥𝗧𝗜𝗖𝗟𝗘

✧ Medieval cuisine ✧

Medieval cuisine includes the foods, diets, and cooking methods of various European cultures from the 5th to the 15th century. Cereals were the most important staple during the Early Middle Ages: barley, oats, and rye were eaten by the poor while wheat was generally more expensive. These were consumed as bread, porridge, gruel, and pasta by people...

#EarlyMiddleAges #LateMiddleAges #Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medieval_cuisine

Medieval cuisine - Wikipedia

A little #FrenchHistory as background during the riots: (edited from #Wikipedia)

Did you know that 1200 years ago as #Rome fell, the #Christian world was nearly conquered by the #Islam World?

The Carolingian Empire (800–888) was a large #Frankish-dominated empire in western and central Europe during the #EarlyMiddleAges.

In #AD800, the #Frankish king #Charlemagne was crowned emperor in Rome by #PopeLeoIII in an effort to transfer the #RomanEmpire from the #ByzantineEmpire to western Europe.

Excited about finally receiving my backordered copy of this book, which I’m sure I’ll find time to read between graduate school, client work, and adult education courses 😁 #EarlyMiddleAges #BookStadon #histodons #history #archaeology