Getting Medieval on the Middle Ages


The first episode in my course on medieval history is up at Unauthorized.tv (History and Logos Channel)! The series will be for subscribers to the channel, but this episode is free to watch. Supporting materials will be posted on Medieval History 101: The Unauthorized Version. Come join me!

For my continuing adventures as a conservative in academia, see MedievalGate.

 For a full list of my video, podcast, and radio appearances, see Bear On Air.

Comments

  1. binks webelfJune 27, 2019 at 11:09 AM

    Enjoying the U.tv course, prof! And First Things just published:

    https://www.firstthings.com/article/2019/06/in-the-academic-sandbox
    IN THE ACADEMIC SANDBOX
    A SKIRMISH IN MEDIEVAL STUDIES.
    by Charlotte Allen
    June 2019

    ReplyDelete
  2. Johnny BJune 28, 2019 at 4:45 AM

    Congrats Prof. I'm looking forward to it and to see your work grow along with Unauthorized.

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousJune 28, 2019 at 6:31 AM

    Thank you for your upload on unauthorized.tv . It has given me many points to reflect on and given me new reading material. Well done!

    ReplyDelete
  4. binks webelfJuly 5, 2019 at 10:45 AM

    Saw this, thought of you. Might you teach a future Tolkien course after the Medieval course at U.tv?

    https://catholicism.org/tolkien-and-reality.html
    Tolkien and Reality
    JUL 5, 2019 CHARLES A. COULOMBE

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Fencing BearJuly 5, 2019 at 11:03 AM

      I would love to! Have you checked out the blog for the course I teach at Chicago? https://tolkienmedievalandmodern.blogspot.com

      Delete
  5. BelovedNovember 9, 2020 at 10:36 AM

    Professor Brown,

    I resubscribed to UA.tv and I just finished the first episode of your Medieval History series. Thank you so much, it was a delightful hour and I look forward to the rest of the series.

    I must confess, having experienced things in my own life far more "marvelous" than what you cited, I'm open to the possibility that the marvelous events recorded in primary sources were faithful accounts of real events. Of course, no reasonable person can believe anything that hasn't been authorized.

    To misquote the Bard, "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, Than are verified in your newspaper."

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. BelovedNovember 9, 2020 at 1:49 PM

      Episode 3 and the reports of monks going out into the wildernesd to seek God... I found that very intetesting.

      Delete
    2. Fencing BearNovember 9, 2020 at 1:54 PM

      I am so happy you are enjoying the videos! Be sure to check out the study guides, if you want to read further: https://unauthorizedmedievalhistory.blogspot.com/

      Delete

Post a Comment

Thank you for taking the time to respond to my blog post. I look forward to hearing what you think!

F.B.

Popular posts from this blog

Draco Layer Four: The Anagogic or Mystical Sense

Image
Here be dragons. And doves. Human beings long for transcendence. Such longing is, for the world, always out of fashion because, of course, it is not a longing for the world, and the world knows it. We know what the world wants. The world—by which we mean Satan, the Lord of the World—wants above all our obedience, a jewel so precious that he will do anything to get it: lie, steal, murder, bear false witness, pretend to social standing, pretend to insider knowledge to get us to consent to his influence.  “God lied to you. You will not die.” And suddenly we are anxious about having other people dislike us, about losing prestige in our social circles, about other people being more popular or influential or successful, about other people having secret knowledge, about our own influence and fame. “You shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.” And with that temptation, our first parents fell. The irony is cosmic. There they were in the Garden, privy to conversation with God face-to-face, ...
Keep reading

How to Be a Happy Warrior

Image
Several of my friends have remarked over the past few days how impressed they were that I was able to stay so calm during the engagement on the Facebook thread . Well, let me tell you, it wasn't easy! I was supposed to be at a fencing tournament today [ now, yesterday--FB ] at our club, but instead I have spent the day on the couch with Roger Scruton and a cold, my sinuses throbbing and my head in a whirl. Which is only to say, being a Happy Warrior takes it out of you. So how did I do it, stay so calm in the midst of the storm? A few training tips for those brave enough to step with me onto the strip.... 1. Arm yourself . If you are going to be a Happy Warrior, you need to know everything . I'm not kidding about this. There is a reason that after the Apostle Paul saw the Lord on the road to Damascus he went off to Arabia and did not return to Jerusalem for three years (Galatians 1:17-18). He was studying! (Okay, I'm getting this interpretation of what he says from Marg...
Keep reading

Draco Layer Three: The Moral or Tropological Sense

Image
Learn to discern. We all know what sin is, right? Right?!  Once upon a time in the desert , the hermit Evagrius Ponticus (d. 399) set out to make a list of the most deadly ones, albeit he called them “deadly thoughts,” not “sins.” You probably know the list, even if you don’t think you do: gluttony, impurity (a.k.a. lust), avarice (a.k.a. greed), sadness (a.k.a. feeling sorry for oneself), anger or wrath, acedia  or sloth, vainglory, and pride (two different things).  Not quite the list you were expecting? That is because some centuries later—we’re talking ancient times here, when centuries passed like decades do now (or vice versa)—Pope Gregory the Great (d. 604) revised the list, somewhat accidentally, in his commentary on Job.  Gregory had been expounding Job according to its multiple layers—yes, that’s right! Job, like Shrek, has layers! —and he happened somewhere in book XXXI to mention the “seven principle vices” to which Pride,  the “Queen of S...
Keep reading

Make the Middle Ages Dark Again

Image
I miss the good old days. You remember. Back when the only thing people knew about the Middle Ages is that they were Dark and filled with evil barons wresting a living off the back of their serfs, not to mention lecherous clergy imprisoning young maidens so as to rape them and then accuse them of witchcraft. You remember, right? What it was like when the Middle Ages were Dark? The Roman Catholic Church made slaves of everyone, stripped them of their sense of dignity and independence and made social status a matter not of achievement, but birth. The Church hated science and industry and did everything in its power to keep people in chains. It guarded its authority with the sword and the stake, stifled all innovation, and fed the common people lies. And why were these Ages so Dark? There were no universities, no towns, only castles with dungeons. Monks huddled in their cells thinking dark thoughts about sin, while Vikings stormed across the countryside, raping and pillaging and ca...
Keep reading

How to Signal You Are Not a White Supremacist

Image
Professor Kim READ FIRST:  Why Dorothy Kim Hates Me , The Color of the House of the Lord It’s back to class for those of us who teach in medieval studies, and my medievalist colleague Dorothy Kim , Assistant Professor of English at Vassar College ( pictured in 2014 ), wants to make sure you understand the stakes . The medieval western European Christian past is being weaponized by white supremacist/white nationalist/KKK/nazi extremist groups who also frequently happen to be college students.  That does sound bad. But, wait, it gets worse! Don’t think western European medieval studies is exceptional.... ISIS/ISIL also weaponizes the idea of the pure medieval Islamic past in their recruiting rhetoric for young male Muslims. If the medieval past (globally) is being weaponized for the aims of extreme, violent supremacist groups, what are you doing, medievalists, in your classrooms? Because you are the authorities teaching medieval subjects in the classroom, you are, in ...
Keep reading