Once I was a clever boy learning the arts of Oxford... is a quotation from the verses written by Bishop Richard Fleming (c.1385-1431) for his tomb in Lincoln Cathedral. Fleming, the founder of Lincoln College in Oxford, is the subject of my research for a D. Phil., and, like me, a son of the West Riding. I have remarked in the past that I have a deeply meaningful on-going relationship with a dead fifteenth century bishop... it was Fleming who, in effect, enabled me to come to Oxford and to learn its arts, and for that I am immensely grateful.


Friday, 3 April 2020

The Black Death in Ireland

Whilst we are in pandemic mode ”Medieval Histories” recently featured some PhD research on the Black Death in Ireland which seeks to explain the differences in the impact of the plague on the Gaelic Irish and the Anglo-Irish communities. The former appear to have been less seriously affected than the latter. Given that pandemics do not respect cultural boundaries the question arises as to why there should be such a disparity. The answer appears to lie in different farming practices in the two communities. The argument is set out in the article which can be viewed at:

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