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.


Monday 26 June 2023

The Pied Piper of Hamelin


When I was at junior school I remember being introduced to Robert Browning’s poem The Pied Piper of Hamelin and that we also had books from a series of introductions to topics that were from a ‘Pied Piper’ series, the front cover bearing an image of the piper. I cannot imagine, given contemporary sensitivities, that such a title for a range of books would be deemed suitable today.

Medievalists.net recently had an article about the sources for the story of the abduction of the children of Hamelin, which is said to have occurred on June 26th 1284. So it seems appropriate to share the link to it on this 739th anniversary. The article itself can be viewed at The Pied Piper of Hamelin: A Medieval Mass Abduction?


Wikipedia has a detailed article at Pied Piper of Hamelin about the legend, explores a range of hypotheses as to its origins and shows how very many times the story has been retold in the last century or so, and also explores that theme in Pied Piper of Hamelin in popular culture


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