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.


Sunday, 6 July 2025

The Monomachos Crown


Live Science has a short article about the Monomachos Crown, apparently made in the years 1042-1050, and which features the Byzantine Emperor Constantine IX Monomachos and his two co-Empresses, his wife Zoë and her sister Theodora.

The crown was found in what was then northern Hungary, and is now Slovakia, in 1860 it is displayed in the National Museum in Budapest.

The article describes the crown and links to discussions as to its authenticity- which it appears to favour - or otherwise. It also discusses how the gold plaques may have been mounted originally.

Although it is short the article does serve as a useful introduction to what appears to be a precious survival from the eleventh century.

The article, with its illustration and relevant  links  can be seen at Monomachos Crown: The 1,000-year-old crown honoring 'the one who fights alone' found by a farmer in a field

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