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, 19 January 2026

The impact of the Roman Empire on the landscape of the German frontier


Recent research by Freiburg academics on the consequences of Roman efforts to consolidate the frontier of the Empire with the Germanic tribes in terms of its environmental impact is outlined in a recent article from LBV. It relates the changing impact of the Romans on the landscape and sets it against the changing political circumstances. By the end of the Empire what were to become major resources of timber in the middle ages were sprouting and able to grow to maturity.
 

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