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, 20 March 2026

Reinterpreting Chess in the Middle Ages


Medievalist.net has an online article drawing upon recent research into how we should understand the role and function of chess as a means of contact between different racial groups during the medieval centuries.   

The article makes some excellent points using evidence from medieval texts on chess, but maybe one feels the emphasis on “diversity” as an end in itself is becoming too overplayed in this and similar academic studies…

The handsomely illustrated article may be seen at Medieval Chess Reveals a More Diverse Middle Ages, Study Finds

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