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Dimwit! Charles the Simple and His Nickname

By Fraser McNair The Frankish king Charles the Simple (r. 898-923) does not have a posthumous reputation as the brightest king who ever reigned. The most famous episode with which he is associated is one in which he was flipped onto his backside by an insubordinate Viking, who was told to kiss Charles’ feet and…
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The emotional impact of war

A perspective from the early medieval west, c.841AD By Robert Evans @R_AH_Evans This week we remember the human cost of military conflict. We think not only of the millions killed and wounded but also about the unseen impact of war on human minds and emotions. The psychological and emotional costs of war are far better known…
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A Story about Exploding Bowels: The Bible, Hagiography, Monastic Foundation Documents and the Use of Historical Exemplars

By Fraser McNair Fraser is a PhD candidate in the Faculty of History. His thesis is entitled ‘The development of territorial principalities between the Loire and the Scheldt, 893-99′. When I originally wrote these words, on the 19th November, it was (so Wikipedia informed me) World Toilet Day. Yet the question of human faeces is not only a…
