Caitlin’s 25-or-so Best Blogs for SCA History Geeks

A new-to-me website called BestUniversities.com published a post called “50 Best Blogs for Medieval History Geeks.” The post wasn’t terribly good — some of the blogs were pretty awful and others had little to do with medievalism. But it gave me the idea to do a similar post for SCA readers.

Archaeology

  1. Archaeology in Europe: This blog links to news stories on European discoveries. Because it links to popular as well as scholarly sites its facts can be hit or miss, but it’s a great way too keep up with modern archeological news.
  2. Medieval Material Culture Blog: I already bookmark this excellent blog that reports on archeological finds and museum exhibits. It doesn’t hurt that the blog is by SCA-er Mesterinde Karen Larsdatter (Atlantia), who also does excellent linkspages on medieval art and and extant items.
  3. Antiquarian’s Attic: Links to museum exhibits and news items of historical interest. The blogger will list OOP links but most of her intriguing finds are from our time period. She also has a huge blogroll that I have not personally checked out, but that is probably worth reviewing.
  4. Anglo-Saxon Archeology Blog: A nice newsy blog on — you guessed it — Anglo-Saxon archeology.

Art and Architecture

  1. Medieval Hungary: Zsombor Jekely blogs on medieval Hungary. I considered deleting this link because I am personally not  interested in medieval Hungary, and heh, this is my blog. But I checked it out and was impressed with the art images and commentary. Note: the blog is in English, thank you Mr. Jekely.
  2. Vitrearum’s Church Art: I already had this beautiful blog on my subscription list. Anglican priest Allan Barton loves the medieval church architecture of Lincolnshire and shares that beauty with his readers. Well worth the look.
  3. Medieval Castle Blog: Now this is a fun blog. I had not run across it before, but it contains excellent pictures and commentary on medieval castles and their features. They even have a special section for haunted medieval castles, which I dearly love.
  4. The Medieval Garden Enclosed: This one I knew about and had on my sub list. The Cloisters at the Metropolitan Museum of Art displays and blogs about medieval plants. Excellent for herbalists, gardeners and persona work.

Literature and Language

  1. Unlocked Wordhoard: I straight-out love Dr. Nokes. He is a professor of medieval literature who is funny, smart, and loves talking about medieval history and literature.
  2. Wormtalk and Slugspeak: Yet another must-read blog: Professor Drout’s marvelous blog on Old English, Middle English, fantasy, and everything in between. A sense of humor doesn’t hurt either.
  3. The Norse Mythology Blog: Nicely done blog from a professor of Norse mythology at Loyola University in Chicago. The blog has existed less than a year so does not have a huge number of entries, but it looks promising.

Medievalism

  1. A Corner of Tenth-Century Europe: Dr. Jonathan Jarrett is a fascinating guy who does a great blog on early medieval Europe. He is an Oxford academic who specializes in Catalonian charters (of all things) but also writes about pre-Conquest British history.
  2. Scela: Medievalist Lisa Spangenberg concentrates on the evolution of digital media as a method of teaching medieval history.
  3. Got Medieval: A hilarious blog on medieval Europe. Grad student Carl Pyrdum has a particular thing for studying genitalia in the marginalia of medieval manuscripts, but I guess everyone has a hobby.  Well worth subscribing to.
  4. In the Middle: Thoughtful and entertaining, this blog concentrates both on medieval history and on modern academia. The contributors often blog about digital medievalism, which is the process of bringing digital tools to the study of history.
  5. Senchus: Dr. Tim Clarkson writes on the medieval history of Scotland.
  6. Medieval History Geek: This blog was new to me and I like it. Curt Emanuel is an academic but not in history — that he does for fun.
  7. Heavenfield: A lovely blog that concentrates on, in the blogger’s words, “early medieval northern Britain, church history and spirituality, and the continuing commemoration of the early medieval saints and their spirituality today.”
  8. Norse and Viking Ramblings: A professor of Norse studies blogs about  the practical side of Viking history and reenactment. Another new-to-me blog that I’ve now subscribed to.

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1 thought on “Caitlin’s 25-or-so Best Blogs for SCA History Geeks”

  1. Caitlin,

    I came across your blog and thought it was very high quality and awesome for SCA enthusiast. I wanted to get your opinion on my own medieval history blog http://arthursarmory.com/medieval-blog/ and see if it was up to the quality of your list. I only have about 50 posts currently so I am guessing it will take some more time to reach the promise land of your list but it is a goal I will shoot for.

    Cheers,

    Matt