Medieval Combat By Amanda Hays

I looked outside my window and tried to figure out what I was going to wear. It was a gray and chilly October day; not too windy, but it threatened rain, so I finally decided on a long sleeve shirt with a sweatshirt over it. Thinking that it ought to keep me warm enough, I…

Another Cheesy Love Poem By Madison Williams

I shall craft a new love song, One that stands true while winds of change batter at it.  For my love seeks to test me: To study the measure of my love inch upon inch.  To see the strength of my unrelenting bond.  I am but a servant to my love.  I bend on one…

The “Dirty” Middle Ages: A New Perspective By Capri Pappas

“Bring out your dead!” When one thinks of the Black Death, they usually picture the iconic scene in Monty Python and the Holy Grail where the bodies are collected from the houses of the poor. The body collectors weave through tightly-knit towns, stacking up corpses on their cart—and some were still alive! This popular image…

The Accidental Classicist: An Interview with Dr. McOsker by Amanda Hays

For some of us, finding our interests and what we want to do with our lives comes naturally. Dancers may talk about how as young children they watched performances for hours, and scientists may explain how they had always had a fascination with observing the natural world. But others end up finding their calling because…

Medieval Monsters by Kaitie Welch

Monsters: how do we see them in a historical sense? Often times when asked this question, people look to the Middle Ages, perhaps because of popular role-playing games based on the era, others because of the air of superstition that shrouds that period of time. Whatever the case, The Cleveland Museum of Art displayed an…

Thrice-Told Tales: A New AMRS Course

The AMRS program has recently added a new course to its curriculum: AMRS 100.1: “Thrice-Told Tales.” This course delves into the stories that humans have been telling for millennia. It was created by Dr. Zackariah Long. I asked him some questions about the course to get more specifics. How did you come up with the…

Inside a Russian Monastery by Amanda Hays

A monk led us through the cathedral back outside. He was clothed in black robes and talked very softly. The cathedral was enormous, with beautiful artwork decorating every inch of wall,and it went up into a dome, making it appear more expansive. There were icons of Russian Orthodox saints with golden backgrounds everywhere. As we…

Beowulf: Reviving an Ancient Tradition by Matthew Pheneger

This school year has seen an increase of AMRS events on campus. The latest of these, a student led recitation of the Old English epic Beowulf, took place on a fittingly dreary March day and attracted a sizable crowd of professors, majors, minors, and the casually interested. This event marks the revival of the campus tradition…

Beowulf and Archaeology: Text and Material Culture by Joseph Acero

Beowulf is one of the earliest examples of English literature, and because of that evidence on its background can be hard to uncover. However, Professor Gale Owen-Crocker found a significant amount of information on the Anglo-Saxon culture surrounding Beowulf through the fashion and ornaments they made. Director of the Manchester Centre for Anglo-Saxon Studies, Professor…