Medieval History 101: The Unauthorized Version

What if I told you that without the Rule of St. Benedict for monks there would be no Western civilization? Hint : It isn’t because monks were not supposed to laugh. Video with subscription at Unauthorized.tv  (History and Logos Channel) References  Texts  Umberto Eco, The Name of the Rose , trans. William Weaver (1983); film adaptation , dir. Jean-Jacques Annaud (1986) Benedict of Nursia, Rule , ed. in Latin and English by one of the Benedictine Fathers of St. Michael’s (London, 1875)  Gregory the Great, Dialogues , bk. II on Benedict People John Cassian (ca. 360-435) Benedict of Nursia (ca. 480-March 21 543/547) Rupert of Deutz (ca. 1075-ca. 1129) Benedict gives his rule to Maurus Monastery of St. Gilles, Nimes, 1129 Jocelyn of Brakelond (fl. late twelfth-early thirteenth century) Types of books for the liturgy Psalters Antiphoners (chant for Divine Office) Graduals (chant for Mass) Lectionaries (readings for Divin...

You have heard Vox Day talk about how “nation” means a people related by blood, history, language, and religion. But what if a people related by blood, history, and language change their religion? What would induce you to change your ancestral worship for a God you had never heard of until some strangers arrived? Video with subscription at Unauthorized.tv  (History and Logos Channel) References Text Bede ,  Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum  ( Ecclesiastical History of the English People ),  trans. by A. M. Sellar  (London: George Bell and Sons, 1907); trans. by Bertram Colgrave,  ed. by Judith McClure and Roger Collins  (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1969, 1994) Book I, chapter 25: How Augustine came to Britain and first of all preached to the king of Kent on the island of Thanet; then, after obtaining permission, he went to Kent to preach. Book I, chapter 26: How in Kent he followed both the manner of life and the teaching of ...

Are you worried about being called “racist” for agreeing with President Trump’s recent tweets inviting those who hate our country or who are not happy here to leave? Would you prefer that American schools taught a more traditionally English-centered narrative of our nation’s history? Let me tell you a little bit about the Venerable Bede, author of the first history of the English nation. Video with subscription at Unauthorized.tv  (History and Logos Channel) References Texts Bede, Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum  ( Ecclesiastical History of the English People ),  trans. by A. M. Sellar (London: George Bell and Sons, 1907); trans. by Bertram Colgrave, ed. by Judith McClure and Roger Collins (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1969, 1994) Gildas, De excidio et conquestu Britanniae  ( On the Ruin and Conquest of Britain ),  trans. by J.A. Giles and T. Habington (1842) Geoffry of Monmouth, Historia regum Britanniae  ( History of t...

Are you still impressed with the way in which a certain Canadian professor of psychology unlocks the psychological significance of the Biblical stories? Just wait ‘til you learn about Gregory the Great’s Moralia in Job ! Video with subscription at Unauthorized.tv  (History and Logos Channel) References  Text Gregory the Great, Moralia in Job , trans. John Henry Parker , 3 vols. (London: J.G.F. and J. Rivington, 1844) Epistle to Bishop Leander, wherein Gregory explains his method of exposition  First Volume, Second Part,  Book VIII, chap. vi.8-11 : “The life of man upon earth is a warfare” (Job 7:1). Note: I was right. Gregory distinguishes between “militia” (warfare) and “tentatio” (trial). Good to know my Latin is up to snuff! People Job (Book of) Philo of Alexandria (ca. 25 B.C.-ca. A.D. 50) John Cassian (ca. A.D. 360-435) Gregory the Great (ca. A.D. 540-604, pope 590-604) Bede (A.D. 672/673-735) How to remember the four senses of ...

Are you frustrated with the way in which SJWs are trying to “woke-wash” the history of the United States? Just wait till you hear what the Protestant reformers did to the medieval understanding of Scripture! Video with subscription at Unauthorized.tv  (History and Logos Channel) Psalm 109 Dixit Dominus   Psalm 109 Dixit Dominus Choir psalter, Germany, ca. 1380 The Lord said to my Lord: Sit thou at my right hand. Until I make thy enemies thy footstool. The Lord will send forth the scepter of thy power out of Sion: rule thou in the midst of thine enemies. Thine is the dominion in the day of thy power, amid the brightness of the saints: from the womb before the day-star have I begotten thee. The Lord hath sworn, and he will not repent: Thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchisedech. The Lord upon thy right hand hath overthrown kings in the day of his wrath. He shall judge among the nations; he shall fill the land with the fallen: He shall smite i...

Welcome! In this episode , I introduce myself and the argument for our course: training minds in the discipline of history so as to counteract the lies that modernity tells about the West, particularly about the role of Christianity in shaping Western civilization . http://uatv.infogalactic.com  (History and Logos Channel) “Fake news” is not the invention of the internet; it is an invention of language, the ability that human beings have to tell stories about things that have happened in other places, other times. “Fake news” is simply the flip-side of history. — Fencing Bear at Prayer * References “Inherited ideas are a curious thing” Milo Yiannopoulos, Diabolical: How Pope Francis Betrayed Clerical Abuse Victims Like Me—and Why He Has to Go   (Bombardier Books, 2018), with Foreword by Rachel Fulton Brown The Ruin  (Old English poem in the Exeter Book ) Wulfstan II of York (d. 1023), Sermo Lupi ad Anglos    (trans. Dorothy Whitelock)...

I am going to be talking about the problem of sources in the first video for the course, posting this week. Background reading here! Last week I broke my sabbatical seclusion to attend a panel that my colleagues in the Department of History had organized on “Understanding the Trump Phenomenon.” The panelists covered a range of themes: climate change denialism, white nationalism, the global failure of capitalism, the latent illiberalism of American culture, and world-wide yearnings towards totalitarianism—all the usual -isms. And then they opened the floor to questions. Like a good fencer, I got my hand up first and said something about the need to think of American culture in more regional and long-range terms, particularly the differences in conceptions of liberty that  David Hackett Fisher  has shown to be in play, but it was already too late. The room was primed to descend into pessimism and despair, although since we're talking academics here—fellow professors and g...