Interpreting the Prehistoric Landscape in Medieval and Early Modern England. An online lecture by Dr Francis Young MA PhD FRHistS
Medieval and early modern people lived in a rural England whose landscape and boundaries were still determined, to a remarkable degree, by their Neolithic, Bronze Age and Iron Age predecessors. In many parts of the country, people lived in the shadow of artificial landscape features created by prehistoric people which served as landmarks and focuses of local folklore. This talk examines how medieval and early modern people approached the prehistoric past in the landscape before the advent of antiquarianism and archaeology, and how their folklore, religious beliefs and understanding of customary traditions affected their interpretation of prehistoric features.
Francis Young is a UK-based historian and folklorist specialising in the history of religion and supernatural belief. He is the author of 14 books. His research interests include monasticism, saints, the history of magic and ritual (especially exorcism), early modern Catholicism, fairy belief and European paganism. He is especially interested in the history of England, Ireland and the Baltic states. He is also a professional indexer and a translator specialising in medieval and early modern Latin.
Online lecture – Thursday 14 January 2021, commencing at 7.30pm
Further reading:-
- Susan Oosthuizen, The Emergence of the English (2019) – see https://arc-humanities.org/products/t-84104-115104-28-8316/
- Megan Aldrich and Robert J. Wallis (eds), Antiquaries and Archaists: The Past in the Past, the Present in the Present (2009)
- Graham Parry, The Trophies of Time: English Antiquarians of the Seventeenth Century (2007)
- Sarah Semple, Perceptions of the Prehistoric in Anglo-Saxon England (2013)
- Alexandra Walsham, The Reformation of the Landscape (2011)
- Francis Pryor, The Making of the British Landscape: How We Have Transformed the Land, from Prehistory to Today (2010)