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14/9/2019

Name change

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The Medieval Monk, in an early medieval English habit, based on manuscript artwork of the period. © Christopher Monk 2015
Hello readers,
As you have likely noticed, I have changed the name of my website to The Medieval Monk. The reason for this is two-fold:
First, a recent but ongoing debate within the scholarly community of medieval studies has shown that the term 'Anglo-Saxon' has a history of both racial and racist connections. Though in Britain, where I come from, 'Anglo-Saxon' is primarily perceived and used as a historical term to describe the people and culture of early medieval England (c.450-1066), in other countries, such as the USA, 'Anglo-Saxon' is synonymous with 'white' and has long been primarily understood as relating to race and, moreover, has been frequently misappropriated within racist discources.
Since many of my readers are from the USA and elsewhere beyond Britain, I feel it's important for me to distance myself clearly from any racist misappropriation of 'Anglo-Saxon', and by far the easiest way to do this (though it costs both time and money) is to re-name my website and change my domain.
The second reason I have for the name change is that it reflects better the recent shift in my research as an independent scholar and freelance consultant. Though I continue to write, research, and consult within the area of early medieval English culture (what is still called Anglo-Saxon Studies), I have significantly expanded into later medieval culture. For example, I'm currently writing a book about the fourteenth-century cookery book, Forme of Cury. So 'The Medieval Monk' better represents what I actually do (i.e. work across the whole medieval period), though I think it's important to remind you that I am still not a real monk!
Thank you everyone for supporting this website and I hope to continue to produce relevant (and fun) information about medieval England and its peoples.
Christopher Monk
P.S. For anyone wishing to understand the various meanings and uses of 'Anglo-Saxon', I found this recent article very helpful:
Origin of 'Anglo-Saxon'

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8 Comments
Jay Sefton link
14/9/2019 12:42:06 pm

Sad that the term 'Anglo-Saxon' is deemed racist or not used in the historical context that we use it. Medieval is a broad term but not an unattractive one. You'll always be the Anglo-Saxon Monk to me ;)
(looking forward to your cookery book btw)

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Christopher Monk link
26/1/2020 05:15:45 pm

Thank you so much. My apologies for my tardy reply. Technological issues have meant automatic notifications of comments have been failing. Just noticed a whole bunch of comments across various posts. Thanks again for your kind words. Much appreciated.

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Janiee
14/9/2019 02:04:41 pm

You just want to alliterate.

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Christopher Monk
26/1/2020 05:13:17 pm

Aha! You've seen through me! ?

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Kay Tomlinson link
14/9/2019 03:27:04 pm

Yes! Thank you! -- Kay

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Matthew Harffy link
14/9/2019 07:26:30 pm

And it illiterates, like all my titles!

I give you joy of your new name!

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Matthew Harffy
14/9/2019 07:27:19 pm

Or even alliterates! :-)

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Christopher Monk
26/1/2020 05:12:25 pm

Yes! ?

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    Welcome, blessed readers! This is the blog of the Medieval Monk, the alter ego of Dr Christopher Monk.

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