Name change

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'