Today in Medieval History

Jennifer Lynn Jordan over at Per Omnia Saecula has started a new video feature, Today in Medieval History. This week's entry is on St. Valentine's Day, and features a magical appearing/disappearing cat. It is, perhaps, a Cheshire Cat?

Morning Medieval Miscellany

I have a love/hate relationship with Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. In small doses, I love it, but if I have to teach it too frequently, I start to hate it. This morning, I go to teach SGGK with a dreadful sense of boredom that one can get with texts that almost teach themselves. When I hear myself talking about the "five fives" on the pentangle, in my mind my voice is Ben Stein's.

On a happier note, today is Valentine's Day, so perhaps not a bad day for a poem in which seduction plays a central role. Here are various Valentine's Day love notes from around the medieval blogosphere for you:

• Folks have reminded us about the role Geoffrey Chaucer had in the development of Valentine's Day, including In the Middle, Quid Plura, and CNN. Catholic Forum has page on St. Valentine, as does the Catholic Encyclopedia.


• Quid Plura has a bunch of links that are not to be missed, including the second and third videos embedded below.


• In the Middle has an excerpt from Hybridity, Identity, and Monstrosity in Medieval Britain that my Brit Lit I students would do well to read (*hint*hint*)


• Heavenfield has a post on St. Brendan and Lent.


• Steven Hart has a video clip and translation of a song about trolls. I'll also embed the video below, but it's quite long, so unless you've got a great deal of free time, your best bet would be to listen to it in the background while doing something else.


• Slouching Toward Extimacy has Medieval Hagiography Mad Libs!