Last semester, I wrote a paper on Holy Week in the Old Hispanic (Mozarabic) Liturgy that in part contrasted Isidore of Seville's treatment of Holy Saturday in De Ecclesiasticis Officiis with later liturgical commentary (e.g. Rabanus Maurus). Now that the day in question is upon us, I went back to my research and reflected on… Continue reading Isidore of Seville and Holy Saturday
Author: Carolyn MK
The Curbside Pickup Saga: a dramatization
Someday when I am old and grey and have pursued my second career (do I even have a first career yet?) as the next Andrew Lloyd Webber, I will write a comedic musical number about my experience at library curbside pickup today. Mind you, I am eternally grateful for how smoothly University of Toronto has… Continue reading The Curbside Pickup Saga: a dramatization
8 great medieval baby names to foist upon your innocent offspring
I'm at the age where lots of people I know are having babies. And to my disappointment, with a few notable exceptions, most of them seem to be blissfully unaware of the rich treasure trove of baby names provided by the Middle Ages, especially the earlier centuries thereof. To remedy this ignorance, I have compiled… Continue reading 8 great medieval baby names to foist upon your innocent offspring
Joys of Zoom University
Since I wouldn't want to give the impression that the only happy part of my remote learning experience is in the comic relief of bad situations, I determined to reflect a little bit on the good things that have been happening to me this fall. But before I get to the ~uplifting content~ part of… Continue reading Joys of Zoom University
The vicissitudes of Zoom University
I am now no longer a working professional but a full-time student (+part-time Latin tutor), so with the advent of actually having [lots of] homework, I naturally turn to the heretofore much neglected Florentissima to not only procrastinate, but to cope with 'Zoom University,' the new 2020 norm of higher education. Following unsuccessful attempts to… Continue reading The vicissitudes of Zoom University
Isidore: a panegyric of sorts
Since this weekend marks the feast day of St. Isidore of Seville (April 4th) according to both the old and new liturgical calendars of the Catholic Church, I thought it appropriate to publish some ramblings on how I came to find Isidore as a deserving focus for my foreseeable academic career. In my thesis proposal… Continue reading Isidore: a panegyric of sorts
Monastery gardening for monastic times
Between the quarantine memes, I’ve seen quite a few people share that they have picked up gardening, urban or otherwise, as a hobby while in home isolation. Funny, cuz I bought a plant at my pre-quarantine Trader Joe’s run and it immediately died. Anyway. This brought to mind a fascinating piece of medieval monastic heritage… Continue reading Monastery gardening for monastic times
Why Florentissima?
In my undergraduate honors thesis for the Stanford classics department, I explored the concepts of Gens Florentissima and Gens Fortissima in Isidore of Seville's Historia de regibus Gothorum, Vandalorum et Suevorum, a delightful little Latin work about the Visigothic conquest of the Iberian Peninsula and the nation's triumphant (for Isidore) conversion from Arianism to Catholicism.… Continue reading Why Florentissima?
Musings of a medievalist mama 