Here is some medievalism in the recent news—including some controversy—to whet the appetite.
2016-07-20
Some context: an earlier version first appeared at In The Middle, a medieval studies group blog:
An excerpt that is of particular relevance to our course, and to the relevance of Medieval Studies and Medievalism:
“Relevance” < from Lat. re- + levare, to lift up again; broader over-arching questions in this course will include the serious consideration of this cardinal word. Old & Middle French (one of the routes of this word into English): relever. Related: lever, to lift; soulever, to lift up; élever, to lift up and out of, elevate. This course aims to bring make “relevance” uplifting again. Yes, that re- prefix still means falling down before getting up again: that’s a crucial part of learning, and was indeed in the Medieval period too; but remember, relever is transitive: it’s about getting yourself back up, helping someone else up, a reciprocal action, or any combination of all three. It’s a word that extends a hand in kind friendship and grasps another hand in mutual trust. So: an unofficial informal prerequisite for the course, presumed of all participants, will be: we will all be relevant.