What will WOW my examiners?

I have been thinking of innovative ways to use new technology to WOW my examiners by adding something so different and inventive to my thesis.

This would not of course answer my research question, but would be more of a tool to use to help explain and demonstrate certain aspects of my thesis.

Do I want to keep it to myself until I pass my thesis in for examination - YES! sorry. But suffice it to say I think it will give my thesis that little extra zing that will spark interest and excitement about my subject.  So excited to be working on this project and cannot wait to really get started with my research next week in the UK!

Watch this space.

My Very First Blog - EVER!

As the title states, this is my very first 'Blog' ever! 

I hope by writing these blogs I will improve my social media skills and allow everyone a window into my research.

I am currently organising my schedule (meetings, fieldwork and archive research) for my UK research trip, which is coming up fast. One always thinks that something is forgotten, or that something will be forgotten, so there are checks and double checks and the inevitable triple checks before I go. 

One thing I am very excited about, is that I will be standing in the very same cells that these wonderful, amazing, devout people stood, where they prayed and lived their everyday lives, and in some cases where they were buried, between 500 to 1000 years ago! 

Who am I speaking of? The anchorites of England, Scotland and Rome. 

In understanding who and what anchorites were, there is a need to first understand who and what the Desert Fathers and Mothers were, because they were the predecessors to the medieval anchorite and their spiritual role-models. These early Christian men and women, in the years after the death of Christ, withdrew to the deserts of Egypt, Palestine, Syria and Arabia to live in solitude in order to be spiritually closer to, and to better commune with, God. Most lived in the shelter of caves and survived by limiting their bodily requirements to the basics, as well as relying on the charity of those who came to seek their spiritual guidance (Valters Painter 2012:ix).

Like the Desert Mothers and Fathers, the medieval anchorite sought out solitude, to be closer to God. Their solitude was found in the form of a cell or 'anchorhold' as it was sometimes called, which was, in the majority of cases, attached to the north side of a Church. These cells had only three windows to the outside world. There was a 'squint', a small window which was set so that the anchorite could view the altar inside the church, and hence the Mass, another small window which was for light to enter the cell - usually set higher on the outside wall, and a third which was at all times to be covered with a black curtain (usually with a white cross sewn onto it). This window was to be used to communicate with those who came to seek spiritual guidance and prayers from the enclosed anchorite and from which to receive alms. 

Although most cells were in the middle of a village or town, this cell was the anchorite's desert, where they could be alone to pray for eternity. I say eternity because the majority, particularly the female anchorites, were actually sealed in their cells, so that it in fact became their tomb. They lived and died in their cell, and for some this was to mean being enclosed for up to 50 years before their death.

A part of my research is focused on these cells, their location, the construction, layout and size. There were obviously many variances, some even included a small garden which was attached to the cell (also enclosed so that the anchorite could not leave it). However it would have offered more freedom and sunlight to those lucky enough to have one. 

There has been much research completed on the medieval anchorite by modern scholars such as Liz Herbert-McAvoy, Roberta Gilchrist, Eddie Jones and Anne Warren, with major databases being completed in the early 20th century by the likes of Rotha Mary Clay, for example. However, I will be focusing on the areas in which present some major gaps in knowledge. 

 

I will also be researching for a conference paper I hope to present in Leeds at the World Medieval Congress in July next year. This paper will be focused on the Murates of Rome, anchorites who lived extreme lives enclosed in cells in the walls surrounding Rome, with just one small window to the outside world through which food, alms and light came in and waste out.  

I am very excited about my upcoming research trip and I hope to share with you some of my day as I travel around the UK, Scotland and Rome viewing some of these amazing anchorholds. 

Wish me luck!