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Eleanor Parker Profile picture
Eleanor Parker
@ClerkofOxford
Medievalist and @HistoryToday columnist.
Jan 1 • 4 tweets • 3 min read
'We have often heard that people call today ‘Year’s Day’... Our calendar begins on this day according to the Roman practice, not for any holy reason, but because of ancient custom.' (Ælfric)

How New Year became part of the medieval English Christmastide: engelsbergideas.com/notebook/new-y…Image A New Year's Day carol from 1642 (sung to the tune of 'Greensleeves')

musicanet.org/robokopp/engli…Image
Dec 28, 2023 • 5 tweets • 3 min read
Today is Childermas Day, the feast of the Holy Innocents, on the fourth day of Christmas. It's an appropriate day for the Coventry Carol and other medieval lullaby-laments, which give voice to the grief that lies near the heart of the Christmas season aclerkofoxford.blogspot.com/2014/12/lullay…
Image The English name Childermas (like Candlemas, Christmas, Lammas etc.) dates back to the Anglo-Saxon period: 'cilda mæssedæg' was the 'feast-day of the children', the Holy Innocents. This Anglo-Saxon Chronicle entry says Westminster Abbey was consecrated 'on cilda mæssedæg', 1065. Image
Dec 28, 2022 • 6 tweets • 3 min read
Today is Childermas Day, the feast of the Holy Innocents, on the fourth day of Christmas. It's an appropriate day for the Coventry Carol and other medieval lullaby-laments, which give voice to the grief that lies near the heart of the Christmas season: aclerkofoxford.blogspot.com/2014/12/lullay… There was an old tradition that Childermas was a very unlucky day, when no important undertaking should be started and no washing or cleaning should be done. Whichever day of the week it fell upon would be unlucky throughout the coming year. archive.org/details/agloss…
Feb 20, 2022 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
Today is the feast of St Wulfric of Haselbury, Somerset anchorite, who died on 20 February 1154. His miraculous abilities included cutting through a metal hauberk with scissors, and the power to make someone bilingual... aclerkofoxford.blogspot.com/2013/02/a-mira… This is the story of Wulfric's bilingualism miracle. Wulfric and William (who could both speak French) treat Brihtric's frustration as a bit of a joke, but it's hard not to have sympathy with him - so much here about future English class divides.

from google.co.uk/books/edition/…
Feb 2, 2022 • 12 tweets • 7 min read
Candlemas, the Feast of the Presentation, has traditionally been seen as marking the transition from winter to early spring. Over the centuries of its history, the festival and its name have been entwined with many different aspects of daily life - here are some examples. The feast of the Presentation dates back to the 4th century, and in English it's been called 'Candlemas' for over 1000 years (from Anglo-Saxon 'Candelmæsse'). The name comes from the custom of processing with candles on this day, as seen in this image from Bodleian MS. Douce 12. Image
Dec 24, 2021 • 4 tweets • 3 min read
'You are the door in the wall; through you the All-wielding Lord
once only journeyed out into this world...
Intercede for us now, bold in your words,
that he may not allow us any longer
to go astray in this deadly valley.'

aclerkofoxford.blogspot.com/2017/12/the-an… 'O joy of women, beyond the glory of heaven,
most noble virgin through all the corners of the earth
of whom sea-dwellers ever heard tell,
explain to us the mystery which came to you from the skies...'
aclerkofoxford.blogspot.com/2013/12/the-an…
Nov 2, 2021 • 4 tweets • 3 min read
Today is All Souls' Day. This day developed in the Middle Ages as a time for comfort and connection between the living and the dead: a day to ensure no one was left alone in death, and to reassure the living of their place within a vast community of souls. unherd.com/2020/11/how-we… Image 'For all Cristen saulys pray we:
Requiem eternam dona eis, Domine.'

Some medieval prayers for All Souls aclerkofoxford.blogspot.com/2013/11/a-song… Image
Dec 25, 2020 • 6 tweets • 4 min read
Alongside the many merry medieval carols, there's another sadder, darker strain - a genre of melancholy lullabies. Mary tries to soothe her crying baby, but he explains he's crying for us, for the sorrows of the 'weeping world', which he has come to share. aclerkofoxford.blogspot.com/2018/12/mary-h… Image These poignant medieval lullabies feel particularly fitting in this year of solitude and grief. Here's a beautiful example for Christmas night: 'As I lay on Yule's Night / Alone in my longing...' corymbus.co.uk/as-i-lay-on-yu… Image
Nov 25, 2020 • 6 tweets • 4 min read
St Catherine and her wheel, in medieval glass from Christ Church, Oxford. Today is her feast, once known as 'Catterns Day'.

Catherine was a very popular saint, patron of young women and anyone who works with books or wheels: librarians, students, philosophers, wheelwrights... Image St Catherine was especially associated with learning: her legend said that as a young girl she devoted herself to study, and when challenged to debate against 50 philosophers, her arguments won the dispute. She's often shown with a book.

(BL Add.35313 & 18851; Westhall, Suffolk) ImageImageImage