Why the millennium of the Abbey of Bury St Edmunds matters
Today the Abbey of St Edmund Heritage Partnership formally launched the 2020 celebrations of the millennium of St Edmunds Abbey in St Edmundsbury Cathedral, an event which I was sadly … Continue reading
Suffolk Fairylore shortlisted for the Katharine Briggs Folklore Award
This evening I went to London’s Warburg Institute for a meeting of the Folklore Society where the winners of the Katharine Briggs Folklore Award were announced. My book Suffolk Fairylore was … Continue reading
‘Holy and Unholy Suffolk’ at the Bury St Edmunds Literature Festival
This afternoon I spoke at the third Bury St Edmunds Literature Festival (at Bury’s Unitarian Meeting House) on the theme of ‘Holy and Unholy Suffolk: Adventures in Suffolk’s History … Continue reading
The destruction of the Pachamama statues and the history of Catholic iconoclasm
In the early hours of Monday 21 October two individuals removed the controversial ‘Pachamama’ statues that played a part in the opening of Pope Francis’ Amazon Synod from the church … Continue reading
Review: Households of God, edited by Martin Browne and Colmán Ó Clabaigh
Martin Browne and Colmán Ó Clabaigh (eds), Households of God: The Regular Canons and Canonesses of St Augustine and of Prémontré in Ireland (Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2019), 320pp. The … Continue reading
The face of Abbot Bunting – the builder of St Edmundsbury Cathedral
I recently discovered that there exists a contemporary portrait of a late medieval abbot of Bury St Edmunds, William Bunting (alias Coddenham, d. 1513). The portrait has been overlooked because … Continue reading
Review: Cursed Britain by Thomas Waters
Thomas Waters, Cursed Britain: A History of Witchcraft and Black Magic in Modern Times (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2019), 352pp. I have been eagerly awaiting Thomas Waters’ Cursed … Continue reading
