Dr. Erika Graham-Goering
@jeanneologist.bsky.social
Too many Jeannes | Medieval lordship and power, French comparative history, archives | Associate prof. Universitetet i Oslo (personal account) | she/hun.
I said grabby hands, I meant grabby hands 😁
Now let's see if I can get some of these documents onto my spring syllabus!
Now let's see if I can get some of these documents onto my spring syllabus!
November 28, 2025 at 3:13 PM
I said grabby hands, I meant grabby hands 😁
Now let's see if I can get some of these documents onto my spring syllabus!
Now let's see if I can get some of these documents onto my spring syllabus!
Spotted in an Oslo metro car
![Sporveis-dikt
humanisme
skriv ned hele verdenshistorien
på soveromsveggen
hvor plasserer du neandertalerne
hvor høyt opp mot taket
hvor nær det store vinduet
er det der de forsvant ut
har de krøpet inn
i lufteventilen
til naboens stue
hvor my ansvar tar du egentlig
for de som bor
under føttene dine
Bård Torgersen
Fra samlingent la oss gjøre dette sammen
Forlaget Okstober, 2025
[English translation:
write down the entire history of the world
on the bedroom wall
where do you place the Neanderthals
how high up towards the ceiling
how close to the large window
is that where they disappeared
have they crawled into
the air vent
of the neighbor's living room
how much responsibility do you actually take
for those who live
under your feet]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:ew6s547jsvp5npbjqd6d6c4i/bafkreibtxtiu6tjpmjha5kwdsxts5kuvjw6ajojytq5c4zvqigyf3if4pu@jpeg)
November 27, 2025 at 1:50 PM
Spotted in an Oslo metro car
...I hate trying to figure out how big anything was in the past
(If anyone happens to know of a handy reference work discussing French regional variations in units of measurement, please do point it my way! Sounds like the kind of thing some 19th-century person might have compiled, I dunno)
(If anyone happens to know of a handy reference work discussing French regional variations in units of measurement, please do point it my way! Sounds like the kind of thing some 19th-century person might have compiled, I dunno)
![Screenshot from the Dictionnaire du Moyen Français for the entry "arpent"
ARPENT, subst. masc.
[T-L: arpent; GDC: arpent; AND : arpent; DÉCT: arpent; FEW XXV, 177b :
arepennis; TLF : III, 524a : arpenti]
A. -"Mesure agraire de surface, divisée en 100 perches ou 30 toises carrées et variant suivant les localités (entre 20 à 70 ares)" : Et, au fait des vignes, il y eut bien peu de vin, et par especial en l'Isle de France, comme d'ung muy de vin pour chascun arpent mais il fut bien bon (ROYE,
Chron. scand., I, 1460-1483, 3).
- Arpent de bois : Si l'ay j'en plus de cent arpens De bois quise (Mir. st J. Paulu, c.1372, 110). .. les arpens de bois sont de cent cordes, la corde de VIII aulnes et demie de Provins de long ; l'en a dit par arrest au seigneur de Rochefort que l'arpent de bois en Bourgoingne a XXX toises rapenaulz de quarrure et a chascune toise VII piéz et demi de long. (Cout. bourg. glosé P.M., c.1380-1400, 286). Avecques ce lesdiz religieux ont VIII arpens de boiz en une piece en ladicte forest (HECTOR DE CHARTRES, Cout. R., 1398-1408, 282). ..pour vendre ou faire vendre par les verdiers (...) IIJc arpens de bois chauffage, à coper et abatre es forests du Roy (FAUQ., I, 1417-1420, 204).
Rem. «L'arpent du roi, utilisé dans le domaine royal et ailleurs, comportait 100 perches carrées de 22 pieds de côté; la perche contenait 484 pieds carrés (22 X 22) et l'arpent par conséquent 48.000. L'arpent valait 51 ares 7 centiares» (M. Devèze, La Vie de la forêt fr. au XVIeS., 1961, 348).](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:ew6s547jsvp5npbjqd6d6c4i/bafkreiaybsy2jtssc56p7xpkoe7go6c37htwr42xy2pmw5mxw7bugmfb3e@jpeg)
November 24, 2025 at 8:33 AM
...I hate trying to figure out how big anything was in the past
(If anyone happens to know of a handy reference work discussing French regional variations in units of measurement, please do point it my way! Sounds like the kind of thing some 19th-century person might have compiled, I dunno)
(If anyone happens to know of a handy reference work discussing French regional variations in units of measurement, please do point it my way! Sounds like the kind of thing some 19th-century person might have compiled, I dunno)
V2.0 (which is also visualizing the data in a different way). Guess which piece of property was the most important?
November 22, 2025 at 8:36 AM
V2.0 (which is also visualizing the data in a different way). Guess which piece of property was the most important?
I'm back at my let's-diagram-this-lordship game
November 21, 2025 at 11:49 AM
I'm back at my let's-diagram-this-lordship game
You can see the result in this shot of the exhibition, to the left! We preserved the posthumously imposed grid-sequence for the images—I think the black backing makes them look a bit like a series of stained glass windows—but on the other side was the equally patchwork set of carved-up texts.
November 20, 2025 at 7:29 PM
You can see the result in this shot of the exhibition, to the left! We preserved the posthumously imposed grid-sequence for the images—I think the black backing makes them look a bit like a series of stained glass windows—but on the other side was the equally patchwork set of carved-up texts.
Our theme was "Repeat, Reveal, React", focusing on the use and meaning of visual repetition. (We had a pretty sweet catalog cover, if I may say so myself 😉)
True to my self-appointed mission in life, I squeezed a few medieval manuscripts, some European, some Arabic, into our show.
True to my self-appointed mission in life, I squeezed a few medieval manuscripts, some European, some Arabic, into our show.
November 20, 2025 at 7:29 PM
Our theme was "Repeat, Reveal, React", focusing on the use and meaning of visual repetition. (We had a pretty sweet catalog cover, if I may say so myself 😉)
True to my self-appointed mission in life, I squeezed a few medieval manuscripts, some European, some Arabic, into our show.
True to my self-appointed mission in life, I squeezed a few medieval manuscripts, some European, some Arabic, into our show.
A really exciting slate of papers for this year's Late Medieval France and Burgundy Seminar! If anyone will be in Durham and wants in (or maybe even wants to attend online, I don't know?), drop me a line and I can share details!
November 20, 2025 at 8:42 AM
A really exciting slate of papers for this year's Late Medieval France and Burgundy Seminar! If anyone will be in Durham and wants in (or maybe even wants to attend online, I don't know?), drop me a line and I can share details!
Searching for "ponh" found a few times the scribe wrote a longer version: ponhias, with a line over it. And specifically, the abbreviation connects to the H, suggesting a word shaped like "ponh_ias". Now Cappelli doesn't have this one, but it does note that h-with-a-line is often "her": "ponherias"?
November 19, 2025 at 8:50 AM
Searching for "ponh" found a few times the scribe wrote a longer version: ponhias, with a line over it. And specifically, the abbreviation connects to the H, suggesting a word shaped like "ponh_ias". Now Cappelli doesn't have this one, but it does note that h-with-a-line is often "her": "ponherias"?
After all, I'd love to have a searchable copy, but typing it all out would be hell on my wrists (hurray RSI). Thing is, training a handwriting model to do whatever specific script you need is a heck of a job in itself. Simply feed the manuscript into the closest model, and the results are... poor:
November 19, 2025 at 8:50 AM
After all, I'd love to have a searchable copy, but typing it all out would be hell on my wrists (hurray RSI). Thing is, training a handwriting model to do whatever specific script you need is a heck of a job in itself. Simply feed the manuscript into the closest model, and the results are... poor:
After all, having X number of portions of the grain that the peasants harvested would be a sensible thing to do. Unfortunately, this measurement is also abbreviated like this: ponh, with a line over it. That obviously can't be "portions" because there's no way for that H to get in there.
November 19, 2025 at 8:50 AM
After all, having X number of portions of the grain that the peasants harvested would be a sensible thing to do. Unfortunately, this measurement is also abbreviated like this: ponh, with a line over it. That obviously can't be "portions" because there's no way for that H to get in there.
Unfortunately for me, medieval scribes like to abbreviate, so the units of measurement for things like grain are rarely written out in full. Most of the standard ones I now recognize, but there was one that was bothering me. It looked like this: pon, with a line over it (indicating abbreviation).
November 19, 2025 at 8:50 AM
Unfortunately for me, medieval scribes like to abbreviate, so the units of measurement for things like grain are rarely written out in full. Most of the standard ones I now recognize, but there was one that was bothering me. It looked like this: pon, with a line over it (indicating abbreviation).
Je ne sais pas si Bluesky permettra de voir le détail, mais on verra!
November 17, 2025 at 6:40 PM
Je ne sais pas si Bluesky permettra de voir le détail, mais on verra!
Possibly one for @greenleejw.bsky.social but really for anyone who feels like a bit of C14 French palaeography, what's the last word on the top line? "Item le tiers de la huche ? anguilles dudit vivier." I'd have expected "aux" but it's... not. What other word could link eels with their reservoir? 😂
November 17, 2025 at 3:47 PM
Possibly one for @greenleejw.bsky.social but really for anyone who feels like a bit of C14 French palaeography, what's the last word on the top line? "Item le tiers de la huche ? anguilles dudit vivier." I'd have expected "aux" but it's... not. What other word could link eels with their reservoir? 😂
Fuck off @microsoft.com, get this shitty slop-generator out of my workspace and back to hell where it belongs
Anyone know how to kill this dead on a Mac? Meanwhile, looks like I'll be using alternatives to Word for the foreseeable.
Anyone know how to kill this dead on a Mac? Meanwhile, looks like I'll be using alternatives to Word for the foreseeable.
November 12, 2025 at 3:13 PM
Fuck off @microsoft.com, get this shitty slop-generator out of my workspace and back to hell where it belongs
Anyone know how to kill this dead on a Mac? Meanwhile, looks like I'll be using alternatives to Word for the foreseeable.
Anyone know how to kill this dead on a Mac? Meanwhile, looks like I'll be using alternatives to Word for the foreseeable.
In related news, I have new evidence that Latin words are much longer than French words. This Latin document, while only 70 words more than a French record of similar type, is over 1/3 of a Word page longer (and I haven't even bothered expanding all the abbreviations).
November 5, 2025 at 7:53 AM
In related news, I have new evidence that Latin words are much longer than French words. This Latin document, while only 70 words more than a French record of similar type, is over 1/3 of a Word page longer (and I haven't even bothered expanding all the abbreviations).
The internet is often crap these days, but wow is it cool to be reading a document from the late fourteenth century that mentions a house on a certain street in a certain French town, and be able to instantly see what that spot looks like now.
November 4, 2025 at 11:49 AM
The internet is often crap these days, but wow is it cool to be reading a document from the late fourteenth century that mentions a house on a certain street in a certain French town, and be able to instantly see what that spot looks like now.
Looking through some of my archival materials today, and would just like to shout out to the scribe of AN P 200 for having really lovely handwriting. Just look at these stylish letter forms! 😍
October 31, 2025 at 8:52 AM
Looking through some of my archival materials today, and would just like to shout out to the scribe of AN P 200 for having really lovely handwriting. Just look at these stylish letter forms! 😍
A reminder that there's about a week left to pitch your paper for this year's interdisciplinary Late Medieval France and Burgundy Seminar, the loveliest event of its kind, at Durham in mid-December! There's a great (and non-exclusive) theme, and it's lots of fun for ECRs and senior scholars alike!
October 23, 2025 at 7:50 AM
A reminder that there's about a week left to pitch your paper for this year's interdisciplinary Late Medieval France and Burgundy Seminar, the loveliest event of its kind, at Durham in mid-December! There's a great (and non-exclusive) theme, and it's lots of fun for ECRs and senior scholars alike!
Here's an interesting student question: in the game Pentiment [spoiler alert!], the player gets this message after a character dies in a burning building. It strikes me as anachronistic in several points, but I'm also not an expert in late medieval/early modern German law or contracts:
October 13, 2025 at 10:12 AM
Here's an interesting student question: in the game Pentiment [spoiler alert!], the player gets this message after a character dies in a burning building. It strikes me as anachronistic in several points, but I'm also not an expert in late medieval/early modern German law or contracts:
Hecking moment to be prepping for a course on research ethics...
October 1, 2025 at 6:36 AM
Hecking moment to be prepping for a course on research ethics...
Funnily enough, today Wikipedia has chosen another battle, from the start of the civil war, as their featured article!
September 30, 2025 at 8:13 AM
Funnily enough, today Wikipedia has chosen another battle, from the start of the civil war, as their featured article!
I want to send *both* books to someone who'd find my work useful! (PP in paperback, GR in hardback—note it's also available as a free PDF! library.oapen.org/handle/20.50...) If that's you, just *quote-post* this thread, and I'll pick a recipient next week 😊 (To share without entering, just repost!)
September 29, 2025 at 10:20 AM
I want to send *both* books to someone who'd find my work useful! (PP in paperback, GR in hardback—note it's also available as a free PDF! library.oapen.org/handle/20.50...) If that's you, just *quote-post* this thread, and I'll pick a recipient next week 😊 (To share without entering, just repost!)
It's Michaelmas, so it's also the anniversary of the battle of Auray (1364), which marked the beginning of the end of the Breton War of Succession begun 23 years earlier. And you know what? Let's mark it with a 🚨BOOK GIVEAWAY🚨 this time! (Charles de Blois has never had a stranger memorial...)
September 29, 2025 at 10:03 AM
It's Michaelmas, so it's also the anniversary of the battle of Auray (1364), which marked the beginning of the end of the Breton War of Succession begun 23 years earlier. And you know what? Let's mark it with a 🚨BOOK GIVEAWAY🚨 this time! (Charles de Blois has never had a stranger memorial...)
Nero Wolfe was onto something (and, more specifically, I shudder to think what he might have to say about certain recent technological developments...)
[from A Right to Die, by Rex Stout, 1964]
[from A Right to Die, by Rex Stout, 1964]
September 24, 2025 at 6:33 AM
Nero Wolfe was onto something (and, more specifically, I shudder to think what he might have to say about certain recent technological developments...)
[from A Right to Die, by Rex Stout, 1964]
[from A Right to Die, by Rex Stout, 1964]