Harry Potter Halloween Tea

Last year, Steven and I worked the Harry Potter Tea at the Copper Kettle in Foley AL. Steven played the sorting hat, and sorted the guests into their houses as they arrived through the brick wall at Platform 9 3/4. Later in the evening he played Nearly Headless Nick, the house ghost for Gryffindor. I…

Wordsworth and Nature

One of the greatly generalized characteristics of Romanic era literature is its obsession with and romanticized view of nature. Nature is understood to represent the sublime and fill the viewer with tranquil thoughts and wishes to become one with the earth. It was believed that distance from society soothes the soul. Or does it? Romanticism…

Motivation of the Crusades

During the early crusades contemporary writers did recognize that even the earliest supporters had many different reasons for taking up the crusaders cross. There were almost as many motives as people leaving for the holy city of Jerusalem. Yet, there were three overarching themes that caused tens of thousands of men to leave their homes…

The Western Church in the Middle Ages

The early medieval church became a source of religious and political power. In 1000-1215 A.D. the economy of western Europe was expanding rapidly and the church took advantage of this opportunity to gain authority. The church was able to expand upon this growing economic power with great reformed minded popes who wanted to restore the…

The Bayeux Tapestry

The Bayeux Tapestry is one of the best surviving primary historical accounts of the Battle of Hastings and the events leading up to the Norman Conquest of Anglo Saxon England in 1066 A.D. The Bayeux Tapestry, which is not truly a tapestry at all, but rather a piece of embroidery, is almost a thousand years…