Eleanor Parker

As the search for lost medieval kings continues, interest in them seems stronger than ever. But a warning from the past speaks of their – and our – ruin.

The idea of public history, in which academics seek to address a wider audience, is considered to be a modern one, but, discovers Eleanor Parker, a form of it was practised during the Middle Ages.  

Gaps in our knowledge of the past can be frustrating, but occasional speculation about what we know to be absent is not always a bad thing, suggests Eleanor Parker.  

Eleanor Parker is inspired by a visit to a village church in Oxfordshire that bears witness to one of the most turbulent and transformative periods in English history.

The Durham Proverbs, a selection of Anglo-Saxon bons mots, show that medieval daily concerns and popular wisdom still have resonance today, says Eleanor Parker.