August Roundup

Newsreel

Just a few things this week to round off the end of the month. Another story about urban archaeology, and one about Labyrinth’s favourite mythological creature (hint: it’s not minotaurs. Well, it is, but there’s not a lot of minotaur related news. Okay fine, our second favourite creature). Also over the next few months, Newsreels will become intermittent with the term starting, we’ll have social events, interviews with professors, and other exciting things to post, so expect a Newsreel every few weeks, instead of weekly. Also, I’ve found that the news starts to slow down after the summer digs are over, and don’t necessarily want to treat you to breaking news about Caligula’s artichoke collection. Okay, not true. if I found an article on that, it’d be in the post in a heartbeat. Anyway, buried kings and vampires!

Wherever He May Lie

The University of Leicester has begun a dig in Leicester City Centre in the hopes of uncovering an old monastery which may hold the body of King Richard III. They’ll be digging up a parking lot looking for the remains of the last Plantagenet, who died in 1485 at the Battle of Bosworth. The monastery of Greyfriars where Richard was interred was demolished along with many others after King Henry VIII split with Rome. Richard Buckley, who’s the co-director of the University of Leicester’s Archaeology Service is optimistic about finding the church, but still skeptical about whether they’ll find the remains. His candor is refreshing, as an honest tale speeds best, being plainly told. Find out more in the video below, or at the Telegraph.

So Bloody Hungary

A new paper by György Németh sheds some like on “The Origins of the Tale of the Blood-drinking Hungarians”. Now, it doesn’t specifically say vampires, merely that the first Hungarian chronicle, the 13th century Gesta Hungarorum, includes tales of blood rites. The author of the work is unknown, so it’s of questionable veracity. The Hungarians, having raided a great deal of their neighbours, weren’t exactly well liked. These are the kinds of things Dan Brown novels get written about. Okay, maybe Anne Rice novels. Either way, it’s nifty. either it’s an early contribution to the vampire myth, or an example of ancient propaganda, spreading lies about the Hungarians, like how they take oaths on dead dogs. Read more about this at Medievalists.net, including a link to the paper itself, and draw your own conclusions.

So that’s it for Newsreel this week. We’ll be back on Monday with Classics for Parents.

Jim Tigwell is a freelance writer with an MA in Philosophy and a BA in the same, with a minor in Classical Studies. The creator of Concept Crucible, a blog focusing on applying philosophy to everyday life, he also writes about games, classics, and social media. Find him on Twitter as @ConceptCrucible.