Post Grad History Woes

As I was sat falling asleep over my strawberry yogurt on my lunch break today I started thinking about future prospects that would involve me, and lots of history. Now you all know I got my BA in Archaeology some time ago now and ever since then I've been mooching about, sobbing grossly over the fact that I miss learning about stuff. That and I really REALLY want to sit down and write another dissertation. I actually kid you not, I thoroughly enjoyed writing my BA dissertation. I must be mad!

I made the decision a while ago that I wanted to move from Archaeology and concentrate fully on history. Oh don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong whatsoever with digging massive holes everywhere and then dropping your lunch in a Roman field ditch but after suffering the disappointment of being a field archaeologist during a recession, I though that maybe I should indulge my love of history a bit more. And indulge I did...

Yes, yes I know there are copies of The Hunger Games trilogy on that shelf but even those of us who adore historical non-fiction need to have a break every now and then. But I digress. I now have two bookshelves full to bursting with (mostly) history books that concentrate on the Seventeenth Century. There are a few Tudor books in there, mostly relating to the later years of the era and my collection of Italian Renaissance books is growing considerably too.

I promise this is going somewhere.

When I got home from work this evening, barely more awake than I was at lunchtime and surprisingly not covered in strawberry yogurt, I sat down and had a look at some post grad history courses in my area. I plan on staying in the area where I live because we both hold down full time jobs and I abhor moving. That and I still plan on working full time whilst studying. It is possible, I promise...I hope. My problem came though when many of the modules available in the MA courses just didn't jump out at me, many of them covering the late 18th Century up to pretty much modern day. That was when I found a course that involves Medieval stuff, and the Renaissance. I almost jumped out of my seat. You know how much I love the Borgia family, and I have read a bit around the Medici too, and what with heading to Rome in July too. It is a fascinating culture. And one I would jump at the chance to study. Whilst it is not the Seventeenth Century, I still adore the Renaissance (and am prepared to read a lot more on the Medieval period too, does anyone have any book recommendations? Please do email me if so!) and this honestly sounds like my perfect course.

The next job is working out a) how I'm gonna pay for said course and b) how I'll manage to work full time around it.

This is it you guys, decision made (I think, I hope...I'd better not change my mind again!). Next stop, application. I'll keep you updated.

A Little Bit Of Background

I have to admit, this is a little disconcerting. I'm new to this history blogging thing although I have studied history since before I can remember. I've been following a few history blogs for a while now, some alot better known than others and finally decided to start my own. But mine isn't really going to concentrate on one specific area because as a historian I have a huge interest in a lot of areas. Not only that, I'm trained an an archaeologist also and intend to share news and interesting titbits that I happen to come across. Of course, you will notice themes here too. For instance, note the title of my blog: "Caesar Or Nothing" - this is the motto of one Cesare Borgia, commander of the papal armies and general nasty piece of work. I have a huge interest in the Borgia family and the political intrigue that surrounds not only Cesare, but his father Rodrigo and his sister Lucrezia.

My main interest whilst studying archaeology at University was the battlefield archaeology of the English Civil War. This is still a huge interest of mine and my specialist battlefield is that of Cheriton in Hampshire and its surrounding area. I still read a lot on the English Civil War and research the weaponry used as well as the politics surrounding the war and the battles themselves. It is my hope that one day something more will come of my work on Cheriton. Who knows, I may even treat you all to some bits and pieces of what I discovered whilst I was conducting my research at University.

The Tudor era has always been of a huge interest to me. I can clearly remember being sat in a classroom at Primary school and learning about the Six Wives of Henry VIII, learning the rhyme that went along with them: divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived. Two of the wives really spoke to me, both of whom were beheaded. The first was Katherine Howard, the young queen who had been executed for having committed adultery with other men and the second Anne Boleyn. At the time we were not told the real reasons why these two women were executed, we were far too young to understand that both had been accused of sleeping around and one of which accused of committing incest with her brother! That discovery came about much later for me. My collection of Tudor books is probably the biggest next to my collection of archaeology and English Civil War books and I particularly concentrate on the later Tudor era - think Katherine Howard and beyond, in particular the reign of little Edward VI and the Protectorship of the Duke of Somerset.

There are of course other areas that interest me - Saxon England, early medieval England, the Knights Templar, the Restoration, Renaissance Europe and the First World War.

Here I plan on sharing articles I have written, book reviews and interesting bits and pieces on the areas that I am interested in. And I hope that this site proves to be a log of my journey towards furthering my education and eventually publication.

Coming soon: a piece of work I completed just this evening on Katherine Howard - Henry VIII's Rose Without A Thorn.