Silk and spices, pepper and peacocks

A while ago, in my post on fruit, I mentioned that the word ‘peach’ entered England in the Anglo-Saxon period, even if the fruit itself probably didn’t.  The word is ultimately derived from persicum malum, Persian apple, indicating that the fruit entered Europe via Iran.  This is the trouble with writing about Anglo-Saxon medical works…

New job: Polonsky Pre-1200 England and France Digitisation Project (700-1200)

As mentioned in previous posts, I have recently moved to London to begin a new job: I have joined the Polonsky Pre-1200 England and France Digitisation Project (700-1200) team at the British Library as the digitisation Project Officer.  You can read more about the project here. These manuscripts, and many more, have already been digitised…