Rule: All Webcomics will Eventually Feature the Middle Ages

From: Creased Comics.com

MSCU General Meeting

On Thursday October 2nd starting at 4:00 pm in Clearihue A304 the MSCU will be holding its first general meeting of the year.

Q. What is a general meeting?

A. General meetings are open to all students who are interested in the MSCU. At this meeting the MSCU Executive will present their activity plans for the year. But the best part of this meeting is your participation.

The MSCU Executive is here to serve the students of UVic. While we like hearing the sounds of our own voices, we really want to hear from you. What kinds of activities do you want to see? Do you want academic activities, social activities or a mixture of both? We encourage students to bring their ideas and suggestions to this meeting. You can shape the direction of the MSCU.

If you are interested in making your voice heard or meeting the members of the MSCU, we encourage you to come to the General Meeting. If you have ideas but cannot come to the meeting, please send us and email.

Reminds me of a certain professor

From: Married to the Sea.com

Historic, Medieval Castle's Date With Auctioneer Approaches

The last act in a family’s long-running ownership dispute over a magnificent, 800-year-old Belgian castle will play out in an auctioneer’s house in Brussels on September 22, 2008. On that date, the third and final session for the public sale of the historic castle, Corroy-le-Château, will occur.

The castle, situated just south of Brussels, is surrounded by a moat and borders a 12-hectare, protected park. With walls and seven massive original towers dating to the 13th century, the property’s pristine condition makes it one of Europe’s only remaining perfectly-preserved castles.

Inhabited today by the same family descended from the original owners, the castle has undergone continuous transformation over the centuries and has been maintained in immaculate condition, preserving both its mythical quality and modern comfort throughout its 5,000 square meters of habitable space.

The castle’s status as a historic landmark provides the additional benefit of eligibility for government subsidies for any major work. Its majestically decorated parlors, beautiful corridors, bright interiors and sweeping staircases continue to attract touring groups and cultural performers, offering the possibility of dual use as both a residence and commercial endeavor.

A family dispute between the existing owners over the use of the castle culminated in a court decision which led eventually to the castle’s sale by public auction. The first two rounds of bidding yielded a current offer of €2.1 million ($3.1 million), an astonishingly low price in view of current European real estate values (see August 28 International Herald Tribune article, “In Brussels, French elite find favorable real estate values”

From: 1888 Press Release.com

Today in the Mid...GLORIOUS ROMAN PAST

21st September 19 BC - The Roman poet Virgil dies

21st September AD 1947 - The American author Stephen King is born

Is Stephen King the reincarnation of Virgil? Spoooooooooky...

Obscure Latin Word of the Week

This week's word: vagio, -ire

to whimper as a child.

How to use this word in daily life:

1. After a test - "Man, that test made me vagio - I should have studied more."

2. At the end of Moulin Rouge - "I can't finish that movie without vagio-ing. The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to lo... *sob* *sob*."

3. During karaoke - "It's hard to un-derstand/ how the tooouch of your hand/ has got me vagio-ing, vagio-ing, vagio-ing/ ooover you."

Exactly What We're Not

When a Medievalist Interprets a Song ...

MSCU Movie Night

On Friday September 12th starting at 7:00 pm in Clearihue A206 we will be hosting our first movie night of the year.

We will be showing the classic 1987 film The Princess Bride. Come and eat, drink and be merry with us! Food and refreshment will be provided free of change.

As an added bonus, students who are in their first, second or third year who come to our first two movie nights of the year will be entered in a draw to win a prize! What is this mysterious prize?

Well it's a... wait, let's not spoil the surprise.

Welcome to the Medieval Studies Course Union

Here are a few frequently asked questions about the MSCU:

1. What is it? The Medieval Studies Course Union serves to connect students with an interest in the middle ages. UVic can be a big and often intimidating place, finding peers with similar interests can be difficult. Students involved in the MSCU have a wide variety of interests. We hold both academic meetings (i.e. Latin study groups, discussion nights, undergraduate conferences, etc.) and social activities (i.e. skating nights, parties, movie nights, etc.).

2. Why should I be involved? Simply put - the more you put into your experience at UVic, the more you get out of it. Students in the MSCU have made lasting friendships and have shared experiences which have enriched their time here immeasurably. As an added bonus, involvement in academic course unions can be used when applying for graduate studies. MSCU members have received scholarships based, in part, on their involvement with the course union.

3. Can I be involved? Any student with an interest in the Middle Ages can be involved with the MSCU. There is no need for you to be a Medieval Studies Major, Minor or even to be registered in a Medieval Studies course.

Coming Out Soon

"Satan's Alley"

Obscure Latin Word of the Week

This week's word: palmifer - fera, -ferum

abounding in palm trees.

How to use this word in daily life:

1. As a compliment - "My what a palmifer garden you have! I've never seen so many palms in one place."

2. As a pick-up line - "Baby, if your love is a palm tree and my heart is a garden, then I would have one palmifer garden."

3. In a noir detective novel - "And then she walked in. That dame had more trouble in her than palms in an oasis: a palmifer oasis..."

Medieval manuscript stays in UK

An 13th Century manuscript, thought to be the earliest surviving English roll of arms, is to stay in the UK.

The British Library paid £194,184 for the Dering Roll, which depicts the coats of arms of medieval knights from Kent and Sussex.

It was auctioned in December 2007 but culture Minister Margaret Hodge placed an export bar on the item.

The British Library said the document was a vital record for the study of knighthood in medieval England.

The painted roll of arms, which is about 2.6m (8.7ft) long, is thought to have been produced in Dover in the last quarter of the 13th Century. '

It contains 324 coats-of-arms beginning with two of King John's illegitimate children, Richard Fitz Roy and William de Say.

Above each shield is written the knight's name.

The 17th Century politician and Lieutenant of Dover Castle, Sir Edward Dering, erased a coat-of-arms on the roll and replaced it with one that bore the name of a fictional ancestor, Richard fitz Dering, in an attempt to forge his family history.

Claire Breay, of British Library, said: "The Dering Roll was identified as a priority acquisition for the British Library, and we are very pleased that we were able to secure the funding required to purchase the Roll and keep it in the UK.

"The acquisition of the Dering Roll provides an extremely rare chance to add a manuscript of enormous local and national significance which will greatly strengthen and complement its existing collection."

'Appealing work'

The British Library received a £100,000 National Heritage Memorial Fund grant, £40,000 from The Art Fund and £10,000 each from the Friends of the National Libraries and Friends of the British Library to help buy the item.

David Barrie, director of The Art Fund, said: "This is the oldest English heraldic manuscript known, and offers a fascinating insight into courtly life in the reign of Edward I.

"It is also a very appealing work of art which probably arose from one man's attempt to prove the noble ancestry of his own family."

The manuscript is currently on display in the Sir John Ritblat Gallery: Treasures of the British Library.

From: BBC News.co.uk

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