When I say that I’m a history nerd, I mean it. I just finished my third term of Graduate school, and for the first time since I started my undergraduate classes in 2013, I’m facing a summer off from school and I’m already itching for my next project. I don’t know what to do with myself with the free time that I have to enjoy between now and the end of August when classes start up again. To while away some of the time, I plan on getting a head start on thesis research, which begins in earnest for the fall. I also have several projects planned, as I will be attempting to write and be published on an independent history blog. I am similarly working on revising several of my papers to publishable form and will be submitting them to various, relevant journals throughout the summer months. I think about history all the time – probably to the chagrin of my close friends and family members who have to deal with random bouts of historical trivia. I watch history documentaries. I read history papers – for fun. I google random historical events and time periods to learn about things that I never had a chance to study in school.
At the moment, my focus – like much of my attention last term – is on 17th century Europe, specifically German territories before the takeover of Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden during the 30 years war. Germany was a hotbed of witchcraft hysteria in at least three distinct phases, and the study of this phenomenon and this time period will be my independent project for the upcoming summer months. In addition, I am catching up on the History Chanel’s interpretation of the Knights Templar – Knightfall. While it is not completely reliable or historically accurate – most dramatized versions of history take certain liberties in order to advance a narrative or story – it is fascinating for me to watch these Warrior Monks, “God’s Executioners” in action both at their height and leading to their unfortunate and swift downfall at the hands of both the Pope and the French King. The time period immediately preceding the fall of the Knights Templar to the forces of the French Monarchy and the Inquisition is an interesting period in France, directly following the Albigensian Crusade, the fight of orthodox Catholicism against Cather ‘heresy’ and the establishment of the Medieval Inquisition.
Since one project is rarely enough, however, I welcome any suggestions or ideas that any of my readers may have in regards to historical mysteries, research ideas or topics to consider in the upcoming months. I have fallen significantly behind on my blog this term, and I will be utilizing my free time to catch up with my posts from my War and Religion course, as well as various aspects of American history during the WWI era. I welcome suggestions or questions from my readers, and aim to fill my free time with more historical inquiries to whet my history-nerd appetite to the fullest before the fall term grind commences. I wish you all a wonderful summer, and I will be blogging more soon.
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