![[St. Pachomius Library]](title.gif)
I wrote this honor's thesis under the tutelage of Professor Kenneth Bleeth (English & Medieval Studies) of Connecticut College, with significant help and support from Professor Frederick Paxton (History & Medieval Studies). It was written during the academic year of 1999/2000.
I had a number of goals that were served by the writing of this thesis. The first and most important was that it gave me an opportunity to read a bunch of primary literary sources from the middle ages. I relished the opportunity to sit down and read through all the romances of Chrétien de Troyes and call it homework. I have also had a long interest in the role music has played in the middle ages -- not only in fact, but in the minds of those who lived then. I find the actual history of music in the period only remotely interesting, where I find the ideas, concepts and beliefs that surround that music absolutely fascinating.
This thesis was my second study of early music. My first was an independent study with Professor Thomas Stoner (Connecticut College -- Music) done in the Spring of 1998. You can read that study (Wind Instrumental Ensembles of Italy from 1450 to 1620) on my web site. (I hope that both my web design and my academic writing have improved since then!) [St. Pachomius Library Editor's Note: Ms. Flynn's version of the present essay, found on her own site, is much more elegantly designed than the St. Pachomius Library version.]
May 27th, 2000, found me the proud holder of the degree of Bachelor of Arts conferred to me by Connecticut College. (August 5, 2000 saw me married -- but that's another story.) In the year between finishing my thesis and actually getting it up on the internet [at tiltedworld.com], I have worked as a web application developer (read: programmer). My passion for the medieval remains undimmed, however, and I am currently studying the soap opera that is Merovingian Gaul two generations after Clovis.
I would be delighted to answer any email I might recieve. Like all those who take the time to increase the information on the internet, I would love to hear from those who have enjoyed my site. My email address is brenda at the domain tiltedworld dot com.