Sam Ottewill-Soulsby
Biographic Data
| ID | 713669 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Sam Ottewill-Soulsby |
| GIVEN NAMES | Sam |
| FAMILY NAME | Ottewill-Soulsby |
| SIGNATURE | OTTEWILL-SOULSBY S |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Cambridge |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-8214-7254 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 7 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 0 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 6 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 1 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2016 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 0 |
The caliph and the falcons
In the late ninth and early tenth centuries, an extraordinary number of falcons were given to the ʿAbbāsid caliphs in Baghdad, many of which were white. Gifts from competing dynasties in the northern provinces of the Caliphate, at least some of these birds were almost certainly gyrfalcons from near the Arctic Circle. This article argues that they came from Scandinavia and that their appearance in Baghdad can be linked to Norse settlement in Icela…
The circle of the world
Between 757 and 768, the second ʿAbbāsid caliph, al-Manṣūr, engaged in an unprecedented set of foreign relations which stretched across Afro-Eurasia, from Tang China to Carolingian Francia. The unique scale of this activity has previously gone unnoticed because much of the evidence comes from the caliph's diplomatic partners. Al-Manṣūr's dealings with these polities tend to be taken on a case-by-case basis, resulting in often-unconvincing explana…
Remembering and Forgetting the Ancient City
The Greco-Roman world is identified in the modern mind by its cities. This includes both specific places such as Athens and Rome, but also an instantly recognizable style of urbanism wrought in marble and lived in by teeming tunic-clad crowds. Selective and misleading this vision may be, but it speaks to the continuing importance these ancient cities have had in the centuries that followed and the extent to which they define the period in subsequ…
Historiography and identity, III
Historiography and identity, III: Carolingian approaches. Edited by Rutger Kramer, Helmut Reimitz and Graeme Ward. (Cultural Encounters in Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, 29.) Pp. viii + 399 incl. 1 table. Turnhout: Brepols, 2021. €100. 978 2 503 58655 7; 1378 8779 - Volume 73 Issue 1
City of Dog
To be fully human in the Greco-Roman world was to be a member of a city. This is unsurprising as cities were the building blocks of Greek and Roman culture and society. The urban landscape of post-Roman Western Europe looked dramatically different, with smaller, less economically diverse cities which played a smaller role in administration. Despite this, Greco-Roman ideas of humans as city-beings remained influential. This article explores this b…
The Camels of Charles the Bald
This article investigates a previously neglected aspect of diplomatic relations between the Carolingians and the Umayyads of al-Andalus, the camels sent by Emir Muḥammad I to Charles the Bald, King of the West Franks, in 865. In addition to being placed within a diplomatic and historiographical context, the meaning of these animals needs to be understood within the traditions both of the donor and the recipient. The unusual nature of camels for b…
Those same cursed Saracens’
While it is well known that many of Charlemagne's wars had a strong religious element, Frankish campaigns against the Muslims of Spain in his reign have generally been understood as secular exercises in power politics. This article presents evidence contemporary to Charlemagne's reign to argue against this, using a diverse range of sources to conclude that many observers of the Frankish invasions of the Iberian Peninsula understood them as religi…
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Those same cursed Saracens’
While it is well known that many of Charlemagne's wars had a strong religious element, Frankish campaigns against the Muslims of Spain in his reign have generally been understood as secular exercises in power politics. This article presents evidence contemporary to Charlemagne's reign to argue against this, using a diverse range of sources to conclude that many observers of the Frankish invasions of the Iberian Peninsula understood them as religi…
The Camels of Charles the Bald
This article investigates a previously neglected aspect of diplomatic relations between the Carolingians and the Umayyads of al-Andalus, the camels sent by Emir Muḥammad I to Charles the Bald, King of the West Franks, in 865. In addition to being placed within a diplomatic and historiographical context, the meaning of these animals needs to be understood within the traditions both of the donor and the recipient. The unusual nature of camels for b…
City of Dog
To be fully human in the Greco-Roman world was to be a member of a city. This is unsurprising as cities were the building blocks of Greek and Roman culture and society. The urban landscape of post-Roman Western Europe looked dramatically different, with smaller, less economically diverse cities which played a smaller role in administration. Despite this, Greco-Roman ideas of humans as city-beings remained influential. This article explores this b…
Remembering and Forgetting the Ancient City
The Greco-Roman world is identified in the modern mind by its cities. This includes both specific places such as Athens and Rome, but also an instantly recognizable style of urbanism wrought in marble and lived in by teeming tunic-clad crowds. Selective and misleading this vision may be, but it speaks to the continuing importance these ancient cities have had in the centuries that followed and the extent to which they define the period in subsequ…
Historiography and identity, III
Historiography and identity, III: Carolingian approaches. Edited by Rutger Kramer, Helmut Reimitz and Graeme Ward. (Cultural Encounters in Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, 29.) Pp. viii + 399 incl. 1 table. Turnhout: Brepols, 2021. €100. 978 2 503 58655 7; 1378 8779 - Volume 73 Issue 1
The circle of the world
Between 757 and 768, the second ʿAbbāsid caliph, al-Manṣūr, engaged in an unprecedented set of foreign relations which stretched across Afro-Eurasia, from Tang China to Carolingian Francia. The unique scale of this activity has previously gone unnoticed because much of the evidence comes from the caliph's diplomatic partners. Al-Manṣūr's dealings with these polities tend to be taken on a case-by-case basis, resulting in often-unconvincing explana…
The caliph and the falcons
In the late ninth and early tenth centuries, an extraordinary number of falcons were given to the ʿAbbāsid caliphs in Baghdad, many of which were white. Gifts from competing dynasties in the northern provinces of the Caliphate, at least some of these birds were almost certainly gyrfalcons from near the Arctic Circle. This article argues that they came from Scandinavia and that their appearance in Baghdad can be linked to Norse settlement in Icela…
History (6 works) · Archaeology (5 works) · Ancient history (4 works) · History (4 works) · Law (4 works) · Medieval History and Crusades (4 works) · Political science (4 works) · Archaeology and Historical Studies (3 works) · Law (3 works) · Politics (3 works)