Never let it be said that when you write your thesis or your dissertation that no one will read it in the future, since that’s simply not the case. I have yet to e-mail the advisor on this particular thesis, but I’ll let the cat out of the bag right now: I’m fascinated by a Ph.D thesis out of the University of Minnesota from 2004. The thesis in question is on St. George of England and English national identity–a subject I’ll at the very least touch on in my own thesis on the uses of the Arthurian legend during the reigns of Edward I (r. 1272-1307), Edward II (r. 1307-1327), and Edward III (r. 1327-1377), since the sense of identity and “Englishness” plays a role in why the image of King Arthur was used during these reigns.
Amusingly (as almost a side note) the thesis cites my advisor’s work on pilgrimages and miracles in the first chapter. Go figure (then again, totally not surprised, since it is a saint’s cult and the image of the patron saint of England that’s being discussed in the thesis, after all).
In any case, it’s bloody hard to borrow anyone’s thesis–really, really hard, since most universities don’t lend them. I have to shoot an e-mail to the history department at the University of Minnesota to thank them so much for letting me borrow this text. I’ve already found quite a few references that I’ve ordered or will be pulling from Kresge Library at OU so I can take a peek at them based on what he’s gleaned out of them for his work–things that it seems to me may well be important for my work.
So, wherever you are, Dr. Jonathan Good — thank you. You wrote a monster of a dissertation, and I’m very pleased to have had the chance to read it.