SUNLIT UPLANDS: Rockford Institute

The Rockford Institute, publisher of Chronicles, has announced the theme for another of their excellent summer schools. This year's symposium will examine "Arthur and Alfred: The Anglo-Saxons." The conference will be held July 6-11, in Rockford, Illinois, at the Cliffbreakers River Suites Hotel.

The Institute's announcement notes:

"Only a few Americans know that Hengist and Horsa were the legendary chiefs who led the Anglo-Saxon invasion of Britain, but Thomas Jefferson wanted to put the pair on the Great Seal of the United States. Like many Americans and their English forebears, Jefferson believed that the American love of liberty can be traced directly back to the free Anglo-Saxon farmers, who owned their own land, defended their families and countrymen in battle, and met in local courts and assemblies to enforce the law and make collective decisions. If it sounds like America in 1790, that is because these Anglo-Saxon customs and traditions were never fully suppressed by the Norman Conquest.
For Americans today, living under a harsher regime than William the Conqueror ever dreamed of imposing, Anglo-Saxon England represents not only the political patrimony that has been taken from us, but also a thrilling place of brave warriors, stirring epic poetry, and heroic missionaries and scholars who transformed a nation of wild barbarians into civilized Christians who never forgot how to fight.

Read Beowulf in the context of the people who gave birth to this first masterpiece of English, follow Bede’s brilliant account of the Church in England, and examine up-close the institutions of a free people that have set an enduring pattern for all of us who value liberty and understand that the Christian life properly lived is the greatest adventure of all."

Additional information and a registration form is available here.

The Rockford Institute's summer program sounds superb and timely:

Summer School 2008: The Crusades

Crusader The story of the Crusades is one of idealism and courage but also of greed and treachery, of chivalrous Christian knights, cynical Norman warlords, and self-seeking Venetian merchants. Within the gaudy pageant, there are more than enough heroes and plenty of villains, but the current attack on the Crusades as nothing more than European imperialism and looting expeditions is a reflection of multiculturalism, whose true name is Western self-hatred. If you like great stories of high adventure, appreciate brilliant writing and profound theology, then you will not want to miss this Summer School.

TRI’S ELEVENTH ANNUAL SUMMER SCHOOL
THE CRUSADES
JULY 8-13, 2008 • ROCKFORD, ILLINOIS

The Curriculum

The story of the Crusades is one of piety and fortitude, but there are villains enough, as well. For all the chivalrous Christian knights such as Louis IX and Richard Lionheart, there were plenty of Venetian merchants who saw the Crusades as a great opportunity to make a buck. Nonetheless, our own age’s condemnation of the Crusades has far less to do with telling the whole story than it does with hatred of Western civilization and the Faith on which she is founded. A proper understanding of the Crusades is essential to, among other things, a proper understanding of our current conflict with Islam.

The Rockford Institute’s 2008 Summer School will recount thrilling tales of high adventure and terrifying ones of Islamic tyranny. The course will explain the theological arguments reasoned by Pope Urban II and St. Bernard of Clairvaux that launched the Crusades, and consider the public piety of the age, many expressions of which were inspired by the Crusades and remain in practice to this day. The course will also explore the writings of the contemporary chroniclers and the lives of the principal figures. We will look at the crusading orders, the motives that inspired men to take the Cross, the Crusades against heresy, and the complex and often difficult relationship between the Byzantine East and the Latin West. All this and more. This course is for anyone who has ever stood by unable to respond when told that the Crusades are something for which Christians should apologize.

Readings from

Fulcher of Chartres
Bernard of Clairvaux
Jean de Joinville
Anna Komnena
Geoffrey de Villehardoiun

The Faculty

Fr. Hugh Barbour, O.Praem.—Prior and seminary lecturer at Saint Michael’s Abbey, Trabuco Canyon, California; Ph.D. in philosophy from the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas.

Mr. Christopher Check—Executive Vice President of The Rockford Institute; B.A. in English Literature from Rice University; former captain in the United Sates Marine Corps (field artillery).

Dr. Thomas Fleming—President of The Rockford Institute and editor of Chronicles; author of The Politics of Human Nature and The Morality of Everyday Life; Ph.D. in classics from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

Mr. Brendan McGuire—Visiting lecturer in Medieval History at Christendom College; M.A. and Ph.D (candidate) in Medieval History from Saint Louis University.

Dr. James Patrick—Chancellor of the College of Saint Thomas More in Fort Worth; Th.D in theology from Trinity College, University of Toronto.

For information on scholarships for full-time undergraduate and graduate students, contact Christopher Check at (815) 964-5811.

Details

The Summer School is aimed at students from undergraduates to retirees. Bright high-school students accompanied by their parents are accepted on a case by case basis.

Out-of-town students stay at Cliffbreakers River Suites Hotel, Rockford’s premier hotel, overlooking the Rock River (www.cliffbreakers.com).

Air travel to Rockford can be arranged through Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport. Van Galder Airport Express (www.vangalderbus.com) provides regular, motor-coach transportation to Rockford from the Bus-Shuttle Center at O’Hare. The Cliffbreakers van shuttles students from the Van Galder terminal to Cliffbreakers. Ask your travel agent about air service directly to Chicago/Rockford International Airport.

Lectures and discussions take place in The Rockford Institute’s lecture hall. Coffee and pastries are provided each morning; a midday break allows time for lunch at a variety of nearby establishments. Dinners are held at locally owned restaurants.

Transportation for students without cars is provided to and from Cliffbreakers each day, as well as to dinner. Please inform us if you will be driving and would be willing to help with carpooling.

Students should arrive in Rockford no later than 3:00 P.M. on Tuesday, July 8. Out-of-town students must first check in at Cliffbreakers. The opening lecture and buffet will commence at 5:30 P.M. at the Institute. The Summer School will close with a cookout at the home of Dr. Fleming on the evening of Saturday, July 12. The registration fee for out-of-town students includes lodging on Saturday night. Students needing bus transportation back to O’Hare airport on Sunday, July 15, should arrange a ride to the Van Galder terminal with Cliffbreakers.

If you wish to donate to our scholarship fund for full-time students, or wish to apply for a scholarship, or have any other questions, please contact: Christopher Check (815) 964-5811

Enrollment

Full Registration, Double Occupancy—$695.00
(Includes all lectures and events, five nights’ shared lodging with breakfast, daily dinner)

Full Registration, Single Occupancy—$795.00
(Includes all lectures and events, five nights’ private lodging with breakfast, daily dinner)

Commuter Registration, Lectures Only—$325.00
(Includes daytime lectures only, no meals or evening events)

Commuter Registration Plus Dinner—$425.00
(Includes all lectures and events, daily dinner)

N.B.: Registration is limited. • Previous Summer Schools have sold out. • Prices are per student. • Returning students may deduct $25.00. • Register before April 15, 2008, and deduct 50.00. • Prices do not include books.

Beautiful riverfront accommodations at Rockford’s premier hotel: Cliffbreakers
Riverside Resort (www.cliffbreakers.com).

To register, call (800) 383-0680 or click here to download and print a pdf registration form.