I discovered you web site today and am quite excited.

I enjoyed your articles on Alexius Comnenus very much. I read the Alexiad of Anna Comnenus many years ago, probably in my early twenties, and was intrigued by him (at least as he was portrayed by his daughter). Anna describes an event that perhaps illustrates his considerable diplomatic qualities. I have a mental image of this event which was of him dealing with the ‘crude’ crusader leaders that visited him, when one of them deigned to sit on his throne. This caused outrage amongst his advisors but Alexius apparently signalled to them to calm down and let him deal with and ‘diffuse’ the situation. This must have been when he was trying to persuade them to take part in his military campaigns in Asia Minor.

Anyway, my reason from commenting is that I cannot understand how the peasant subjects of any medieval empire attached value to any form of legal tender. In a world where communications were extremely limited, and where people rarely ventured beyond the immediate environs of their village I would like to understand more how currency meant anything to them. I usually need try to understand the mind of the ordinary person in order to begin to understand any issue. This approach resonates with comments you made during your interview on BBC radio Leicester where you describe the need to understand ‘psychology’ in order to interpret how people react under different economic conditions. Perhaps this is what you mean about about translating history from the academic world to a form that can be easily consumed and enjoyed by the public.

Perhaps, you can offer an explanation or perhaps point me in the right direction to find one? I’m an amateur historian (my day job is a research scientist in toxicology) that would benefit from learning more history from a less academic perspective. I hope you find the time to respond and I look forward to hearing from you