Nostalgia, neglect and the necessity of a historicized geography

Abstract

In this article, I comment on Keith Lilley's (2011) contentions concerning a putative decay in geographical interest in the medieval period. It is argued that some of this decay is really a nostalgia not wholly warranted by the facts concerning the role of medieval geography in past and present geographical practice. It is further suggested that databases of historical studies show geographers are by no means unusual in concentrating disproportionately on periods more recent than the medieval, but the essay closes by welcoming and supporting Lilley's overarching advocacy of the need to retain a humane vision of geographical inquiry. © The Author(s) 2011.