France’s Jehanne: The 15th Century Heroine in Truth and Fiction
Jehanne bends her legs and arms, holding them close to her chest like a small child, trying hopelessly to find warmth on the cold, damp floor of her prison cell. Sitting only feet away from her body, outside the bars of her tiny cage, two guards argue over whose task it is to watch over her throughout the night. Their loud shouts echo against the tower’s stone walls and follow the stairs to the wet, deserted ground. She extends her arms around her head in an effort to drown out their foul noise from her head and hopefully alleviate her nose from the rank odor of putrefied air.
The ‘relics of Joan of Arc’: A forensic multidisciplinary analysis
Under the authority of the Association des Amis du Vieux Chinon and the Archbishop of Tours (curator of the remains), a scientific analysis was recently performed on the so-called ‘relics of Joan of Arc’, which reside in Chinon (in central France).
Joan of Arc, creative psychopath: is there another explanation?
Many of these facts can be explained by the hypothesis that Joan of Arc suffered from tuberculosis with a temporal lobe tuberculoma and tuberculous pericarditis.
The School at Salerno: Origin of the European Medical University
Despite oppression of scientific learning through the Dark Ages, the medical school at Salerno emerged in the ninth century, reviving the tradition of the Ancient schools. How is it that a school founded by monks was able to flourish, promoting the development of future European Universities?
Text and context: author and audience in John Lydgate’s Life of St Edmund
Ostensibly John Lydgate’s verse Life of St Edmund is a characteristic, if lengthy, example of late-medieval hagiography. The Life was commissioned by Abbot Curteys of Bury St Edmunds, where Lydgate was a monk, to mark King Henry VI’s lengthy sojourn at the abbey between Christmas 1433 until Easter 1434.
Doubts and Ambiguities in the Transmission of Ideas in a Medieval Latin Bestiary: Canterbury Cathedral Archives Lit. Ms D.10
How did certain classical and early Christian ideas on nature and the visible and invisible worlds contest medieval cultural and literary norms in the medieval Latin bestiary? How does examining these tensions challenge our own perceptions?
The Benedictine Centuries: Monasticism in Anglo-Saxon England, 597-1066
This synopsis of the type of person who became a Benedictine monk reflects the welcoming attitude that St Benedict hoped to give to the rule for monastic living that now bears his name. It also reflects the variety of people who came into a life of monasticism in England during the Anglo-Saxon period of 597-1066. These people were drawn to the simple spiritual life formed by St Benedict of Nursia.
BBC show on The Private Lives Of The Medieval Kings to begin airing next week
In Illuminations: The Private Lives of the Medieval Kings BBC Four will tell the story of the Medieval monarchy as preserved through stunning illuminated manuscripts from the British Library’s Royal Manuscripts collection which contains some of the most priceless documents in the country’s history.
Medieval Friary in Norwich becomes home for photography students
Norwich University College of the Arts has officially opened the East Garth Photography Building in the former medieval Friary close to St Andrew’s Hall.
The Inquisition featured on a special issue of Hispanic Research Journal
Hispanic Research Journal has released its February 2012 issue today, with a special issue entitled Negotiating Power in the Iberian Inquisitions: Courts, Crowns, and Creeds. Five articles dealing with the Spanish and Portuguese inquisitions are published in the issue, which will be freely available until mid-February.
The Secrets of a Dark Ages King
In his own lifetime, Athelstan, the grandson of Alfred of Great, was praised as ‘the English Charlemagne.’ By defeating the combined armies of Danes, Scots and Welsh in the Battle of Brunanburh in 937 AD, Athelstan could rightly claim the title of ‘King of all Britain.’
Scientists discover existence of brucellosis disease in the Middle Ages
The scientists are the first to confirm the existence of brucellosis, an infectious disease still prevalent today, in medieval skeletal remains.
Medieval Jewish manuscripts discovered in Afghanistan
Over 150 medieval Jewish documents have been discovered in Afghanistan. The works were found, purportedly by shepherds looking for sheep, in the mountains of Samangan province, which lies along the Silk Road trade route.
University of York hosts Working in Archaeology exhibition
The University of York’s historic King’s Manor is hosting a European photographic exhibition depicting the day-to-day work of archaeologists.
Corruption and Controversy: Simony, lay investiture, and clerical marriage and celibacy in the Catholic Church during the eleventh and twelfth centuries
Three major problems faced the Western church during the eleventh and twelfth centuries. Simony, lay investiture, and clerical marriage and celibacy all affected the church. They placed unnecessary power in the hands of lay rulers. They corrupted the office of the papacy to a degree. They also caused controversy throughout the church.
Why so Many Viking Age Swords in Norway?
Logically it does not seem reasonable that Norway should have had so many more weapons than Sweden and Denmark, not to mention the military superpower Frankia. All the same, it seems that a comparatively rather larger part of the adult and free men were buried with weapons in Norway than in other countries.
(Un)Natural Love: Homosexuality in Late Medieval English Literature: Langland, Chaucer, Gower, and the Gawain Poet
We can examine in their works if there are any mentions of homosexuality, and, more importantly, whether these mentions bear a strong marking of late medieval English society. Do the four authors take different approaches to the subject? Do they take approaches at all, or do they omit any mention of homosexuality?
Delineating early medieval life and death
Early medieval enclosures excavated on the N9/N10 in counties Carlow and Kilkenny give an insight into the domestic and funerary activities of the period.
The Axed Man of Mosfell: Skeletal Evidence of a Viking Age Homicide and the Icelandic Sagas
The discovery of the skeletal remains of the person described in this chapter is one of many scientific results of the Mosfell Archaeological Project, an ongoing international research effort we began in 1995.
Neville, Percy, and York, 1461-1485 : a study in the subordination of the North
It is my intention, therefore, to re-examine the standard interpretation of northern history by focusing on the important achievement of the Yorkists in the North.
Building Civic Pride: Strasbourg Cathedral from 1300 to 1349
This dissertation investigates primarily how the town of Strasbourg, which was torn by bitter internal strife in the first half of the fourteenth century, managed to create a sense of civic unity in the continuing work on the extraordinarly expensive construction project of the cathedral’s west front.
The emergence of the English language as an educational medium in Medieval England
To better understand the relationship between linguistics, literature and education in Medieval England, some general background information is necessary to understand how these subjects intertwine…
Trojan Wars: Genre and the Politics of Authorship in Late Medieval and Early Modern England
In the Middle Ages, Troy was not ancient history. As a living myth that continued to evolve along with the English nation, Troy functioned as a site for examining England’s cultural and political questions.