The medieval crossbow as surgical instrument: an illustrated case history
The crossbow could be carried loaded,required little training or strength,and propelled its quarrel or bolt with frightening accuracy and force for eighty yards on direct aim and double or triple that on extreme range.
Millstones for Medieval Manors
Richard Holt recently reminded us that mills were at the forefront of medieval technology and argued persuasively that windmills may have been invented in late twelfth-century England.
Could Vikings have navigated under foggy and cloudy conditions by skylight polarization?
There is archaeological evidence that the Vikings did not possess magnetic compass, and they navigated on the open sea with the help of a sundial composed of a wooden disc with a perpendicular gnomon in its centre.
Medieval Prostitution in Secular Law: The Sex Trade in Late Medieval London, Paris, and Toulouse
In order to understand the regulations that were put into place to deal with prostitutes and their trade in medieval England and France, it is important to have an understanding of what the legislators were trying to regulate. Who were these prostitutes? What acts constituted prostitution? What actions made a person a procurer, pimp, or bawd?
Genetic Investigations into the Black Death
This dissertation discusses molecular analyses of dental and skeletal material from victims of the Black Death with the goal of both identifying and describing the evolutionary history of the causative agent of the pandemic.
The Medieval Pagent Wagons at York: Their Orientation and Height
This article considers some physical aspects of the medieval pageant wagons used for the York Cycle. Many modern reconstructions have assumed that the pageants played side-on, but this view rests on assumptions derived from modern theatre, medieval two-dimensional art, or the demands of the open campus locations where many modern performances have taken place.
Rune Stones Create a Political Landscape – Towards a Methodology for the Application of Runology to Scandinavian Political History in the Late Viking Age
The chapters are as follows. 1. Rune stones as historical sources 2. General information about Danish rune stones 3. The process of making a rune stone.
Battle Castle: Crac des Chevaliers
Trebuchets, earthquakes, Crusades and sweeping panoramas – you don’t want to miss a single minute of this fantastic first episode of Battle Castle!
The Bachelor and The Bachelorette – just like a medieval romance?
The hugely popular TV shows The Bachelor and The Bachelorette have now been on US television screens for about ten years, but medievalist Paul Patterson, Ph.D., assistant professor of English at Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, says the plots for both TV hits were written long ago.
The Use of Fortification as a Political Instrument by the Ayyubids and the Mamluks in Bilad al-Sham and in Egypt (Twelfth-Thirteenth Centuries)
Beginning in 1170/1171, Salah al-Din built fortifications as the Fatimid vizier of Egypt. His considerations were primarily defensive in this period, following the Frankish campaign of 1168 that led to the siege of Cairo, and the Frankish-Byzantine naval expedition against Damietta in 1169.
Fra Mauro’s world map (c. 1448-1459): mapping, mediation and the Indian Ocean world in the early Renaissance
Begun around 1448 and completed some time before 1459, Fra Mauro’s World map, illustrated in the figure accompanying this article, is a beautiful object.
The viaggio in Inghilterra of a viaggio in Oriente: Odorico da Pordenone’s Itinerarium from Italy to England
Odorico da Pordenone was a Franciscan Friar who, in the wake of the thirteenth-century expansion of the Mongolian empire, travelled to the court of the Great Khan at Khanbalik (modern Beijing).
‘With a Vertu and Leawté’: Masculine Relationships in Medieval Scotland
When the subject of men in medieval Scotland is mentioned, it often conjures up images of muscular, kilted, claymore-wielding warriors intent on national independence, an image informed more by Mel Gibson’s 1995 Braveheart than by historical fact.
A Flat Vault in the “Crac des Chevaliers” and Some Considerations on the Development of Vault Geometry and Stereotomy in Mediaeval Masonry Structures in Syria
The vault is located in the south-western cylindrical tower at the external defensive wall of the “Crac des Chevaliers” Castle in Syria, and was built in the late 13th Century. In this paper the geometry of the vault is analysed and a hypothesis developed on the design process; the technology of the vault will also be considered together with a discussion on the differences with European examples.
Battle Castle – Interview with Nicole Tomlinson
I was so fascinated by the stories of the lives of the people and artifacts associated with these strongholds that I didn’t realize I actually wasn’t learning much about the castles themselves. The more I delved into researching the series, the more I wanted to see the technologies that built them (and sometimes brought them down) jump out of my imagination and into action.
Researchers explore lives of medieval Nubians from hundreds of skeletons
Research being carried out on the remains of hundreds of men, women and children from medieval Nubia has revealed they were plagued by meager diets, high infant mortality and diseases such as scurvy and tuberculosis.
University of Tennessee hosts Symposium on Reading, Writing in Pre-modern World
Now in its tenth year, the symposium will feature a stellar line-up of specialists in the interdisciplinary field of book history who will explore the complex interaction between pre-modern writers and readers, their books, and the places—libraries, museums, monasteries, university classrooms, the courts of patrons—where they used them.
Jaunts, Jottings, and Jetsam in Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts
In British Library, MS Egerton 1993, a collection of Middle English saints’ lives, a late hand has entered in ink a memorable drawing that proudly displays its own rubric: “this is man” (fig. 1). Precisely what manner of beast man was occupied the attention of a number of doodlers who laid hands on Anglo-Saxon manuscripts.
Women in the Northern Courts: Interpreting Legal Records of Familial Conflict In Early Fifteenth-Century Yorkshire
This article reconsiders the story of Katherine Norfolk and her troublesome relations in light of these documents, which I found as a part of my wider research on women, conflict and power in late medieval Yorkshire.
Coconuts in Camelot: Monty Python and the Holy Grail in the Arthurian Literature Course
Student enthusiasm for Monty Python’s film contrasts with the noticeably more restrained stance of scholarly opinion which, while rarely omitting to mention the film’s existence in discussions of cinematic Arthuriana, has relatively little to say about the actual film.
Minnesota professor receives funding to research medieval religious women in Germany
For years, Deane has been passionate about studying the lay religious women of medieval Europe often known as ‘beguines’, whose hundreds of independent communities were mainly centered in the Low Countries, the Rhine region, France, and German-speaking lands.
The Andalusi origins of the Berbers
How could the Berbers originate in al-Andalus when everyone knows they are the original inhabitants of North Africa? One of the goals of this article is to show that asking the question in this way is part of the problem and that it stands in the way of securing the soundness of historical interpretations of the past.
Britons and Saxons In Pre-Viking Wessex: Reflections on the Law 77 of King Ine
According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, Saxons arrived in the south of Britain in the third quarter of the fifth century. Successive shiploads of invaders progressively defeated the Britons of Kent, Sussex and southern Wessex, before moving north up the Thames Valley and beyond, establishing themselves over much of the territory of the Romano-Britons.
The Myth of Parisian Scholars’ Opposition to the System of Papal Provision (1378–1418)
It is clear, however, that Parisian scholars did repeatedly and vehe- mently call for the suppression of Benedict XIII’s powers of papal provision. They advocated this policy as early as 1395.