Battle Castle – Interview with Ian Herring
In 21 years of filmmaking, I have never worked on a project where professional and personal interests have come together such an authentic way.
Penda the Pagan: Royal sacrifice and a Mercian king
Regicide was a common occurrence in the early Middle Ages. It was a fairly routine way for a victorious usurper or conqueror to rid himself of a potential source of trouble. Penda’s reputation in this field would almost certainly have been viewed with some approval had he been a Christian, and his foes pagan…
“Neither Mine Nor Thine”: Communist Experiments in Hussite Bohemia
Because of such circumstances the intoxicating influence of idealism and utopia continued to be pressed forward. One pervasive ideal was communism.
A Neglected Chapter. Courtly Fiction of the Kamakura Period
The establishment of the shogun’s court in Kamakura unquestionably affected even members of the nobility who remained behind in the old Heian capital. Diaries describe the journeys made by nobles to Kamakura in order to plead at the law courts for the restitution of lands; and some traveled there simply because…
Swansea Castle to be opened to visitors this weekend
Swansea Castle in Wales will be opened up for public tours this weekend, allowing people to explore the medieval Welsh ruin. It’s only the third time in decades that people will have the chance to explore the historic attraction.
Retroactive Heresy: The influence of early Christian heresies on the identification and reaction to heretical sects
The medieval Church viewed itself as Defender of the Faith, the destroyer of the unbelievers, the wrong believers. These heretics were to be reviled and feared as perverters of God’s word. The perverters of orthodoxy were, ultimately, not to be distinguished from one another, but rather known by catchphrases.
The Ars Moriendi: An examination, translation, and collation of the manuscripts of the shorter Latin version
The Ars Moriendi is a Mediaeval Christian death manual that appeared around the middle of the fifteenth century. Though no-one is certain who the author was, there is no doubt that Jean Gerson was the major inspiration through his Opusculum Tripartitum.
Theological Works of the Venerable Bede and their Literary and Manuscript Presentation, with Special Reference to the Gospel Homilies
Bede’s theology is complex and closely interwoven; as we can observe, the different themes are interleaved within the homilies. Though Bede was profoundly influenced by Gregory, Augustine and the other Church Fathers, he combined their theologies in a new way that has had a lasting influence.
The art of medicine: Female patients and practitioners in medieval Islam
Diseases specifically affecting women that are discussed in medieval Arabic literature largely concern the reproductive organs, complications before and after childbirth, lactation, and child-rearing.
Stew and salted meat – opulent normality in the diet of every day
For the majority of people, a hot cooked meal (mageiria) was normally offered as ‘deipnon’ only once a day, if served at all, and this for several reasons.
The Power of Disembodied Imagination: Perspective’s Role in Cartography
The Renaissance flowering of cartographic activity following rediscovery of Ptolemy’s formulae for map projection is well documented, as are connections between this rediscovery and the oceanic expeditions subsequently undertaken during ‘The Age of Discovery’
Troubadours and their heritage in the edges of Europe – Singing and rapping experiences of being in a minority in Southern France and in Sámiland
What is common to these artists is the way how they define and express their belonging to their own ethnic group. The characteristics of their ethnic identity 2 are above all else language, home territory, and history.
Literacy, reading, and writing in the medieval West
Of course, literacy, reading, and writing are also overlapping and interdependent cultural forms and practices, and no historical treatment can study one in isolation from the others. Yet because they are not exactly the same things, so too scholars have tended to concentrate upon one or the other.
Women and the Law in Early Ireland
In the case of early Ireland we have no marriage charters, no records of law-suits concerning property, and thus virtually no prosopographical data about marital property in the broadest sense or its assignment. What we do have is very detailed treatment of christian marriage in the Latin law tracts and, in the vernacular law, detailed treatment of divorce and the division of marital property in the case of divorce
Chivalry, Adultery, Ambiguity: The Image of Tristan and Isolde in Medieval Art
Tristan and Isolde is an Arthurian legend, the origins of which predate Arthur’s Roundtable. Scholars generally agree that the story of Tristan and Isolde is Celtic in origin.
The Urbanization of Hell in Medieval Infernal Literature: “WhenTungdali met Lucyfer”
Hell was considered a grim reality accessible in special circumstances to a chosen few, through various forms of journeys.
Medieval Movie Review: The Secret of Kells
The Secret of Kells, an Irish film set in the Middle Ages, was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature – and for good reason – it is an excellent story and wonderfully drawn. Both kids and their parents will love this film!
Jewish Magic in a Christian World
Medieval Europe, it can be said, had quite an obsession with magic. Whether they resorted to magical practices to relieve their fears, or had an intense fear of being surrounded by magicians, there is no shortage of evidence documenting the belief in magic during the Middle Ages.
Social Networking in Medieval Italian Towns
Lineage was the first form of social alliance, for blood was a guaranteed and undeniable bond. This alliance would then extend to non-kin but based on the same idea of unquestionable loyalty to the noble head.
Westminster Abbey: A King’s Dream, A Nation’s Icon
Being a church with a decadent history of both art and monarchy, it is one of the most important and well known structures that exist in Europe. Resplendent as the Abbey appears today, one needs to understand its humble beginnings and development during the Middle Ages
Recipes for Health: Magical, Religious, and Pharmacological Remedies for Female Ailments in Medieval England
In England, there was a long tradition of medical texts written in the vernacular beginning in the ninth century. These texts showed a surprising array of health remedies for women, including prayers, charms, incantations, and herbal concoctions.
Lauding the Locality: Urban Architecture in Medieval Sienese Painting
Looking into the backdrops of medieval art compositions, it becomes obvious that portraying the commune was an opportunity artists seized to portray their communities and their participation in public life.
Old Irish words deciphered from Stowe Missal
Research into the Stowe Missal, an Irish manuscript written around 800 A.D., has led to the exciting discoveries of two new Old Irish verbs and several nouns from the text, which will help unlock mysteries in other Old Irish scripts.
‘Viking Empires’? Scandinavian Kingship and the nature and orchestration of Viking raids, c.800-c.950
To what extent were Viking raids part of a more general process of expansion by Scandinavian rulers? Were the Franks simply receiving a taste of their own medicine in the ninth and tenth centuries?
Mapping the Medieval Countryside project receives £528,000 in funding
A new project from King’s College London and the University of Winchester will allow researchers to explore the lands of medieval England as never before has received over half a million pounds in funding.