Irish city of Kilkenny to receive €5.5 million for ‘Medieval Mile’ tourist project
‘Kilkenny is steeped in rich culture and history, and is already one of Ireland’s top tourist centres. This investment will reinforce the city’s position as a major tourism hub and will make it more attractive for people to do business’
Monstrosity in Old English and Old Icelandic Literature
In medieval Europe belief in monsters allowed for corresponding acceptance of the possibility of humans transforming into monsters. In medieval Iceland and Anglo-Saxon England the mixture of Christian and pagan world views and beliefs create a situation where the boundaries are not merely fluid but can be transgressed, in either direction.
The Concept of Jihad in the Period of Arab Expansion
Paper given at Religious Tolerance – Religious Violence – Medieval Memories: A colloquium in memory of James Powell
Magical Dream Provocation in the Later Middle Ages
Hidden in the manuscripts of illicit magic we may find a hitherto untreated practical literature of dream divination…this literature sets out to provoke specific kinds of dreams.
The Dangerous Dead: The Early Medieval deviant burial at Southwell, Nottinghamshire in a wider context
This was the deviant burial, which had been buried (or reburied) intact along with a further leg and lower arm bone…Without speculating wildly on the implications of the iron studs, it is known that treatment of this sort was accorded to bodies which had died unnaturally or when there was some reason to fear the supernatural’.
The Satanic Phenomenon: Medieval Representations of Satan
The ever-evolving, interconnectedness of culture, religion, and superstition make for a truly unique theatrical experience in the middle ages. With limited understanding and access to scripture, medieval Christians generated a blended belief system, in order to make sense of the metaphysical world, which manifests itself in medieval drama‟s representations of Satan.
Anglo-Saxon feasting hall discovered in Kent
The archaeological team has been able to completely uncover the outline of the hall, which measures 21 metres by 8.5 metres, and believe that it dates from the late sixth or early seventh century.
Rhazes: A Pioneer in Clinical Observation
Rhazes challenged accepted medical beliefs through his skepticism of certain Galenic practices, his definition of small pox and measles, and his perceptive research through clinical investigation, resulting in substantial improvements in medical beliefs and practice.
Machiavellian Monster or Misunderstood Monarch?: Richard III and the Battle for the English Throne
Much like Shakespeare’s writings, many other sources for Richard’s reign are shrouded in controversy about their agenda and their historical accuracy.
Medieval Halloween! Great books for Ghosts, Goblins, Witches & Ghouls!
Some spooktacular reads to celebrate Medieval Halloween!
“The Softness of Her Sex”: Matilda’s Role in the English Civil War of 1138-1153
This thesis examines the life of the Empress Matilda (1102-1167), focusing on how factors beyond her control directed much of its course. It discusses her attempts to take control of the political realm in England and the effect this had on her, her supporters, and her kingdom. It also analyzes her later years and influence on her son Henry II.
Earliest historical records of typhoons in China
The typhoon as a weather phenomenon was frequently mentioned, described, and discussed in many works, including history books, poems and government documents, in the ninth century AD.
Ruthless Oppressors? Unraveling the Myth About the Spanish Inquisition
From its inception to the present, critics of the Spanish Inquisition has characterized the institution as omnipotent and oppressive and highlighted its role in the expulsion, forced conversion, and execution of supposed heretics.
Medieval Snuff Drama
Did an onstage execution really take place in 1549 in the city of Tournai or not?
Time Team to end in 2013
‘Time Team was not only high-quality public service television, it also attracted a large and passionate audience both in the UK and overseas. I’m proud to have been associated with it’ – Tony Robinson
Prescribing Love: Italian Jewish Physicians Writing on Lovesickness in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries
This paper begins with a general survey of early modern European medical literature concerning lovesickness. This is followed by a short introduction to the Jewish physicians who lived and worked in the geographic area currently constituting Italy during the beginning of the early modern period, focusing on three physicians who wrote about lovesickness…
Iberian Uniqueness in the Arab Invasion of Spain
In the spring of the year AD 711, the Visigothic kingdom of Iberia was invaded and conquered by an army from the nearby Muslim Empire.
Light through the dark ages: The Arabist contribution to Western ophthalmology
Because blindness was a major cause of morbidity in the medieval Arab world, as is the case in the developing world today, Arabist physicians developed much exposure to ophthalmological conditions, and nearly every major medical work written at the time had a chapter on diseases of the eye.
An island archaeological approach to the Viking colonization of the North Atlantic
The present paper is a brief exploration of the application of methods commonly used in the archaeological study of the Pacific and Mediterranean islands to the expansion of the Vikings across the North Atlantic during the ninth to eleventh centuries AD.
Translators, Interpreters and Cultural Mediators in Late Medieval Eastern Iberia and Western Islamic Diplomatic Relationships
Although linguistic competence and language knowledge were essential, rulers often looked for the cultural aptitudes of their official translators to guarantee the success fo the diplomatic missions.
‘You say that the Messiah has come.’:The Ceuta Disputation (1179) and its place in the Christian anti-Jewish polemics of the high middle ages
Disputation could be the result of the Christian protagonist’s meeting with the North AfricanJew face-to-face and discovering that the Messianic promise was a subject of considerableinterest for his opponent. More importantly, regardless of whether the discussion in Ceuta hador had not taken place, the new Christian attitude towards anti-Jewish polemics expressed inthe Disputation’s text was most likely inspired by real-life discussions between Jews andChristians.
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2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords:
Jewish and Christian relations; Mediterranean trade in the middle ages; Ceuta; Genoa;Scriptural exegesis, Almohads
The Messiah came in the twelfth century. This time he did not arrive in themanner anticipated by the prophets of the Bible. Rather, his arrival occurred in theworld of polemics, where he suddenly emerged from relative obscurity to becomethe central topic of the continuing religious debate between Jews and Christians
The pattern of settlement on the Welsh border
The attempt made in this paper to answer these questions will be based almost entirely on Welsh evidence. The English evidence, examined and re- examined since the late nineteenth century, is already sufficiently familiar to members of the British Agricultural History Society.
God’s Warriors from the Czech Kingdom – the Terror of Central and Eastern Europe in the First Half of the 15th Century
The aim of this study is to point out a distinct phenomenon in the history of Central And Eastern Europe wherein part of the population of a fairly small kingdom in Central Europe invoked justified fear throughout the majority of Europe. Czech history is not all that popular a theme of study within the framework of European history. One of the few exceptions is the period of the first half of the 15th century in particular.