Vikings – Review of Episode 6: Burial of the Dead
This week on Vikings, we focus on two major events: Ragnar’s fight to the death with Earl Haraldson and a Viking funeral.
Christian reactions to Muslim conquests (1st-3rd centuries AH; 7th-9th centuries AD)
We in fact find a great diversity of reactions to Muslim expansion from Christian authors, depending on their particular circumstances and point of view
Stories of the Death of Kings: Retelling the Demise and Burial of William I, William II and Henry I
This paper examines the accounts that describe the death and burial of three successive kings: William the Conqueror, William Rufus, and Henry I.
Hard and Soft Power on the Eastern Frontier
This paper considers historical perspectives on recently discovered archaeological evidence in what was the sixth-century Roman-Persian frontier region.
Æthelflæd: Warrior Queen of Mercia
Her deeds are largely forgotten, but as Alex Burghart explains, Æthelfæd turned a cornered kingdom into a powerhouse that defeated the Welsh and the Vikings
The Death Toll of Justinian’s Plague and Its Effects on the Byzantine Empire
In 541 a plague arrived in Egypt and rapidly began to spread. The following account of the beginning of the plague, while clearly an exaggeration still shows the impact of the disease.
How the Bishop of Rome Assumed the Title of “Vicar of Christ”
Actually, we’re going to answer that question right here by stating that if we look to any century for such a development, we would probably point to the 12th century.
Matilda of Scotland, Queen of England
Matilda was to become adept at combining family connections, political alliances and patronization of the Church to her advantage.
The Image of Early Medieval Barbaroi in Contemporary Written Sources and Modern Scholarship: the Balkan Perspective
This article gives a review on the accounts of the contemporary authors held as authorities on the history of the barbarian tribes, which combined with the survey of the material evidence, retrieved with archaeological excavations.
Peter the Hermit: Straddling the boundaries of lordship, millennialism, and heresy
He preached Pope Urban II’s call to crusade against the Muslims of the Holy Land. He raised an army of paupers with the goal of marching from northern France to conquer Jerusalem. These hosts never reached their destination.
Essential and despised: Images of women in the First and Second Crusades, 1095-1148
The image of women in the First and Second Crusades was inherently dualistic and oppositional. The evidence shows women who were vigorous and active participants in the crusades.
New software program allows dating of medieval manuscripts from popular words
‘These words have their own life. It’s amazing how we can decipher the date of a document based on the evolution of word usage.’
Here there be no dragons: Maravilla in Two Fifteenth-Century Spanish libros de viajes
Monsters, anthropomorphs, and marvels are common ingredients in medieval travel literature, and even narratives of real medieval journeys include these creatures, to the delight of the reading audience.
From Marvels of Nature to Inmates of Asylums: Imaginations of Natural Folly
Even human beings were collected when their physical or mental state did not fit the norms of men. According to an inventory in 1621, the portrait gallery of Ambras showed pictures of people who were perceived as giants, dwarfs, or so-called hirsute men.
Corpus Christi Plays and the Stations of the Cross: Medieval York and Modern Sydney
The earliest surviving reference to the Corpus Christi festival in York is dated 1322, when Archbishop William Melton commended it as „the glorious feast of the most precious sacrament of the flesh and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ‟. In 1408 the York Guild of Corpus Christi was established „as a confraternity of chaplains and lay persons, with the encouragement of the city government, probably to form the focus of the civic Corpus Christi Day procession‟.
The Cathedral of Bourges: A Witness to Judeo-Christian Dialogue in Medieval Berry
Positing any kind of Jewish-Christian “golden age” in Western Europe during the medieval centuries may seem somewhat foolish in light of what happened to Jews between 1240 and 1492: expulsions, forced conversions, social and political ostracism, deprivation of income and compa- rable economic oppression, accusation of and prosecution for so-called “crimes” against Christians, periodic rampages by Crusaders, and other attacks—both physical and mental— which functioned as insults to Judaism.
Sugar and Spice and All Things Nice: From Oriental Bazar to English Cloister in Anglo-French
Until recently, such limited interest as late Anglo-French was able to arouse amongst scholars specializing in medieval French has been confined, with only a very few exceptions, to the efforts made in the late fourteenth and early fifteenth centuries to teach what was by now a language unknown to most of the inhabitants of a country moving inexorably towards the unchallenged dominance of English as the national language.
Cross relationships between Cyprus and the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem in the Teutonic Military Order Tradition
This article will shed new light on the relationships and connections that developed between members of the Teutonic Order based in the Kingdom of Jerusalem and various elements of the population on the island of Cyprus.
Black Sun, High Flame, and Flood: Volcanic Hazards in Iceland
Iceland is one of the most volcanically active areas on earth, but were it not for the description of the end of the world in the poem Völuspá, one might think volcanic activity made little impression on Medieval Icelanders.
Lodovico Capponi: A Florentine Banker and a Lending Transaction in 16th Century Florence
This paper examines how loans transpired in early 16th century Italy, taking a look at a specific transaction involving Lodovico Capponi of Florence and the Vatican in Rome.
European Chivalry in the 1490s
This paper’s first goal is to give some idea of the atmosphere of the decade, of the pervasiveness of this chivalric element. Chivalry functioned as a medium for international understanding and communication, a common social, cultural, political, and even religious language.
New Towns in Medieval France and Nature of Institutions
In its early stages, a new town was a village community created by a central authority (king or overlord) on his wildland to meet the needs of growing populations and to further both its own benefits and the common interests of the inhabitants.
Game of Thrones – Review of Season 3, Episode 1: Valar Dohaeris
After what seemed like an eternity, we’re back with an exciting third season of Game of Thrones. Another season of plotting, scheming, sex, violence and dragons!
Vikings – Review of Episode 5: Raid
‘Let the man who thinks that he is descended from the Gods learn that he is human after all’