Theorizing the Crusades: Identity, Institutions, and Religious War in Medieval Latin Christendom
The ‘crusades’ — a series of wars launched by the Latin Church between the eleventh and fifteenth centuries — pose a significant unresolved puzzle for International Relations (IR) Theory.
The Jew Who Wasn’t There: Anti-Semitism, Absence and Anxiety in Medieval Scandinavia
On the 2nd July 1350 in the city of Visby, a man named Diderik was burnt at the stake.
Happy 700th Birthday Boccaccio! Exhibition and conference mark anniversary of medieval author
Exhibit and conference are among the events marking the 700th birthday of one of the medieval world’s greatest writers, credited with establishing the European storytelling traditions we know today.
Madeleine of Valois, Queen of Scotland
At the time of James’ visit to court, Madeleine was sixteen and back at court. It seems the two fell in love with each other.
Dead and famous, or unknown but alive? Heroism and common sense in medieval Scandinavian and African tradition
Although some scholars see heroism as a characteristic of the whole Germanic tradition, a careful study of Scandinavian literature reveals that this is not the case
Secret medieval chamber found in Scottish castle
‘We were surprised that when we carefully unblocked the windows and peered in, and through the dim light of a torch and the mists of dust and trapped for centuries, to find a perfectly preserved medieval chamber…’
A Medieval Façade: Historiography of the Black Death and Recent Accounts of the Third Plague Pandemic in the United States
The ‘Black Death’ instantly evokes a constellation of shopworn images, ideas and clichés.
Magic and the Occult in Islam: Ahmad al-Buni (622H/1225CE?) and his Shams Al-Ma’arif
Lecture by Saiyad Nizamuddin Ahmad, American University in Cairo
Interview with author Isolde Martyn
Isolde Martyn is best-selling author of historical fiction, much of it centred on the Wars of the Roses.
The Greek Church of Cyprus under Latin Rule
When Western Europeans took over the island of Cyprus in 1191, did it lead to religious turmoil between the Roman Catholic and Greek Orthodox churches?
Rus’, Varangians and Birka Warriors
Viking Age remains displaying a number of distinct similarities stand in strategic locations alongthe Eastern trade routes from Birka to Kiev.
Movie Review: Ironclad
The movie was made entirely in Wales and it has a gritty and raw edge to it that I really enjoyed. The film is fairly fast paced and violent, but not to the point where it’s just swords and flash.
Oure First Moder: Eve as representative and representation in Medieval Thought
When the noted fourteenth-century writer Giovanni Boccaccio set out to write his book Concerning Famous Women, he began with Eve, ‘our first mother’.
Bread in the Middle Ages
Bread was the staple of life in the Middle Ages. You could also be called a heretic or go insane if you ate the wrong one. Includes medieval bread recipes.
Real Tennis and the Civilising Process
The game of Real Tennis dates back to the twelfth century in France, when it began as a very simple ball game played with the hands. By the sixteenth century, it had reached its heyday and become a rule-governed and highly sophisticated sport.
Women and Englishness: Anglo-Saxon Female Saints in the South English Legendary
\This article attempts to redress this balance, by focusing on one of the early collections of saints’ lives found in Middle English, the South English Legendary.
Fraxinetum: An Islamic Frontier State in Tenth Century Provence
How did a Muslim mini-state emerge on the southern coast of France in the tenth century?
Great Battles Medieval released on iPad
If you are looking to re-fight the Hundred Years War on your iPad, the game Great Battles Medieval might be for you!
Contextualizing Hildegard of Bingen’s Violent and Apocalyptic Imagery
This essay focuses on the graphic and violent language of Hildegard’s visions. I argue that Hildegard drew upon the political and ecclesiastical context in which she lived for her visionary experiences, rather than a fully developed form of salvation history.
Love in the Time of Demons: Thirteenth-Century Approaches to the Capacity for Love in Fallen Angels
This paper examines the capacity for love and friendship attributed to demons in the thirteenth century. It shows how love could be seen as the motivating emotion in their original fall from Heaven, and explores the role love is subsequently thought to have played in both their relationships with each other and their amatory and sexual relationships with humans.