A Medieval Dream and its Interpretation
Medieval people were also interested in dreams, and they attempted to figure out what they meant. Often a dream would be interpret as a sign of future events, or a divine warning that someone needed to change their ways.
The Sword Brothers at War: Observations on the Military Activity of the Knighthood of Christ in the Conquest of Livonia and Estonia (1203–1227)
The Knighthood of Christ of Livonia (Militia Christi de Livonia) was the first of the medieval military religious orders to be founded for service outside the Holy Land and Iberia, and thus the first one to be actively involved in warfare anywhere in northern Europe.
What does your urine say about your health? (Medieval Version)
During the Middle Ages, one of ways physicians would check on the health of their patients was to look at their urine.
Medical Prognosis in the Middle Ages: William the Englishman’s De urina non visa and its fortune
He aimed to give to his colleagues and fellows the means to judge the state of the patient based not on the urine flask, but on the configuration of the sky at the time of consultation.
A New Look at the Role of Urinalysis in the History of Diagnostic Medicine
Before this century, urine was the predominant body fluid used by the physician for diagnosis and prognosis.
Domestic Slavery in Renaissance Italy
The ways merchants in Italy differentiated along ethnic and religious lines among the slaves they dealt in sheds light more on how the people of Italy made distinctions among themselves than on the origins and religion of their captives.
CONFERENCES: Arnold Fitz Thedmar: an Early London chronicler
Another fascinating paper given at the Institute for Historical Research in central London. For those of you interested in chronicles, urban history and London, this paper was definitely for you. Ian Stone discussed his dissertation about thirteenth century London through the eyes of wealthy Alderman, Arnold Fitz Thedmar.
What a Bunch of Tools: Zombie Saints and Their Use Within Medieval Communities
This thesis focuses on this phenomenon through the scope of the living dead saints of the Middle Ages, concentrating directly on instances of undead saints found in the most widely disseminated, read, and recounted collection of saints lives of the time, The Golden Legend.
Constructing memory: holy war in the Chronicle of the Poles by Bishop Vincentius of Cracow
The Chronicle of the Poles by Bishop Vincentius of Cracow is a twelfth-century history of Poland and a recognised masterpiece of medieval scholarship.
Different roles of Empire(s) in the Universal Chronicle of Frutolf of Michelsberg
Frutolf, a monk of the Benedictine monastery of Michelsberg in Bamberg, wrote five years before his death in 1103 a universal or world chronicle of about 300 folios.
INTERVIEW: A Conversation with SD Sykes about Plague Land
My interview with fiction author, SD Sykes about her fantastic medieval crime novel, Plague Land.
The Revolution in Writing Styles during the Renaissance
Just as we have our faces, we each should have own writing style – this was the lesson that two leading Renaissance thinkers, Erasmus and Montaigne, gave to their contemporaries in 16th century Europe.
The Fashion Police in 16th-century Italy
Patrolling the streets and squares of the bustling city as arbiters of the level of ostentation that was deemed appropriate, the sumptuary magistrates were quite simply the Fashion Police.
Osburh, Mother of King Alfred the Great
What little we know about Alfred the Great’s mother comes to us from the biography of Alfred written by his great friend, Bishop Asser.
Five Ways to get Noticed by Historians
There are a few things that medieval people did that increased their odds of their names surviving, and they happen to be things moderns can do if they want to be remembered, too.
The Floating State: Trade Embargoes and the Rise of a New Venetian State
This paper was given by Georg Christ and examined embargoes and state formation in the late medieval and early modern period in Venice.
What Was Your Social Status in Your Past Life?
Knight, Philosopher, Gypsy, or how about Royalty? Take this fun quiz to find out the answer ;)
Over 21 000 medieval items found in England and Wales in 2013
Over 21,000 medieval objects were discovered in England and Wales in 2013, according to the latest release of the The Portable Antiquities Scheme Annual Report. Since its inception in 1997, over one million historical objects have been recorded by the scheme.