The Medieval Magazine – Issue 32

We are going back to school in this week’s edition of The Medieval Magazine. You will read inside:

Life in the Medieval University: the Swedish Experience

In the Late Middle Ages, about 200 students from Sweden enrolled at the University of Leipzig. A recent study examined who they were, what their lives were like, and how many graduated.

The Long History of Teachers Complaining about Students

“Scholarly effort is in decline everywhere as never before. Indeed, cleverness is shunned at home and abroad. What does reading offer to pupils except tears? It is rare, worthless when it is offered for sale, and devoid of wit.”

Dear Dad, Send Money – Letters from Students in the Middle Ages

If you have a son or daughter attending university, most likely you will be getting a message from them asking for money. Apparently, this is part of a long tradition that goes back to the beginning of universities in the Middle Ages.

Medieval Back-to-School Shopping List

In the Middle Ages, students entering university had to gather together materials, too, before they headed off to places sometimes very far from home like Oxford University, the University of Salerno, or the University of Paris. Here’s a list of five things that would be on a medieval back-to-school shopping list.

Scholar discovers previously unknown Magna Carta Scribe

Using handwriting analysis, Stanford manuscript expert Elaine Treharne shows for the first time that one of the world’s most famous documents was written not by the king’s own scribes, but by a cathedral scribe outside the central court.

Ten Castles that Made Medieval Britain: Windsor Castle

We take a look at another famous English castle and its medieval history

Off with your … nose?!

Was cutting off the nose a widely-used punishment in the Early Middle Ages?

Ivory Vikings

Read an excerpt from the latest book by Nancy Marie Brown