Celebrating the New Year, Medieval Style
How did medieval people mark the passing of the New Year? Well, interestingly enough, it wasn’t always celebrated on January 1st.
Top 10 Medieval News Stories of 2015
What were the most important news stories of 2015 for medievalists?
Messages in Stone: Runic Carvings in North America and Oklahoma
More than 6,000 Runes are found worldwide, and present a history of Scandinavian life and exploration in the Medieval Age. This TedX lecture explores scholarly efforts to determine the authenticity of North American and Oklahoman stones, and popular television entertainment programs and corporate efforts to capitalize on a different story line.
My Top 5 Medieval Books of 2015
2015 was a great year for books on Medievalists.net, and 2016 promises to be better. Of all the books I read over the past twelve months, these five books were my favourite reads of 2015.
Our Top 10 Posts of 2015
What was our audience reading in 2015? Here is top ten posts (excluding news), which range from student letters to weird animals.
Living by the Sea: Women, Work, and Family in Maritime Communities in Medieval England
I want to focus on how we can gender female the maritime world of ships, waterfronts, and coastal communities– a world that scholars have largely populated with adult males– focusing on four questions.
Unknown Europe: The Mapping of the Northern countries by Olaus Magnus in 1539
Olaus Magnus, a highly educated Swedish priest and scholar, published his geographically and ethnographically remarkable map of the Northern countries, the Carta marina, in Venice in 1539.
BOOK REVIEW: The Butcher Bird by SD Sykes
My review of SD Sykes follow up to “Plague Land”, her latest book, “The Butcher Bird”.
Who Were You In A Past Life?
Find out who you were in a past life. Were you a figure of legend or reality, myth or truth? Take the test!
Snorri Sturluson: Viking Mythographer and Historian
I shall first tell you briefly about Snorri’s background and his education and discuss his Edda, where he appears as mythographer, among other things, and then tell you about his career as a politician and discuss his Sagas of the Norwegian Kings.
The Medieval Magazine: Year in Review (Issue 48)
Most magazines are doing a review of the year 2015. Meanwhile, we take a look back at the year 1015.
BOOK REVIEW: The Lady Agnes Mystery – Volume I
A review of the Lady Agnes Mystery by Parisienne author, Andrea Japp.
Horse Power: Social Evolution in Medieval Europe
My research is on the development of the horse as a status symbol in Western Europe during the Middle Ages.
10 Beautiful Images from the Book of Kells
The Book of Kells is thought to be the work of a number of unknown genius-artists living in the monastery of Iona around the year 800.
Flood Security in the Medieval and Early Modern North Sea Area: A Question of Entitlement?
All over the North Sea Area the later Middle Ages saw repeated flood disasters and massive land losses in coastal wetlands: in England, the Low Countries, Northern Germany and Southern Scandinavia thousands of hectares of reclaimed land and hundreds of villages were lost to the sea.
The 1356 Basel earthquake: an interdisciplinary revision
The 1356 Basel earthquake is well known as one of the most damaging events in intra-plate Europe within historical times. It was one of several devastating catastrophes in the 14th century.
10 Natural Disasters that Struck the Medieval World
Here are ten of the most important natural disasters that took place in the Middle Ages.
Tornadoes in Mediaeval Britain
Mediaeval chronicles describe 21 tornadoes in Britain prior to the year 1500. Although the meanings of some of the accounts appear unclear at first sight, the features reported can nearly always be explained by reference to modern tornado cases.
The Lady’s Man: Gawain as Lover in Middle English Literature
Gawain’s reputation as a philanderer precedes him; the best known example is the comment of Bertilak’s wife in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, whose disbelief that the famous and courteous Gawain could be alone with her and not crave a kiss is notorious
Disney’s Medievalized Ecologies in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and Sleeping Beauty
As I explore how Disney medievalized nature, I also explore how Snow White and Sleeping Beauty, in a small but significant way, participated in mid-twentieth-century discourses on the environment.
Book Review: Hidden Britain by Alvin Nicholas
Tourism with a twist? Tired of the same old tours and droning guides? Alvin Nicholas’s book on manors, mansions, castles, nooks and crannies, reveals there’s more to Britain than meets the eye.
The Peaceful Part of the Norman Conquest of England
What happened between the Battle of Hastings and William’s coronation on Christmas Day, 1066?
12 Major Events that Happened on Christmas Day
From Medieval to Modern, twelve events that took place on Christmas Day
The Christmas Eve massacre of 986
For the year 986, the Annals of Ulster records, ‘Iona was plundered by Danes on Christmas Eve, and they killed the abbot and fifteen men of the seniors of the church.’ What more can we learn about this attack and why it happened?
Can You Identify Renaissance Paintings From A Small Detail?
How well do you know these masterpieces?