The ‘Buying and Selling of Money for Time’: Foreign Exchange and Interest Rates in Medieval Europe
The best evidence for medieval interest rates comes from government borrowing, and especially the long-term annuities sold by the Italian city-states.
Robot Saints in the Middle Ages
While it’s easy to think of the Middle Ages as a backward time in which everyone struggled with the most basic things, medieval people were no strangers to some pretty cool technology, including robots.
The Medieval Magazine: The North (Issue 47)
In this week’s issue we take a look at northern Europe and winter in the Middle Ages. We put an eye on the Carta Marina and read about sagas, Viking hoards, ice-skating and board games.
Call for Papers: The Politics of Paper in the Early Modern World
International Conference Groningen, The Netherlands ,9-10 June 2016
‘Now Is the Winter of Our Discontent’: “Good” King Richard Takes the Stage
The Golden Age Theatre Company, who put on this reboot of Richard’s life, tried to portray a different side of the story
Lazarus Rising: Nikephoros Phokas and the Tenth Century Byzantine Military Renaissance
This paper examines how the Byzantine Empire accomplished this drastic change in fortunes, shifting from a defensive position to one of conquest.
‘Crowned with Many Crowns’: Nuns and Their Statues in Late-Medieval Wienhausen
The crowning of statues was a common practice in medieval cloisters, but at the north German convent of Wienhausen, the golden crowns of statues were confiscated by Observant reformers after the reformation of 1469.
Medievality and the Chinese Sense of History
The approach taken in this article is to ask whether the Chinese, prior to the twentieth century, developed a sense of history capable of qualitatively discriminating between present and past in the way, or to the degree, that allowed Europeans to ’discover’ their medieval period?
Approaches to famine in medieval England
Given the potential importance of famine in medieval England, it is at least surprising that so little has been written on it. If we consider the greatest single famine event of the middle ages, the great famine of the early fourteenth century, a crisis event that may have killed something in the region of 10 per cent of the English population, the degree of historical discussion of this, relative to say investigation of the Black Death, is really quite muted.
The First Book Reviewer
A book reviewer from the 9th century – unsurprisingly, he hated a lot of what he read.
Five Medieval Games to Get You Through Long Winter Nights
Here are five games that date back to the Middle Ages that you can stay in and play on these long nights of winter.
Women in Viking-Age Scandinavia, or, who were the ‘shieldmaidens’?
I will address two questions: a) how are we to interpret the descriptions of these war-like women in the past, and b) does the contrast between active pagan and passive Christian women reflect real changes?
The Snake Motif in Viking Art: 10th – 12th Centuries
A guest post by Armstreet on Snake motifs in 10-12th century Viking art
Did People Ice Skate in the Middle Ages?
How did medieval people pass the time during the coldest part of the year? I came across several instances of medieval people strapping on skates and taking a twirl (or a tumble!) on the ice. Here is how it all began!
The History of Print Technology
From the earliest printed book in the 7th century to the beginning of digital printing less than a generation ago!
The Medieval Magazine: The Top 50 Medieval Books of 2015 (Issue 46)
We bring you our list for the top 50 books in Medieval Studies published in 2015. Plus, read about the Mercian King Offa, archaeological discoveries in England, and what bits of the Middle Ages you can find in a galaxy far, far away.
Care of relics in early medieval Rome
Hidden in a dark corner of St. Peter’s shrine, Pope Sergius I (687–701) found a silver box so blackened with age that he was at first unsure whether it was indeed made of silver.
The Wars of the Roses, by John Ashdown-Hill
John Ashdown-Hill gets right to the heart of this ‘thorny’ subject, dispelling the myths and bringing clarity to a topic often shrouded in confusion.
Food and technology – Cooking utensils and food processing in medieval Norway
By comparing archaeological evidence of cooking utensils from urban and rural contexts in Norway ca. 1,000–1,500 AD – in this case new technologies represented by imported ceramic vessels versus domestic steatite vessels and new types of stone griddles – my aim is to examine how new ways of preparing food were transmitted, either incorporated into routinised practises, ignored or transformed.
Five Favourite Reads for Medievalists
I thought I’d share just a handful of my favourites that range from medieval-for-beginners to heavier academic stuff.
The World’s Earliest Dated Tide Mill
Thomas McErlean discusses the story of the discovery the earliest mill in Ireland and the earliest presently known example of a tide mill in the world.
The Story of Exodus: The Anglo-Saxon Version
The clever authors of these Anglo-Saxon biblical poems knew their audiences, engaging readers and listeners by retelling Old Testament stories in an epic way that was both familiar and beloved.
Surviving Winter in the Middle Ages
Surviving Winter in the Middle Ages: How did people stay warm? What did they eat? What did they do?
Elizabeth of York, Queen of England
Elizabeth of York symbolized the epitome of the perfect medieval queen. She was beautiful, charitable, and beloved by the people.
The Use of Fantasy by European Artists from 1250 to 1650 A.D.
This study will trace the development of fantasy in European painting from 1250 to 1650 A.D.