The Empire that was always Decaying: The Carolingians (800-888)
According to most textbooks, the first Western empire to succeed its late Roman predecessor suddenly burst upon the scene, on Christmas Day 800 in Rome, when Pope Leo III turned Charles, King of the Franks and Lombards, and patricius (protector) of the Romans, into an imperator augustus
How Well Do You Know the 11th century?
Here are 11 questions about the 11th century. Good luck!
Climate Change and Medieval Sacred Architecture
This study attempts to provide illustrations of how climate may have influenced architectural features during the Middle Ages.
What Era Are You From?
Were you meant for another time?
Top 10 Medieval Videos of 2015
There are millions of videos about the Middle Ages being made each year – which ones are the best? We looked for ones that were interesting, educational and beautifully-filmed, and here is our top 10 list
Advent in the Middle Ages
Advent in the Middle Ages
The Supersizers Eat… Medieval
The Supersizers Eat… was a BBC television series about the history of food. Starring restaurant critic Giles Coren and comedian Sue Perkins, they produced a dozen episodes experiencing the food culture from ancient Rome to the roaring twenties.
12th century castle discovered in England
Archaeologists working in Gloucester have discovered the remains of a 12th-century castle. The find was made on the site of a former prison.
The Tragic Story of Joanna the Mad
Joanna’s mental illness has been a subject of debate across the centuries.
The Medieval Magazine: The Walk to Canossa (Issue 45)
This week we take a look at one of the most dramatic events of the Middle Ages – when Emperor Henry IV came to Canossa to meet Pope Gregory VII.
The Medieval Magazine: Why Did the Vikings Attack (Issue 19)
On June 8, 793, the Anglo-Saxon monastery on Lindisfarne was attacked by the Vikings – the first Viking raid on the British Isles. Why did the Norse travel across the seas to conduct their raids?
The History of German as a Foreign Language in Europe
This article provides the first overview in English of how German has been taught and learned in Europe up to about 1800
The Wolf-Warrior: Animal Symbolism on Weaponry of the 6th and 7th centuries
Decorative art in Scandinavia during the late Iron Age and Viking Period was largely dominated by animals in stylized forms.
5 Medieval Hanukkah Foods
What was on the table of medieval Jews? Here is a list of five foods that would have been enjoyed during Hanukkah in the Middle Ages.
How to run your business according to Christine de Pizan
May God keep them rich, honourable and worthy of trust!
‘The Worst Disaster Suffered by the People of Scotland in Recorded History’: Climate Change, Dearth and Pathogens in the Long Fourteenth Century
It is not the aim of this essay to provide an environmental history of medieval Scotland or even just of the fourteenth century in Scotland; that is a much larger task than can be addressed here. Rather, the intention is to explore the nature of the evidence that is available within the documentary record and place it alongside the various forms of proxy data for climate history to produce a synthetic narrative.
How to Write a Letter for a Suspicious Knight
For some were shoemakers in their own shires, some swineherds, and the man has yet to be found who would couple a girl of such noble birth to a man of ignoble origins.
5 Things to Pack in Your Medieval First Aid Kit
Here are five things that would have been a handy part of a medieval ‘first aid kit’ and that (incidentally) science is slowly proving can still be counted on to work in a pinch.
The Impact of Holy Land Crusades on State Formation
This paper argues that crusader mobilization had important implications for European state formation.
Medievalism and Exoticism in the Music of Dead Can Dance
In 1991, the alternative rock band Dead Can Dance released an album that caught the attention of music reviewers by constructing an aural allegiance to the Middle Ages.
Writing History in a Paperless World: Archives of the Future
The question I want to pose here concerns the form of archives that will be available to the historians of the early twenty-first century. Or put differently – what will be left behind of the contemporary present in lieu of paper for the future historians?
Tall Tales: The Trouble with Tours
Tours. They can be great, or they can be cringeworthy and rife with misinformation. A great tour guide knows how to add a flourish or two to a story to keep the audience engaged and the history interesting. A bad tour guide invents things and hopes there isn’t a historian in the audience dismayed by the falsehoods they’re spreading to unwitting listeners…
Of Wilderness, Forest, and Garden: An Eco-Theory of Genre in Middle English Literature
I posit that the components of the environment play a role in the deployment of the narrative by shaping the characters and influencing the action.
Europe’s Many Worlds and Their Global Interconnections
First, I will discuss the three Europes of the Middle Ages: the tri-continental Mediterranean-centred World, the Northern World originating in Scandinavia, and the intermediate Europe north of the Alpine mountains and south of the Baltic Sea.
Manuscript fragments bear ‘striking resemblance to The Book of Kells’
Fragments of a medieval manuscript hidden in the spine of a book for hundreds of years could shed new light on Ireland’s greatest cultural treasure, The Book of Kells.