Geoffrey of Monmouth’s Portrayal of the Arrival of Christianity in Britain: Fact or Fiction?
I would like to suggest that an open-minded approach to a reading of the Historia Regum Britanniae shows that Geoffrey does not entirely deserve his reputation.
Mob Politics: The Political Influence of the Circus Factions in the Eastern Empire from the Reign of Leo I to Heraclius (457-641)
This thesis explores the political motivations behind the factions’ violent behaviour, the evidence for their involvement in the military, and their role in accession ceremonies.
The Fortunes of a King: Images of Edward the Confessor in 12th to 14th Century England
This thesis is an iconographic study of Saint-King Edward the Confessor. It focuses on the political and devotional functions of his images in twelfth to fourteenth century England.
A Most Convenient Relationship: The Rise of the Cat as a Valued Companion Animal
Of all the animals domesticated by humans the cat is one of the most unique.
Holy War – Holy Wrath: Baltic Wars between regulated Warfare and Total Annihilation around 1200
The Baltic crusades of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries were in principle aimed at converting infidels and establishing a new Christian plantation in the wilderness, but the contemporary narrative sources repeatedly tell of crusaders systematically chasing down pagans and annihilating them with the sword.
Book Review: Three Sisters, Three Queens
Three Sisters, Three Queens by Philippa Gregory pulls together the lives of Margaret Tudor, her younger sister Mary, and Katherine of Aragon.
Northmen: The Viking Saga 793-1241 AD
In his new book Northmen: The Viking Saga, 793 – 1241 AD, John Haywood gives an overview of the age of the people we now call Vikings.
What is a Volcano? A Medieval Answer
Volcanoes have long fascinated people. They have know how dangerous they can be, but throughout history many have tried to figure what causes them. Here is the explanation given by the medieval scholar Albert the Great.
Piety in Pieces: How Medieval Readers Customized their Manuscripts
Medieval manuscripts resisted obsolescence. Made by highly specialised craftspeople (scribes, illuminators, book binders) with labour-intensive processes using exclusive and sometimes exotic materials (parchment made from dozens or hundreds of skins, inks and paints made from prized minerals, animals and plants), books were expensive and built to last.
Conference explores the Anglo-Saxon site at Rendlesham
Historians and archaeologists are meeting today to discuss one of the largest and richest settlements of Anglo-Saxon England. ‘Anglo-Saxon Rendlesham, a Royal Centre of the East Anglian Kingdom’, taking place in Bury St Edmunds, will present new research on the internationally important archaeological discovery to the wider public.
The Medieval Magazine (Volume 2 Issue 25)
Our celebratory Eight-Year Anniversary Issue! We take a journey back through time for the best of our best as well as looking forward to the future and some great new original content!
Archaeologists dig in to explore Tamworth’s history
Archaeologists excavating the car park next to Tamworth Assembly Rooms have made an interesting discovery during their search for clues about the town’s history.
Landscape, Maternal Space, And Child Exposure In The Sagas Of Icelanders
A survey of these episodes, then, suggests that maternal space in the sagas reasserts itself generally—and particularly reasserts itself onto the northern landscape—during instances of child exposure, where this mode of attempted infanticide takes on a variant meaning in Northern societies than it would from more Southern ones.
An Approach to Crusading Ethics
A crusade was a form of holy war, but holy war was itself only one expression of a wider concept, that of sacred violence.
Women and Catharism
Participation of women in sustaining and spreading the dualist heresy known as Catharism in Languedoc in the first half of the thirteenth century was greater than the passive role generally assigned to them in medieval society
Telling the Truth about Sex in Late Medieval Paris
Court records that record witness testimony are a rich source for attitudes if not for actual behavior; they provide first-person accounts from people who are otherwise silent in the medieval record.
Japanese medieval trading towns: Sakai and Tosaminato
Trade was essential to the development of urban forms in medieval Japan.
Heavenly Healing or Failure of Faith? Partial Cures in Later Medieval Canonization Processes
When thinking of miracles as source material for the conceptions and everyday life of the laity, miracles with remaining symptoms provide an interesting sub-type of a healing miracle.
Medieval Advice for Students Away From Home
By Danièle Cybulskie Over the last few weeks, countless parents have kissed their sons and daughters and sent them off to study away…
Why ‘Hamilton’ Matters to Medievalists
As I watched the 70th Annual Tony Awards a few months ago, front-running Hamilton, a musical production nominated in a record-setting 16 categories, really struck me as powerful.
Depictions of Combat in Medieval Art: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
Video of a paper given by James Hester at the 2016 IMC
The Copernican System: A Detailed Synopsis
Dissatisfied with the problems of the geocentric system inherited from Claudius Ptolemy, Nicholas Copernicus began the change from geocentrism to heliocentrism.
The Extent of Indigenous-Norse Contact and Trade Prior to Columbus
The full extent of Norse exploration in North America is a growing field and the extent of their contact and trade with Indigenous Americans is becoming increasingly known.
Kings, Wars, and Duck Eggs: Interpretations of Poetry in Egil’s Saga
Although Egil’s Saga is memorable enough for its bloodshed, feuds, and comically disgusting mead-hall scenes, the one characteristic which most distinctly sets it apart from the other Icelandic sagas is its extensive use of poetry.
Science and Nature in the Medieval Ecological Imagination
This dissertation explores the intersections between nature and culture in medieval literature and art with particular focus on Geoffrey Chaucer’s House of Fame, the thirteenth-century French Bible Moralisée, and William Langland’s Piers Plowman.