From Heroic Legend to ‘Medieval Screwball Comedy’? The Origins, Development and Interpretation of the Maiden-King Narrative
New types of popular texts emerged, bringing with them new images of women, especially the maiden-king or meykongr, a figure that features prominently in many of the late-medieval indigenous romances or (frumsamdar) riddarasögur.
Free Richard III MOOC returns
The latest run of the free ‘England in the Time of King Richard III’ MOOC, or Massive Open Online Course, will be launching on Monday 27 February – and will offer a fascinating insight into life during 15th century England.
Queenship in England: 1308-1485 Gender and Power in the Late Middle Ages: Book Tour and Giveaway!
Medieval Readers! Today, we’re hosting day 3 of Conor Byrne’s Book Tour and running an international contest to give away a copy of his latest novel: Queenship in England: 1308-1485 Gender and Power in the Late Middle Ages Want a chance to win it?
Marriage and Sanctity in the Lives of Late Medieval Married Saints
How did the saint come to marry? How are sexual relations portrayed in saints’ lives? How did the saint live after the death of or separation from a spouse?
Habere rem: Concubinage and references to sexual life in Catalan pastoral visitations from the 14th century
The paper I will be presenting is a small selection of the results of my doctoral thesis, in which I studied a 14th-century pastoral visitation to the Urgell diocese in the northwest of Catalonia.
The Medieval Magazine: Be My Medieval Valentine (Volume 3, Issue 3)
We’ve just released our latest issue of the Medieval Magazine! In this issue: 5 Ways to Win Her Heart! Images of Medieval Love:…
Robin Hood and the Three Estates of Medieval Society
The legend of Robin Hood has been part of the English cultural landscape for over six centuries, evolving from the yeoman outlaw of the earliest surviving texts to the dispossessed nobleman that we recognise as his more recent incarnation.
Maces in medieval Transylvania between the thirteenth and the sixteenth centuries
Medieval mace heads have often been ignored by scholars and many artefacts of this type lay unpublished and sometimes unknown in various museums even today.
The Teutonic Order in Cyprus ca.1197-1250
As a new military order, the Teutonic Order was one of these military orders and they established themselves in the latter half of 1190’s in Cyprus.
The Double Impact of Christianization for Women in Old Norse Culture
The question of whether Christianity resulted in an improvement, or a worsening of conditions for women in still open to debate.
Tea Perceived: From a 9th-Century Shipwreck to a 19th-Century Snuff Bottle
The growth of tea as a beverage in China began under the influence of Buddhism during the medieval period and then was legitimized among the population at large through the efforts of Lu Yu (733-804)
Genghis Khan’s Womenfolk: How Imperial Women Shaped the Mongol Conquests and the Mongol Empire
In this lecture, Professor Broadbridge will present three key moments from Mongol history to illustrate the way that imperial women’s contributions have dramatically changed Mongol history as we know it.
‘The revolt of the medievalists’: Directions in recent research on the twelfth-century renaissance
Ever since Wallace K. Ferguson contributed to making ‘the revolt of the medievalists’ a slogan for the medievalists’ attack on the modernity of Jacob Burckhardt’s Italian renaissance, the question of ‘renaissance’ or ‘renaissances’ has been much discussed.
European Viking Themed Festivals: An Expression of Identity
Viking themed festivals are now widespread throughout Europe and are a popular expression of heritage identity.
Remembering Antiquity: The Ancient World Through Medieval Eyes
Exhibition at the J. Paul Getty Museum at the Getty Center January 25-May 28, 2017 This remarkable collaborative exhibit takes a head-on approach…
Castle for Sale: Le Château de Pouzilhac
Originally built in the 12th century, and expanded in the 14th century, this French castle has been completely restored and offers medieval charm and modern comfort.
Original castle gates and doors: A Survey
Our survey will consider timber gates, doors and portcullis grilles that are still performing their original function with a brief overview of construction methods.
Serlo of Bayeux and England
After a short introduction highlighting Serlo’s ambiguous attitude to the English and its king in 1105-1106, I shall discuss three texts which link Serlo with England.
The Noblest of Sports: Falconry in the Middle Ages
The Noblest of Sports: Falconry in the Middle Ages By William H. Forsyth The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, New Series, Vol. 2,…
Why Archaeologists, Historians and Geneticists Should Work Together – and How
The aim is both to discuss in what ways the ascendant discipline of genetic history is relevant, and to pinpoint both the potentials and the pitfalls of the field.
A matter of trust: the royal regulation of England’s French residents during wartime, 1294–1377
How, without the formal allegiance enacted under the process of denization, did the governments of Edward I, II and III negotiate and define the status of foreigners living within their jurisdiction?
Anne of Kiev (c.1024–c.1075) and a reassessment of maternal power in the minority kingship of Philip I of France
Anne of Kiev was the only medieval princess of Rus’ to travel to France for a dynastic marriage with a French king
Assembling places and persons: a tenth-century Viking boat burial from Swordle Bay on the Ardnamurchan peninsula, western Scotland
A rare, intact Viking boat burial in western Scotland contained a rich assemblage of grave goods, providing clues to the identity and origins of both the interred individual and the people who gathered to create the site.
Hoard of King Alfred the Great goes to Ashmolean Museum
The Ashmolean Museum will be purchasing a treasure hoard dating back to time of King Alfred the Great. The museum, which is located in Oxford, has raised the £1.35 million to fund the purchase.
Flaying in the Middle Ages
Larissa Tracy introduces the new book Flaying in the Pre-modern World: Practice and Representation: