Color in the Middle Ages
Here are five colorful facts about color in the Middle Ages, courtesy the research of French historian Michel Pastoureau.
When Medieval England was Almost Invaded
Froissart enthusiastically notes that many among the French host ‘considered England to be already crushed and devastated, all her men killed, and her women and children brought to France in slavery’.
New Medieval Books: Music in the Middle Ages
Five recently published books about medieval music.
Uppsala Slott: 5 Things You Ought to Know About One of Sweden’s Greatest Castles
This strategic location not only makes the castle a majestic sight, but also earns it the reputation as the most modern defence fortress in its time. But, as all ancient buildings, there is always more than meets the eye. Here are the five things that you may not know about Uppsala Castle.
10 New Youtube Videos for Medieval Lovers – Volume 3
Ten videos recently posted on Youtube for the medievalist’s viewing pleasure!
Mass grave maybe from the Viking Great Army, archaeologists find
A team of archaeologists has discovered that a mass grave uncovered in the 1980s dates to the Viking Age and may have been a burial site of the Viking Great Army war dead.
The Women around an Emperor: Margaret of Austria
In the third in a series of features exploring the early modern women whose lives intersected in some way with that of Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I, Natalie Anderson examines the life of Margaret of Austria.
Gender Ambiguity in Medieval Iceland: Legal Framework and Saga Dynamics
In the judgmental genre of the Icelandic family saga, gender transgression is always central to plot dynamics and this is its only rationale for inclusion.
Eight centuries of the risk-free rate: bond market reversals from the Venetians to the ‘VaR shock’
This paper presents a new dataset for the annual risk-free rate in both nominal and real terms going back to the 13th century.
Assembling the archaeology of the global Middle Ages
Responding to recent developments in archaeological theory and growing interest in the ‘global Middle Ages’, an approach to exploring relations between local and global processes in the medieval world is proposed.
Making an Impression: The Display of Maps in Sixteenth-Century Venetian Homes
Maps were versatile objects that could demonstrate that the owner was a cultured, cosmopolitan man educated about the world, reinforce his professional or trade standing, or enhance a military persona, all to the glorification of the family name.
Modeling plague transmission in Medieval European cities
The Black Death pandemic swept through Europe during the Middle Ages leading to high mortality from plague. How it spread, the transmission of the disease within and between cities, remains a subject of controversy among scientists and historians.
Prisoners of War in the Albigensian Crusade, 1209-1229
The Albigensian Crusade is generally considered a brutal war because of the manner in which both sides treated the enemy, especially the prisoners. This article analyzes the causes of this apparent absence of war conventions.
Captives in Mediaeval Spain: The Castilian-Leonese and Muslim Experience (XI-XIII Centuries)
War in the borders between Castilian-Leonese kingdom and al-Andalus during the 11th-13th centuries was an economic activity in which booty allowed some people to enrich themselves, while captives were a substantial part of the war profits.
Ibn Sa,di on Truth-Blindness
In his biographical dictionary, the well-known Andalusian scholar al-Humaydi gives an account of the unhappy experience of an earlier compatriot of his, Abu ‘Umar Ahmad b. Muhammad b. Sa,di, in the theological debating societies of Baghdad.
Barnet: the ongoing archaeological search for Greater London’s only medieval battlefield
The Wars of Roses, the great dynastic 15th-century conflict between the houses of Lancaster and York, was marked by a series of bloody battles, one of which took place on the boundary of the London Borough of Barnet and Hertfordshire.
The Drosten Stone, St Vigeans: A cultural hybrid
The inscriptions on the Drosten Stone have inspired extensive scholarship, but little study has been devoted to the possible meanings behind the Pictish art depicted on the stone.
Researchers find first evidence of glassmaking in sub-Saharan Africa
Scholars from Rice University, University College London and the Field Museum have found the first direct evidence that glass was produced in sub-Saharan Africa centuries before the arrival of Europeans.
Medieval Chess Piece Discovered in Norway
Archaeologists recently made a particularly spectacular find in Tønsberg – a rare and richly decorated chess piece.
How Dice Changed in the Middle Ages
Whether at a casino playing craps or engaging with family in a simple board game at home, rolling the dice introduces a bit of chance or “luck” into every game.