Danish Kings and the Foundation of Jómsborg
Jómsborg, the great stronghold and residence of that famous warrior band the Jómsvíkings, is closely related in the Old Norse tradition to numerous Scandinavian rulers and is also associated with several Danish kings.
Literacy and Trade in Late Medieval Norway
The present article tries to study whether or not it is possible to relate the notion of literacy to trade in this period of time in late medieval Norway.
The Knowability of Divine Being according to Meister Eckhart’s Principal Thesis: «The Act to Be Is God»
First, this article tries to clarify the meaning of the thesis ‘The act to be is God.’ Then it asks the questions how we come to know the act to be, and how God is known as the act to be.
The Unicorn in the Symbolic and Semantic Expression of the Film Director Ridley Scott in the Context of Medieval Bestiaries
This paper observes and researches the relations between symbolic unicorn representation in Ridley Scott’s movies Blade Runner and Legend comparing it to the medieval bestiary descriptions and representations.
Enduring City-States: The Struggle for Power and Security in the Mediterranean Sea
This thesis will examine medieval and early modern city-states in the Mediterranean as illustrative of political, commercial and military responses to threats and opportunities in the premodern period.
Stowford: an early medieval hundred meeting place
In the summer of 2015 archaeological excavation sought to examine the location of an early medieval hundred meeting place (‘moot’) in southern Wiltshire.
Winners, Wasters, and the Shadow of Envy: Theories of Justice and the Scene of Medieval Literature
Is envy at the root of all claims for justice (so says Freud), or is envy a regrettable but surmountable human tendency that will be minimized in a just society (as Rawls has it)?
Drugs, Books, Patients: Marketing Medieval Medicine
Because a number of health care structures were established in the Middle Ages this lecture tries to answer questions about how medieval medicine laid the groundwork for drug regulations.
New Medieval Books: From Kitchens to Caves
Five of the latest publications about the medieval world.
Medieval Geopolitics: The Two Types of Warfare in Medieval Europe
In this, the first post of the Medieval Geopolitics series, I take a look at the two types of political war fought in medieval Europe.
The Romance of the Past? Nineteenth-Century Medievalism and the Tournament
The nineteenth century saw a rebirth of fascination with the Middle Ages, although this interest often had more to do with romance than reality. A perfect medium for the expression of this nineteenth-century medievalism was the tournament.
Foreign envoys and resident Norwegians in the Late Middle Ages – a cultural clash?
In this article, I will discuss the question of multiculturalism in Norway in the Late Middle Ages, focusing on potential cultural differences in the interaction between Norwegian farmers and foreign envoys or royal administrators.
The Relationship of the Italian and Southern French Cathars, 1170-1320
The aim of this thesis is to answer two questions, namely why Southern French Cathars chose to flee to Italy
when persecuted in the early thirteenth century and secondly to assess the extent to which Catharism was a ‘universal church’.
Anglo-Scandinavian Literature and the Post-Conquest Period
This thesis concerns narratives about Anglo-Scandinavian contact and literary traditions of Scandinavian origin which circulated in England in the post-conquest period.
The Norse Penny Reconsidered: The Goddard Coin—Hoax or Genuine?
This article considers the penny’s numismatic and archaeological context, and engages with the debate from a Norwegian perspective.
I was there. Constantine Akropolites’ Typikon
Constantine Akropolites wrote an appendix to the typikon for the Church of our Lord’s Resurrection in Constantinople, rebuilt by his father, George (1217-82).
X-Ray Imaging uncovers hidden ancient text in medieval manuscript
This week researchers in California are scanning a medieval manuscript to help uncover a medical text by the ancient physician Galen, which was scrapped off and replaced in the eleventh-century.
Anglo-Danish Connections and the Organisation of the Early Danish Church: Contribution to a Debate
The Christianization of Northern Europe is closely linked to concepts of cultural transfer, transmission, and influence. Latin Christianity was essentially foreign to the medieval North, and foreign expertise was needed for the implementation of the Christian faith.
The control of Kent in the ninth century
To one who lived through the political turmoil in England during the second half of the ninth century, the most significant aspect of a changing world must have been the intensification of Viking raids, culminating with the ‘conquests’ of the ancient kingdoms of East Anglia, Mercia and Northumbria.
The elusive Norse harbours of the North Atlantic: why they were abandoned, and why they are so hard to find
In the 8th century, Scandinavians began to press westwards across the North Atlantic; exploring, raiding, colonizing and trading.
Two Different Views of Knighthood in the Early Fifteenth-Century: Le Livre de Bouciquaut and the Works of Christine de Pizan
This article contends that the view of knighthood defended by the author of the biography was strikingly different in many ways from that held by Christine.
Three individuals, three stories, three burials from medieval Trondheim, Norway
This article presents the life stories of three individuals who lived in Trondheim, Norway, during the 13th century. Based on skeletal examinations, facial reconstructions, genetic analyses, and stable oxygen isotope analyses, the birthplace, mobility, ancestry, pathology, and physical appearance of these people are presented.
Episcopal Virginity in Medieval England
The literature on medieval sainthood is substantial, rich and varied, but on one point it is almost unanimous: sexuality, and in particular virginity, was of far greater significance to female saints than to their male counterparts.
The ‘joyous entry’ of Archduke Maximilian into Antwerp (13 January 1478): an analysis of a ‘most elegant and dignified’ dialogue
An in-depth analysis of a contemporary account of Maximilian’s joyous entry into Antwerp (13 January 1478) adds a new perspective to historiography by showing how the public urban spaces functioned as complex social products.
Architecture in medieval Persian painting: fact or fantasy?
Robert Hillenbrand looks at how Persian painters tackled depicting architecture while also showing the process of construction, and how they operated within what to a Western eye might seem like constricting conventions.