The Great Famine: 1315–1322 Revisited
The sources on the Great Famine of the early fourteenth century are extensive and varied. The basic narrative line is drawn from a very large number of chronicles.
Eighth-century skeleton discovered near Venice
Archaeologists working on the island of Torcello, near Venice, have uncovered a medieval skeleton dating to around 700 A.D.
Free(ish) online course on Medieval Spain starts next week
The University of Colorado and is teaming up with Coursea to launch a partially-free online course: Toledo: Deciphering Secrets of Medieval Spain. The course begins on October 29th and runs for six weeks.
The Coppersmith Vigilante: The Rise of the Saffarids
During the ninth century a simple craftsmen would take up arms, hoping to put an end to the warfare and violence plaguing his corner of the world. In the first part of the story of Saffarid Dynasty, Adam Ali tells the story of coppersmith who would form an empire and challenge the rulers of Baghdad.
The Medieval Magazine, Issue 117
Our spooktacular Halloween issue is out!
Chronology and History in Byzantium
Compared with historiography, chronological writing develops against a wider background than human affairs, and it focuses on the order of events and the time intervals between them, rather than on their internal development, their meaning, or their causes.
Torture and Confession in the Templar Interrogations at Caen, 28–29 October 1307
Perhaps more clearly than anywhere else in the documentation of the “Trial of the Templars,” these acts reveal how royal agents extracted confessions from the Templars in the weeks following their arrest.
Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms: Art, Word, War opens at the British Library
The British Library has opened what they are calling the largest ever exhibition on Anglo-Saxon England.
New Medieval Books: From Jousting to Mathematics
Four thick books, one thin, but all of them with offering a look into the Middle Ages.
The Legacy of Medieval Muslim Spain: Contemporary Identities and Conceptions of Tolerance
Christina Civantos examines the contemporary presence of medieval Muslim Iberia in Arab and Hispanic cultures and in global understandings of tolerance.
Art and Devotional Practices in the Byzantine Village: The Long View
In this talk, Gerstel will look at devotional art in several Greek villages and will also discuss how engaging with art in the village may provide opportunities for medievalists to move beyond the strict chronological confines of our field to take a more activist stance in approaching buildings and their communities.
Dorset, Norse, or Thule? Technological transfers, marine mammal contamination, and AMS dating of spun yarn and textiles from the Eastern Canadian Arctic
Norse woven textiles definitely were acquired by Thule people much farther to the north and during the late 13th century. The AMS date received from Skraeling Island helps to narrow the age of the woven woolen cloth recovered there, and implies that interactions between the Norse and Thule Inuit may have begun almost as soon as these Arctic pioneers arrived from Alaska
Viking ship discovered under the ground in Norway
Archaeologists using high resolution georadar have found a Viking ship and a large number of burial mounds and longhouses in southeastern Norway.
Parasites from medieval latrines tell a story of changing dietary habits
A radical new approach combining archaeology, genetics and microscopy can reveal long-forgotten secrets of human diet, sanitation and movement from studying parasites in medieval poo.
Medieval city of Koh Ker may have been inhabited for centuries, study finds
Ecological data reveals urban populations lasted long after royal abandonment of the Khmer city in the 10th century.
‘Vampire burial’ discovered in Italy dates to the 5th century AD, researchers find
The discovery of a 10-year-old’s body at a medieval Roman site in Italy suggests measures were taken to prevent the child, possibly infected with malaria, from rising from the dead and spreading disease to the living.
A Murder, a Siege, and Too Many Successors: How Flanders descended into Civil War in 1127
Read the Introduction to Medieval Warfare magazine’s Issue VII:5 – The murder of Charles the Good.
The Medieval Art of Riding: King Duarte’s Advice on Horsemanship
Not only practical for those who wish to hone their equestrian skills, they also give us a glimpse into Duarte’s mind and the medieval art of riding at large.
Y Gododdin, the Votadini and Arthurian Legend
Chances are good that unless you’re a scholar of Welsh literature, Arthurian legend, or early Scottish history, you’ve never heard of a Welsh poem called “Y Gododdin” (“The Gododdin,” in English).
Were women ever sacred? Some medieval and modern men would like us to think so
What do we really know about this phenomenon of medieval “courtly love” and the gender roles it displayed?
The Leaders: King Sverre and King Haakon
The objective of the present dissertation discusses how King Sverre Sigurdsson (1177-1202) and Haakon Haakonsson (1217-1263) are depicted in their Sagas.
Augustine among the Angels: The Venerable Bede’s impressive resume
I will give you a taste of Bede’s many accomplishments, not the least of which is his instrumental role in the diffusion of Augustine’s works.
The Burden of the Throne: A Medieval King’s Thoughts on Mental Health
Duarte incorporates his personal experience of physical and mental health into state governing: deeply believed in the body politic, Duarte believes that the sovereign’s mental stability affects the stability of the kingdom, so it lies within a king’s duty to seek happiness.
800 illuminated medieval manuscripts digitized, to go online in November
The British Library, the Bibliothèque nationale de France and The Polonsky Foundation have teamed up to create two websites that will provide digital access to 800 medieval manuscripts. The websites will be launched next month.
