Across the medieval world we can find various writings aimed at giving advice and wisdom. Here is some poetic wisdom from the ninth-century Middle East.
Archaeological output in the museum setting: a case study – The Mary Rose
September 22, 2017 by
What is the ultimate output of this archaeological excavation? How are the results of the work communicated to a wider public in a way that is engaging for a 21st-century audience?
Video: Porpoise found in medieval graveyard
September 22, 2017 by
Here is the video of an interesting archaeological discovery on the island of Chapelle Dom Hue near Guernsey.
Recycled Fatimid State Documents from the Cairo Geniza
September 22, 2017 by
Among the many unexpected finds the Cairo Geniza has yielded are hundreds—possibly thousands—of medieval documents of state in Arabic script, including decrees, rescripts, petitions, tax receipts and fiscal accounts from the Fatimid period.
The Hobbit and Other Fiction by J. R. R. Tolkien: Their Roots in Medieval Heroic Literature and Language
September 22, 2017 by
The body of this study presents the results of a survey of certain major medieval works in English, Norse, Irish, Welsh, French, German, and Italian, particularly those alluded to in Tolkien’s published scholarship and those suggested as possible sources in reviews of Tolkien’s fiction
A female Viking warrior confirmed by genomics
September 21, 2017 by
Already in the early middle ages, there were narratives about fierce female Vikings fighting alongside men. Although, continuously reoccurring in art as well as in poetry, the women warriors have generally been dismissed as mythological phenomena.
Animals came with medieval trade in Indian Ocean, researchers find
September 21, 2017 by
The earliest introduction of domestic chickens and black rats from Asia to the east coast of Africa came via maritime routes between the 7th and 8th centuries AD.
Matthias Corvinus and Charles the Bold
September 18, 2017 by
The paper investigates the diplomatic relations of Matthias Corvinus with the Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, focusing on the 1460s and ‘70s.
Why We Can’t Stop Fighting about Chaucer’s Man of Law
September 18, 2017 by
Why We Can’t Stop Fighting about Chaucer’s Man of Law By Bonnie J. Erwin Enarratio: Publications of the Medieval Association of the Midwest, Volume 20 (2016) Introduction: As Chaucer’s Canterbury pilgrims compete in their Host’s tale-telling challenge, they bicker and mock one another, form both alliances and rivalries, and critique one another’s religiosity, gender performance, and social […]
The Meaning of the Habit: Religious Orders, Dress and Identity, 1215-1650
September 18, 2017 by
What lies at the core of this analysis of the conceptions about religious clothing – used as a heuristic tool – is precisely its capacity to show not only how the identities of the religious orders of the period evolved, but also how they were perceived and conceived, and how they shaped these changes.
The Medieval Quiet Period
September 17, 2017 by
The Medieval Quiet Period By Raymond S Bradley, Heinz Wanner and Henry F. Diaz The Holocene, Vol 26, Issue 6 (2016) Abstract: For several centuries in early Medieval times the climate system was relatively unperturbed by natural forcing factors, resulting in a unique period of climate stability. We argue that this represents a reference state for the […]
New Medieval Books: People and Places
September 17, 2017 by
Five books published in 2017 that could be on the shelf of any medievalist.
Should I get married or become a writer? A medieval answer
September 17, 2017 by
And so, my Alessandra, you are uncertain whether to dedicate yourself to the Muses of to a Man?
5 stunning Scottish castles you can only reach by boat
September 16, 2017 by
Standing as lone sentinels on lochs or islands these ancestral homes have stood for hundreds of years, with their location making them difficult to reach.
The First Zero
September 14, 2017 by
When did the mathematical zero begin being used? New research revealed this week by the University of Oxford’s Bodleian Libraries shows that a manuscript from India bearing the symbol was written in the 3rd or 4th century, making it the world’s oldest recorded origin of the zero that we use today.
Surrender in Medieval Europe: An Indirect Approach
September 14, 2017 by
The demise of slavery meant that for the first time women and children came to be regarded as non-combatants, and high-status warriors treated as a source of profit (ransom).
Horses for work and horses for war: the divergent horse market in late medieval England
September 13, 2017 by
Rivaled perhaps only by the medieval knight, horses evoke some of the most familiar images associated with England in the Middle Ages.
An Assessment of the ‘Sweating Sickness’ Affecting England During the Tudor Dynasty
September 13, 2017 by
This strange disease, known variously as “sweating sickness,” Sudor anglicus, or simply the “Sweat” occurred almost exclusively in England and only during the first half of the Tudor dynasty, seemingly vanishing in 1551.
‘Greek fire’ revisited: current and recent research
September 13, 2017 by
The first point to make is that it seems now widely agreed that liquid fire was, in fact, a petroleum-based weapon, and had no connection whatsoever with explosive materials or mixtures,
Decline or Transformation? Archaeology and the Late Medieval ‘Urban Decline’ in Southern England
September 10, 2017 by
Decline or Transformation? Archaeology and the Late Medieval ‘Urban Decline’ in Southern England By Ben Jervis Archaeological Journal, Vol.174:1 (2017) Abstract: Archaeological evidence is used to examine how urban life changed in the later medieval towns of Sussex, Surrey, and Hampshire in southern England, in light of ongoing debates about the existence of a fifteenth-century urban […]
Archaeologists explore medieval manor linked with the Knights Hospitallers
September 10, 2017 by
University of Leicester archaeologists have returned this month to Castle Hill Country Park at Beaumont Leys to continue exploring a large scheduled ancient monument, Castle Hill, believed to be the remains of a medieval manorial site linked with the Knights Hospitallers. Last year, a two-week community dig on the site uncovered well-preserved medieval archaeology dating […]
New Medieval Books: From England’s King (without a kingdom) to the Byzantine Astronomer
September 10, 2017 by
Five new books about the Middle Ages.
Which medieval scholar would you study under?
September 7, 2017 by
It’s back to school, and with these six questions you can figure which famous medieval scholar you should study under!
The Roots of Persecution: a comparison of leprosy and madness in late medieval thought and society
September 6, 2017 by
In light of the similar moral and spiritual content of leprosy and madness as concepts, this comparison indicates that a morally condemned or stigmatized condition was not sufficient to generate persecution, or to produce a persecuted social identity.
Ascending the Steps to Hliðskjálf: The Cult of Óðinn in Early Scandinavian Aristocracy
September 6, 2017 by
This thesis is a study of the cult of Óðinn as it seems to have evolved within the newly emerging warrior-based aristocracy of southern Scandinavia during the centuries prior to the Viking Age.
How you can Follow Us!