Taking Care of Babies in the Middle Ages
When it comes to taking care of babies in the Middle Ages, this meant swaddling them and rocking them in cradles.
William Longespée: The Tyrant’s Enforcer
Born sometime around the mid 1170s, William Longespée was the son of King Henry II and the most aristocratic and well connected of his known mistresses, Ida de Tosny.
New Medieval Books: 10 Open Access Books in Medieval Studies
Here are 10 books published in 2019 and 2020 which you can freely download and read right now.
Isabella of France, Queen of England
This week on The Medieval Podcast, Danièle tells the story of one of her favourite queens, Isabella of France, who went from being a child bride to storming England and toppling an anointed king.
Finding Sir Lancelot in Medieval Poland
Today, being the world’s only Lancelot wall paintings preserved in situ, the Siedlęcin set ranks among the most outstandingly complete and well preserved in Europe.
Looking for the Northern Lights in Medieval Iceland, finding Jane Austen
Ármann Jakobsson attempts to answer the questions he keeps being asked about Icelandic sagas.
The Legendary History of Norway
That the legendary forefathers of Norway are named after elements of nature (and winter) is interesting.
The Hundred Years War Revisited: The ‘Caroline War’, 1369-1389
This phase is distinctive in that it saw the scope of the conflict between England and France become truly international – some of its most notable battles were fought far from the home territories of the two belligerents in places as far north as Scotland and Flanders and as far south as Castile and Portugal.
Negotiation and tolerance or brutal show of force? The Normans in Southern Italy
What was the strategy of the Norman expansion in Apulia, Calabria and Sicily and what were the factors that shaped it?
Five Myths about Medieval Peasants
This week, Danièle takes on five common myths about medieval peasants.
Signs of the Apocalypse in 15th century Germany
Many cultures have beliefs about the end of the world. In 15th-century Germany the Apocalypse would be coming if you saw a castle hanging from a thread and a giant hatching from an egg.
Medieval Manuscripts: The Dancing Book of Margaret of Austria
Courtiers in fifteenth-century Europe loved to move their feet to the rhythm graceful music. And when they forgot the choreography, they consulted an elegant booklet written in gold and silver on dark black vellum.
Medieval Reads: Creating stories with Mary Stewart and Geoffrey of Monmouth
Mary Stewart’s rather well known Arthurian trilogy-with-extra-volumes used a sub-Roman British setting, and placed an entirely twelfth century story of Arthur into it.
Kings of the Sun: Indigenous Medieval Culture in the Movies
Kings of the Sun is a fascinating, if ultimately flawed, film. It is almost unique in Hollywood history because it tells an entirely indigenous, medieval American tale without contact with Europeans.
The Story of the Dog whose Eyes led to Adultery
Once upon a time, there was a knight who was called away on business, and in what might be the heaviest bit of foreshadowing ever, said…
The Pulse: A Medieval Lie-Detector?
Although there was quite a lot that medieval people hadn’t yet discovered about the human body, their keenness of their observation shouldn’t be underestimated.
The Mamluk Military: A Professional Medieval Army
How was the Mamluk military system organized? Which types of units could be found in their armies? What was the size of these forces?
Getting Away with Adultery in the Middle Ages
Although adultery wasn’t sanctioned by the church, it made for some of medieval Europe’s most beloved stories, from romance to fabliaux.
Compassionate Capitalism in the Middle Ages: The property market in 13th century Cambridge
Property was a desirable asset in medieval Cambridge, much as it still is today. Two new books examine the records of over one thousand properties in the town, all detailed in the Hundred Rolls of 1279.
Castles in the Middle Ages
This week on The Medieval Podcast Danièle talks about castles: what they were like, what they were for, and where we get some of the everyday words we use to describe them.
The Hundred Years’ War and the English soldier
Starting in the 1340s, English soldiers – both men-at-arms and their lethal archer companions – began to make their presence felt across all of Western Europe.
A Five-Minute Guide to the Cathars
Here is a quick, five-minute guide to one of the most popular spiritual movements of the Middle Ages.
Touch in the Middle Ages
In these times, I want to bring out one thing that medieval people knew but we seem to have forgotten: Touch is necessary and fundamental.
Seeing and Hearing the ‘Scourge of God’: Attila the Hun in film, music and opera
Attila is a figure who has been treated in all manner of different ways, positive and negative in various art forms – from classical to contemporary music, sculpture, painting, opera, fiction, and film.
Three funny tales from the 14th century
This week on The Medieval Podcst, Danièle shares three funny tales by Franco Sacchetti, written to entertain Italians during the tough times they experienced in the fourteenth century.