News Archive
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Capital and Corporal Punishment may have been rare in Anglo-Saxon England, researcher suggests
Posted on March 1, 2015 | No CommentsA long standing belief about early medieval justice was that many offenders would be executed for serious crimes, or face punishments such as amputations for lesser offences. However, an examination of archaeological data suggests that these kinds of punishments were rare in Anglo-Saxon England. -
14th century English church awarded funds for conservation project
Posted on February 24, 2015 | No CommentsSt Mary’s Church in the English village of Cowbit has received £8,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) for a project to conserve and communicate the heritage of the 14th-century building and its clock. -
Rowallan Castle in Scotland to be turned into a hotel
Posted on February 24, 2015 | No CommentsHistoric Scotland is transferring control of Rowallan Castle, which dates back to the Middle Ages, back to its owner, who who will be converting it into a hotel as part of a golf course development. -
How Climate Change in Asia brought the Black Death to Europe
Posted on February 24, 2015 | No CommentsA group of Norwegian and Swiss researchers have uncovered links between climatic changes in central Asia and repeated outbreaks of the Bubonic plague in Europe, starting with the Black Death in the 14th century. -
An Italian cemetery may provide clues on cholera’s evolution
Posted on February 21, 2015 | No CommentsBurial grounds 'a thousand-year history' into human health -
$300 million library donated to Princeton University includes thousands of medieval manuscripts and early printed books
Posted on February 19, 2015 | No CommentsWilliam Scheide has left his collection of rare books and manuscripts to Princeton University. It is believed to be worth about $300 million, making it the largest gift in the university's history. -
Tropical fire ants traveled the world on 16th century ships
Posted on February 19, 2015 | No CommentsThanks to a bit of genetic sleuthing, researchers now know the invasion history of the tropical fire ant, the first ant species known to travel the globe by sea. -
Cannonball from Wars of the Roses battle discovered
Posted on February 18, 2015 | No CommentsA lead ball, believed to be the oldest cannonball ever found in England, has been discovered on the site of the Battle of Northampton. -
Gold coin hoard discovered off Mediterranean coast
Posted on February 18, 2015 | No CommentsNearly 2,000 coins, the largest treasure hoard ever discovered in Israel, was found a few weeks ago in the waters off the medieval port of Caesarea. -
1500-year-old Byzantine grape seeds discovered in Israel
Posted on February 18, 2015 | No CommentsThe charred grape seeds, over 1,500 years old, found in southern Israel excavation were used to produce the 'Wine of the Negev' - one of the finest and most renowned wines in the whole of the Byzantine Empire. -
Immigrants made up 1% of the population in Medieval England, researchers find
Posted on February 17, 2015 | No CommentsAbout one out of every hundred people in late medieval England was an immigrant, according to researchers at the universities of York and Sheffield. They have also launched a new database that offers details about 65,000 immigrants who lived in England between 1330 and 1550. -
Bejewelled backdrop to coronations did not cost a king’s ransom
Posted on February 14, 2015 | No CommentsResearch into England’s oldest medieval altarpiece – which for centuries provided the backdrop to Westminster Abbey coronations – has revealed that it cost no more than the rather unprincely equivalent of eight cows. -
Discovering the ‘killer blow’ to King Richard III
Posted on February 14, 2015 | No CommentsNew film footage revealing for the first time details of the potential killer blow that claimed the life of King Richard III has been released by the University of Leicester. -
Huge Anglo-Saxon Coin Hoard goes on display at British Museum
Posted on February 13, 2015 | No CommentsThe Lenborough Hoard, which consists of over 5200 coins from Anglo-Saxon times, is now on display at the British Museum. This discovery highlights the ongoing importance of the Portable Antiquities Scheme, which just released its 2012 Treasure Report. -
Picts offer historians a picture of non-Roman Briton culture
Posted on February 12, 2015 | No CommentsHistory has never been too kind to a group of early British Isle inhabitants referred to as the Picts, but the often mischaracterized, always mysterious people may serve as a historical laboratory to explore how the island's culture might have developed without Roman intervention, according to a Penn State historian. -
Mons Meg removed from Edinburgh Castle for conservation work
Posted on February 11, 2015 | No CommentsMons Meg, one of the most famous weapons of the Middle Ages, was removed from Edinburgh Castle last month for specialist restoration and conservation work. -
Who lies in the mortuary chests at Winchester Cathedral?
Posted on February 11, 2015 | No CommentsThe remains of several kings of Anglo-Saxon and Norman England, including Edmund Ironside, Cnut and William II Rufus are believed to be in Winchester Cathedral. A new project hopes to uncover their remains after they were scattered about nearly 400 years ago. -
Black Death DNA found in teeth
Posted on February 10, 2015 | No CommentsRemnants of the genetic makeup of plague bacteria have been found in thousands of victims of the Black Death and the major plague epidemics at the end of the Iron Age. The DNA analyses may predict the next plague outbreak. -
715 year old copy of Magna Carta discovered
Posted on February 8, 2015 | No CommentsThe document, which is heavily damaged, could still be worth as much as £10 million. -
Original Magna Carta copy belonged to Canterbury Cathedral, historian finds
Posted on February 5, 2015 | No CommentsThere are only four surviving copies of the original Magna Carta from 1215. One these originals has now been identified as first belonging to Canterbury Cathedral. -
![Photographer Euan Forrester spent three years following the Society of Creative Anachronism (SCA) to better understand about the organization and the people who take part in it. He has now […]](http://www.medievalists.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Euan-Forrester-Photography-115x115.jpg "This Game We Play – capturing the SCA over three years")
This Game We Play – capturing the SCA over three years
Posted on February 4, 2015 | No CommentsPhotographer Euan Forrester spent three years following the Society of Creative Anachronism (SCA) to better understand about the organization and the people who take part in it. He has now […] -
New bridge installed at Harlech Castle
Posted on February 4, 2015 | No CommentsA new bridge was installed at Harlech Castle last month, which will allow visitors to enter the site through the original historic entrance for the first time in more than 600 years. -
Digging into the Secrets of Medieval Manuscripts
Posted on February 2, 2015 | No CommentsDigital tools, including a free, public online manuscript training course, are allowing Stanford University English professor and medieval manuscript scholar Elaine Treharne to share her expertise well beyond traditional classroom walls. -
Thirteenth-century Papal Bull repaired and digitized
Posted on February 1, 2015 | No CommentsAn extraordinary Papal document that’s nearly 800 years old has become a valuable teaching and research tool at University of British Columbia, thanks to a history instructor’s passion and the university library’s restoration efforts. -
Free online course offers unique insights into Richard III reinterment
Posted on January 30, 2015 | No CommentsThe third run of the free popular ‘England in the Time of King Richard III’ online course will be launching Monday 16 February – and will offer a fascinating insight into life during 15th century England in the build up to the reinterment of Richard III on Thursday 26 March.
