News Archive
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Richard III had severe scoliosis but was not a hunchback, researchers find
Posted on May 31, 2014 | No CommentsScientists and researchers have completed their study on the spinal column of Richard III, and have also released a 3-D model of the spine. -
English Medieval Landmarks get £35 million in heritage funding
Posted on May 30, 2014 | No CommentsCanterbury Cathedral, Nottingham Castle and Bath Abbey will all be receiving millions of pounds in funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund, allowing them to carry out new conservation and heritage projects. -
Where medieval London got its fish from
Posted on May 27, 2014 | No CommentsDuring the 13th century the supply of fish to London dramatically changed from a local supply to one important from outside England. -
How to help restore an Irish castle
Posted on May 26, 2014 | No CommentsThe owners of a 16th-century Irish castle are hoping to raise €18,000 to restore the keep's Great Hall. -
Richard III to be buried in Leicester
Posted on May 23, 2014 | No CommentsA British High Court has decided that the remains of Richard III should be buried at Leicester Cathedral. -
J.R.R. Tolkien’s Beowulf published today
Posted on May 22, 2014 | No CommentsNearly 90 years after he first made the translation, J.R.R. Tolkien's version of Beowulf arrives at bookstores around the world today. -
‘Vampire’ skeleton discovered in Poland
Posted on May 14, 2014 | No CommentsArchaeologists working in northwestern Poland have unearthed the remains of man who was buried with a rock jammed into his jaw and a stake driven into his leg. -
Christopher Columbus’ flagship may have been found
Posted on May 13, 2014 | No CommentsAn underwater archaeological search may have discovered the Santa Maria, the flagship of Christopher Columbus when he sailed across the Atlantic reaching the New World in 1492. -
New Project to look at Medieval Miracles in the British Isles
Posted on May 12, 2014 | No CommentsA team of researchers from the University of Cambridge have started creating an online database to categorize the miracles found in saints’ lives that were written in Britain and Ireland between 500 and 1300. -
New study to look at Norse farming on the Orkney Isles
Posted on May 12, 2014 | No CommentsA year-long study will begin this fall that will look look at herding economies in the Orkney Isles from the 8th to the 15th century AD. -
Machiavelli: The Graphic Novel
Posted on May 9, 2014 | No CommentsA project to create a print version of a graphic novel depicting the life of the Italian politician and philosopher Machiavelli has successfully reached its fundraising goals. -
Did the Vikings reach Madeira?
Posted on May 7, 2014 | No CommentsNew research about mice on Madeira suggests that the Vikings may have visited the Atlantic island 400 years before it was colonized. -
How Chickens looked different in the Middle Ages
Posted on May 6, 2014 | No CommentsA new study on domestic chickens has revealed that until the end of the Middle Ages they looked very different from the ones we see on farms today. -
The Cross-dressing Women of Medieval London
Posted on May 3, 2014 | No CommentsWomen going around dressed as men, wearing men's hats, and even having their hair cut short, was not an acceptable practice in medieval society. However, in late medieval London there were at least 13 cases of women accused of doing just that. -
Medieval Congress begins next week
Posted on May 1, 2014 | No CommentsOne week from today the 49th International Congress on Medieval Studies will officially get underway. This is the largest gathering of academic medievalists in the world, drawing over 3000 scholars to Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo. -
A Medieval Handbag fit for an Ilkhan Queen
Posted on April 29, 2014 | No CommentsThis handbag (or shoulder bag) was made in the Iraqi city of Mosul between 1300 and 1330. -
Lost medieval village discovered in Scottish borderlands
Posted on April 29, 2014 | No CommentsAn archaeological team working in southern Scotland have uncovered the remains of a village that existed between the 14th and 16th centuries. -
Was a Woman the first editor of the Qur’an?
Posted on April 26, 2014 | No CommentsA new study suggests that Hafsa bint 'Umar, one of the wives of the Prophet Muhammad, had a crucial role in editing and codifying the Qur'an and was likely the one of the first people to have kept a written version of the religious text. -
Is the story of the Battle of Clontarf more fiction than fact?
Posted on April 25, 2014 | No CommentsThe Cogadh Gaedhel re Gallaibh is considered one of the most important sources about the Battle of Clontarf in 1014. However, new research is suggesting the tale is based more on the Trojan War than on historical sources. -
Unlocking the secrets to Sweden’s Holy King
Posted on April 23, 2014 | No CommentsResearchers in Sweden have opened the casket of King Erik IX, and hope to analyze his bones to understand more about the health of the twelfth-century ruler and to even make sure these remains are his. -
Vatican Library plans to digitize 41 million pages
Posted on April 21, 2014 | No CommentsThe Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana has begun the first phase of a massive digitization project and over the next four years will digitize over 3000 manuscripts. The Vatican library hopes to eventually digitize all 82 000 manuscripts in it collection, which covers over 41 million pages. -
Olivia Remie Constable passes away
Posted on April 20, 2014 | No CommentsThe University of Notre Dame has announced the passing of Olivia Remie Constable, Director of its Medieval Institute. -
When was Offa’s Dyke built?
Posted on April 20, 2014 | No CommentsHistorians have long believed that Offa's Dyke was built in the late eighth-century, but new evidence suggests it might be 200 years older. -
Why did Medieval Slave Traders go to Finland?
Posted on April 17, 2014 | No CommentsThe demand for blonde girls and boys was so lucrative that slave traders would hunt for these people as far away as northern Finland, a recent study finds. -
Database of UK surnames has reached 45,000 entries dating back to the Middle Ages
Posted on April 14, 2014 | No CommentsThe 'Family Names of the United Kingdom Project', which is being carried out by a team at University of the West of England - Bristol, has reached a key milestone with the completion of the first phase of the database with 45,000 surnames researched and explained.
