2014 Books Archives - Medievalists.net

I can’t recommend it highly enough for anyone who is interested in Vikings, especially those who are creating classes or researching. Good primary source collections are hard to find, and this is definitely one of them.

The Secret Attack on Gallipoli in 1473

Ottoman Gallipoli - painting by Antoine-Laurent Castellan (1772–1838)

During the Venetian-Ottoman wars, a group of seven men attempted a secret attack on the Ottoman base at Gallipoli. The attack did not go completely as planned…

‘Given to the Ground’: A Viking Age Mass Grave on Ridgeway Hill, Weymouth

given to the ground viking age mass grave

This volume describes one of the most exciting and unexpected archaeological discoveries to have been made in Britain in recent years, that of a rare mass grave of executed Vikings on Ridgeway Hill, Dorset.

The Age of the Vikings

The Vikings maintain their grip on our imagination, but their image is too often distorted by medieval and modern myth. It is true that they pillaged, looted, and enslaved. But they also settled peacefully and developed a vast trading network. They traveled far from their homelands in swift and sturdy ships, not only to raid but also to explore.

Did Marco Polo go to Alaska?

A set of documents, brought to United States by an Italian immigrant, may reveal new details about Marco Polo’s travels in Asia, including that he possibly explored and mapped Alaska.

Were medieval monks obese?

The modern image of the medieval monk, as often depicted in Robin Hood’s Friar Tuck, is of the overweight man who indulges in food. How accurate is this stereotype?

BOOK REVIEW: A Triple Knot by Emma Campion I had the pleasure of reading another Emma Campion (Candace Robb) novel recently. Campion, who has written extensively about Alice Perrers, the royal mistress of King Edward III, in her hit, The King’s Mistress, is back on the shelves with a new book released this month entitled: A Triple Knot. This […]

Mole removal and sliced whale meat: The accounts of a medieval noble

What did medieval nobility spend their money on? A new book takes a look at the surviving accounting records of a 14th century noble – Elizabeth de Burgh, Lady of Clare.

Finding Richard III: The Official Account

The ‘Looking For Richard’ team of historians and researchers spent many years amassing evidence. Now for the first time they reveal the full story of how that evidence took them to a car park in Leicester.

Tolkien’s translation of Beowulf coming out this spring

In 1926, J.R.R. Tolkien, who would later go on to write The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, completed his own translation of the Old English poem Beowulf. Eighty-eight years later that work is going to be published for the first time