Where should you go to find a public toilet in the medieval city?
A Private Matter
September 11, 2014 By
I thought it might be worth taking five minutes to address just one of these statements: privacy is a relatively new idea.
Fast and Feast – Christianization through the Regulation of Everyday Life
September 7, 2014 By
This article will illustrate that an important part of rulers’ wish to create a Christian society was the introduction of Christian legislation.
Gambling and Gaming in the Holy Land: Chess, Dice and Other Games in the Sources of the Crusades
September 1, 2014 By
The article demonstrates that, for the Latin chroniclers, the most serious problem of gambling in the context of the crusades was its tendency to distract from the war effort.
Obesity and Diet in Byzantium
August 18, 2014 By
I will list some of the causes and consequences of obesity in the Byzantine Empire. However, the aim of this report is to provide evidence to demonstrate that Byzantine physicians had treatments for obesity that are similar to modern day.
Women’s Devotional Bequests of Textiles in the Late Medieval English Parish Church, c.1350-1550
August 18, 2014 By
My investigation is set within the context of the current high level of interest in the workings of the late medieval parish.
Living cheek by jowl: the pathoecology of medieval York
August 15, 2014 By
This paper aims to present the environmental context for disease combined with the human osteological record to reconstruct the pathoecology of medieval York.
Restaurants, Inns and Taverns That Never Were: Some Reflections on Public Consumption in Medieval Cairo
August 2, 2014 By
The article shows that, contrary to a commonly accepted assumption, no public consumption facilities such as restaurants, taverns or inns existed in medieval Cairo.
Measuring the Value of Things in the Middle Ages
July 30, 2014 By
The difficulty of understanding the value of things in the Middle Ages is one of the obstacles to our understanding of economic life in that era. The issue is first of all associated with the ways medievalists quantify and use numbers. Value was first investigated when studying prices in the 19th century, as a prerequisite to any knowledge of the economy.
Medieval Mean Girls: On Sexual Rivalry and the Uses of Cosmetics in La Celestina
July 27, 2014 By
The prevalent use of cosmetics among women fast became a topic for moralist discourse, both inside and out of the Peninsula.
Mole removal and sliced whale meat: The accounts of a medieval noble
July 21, 2014 By
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.
The Tablet, Medieval-Style
July 17, 2014 By
Wax tablets have been around since ancient times, and now that I’ve made one, I can see why. They’re easy to make, use, and reuse; they’re light and durable; they’re portable; and they have lots of room for making mistakes.
Did people drink water in the Middle Ages?
July 9, 2014 By
One of the oddest myths about the Middle Ages is that people did not drink water.
The Reordering of Society in Medieval Provence
July 7, 2014 By
“Here, some pray, others fight, still others work …” {}). “Since the beginning of time, mankind has been divided into three groups, men of prayer, farmers, and warriors” (2). Appearing between 1024 and 1031 in the writings of Adelbero, bishop of Laon, and his cousin Gerard, bishop of Cambrai, these two statements constitute the first fully developed expression of a tripartite, or more accurately a trifunctional conceptualization of European society.
Medieval Fashion Trends
July 6, 2014 By
How did fashion change during the Middle Ages? Using images from medieval manuscripts, we can track some of the changes in fashion over the centuries. The styles of dress and clothing would see new trends emerge, ranging from long-toed shoes to plunging necklines.
Spoiled or Splendid? Speculations on a Culinary Misgiving
June 30, 2014 By
In this essay, I intend to quickly present the case against the spoiled food of the Middle Ages, and then offer a few speculations as to why modern observers continue to perpetuate this distasteful myth.
Bathing, Beauty and Christianity in the Middle Ages
June 29, 2014 By
I realized that I needed to know much more about the attitude of the early Church to bathing, and how this evolved in the later Middle Ages. It turns out to be considerably more complex than one might suppose.
Medieval Drinking Horns
June 22, 2014 By
Here are ten things we learned about medieval drinking horns from Vivian Etting’s book The Story of the Drinking Horn.
Anglo Saxon and Viking Ship Burial – The British Museum
June 9, 2014 By
This session explores Viking and Anglo Saxon ship burials between the seventh and tenth centuries presented at The British Museum.
The Medieval Plumbers of Exeter
June 7, 2014 By
Underneath the streets of the English city of Exeter their lies a network of medieval tunnels. For hundreds of years they were used to bring fresh drinking-water to the city. Now, a new book by Mark Stoyle is taking a look at the medieval plumbers who worked in these tunnels going back to the 14th century.
Jobs in the Middle Ages
June 6, 2014 By
Want to know what kind of jobs there were in the Middle Ages?
The contribution of insect remains to an understanding of the environment of Viking-age and medieval Dublin
June 6, 2014 By
This paper examines the important contribution that sub-fossil insect remains can make to an understanding of the environment of Viking-age and medieval Dublin.
Citie Calls for Beere: The Introduction of Hops and the Foundation of Industrial Brewing in London 1200-1700
June 5, 2014 By
This paper examines the impact of hopped beer on the brewing trade in London between the years 1200-1700.
A Goodman’s Guide to Marriage
June 4, 2014 By
So, what kind of advice does a Parisian husband give to his wife in the late 14th Century?
London’s Medieval Pottery
June 3, 2014 By
Learn about the pottery discovered from medieval London with Jacqui Pearce of the Museum of London Archaeology.
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