Islamic Silver Unveiled: Geochemical Insights Rewrite History
A groundbreaking study has shed new light on the sources of early Islamic silver coins, known as dirhams.
Researchers to examine the origins of the Maritime Silk Route
An international team of researchers will be delving into medieval ceramics and how they led to the origins of the Maritime Silk Route.
Ivory, Copper, and the Island of Gold: Medieval trade between France and West Africa
Discussing the development of trade networks linking medieval Europe and western Africa, exploring the important role played by Africa in the medieval world system of Europe.
How the Black Death reached Europe – new research on the pandemic’s spread
“When, how, and why did the Black Death reach Europe?” These are the questions asked by Hannah Barker. In a new article, the historian finds that the long-believed story of how this great medieval plague reached Europe is likely untrue, and that the story of the pandemic’s spread has to deal with grain and trade.
Study tracks elephant tusks from 16th century shipwreck
The team extracted DNA from 44 tusks. By analyzing genetic sequences known to differ between African forest and savanna elephants, the scientists determined that all of the tusks they analyzed belonged to forest elephants.
Medieval beads reveal trade routes to West Africa
New research on beads discovered in Western Africa has revealed their origins came from thousands of kilometres away, and helps to show what goods were moving along medieval trade routes.
The Merchant of Prato
This week on The Medieval Podcast, Danièle is joined by Peter Konieczny to discuss The Merchant of Prato and the lives of Francesco and Margherita Datini. Their story from 14th century Italy comes from one of the richest document finds ever made!
The Vikings in the eyes of a Byzantine Emperor
De Administrando Imperio is one of the first Byzantine accounts of contact between their empire and the Vikings.
Trade Networks and Empires: African Art’s Many Golden Ages
We know we know about Nubia. We know about Egypt. We know about Carthage in the classical era. But the Berber, the Almohads, the Almoravids, and the kingdoms of Ghana and Songhai, and the great many other cultures that rose up and thrived on the western edges of the Sahara in the period of the medieval
What grapes can tell us about the decline of the Byzantine Empire in the 6th century
In the mid-sixth century the Byzantine Empire was hit by both a pandemic and climate change. New research reveals how grape seeds discovered from that period reveal the scope of the empire’s economic downturn.
The Gold Route to Timbuktu: Tracing Medieval Camel Caravan Networks from Morocco to Mali
Sam Nixon explores the development of the medieval-era camel caravan trade across the Sahara which gave rise to Timbuktu
The Year 1000 with Valerie Hansen
This week on The Medieval Podcast, Danièle speaks with Dr. Valerie Hansen to get a global perspective on the Middle Ages at the turn of the millennium, including how cultures were connecting in the year 1000, what goods people were trading, and just how far the trade routes went.
How to get good horses in medieval China
During the Northern Song period, the best regions for horse breeding had been snapped up by powerful steppe empires. So the Chinese state had to turn to other means to obtain good horses, coming up with a variety of innovative and ambitious schemes in the process.
Over-hunting walruses contributed to the collapse of Norse Greenland, study suggests
The mysterious disappearance of Greenland’s Norse colonies sometime in the 15th century may have been down to the overexploitation of walrus populations for their tusks, according to a study of medieval artefacts from across Europe.
What Imported Viking Age and Medieval Artifacts Can Tell Us about Trade and Exchange in Mývatn, Iceland
This article examines how Mývatn Icelanders were able to partially connect to the continental trade in beads, the Baltic trade in flint, and to other European trade networks operating between the 9th and 15th centuries, and to what extent these networks were able to influence the early Mývatn economy.
A Coptic Center in Medieval West Africa: Reframing Prester John and Early Global Trade
This paper explores the importance of new technologies in the art historical study of Medieval West Africa and how related methodologies both help us understand the important art and architectural landscape here in this period, and how Africa and the eastern Coptic Christian world helped to reshape Africa in this era.
Pirates, Merchants, and a Small Battle on the Island of Kythira in the Later Middle Ages
Incidents of maritime violence such as this were common in the Mediterranean during the later Middle Ages.
Around the Barbarian Sea: Settlements and Outcomes in the Early Medieval Baltic
The Viking towns of Birka, Kaupang, Hedeby and Ribe have captured the imagination of archaeologists and the public alike, presenting the lives of their enigmatic inhabitants.
Whetstones lead to new theory on why the Viking Age began
New article argues the Vikings were pushed out of Scandinavia and had to attack raid lands such as the British Isles, since they were prevented from attacking targets closer to home.
Trans-Saharan gold trade and Byzantine coinage
This article suggests that minting at Carthage of the Byzantine gold coins known as globular solidi was related to the acquisition of metal through developing trans-Saharan contacts.
The Land of Darkness and the Global Middle Ages
Why do we find coins from Central Asia and silver from Iran in Lincolnshire? What prompted medieval people to pack up and look for opportunity and adventure elsewhere?
Between Venice and Alexandria: Trade and the Movement of Precious Metals in the Early Mamluk Period
The Venetians were conspicuous among the merchants resuming trade in Mamluk lands shortly after the fall of Acre in 1291.
The Commerce of the German Alpine Passes During the Early Middle Ages
In addition to the inability of the manor to be self-sufficient, the human desire for luxuries, foreign goods, such as fine clothing, highly decorated weapons, and exceptional foods, especially foreign wines and spices, tended to keep commerce alive.
Byzantium and Venice: The Rise and Fall of a Medieval Alliance
The story of the Venetian-Byzantine military alliance is a complex one, with many questions that need to be answered.
Fur trade may have spread the Black Death through Europe, study finds
Commercial trade routes, including the fur trade routes, would have contributed to the rapid spread of the Black Death and other epidemics throughout Europe.