Magna Carta just celebrated its 800th birthday this past Monday. In honour of this incredible milestone, King’s College London, and the Magna Carta Project, hosted a 3 day conference dedicated to this historic document.
Cynethryth, Queen of the Mercians
May 28, 2015 By
Cynethryth and Offa were the ultimate power couple in eighth century England.
Scandinavian trade ‘triggered’ the Viking Age, researchers find
May 7, 2015 By
Archaeologists from the University of York have played a key role in Anglo-Danish research which has suggested the dawn of the Viking Age may have been much earlier – and less violent – than previously believed.
How Well Do You Know The Eighth Century?
April 17, 2015 By
From Charlemagne to the Abbasids – ten questions on people and events from the eighth century.
European Weather Extremes in the Lifetime of Charlemagne (c.742–814 CE)
December 6, 2014 By
An army of people, digging for a whole season, yet their efforts end in muddy ruin. Was it a project that was doomed from the start?
Charlemagne’s Denarius, Constantine’s Edicule, and the Vera Crux
December 1, 2014 By
In 806 a much-discussed silver denarius bearing the likeness of Charlemagne was issued. This is called the “temple-type” coin due to the (as yet unidentified) architectural structure illustrated on the reverse side, and which is explicitly labeled as representing the epitome of “Christian Religion.”
CONFERENCES: The Stellinga, the Saxon Elite, and Carolingian Politics
November 26, 2014 By
This is my summary of a paper presented at the Institute of Historical Research on the causes of the Stellinga uprising in the Carolingian period.
Corbie in the Carolingian Renaissance
November 23, 2014 By
This study opens with a historical account of Corbie from its foundation until the reign of Charles the Simple, which clarifies the political importance of the abbey and its relations with rulers and bishops.
Eadburh, Queen of the West Saxons
November 6, 2014 By
Whether she deserved it or not, Eadburh of the West Saxons is infamous for being an evil queen.
716: A Crucial Year For Charles Martel
November 3, 2014 By
The early years of Charles Martel’s life are all but obscured from the historian’s view.
Bede’s Temple as History
October 28, 2014 By
Another IHR paper, this time, a talk given about Bede’s writing and his interest in the image of the Temple and its relation to Christianity. This paper also examined how Bede’s views shifted over time. How did Bede view Judaism? Was he truly ambivalent?
The Contours, Frequency and Causation of Subsistence Crises in Carolingian Europe (750-950)
October 7, 2014 By
The Contours, Frequency and Causation of Subsistence Crises in Carolingian Europe (750-950) Timothy P. Newfield Crisis Alimentarias en la Edad Media: Modelos, Explicaciones y Representaciones (Milenio, Lleida, 2013), pp. 117-172. Abstract The subsistence crises of Carolingian Europe have been widely overlooked in modern histories of the early Middle Ages. Detailed treatment has yet to be […]
Competition and tradition: Carolingian political rituals, 751-800
September 15, 2014 By
In 751, the Carolingians supplanted the traditional ruling dynasty of Francia. This article surveys Carolingian political rituals between 751 and 800, and argues that ritual was one means through which this new royal family sought to construct and legitimate its authority against its dynastic competitors.
Wise Sayings from Medieval Ireland – The Maxims of King Aldfrith of Northumbria
July 17, 2014 By
Be cautious so that you may not be burdened with debts. / Be thrifty so that you may not be grasping. / Be obliging so that you may be loved.
Goths, Lombards, Romans, and Greeks: Creating Identity in Early Medieval Italy
July 16, 2014 By
This essay explores how two different non-Roman historians represented the past to their peoples: the Gothic historian Jordanes’ sixth-century work, the Getica, and the eighth-century Lombard historian Paul the Deacons’ History of the Lombards.
How the Saxons helped Charlemagne become Emperor
June 15, 2014 By
What role did the Saxons have in Charlemagne’s imperial coronation?
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.
Blended and Extended Families in Carolingian Charters
May 27, 2014 By
This is a summary of a paper on Carolingian charters and the relationship between step and blended families.
Queenship, Nunneries and Royal Widowhood in Carolingian Europe
March 30, 2014 By
Fulk‟s letter therefore introduces us to some central aspects of Carolingian thinking about the appropriate behaviour of laywomen especially, and serves as a way into the principal themes of this article. In particular, it is noticeable that the archbishop highlighted his expectations of Richildis in two roles: her supposed misdemeanour was concerned specifically with a failure to meet her obligations as a widow and as a queen.
The derivation of the date of the Badon entry in the Annales Cambriae from Bede and Gildas
March 5, 2014 By
The battle of Badon [Bellum Badonis], in which Arthur carried the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ for three days and three nights on his shoulders and the Britons were victorious.
Warriors and warfare: ideal and reality in early insular texts
February 6, 2014 By
This thesis investigates several key aspects of warfare and its participants in the Viking Age insular world via a comparison of the image which warriors occupy in heroic literature to their concomitant depiction in sources which are primarily nonliterary in character, such as histories, annalistic records, and law codes.
Was Charlemagne a Mass Murderer?
February 2, 2014 By
Did the ‘Massacre of Verden’ actually happen with 4500 people dying in a single day? Was Charlemagne justified in his actions?
Is the Author Really Better than his Scribes? Problems of Editing Pre-Carolingian Latin Texts
January 1, 2014 By
Latin texts composed after ca. 600 and before the Carolingian writing re- forms that began in the late eighth century present problems that editors rarely have to face when working on classical texts (including most writings of late antiquity), or texts written after ca. 800.
Charlemagne: A Frank Analysis of Imperialism in the 8th and 9th Centuries
December 27, 2013 By
Charlemagne has been approached by historians because of the pivotal role he fills as the Father of a Continent. His kingdom spread across Europe and renewed the culture of the Western World; a “mini-Renaissance” that shifted the focal point of Europe away from crumbling Rome.
St. Ninian of Whithorn
December 9, 2013 By
My interest here is in finding usable information regarding the centuries before Bede and in the way in which new data, especially the outstanding recent archaeological discoveries at Whithom in Wigtownshire (which is certainly the site of Candida Casal. might support and add to his picture of St. Ninian and the importance of his church at Candida Casa.
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