This paper explores how tales of difficult births found in medieval miracle narratives can contribute to our understanding of the experience of pregnancy and childbirth in twelfth-century England.
The ‘Miracle of Childbirth’: The Portrayal of Parturient Women in Medieval Miracle Narratives
November 4, 2015 By
How Many Medieval Saints Are There?
November 1, 2015 By
Even a quick glance at medieval history will reveal that there are A LOT of saints from the Middle Ages. How many are there? The short answer is that we don’t know exactly, and that the number is still growing.
Kissing Heaven’s Door: the Medieval Legend of Judas Iscariot
September 19, 2015 By
When we consider Judas Iscariot as he appears in the Bible in modern terms, we might think along the lines of a pantomime villain.
Miracles from Medieval Iceland
July 10, 2015 By
The first saint from Iceland was Thorlak Thorhallsson. The saga of his life reveals dozens of the miracles that were attributed to him after his death. Here are ten of these miracles, which reveal much about religion and daily life in medieval Iceland.
Imprisoning the Mentally Ill in Medieval England
June 29, 2015 By
What to do with mentally ill individuals who are violent? This is a question that modern and medieval societies had to deal with.
Cuthbert, Guthlac and the Life of St Antony
June 26, 2015 By
Christians far from Egypt have drawn inspiration from the Life of St Antony, including England’s two most popular pre-Conquest hermit saints
Parental Grief and Prayer in the Middle Ages: Religious Coping in Swedish Miracle Stories
May 26, 2015 By
This article focuses on expressions of bereavement and religious coping in medieval miracle stories from Sweden.
Katherine of Alexandria: Decline of an Empire
April 27, 2015 By
According to hagiographers, (C)Katherine was a princess, the daughter of Roman governor named Constus. She was well educated, beautiful and highly intelligent. She converted to Christianity at the age of 13 or 14 and caught the eye of the Roman Emperor, Maxentius (278-318 AD).
Top Ten Superheroes of the Middle Ages
April 26, 2015 By
Even in medieval times they had stories and legends about people with extraordinary gifts – saints and warriors with special powers. Here is our list of ten superheroes from the Middle Ages.
10 Cool Facts about Saint Catherine
April 22, 2015 By
Saint Catherine of Alexandria and her wheel have been well recognized symbols since the beginning of the Middle Ages. Here are 10 interesting tidbits about Saint Catherine:
Christians in the amphitheater? The ‘Christianization’ of spectacle buildings and martyrial memory
April 21, 2015 By
This article presents an overview of the archaeological evidence for Christian spaces inside spectacle buildings – stadia, hippodromes, theaters and amphitheaters.
Books of Art: 20 Medieval and Renaissance Women Reading
April 12, 2015 By
I love to read. I also love books depicted in art. I became fascinated with Medieval and Renaissance pictures of women reading or with books. I noticed while I was walking around the National Gallery, Musèe Cluny and the Louvre recently that there are many beautiful images of women reading or with books. Saints, sinners, and laywomen; I wanted to share a few of my favourites. Here are 20 works of art of women and their books
The Medieval Saints of Sweden and Denmark
March 30, 2015 By
There is a clear link between the celebration of native saints and the ecclesiastical organisation that emerged in Scandinavia in the 12th century. Yet, according to a new doctoral thesis in history from the University of Gothenburg, important differences can be noted between Sweden and Denmark.
Which Irish Saint Are You?
March 29, 2015 By
Brendan, Columba, Patrick – find out which Irish Saint you are most like!
The Life of St. Sabas the Younger as a Source for The History of the Catalan Grand Company
March 27, 2015 By
A piece of Byzantine hagiography from the fourteenth century which, in spite of its religious character, is a valuable source for the history of the Catalan Grand Company, Roger de Flor’s famous band of Spanish mercenaries hired by the Byzantine emperor Andronikos II Palaiologos (1282-1328) to fight the Turks in Anatolia.
A Viking Pacifist? The Life of St Magnus in Saga, Novel, and Opera
March 17, 2015 By
Vikings settled in, and ruled, many parts of the British Isles and Ireland, but of these areas only the Norse earldom of Orkney has a whole Icelandic saga devoted to its early history.
A Hagiographical Reading of Egils saga
February 6, 2015 By
When the literary presentation of the character of Egill is examined carefully with an eye toward the hagiographical paradigm, one can see that it matches the presentation of a bishop’s life and character…
The Original Placement of the Hereford Map
January 1, 2015 By
This paper relies on new masonry and dendrochronological evidence and the system of medieval ecclesiastical preferments to argue that this monumental world map was originally exhibited in 1287 next to the first shrine of St Thomas Cantilupe in Hereford Cathedral’s north transept.
Shaping a Saint’s Identity: The Imagery of Thomas Becket in Medieval Italy
December 29, 2014 By
This article sets out to trace the visual responses to the sainthood of Thomas of Canterbury outside of his original cultural context, namely in Italy, where his cult was readily received, integrated and modified.
From St. Nicholas to Santa Claus
December 25, 2014 By
How did a 4th century bishop become the jolly man who comes down the chimney with gifts for children on Christmas?
Worthy of Veneration or Skepticism?: How Europeans Regarded Relics During Medieval and Renaissance Europe
November 19, 2014 By
Relics and reliquaries were prevalent in renaissance and reformation Europe until certain theologians began to question the validity, practicality, and true purposes of relics. These theologians emphasized an individual’s faith in God rather than faith in relics, which in turn resulted in a renaissance movement away from reliance on relics.
The Bones of St. Cuthbert: Defining a Saint’s Cult in Medieval Northumbria
November 19, 2014 By
This paper investigates the social, political, and religious changes and tensions which surrounded the cult of St. Cuthbert in medieval Northumbria. Specific comparisons are made between the Anglo-Saxon and Norman periods in English history, and how St. Cuthbert’s cult responded to the Norman Conquest in 1066.
Transvestites in the Middle Ages
November 11, 2014 By
An examination of the lives of the transvestite saints whose legends and myths help set Western attitudes toward transvestism.
Hagiography and the Experience of the Holy in the Work of Gregory of Tours
November 9, 2014 By
The rich literature associated with the Desert Fathers provides convincing evidence of the important role played by charismatic figures in the transformation of Late Antiquity.
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