Our top 10 list of worst medieval nicknames
Alfonso the Slobberer and Ivar the Boneless: Worst Nicknames for Medieval Rulers
October 22, 2013 By
Investing In England: The Designation Of Heirs To The Crown Throughout English History
October 18, 2013 By
It was not until the late eighteenth century that rules for succession to the English throne were written.
For the Glory of England: The Changing Nature of Kingship in Fourteenth Century England
August 30, 2013 By
Over the course of the fourteenth century, a new image of kingship emerged; a strong king was one who led his subjects on and off the battlefield, and balanced royal authority with guidance from Parliament.
Auðun of the West-Fjords and the Saga Tradition: Similarities of Theme and Structural Suitability
August 23, 2013 By
Auðun of the West-Fjords and the Saga Tradition: Similarities of Theme and Structural Suitability Josie Nolan (Trinity College Dublin) Vexillum, Vol.3 (2013) Abstract This paper evaluates the story of Auðun from the West Fjords, a Þáttr dating from the Sturlinga period of medieval Iceland. It compares the short prose narrative to the much longer sagas […]
English Royal Minorities and the Hundred Years War
August 8, 2013 By
It has become commonplace in modern textbooks to base any brief account of the Hundred Years War on the contention that the chief cause was the dynastic dispute over the French throne between Edward III and Philip of Valois.
A King on the Move: The Place of an Itinerant Court in Charlemagne’s Government
August 7, 2013 By
I shall suggest here that we should abandon this assumed correlation, and that once we have done so, a very different picture of Charlemagne’s itinerary between 768 and 814, and consequently of his government, emerges.
The Liber Historiae Francorum – a Model for a New Frankish Self-confidence
August 7, 2013 By
The Liber Historiae Francorum – a Model for a New Frankish Self-confidence Philipp Dörler Networks and Neighbours, Volume One, Number One (2013) The Liber historiae Francorum was influenced by different historiographic traditions. In this paper, I pursue two arguments. First, I believe that the author of the Liber historiae Francorum juxtaposes and slightly transforms these […]
Kings, Conquerors, and Gods: The Autobiographies of Timur, Isma’il, and Babur
July 31, 2013 By
In 1360, a hundred years after the finalization of Mongol conquest, the most famous of these post-Genghisid rulers emerged in Kesh, not far from Samarqand. Timur Barlas, anglicized as Tamerlane, pursued a life-long career of warfare, first establishing himself in the ranks of the regional amir Kurgen and eventually awing the entire region from the Punjab to Cairo and Constantinople through his conquests. Like his predecessor Genghis, Timur has since been a hotly debated figure.
‘Kings were not wont to render account’ Henry IV and the Authority of the King
July 31, 2013 By
Henry travelled extensively, became famed throughout Christendom as a champion jouster, crusaded in Eastern Europe, and looked after his father’s holdings whilst John of Gaunt campaigned in Spain.3 It is impossible not to note that Henry Bolingbroke’s popularity continued to increase while Richard II’s declined.
The First of Century of Magna Carta: Three Crises
July 31, 2013 By
The First of Century of Magna Carta: Three Crises Ralph Turner (Florida State University, Department of History – Emeritus) Paper given at Presbyterian College, South Carolina (2004) Abstract Magna Carta is one of the key documents of the Anglo-American political tradition, yet it seemed a failure by the summer of 1215, repudiated by King John […]
Hosting the king: hospitality and the royal iter in tenth-century England
July 31, 2013 By
Hosting the king: hospitality and the royal iter in tenth-century England Levi Roach (Trinity College, Cambridge) The Journal of Medieval History, 37.1 (March 2011), 34-46 Abstract Traditional studies of royal itinerancy have depended on locating the king’s progress through his kingdom(s) as precisely as possible and it should therefore not surprise that the iter regis […]
A short exploration of the inauguration of kings in late medieval Ireland, and its depiction in bardic poetry
July 22, 2013 By
The status and image of a king was, at least partially, derived from the sacral king of sagas, such as that of Niall Noígiallach. In these sagas it is conveyed that under a righteous and unblemished king of royal ancestry there is peace and prosperity…I will give an overview of the elements of these ceremonies, the sources in which they are mentioned, and the developments during the high and late medieval period.
Louis the Pious and the Conversion of the Danes
May 17, 2013 By
This paper was part of a very interesting session on the Early Middle Ages. The papers covered Eastern European Infant Burial, the archaeology of medieval feasting and conversion. This paper contrasted the conversion policies of Charlemagne versus those of Louis the Pious.
Book Review: Shadow on the Crown
May 4, 2013 By
A review of Patricia Bracewell’s book: Shadow on the Crown.
King John’s Testament and the Last Days of his Reign
April 26, 2013 By
King John’s testament is the first royal testament or will to survive in its original form in an English context.
Stories of the Death of Kings: Retelling the Demise and Burial of William I, William II and Henry I
April 7, 2013 By
This paper examines the accounts that describe the death and burial of three successive kings: William the Conqueror, William Rufus, and Henry I.
Delivering stability: Primogeniture and autocratic survival in European monarchies 1000-1800
March 27, 2013 By
Although the dominating position of primogeniture at the end of the period might seem natural given primogeniture’s many advantages for the monarch and the ruling elite it was first rather late in history that the principle came to dominate Europe.
Chaucer’s Arthuriana
March 18, 2013 By
The majority of medieval scholars, including Roger Sherman Loomis, argue that the popularity of the Arthurian legend in England was therefore on the wane in the latter half of the fourteenth century; as a result, the major writers of the period, such as John Gower and Geoffrey Chaucer, refrained from penning anything beyond the occasional reference to King Arthur and his court.
How did the expansion of royal authority affect the traditional ruling institutions during the reigns of Henry II and Philip II Augustus?
March 17, 2013 By
The study of the Angevin kings can be seen as effectivelyseparating Henry II and his successors from mere kings of England and can be seen asresponsible for highlighting the continental origins of these kings.
Was King Richard III a control freak?
March 5, 2013 By
University of Leicester psychologists believe Richard III was not a psychopath – but he may have had control freak tendencies
Kings and Courtesans: A Study of the Pictorial Representation of French Royal Mistresses
February 24, 2013 By
As France emerged from the Middle Ages, the monarchy began to establish itself as a more stable institution and a curious development took place: the French kings began to install official mistresses at court. With this official status these women became parallel members of the royal family. They lived like queens, with various estates granted to them by the kings.
Monarchy and nobility in the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem, 1099-1131: establishment and origins
February 22, 2013 By
The Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem, established by the victorious crusaders in Palestine in July 1099, was one of the first colonial societies of the Middle Ages.
King James II of Scotland: A Reign of Murder and Mayhem
February 13, 2013 By
History repeats itself. This aphorism is especially true for the Scottish monarchy. There was a period during Scottish history where Kings would die, leaving a child as heir to be ruled by a regency council. This happened over and over and it happened to King James II.
Edward II and the Expectations of Kingship
January 7, 2013 By
Although historians generally agree that Edward II’s reign was a complete failure, and that the king himself was rather inept, debate has centered on the specific causes for his downfall.
Holding The Border: Power, Identity, And The Conversion Of Mercia
January 6, 2013 By
Examining the conversion of the kingdom of Mercia from the perspective of that kingdom’s origins and development and its rulers’ interests and concerns will enable us to understand both resistance and conversion to Christianity in seventh-century England.
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