Nancy Marie Brown speaking on her new book Ivory Vikings: The Mystery of the Most Famous Chessmen in the World and the Woman Who Made Them, at Cornell University on October 15, 2015
Gargoyles: Mysterious Monsters of the Middle Ages
October 31, 2015 By
I love gargoyles. While there are so many beautiful pieces of sculpture that have survived the Middle Ages, like so many people, I’m drawn to those strange and ugly funny faces, not least of all because I can’t figure out what they’re for.
The Vikings and clothing accessories they brought home
September 29, 2015 By
New study on the use of imported objects in Viking Age Scandinavia
Curse or Blessing: What’s in the Magic Bowl?
September 19, 2015 By
I intend to look at magic bowls in order to see how and for what purpose they were used, and to get a glimpse at the way they worked and what hidden treasures can be found within them.
Telling the Story of the Ivory Vikings
September 13, 2015 By
One book leads to the next. It’s a truism among writers, and particularly apt for explaining how my latest book, Ivory Vikings: The Mystery of the Most Famous Chessmen in the World and the Woman Who Made Them, published by St Martin’s Press in September, came to be.
Ivory Vikings: The Mystery of the Most Famous Chessmen in the World and the Woman Who Made Them
September 8, 2015 By
Read an excerpt from the latest book by Nancy Marie Brown
How a Medieval Bed Should Look Like
August 23, 2015 By
One of the most important pieces of a furniture in the medieval home was the bed – it would not only be the place to sleep and have sex, but also where one would give birth and often where people would have their last moments.
Broaching the subject: the geometry of Anglo-Saxon composite brooches
August 14, 2015 By
The glittering and gleaming artifacts that can be found in Anglo-Saxon archaeological sites capture the imagination, conjuring up images of a warrior culture that displayed its wealth through wearable objects.
Portable Christianity: Relics in the Medieval West (c.700–1200)
August 7, 2015 By
Relics thus typify the characteristic dynamic of medieval Christianity—a repeated refreshing and renewing of an ancient tradition that was endlessly culturally creative.
Sewing as Authority in the Middle Ages
April 19, 2015 By
![Letter of Indulgence for the Herkenrode Abbey (Source: Flandrica.be | Limburg Provincial Library) [CreativeCommons BY-NC-SA BE 2.0]](http://www.medievalists.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/letter-of-indulgence.jpg)
Analysing manuscripts, relics, indulgences, and even a bishop’s mitre, the article argues that stitching was a way to enact, or intensify, the ritual purpose of objects, whether that was ceremonial, devotional, or authoritative.
A Christmas Crib as a Meek Heart of the Late Mediaeval Christian
December 25, 2014 By
In the summer of 2013 the Rijksmuseum acquired a rare Late Gothic Christmas Crib (c. 1510-20). In the 15th century tangible aids – devotionalia – were promoted to support meditation, to accomplish as it were a link between God and the soul of the believer.
Fossil Sharks’ Teeth: A Medieval Safeguard Against Poisoning
November 30, 2014 By
In the Middle Ages and in the Renaissance, particularly between the thirteenth and the sixteenth century, the most common way of eliminating one’s enemy was by poisoning his food or drink at a banquet.
Humour in the Game of Kings: The Sideways Glancing Warder of the Lewis Chessmen
November 10, 2014 By
Using the example of a particular piece of the Lewis Chessmen this paper examines both the benefits and the limitations that come about with the cultural approach and cautions against a too rigid application.
Anglo-Saxon smiths and myths
September 1, 2014 By
Knowledge of the metalworking and jewellery-making abilities of the Anglo-Saxons has been much enhanced in recent years by metallurgical and other technical studies.
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.
Rethinking Hardown Hill: Our Westernmost Early Anglo-Saxon Cemetery?
August 16, 2014 By
This paper reassesses the early Anglo-Saxon assemblage from Hardown Hill, Dorset. Wingrave excavated the objects in 1916 but apart from his 1931 report, and Evison’s 1968 analysis, there has been little subsequent discussion.
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.
The ‘Living’ Sword in Early Medieval Northern Europe: An Interdisciplinary Study
June 29, 2014 By
This thesis explores perceptions of two-edged swords as ‘living’ artefacts in Anglo-Saxon England and Scandinavia between c. 500 and 1100.
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.
CONFERENCES: Renaissance Drinking Culture and Renaissance Drinking Vessels
May 29, 2014 By
This paper took a closer look at Renaissance drinking vessels and drinking culture and examined the types of vessels commonly used in Italy and the Netherlands during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.
Call for Papers: Moving Women, Moving Objects (300-1500) (ICMA CAA 2015)
April 8, 2014 By
CFP: Moving Women, Moving Objects (300-1500) (ICMA CAA 2015)
Dutch medieval bone and antler combs
March 18, 2014 By
Bone and antler combs are common finds in medieval northern europe. Two major types occur in the netherlands: the composite comb, usually made of antler, and the longbone comb.
Res et significatio : The Material Sense of Things in the Middle Ages
February 14, 2014 By
This essay serves as an introduction to Friedrich Ohly’s life and work and offers an analytic orientation to the methodological and historical questions taken up by this special issue of Gesta dedicated to medieval conceptions of significationes rerum (the signification of things).
Viking Age Queens: The example of Oseberg
September 30, 2013 By
The Oseberg ship burial is a Viking Age burial mound containing a double female inhumation, which is located in the Oslofjord area in Norway.
Beyond fragments and shards: Children in medieval Bergen
December 10, 2012 By
By analysing physical remains reflecting the games, behaviour and clothing of children (specifically toys and shoes) it has been possible to obtain new information and shed new light on the everyday life of children in medieval Bergen
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