Ravaging land, burning crops, stealing livestock and killing peasants: this is how war was fought in the middle ages. These tactics constituted a form of warfare that minimised the dangers of meeting an enemy in battle, while maximising the destruction that could be inflicted upon the opposition.
Shock and Awe: The use of terror as a psychological weapon during the Bruce-Balliol Civil War, 1332-38
August 15, 2018 by
Heatwave reveals medieval road in England
August 11, 2018 by
Keele University scientists have discovered a road created by the Knights Templar after the recent heatwave exposed the long-hidden foundations.
The Failure of Magna Carta
July 20, 2018 by
The Introduction to the Medieval Warfare magazine issue on ‘A War for England – the First Barons’ War’
The economy of Norwegian towns c. 1250-1350
June 12, 2018 by
The aim of this thesis is to explain why differences arose between Norwegian, Danish and English towns with regard to their economic functions
The Mary Rose: A Visit to Henry VIII’s Flagship
May 18, 2018 by
If you find yourself in the English town of Portsmouth, Minjie Su suggests a visit to the Mary Rose – to see the remains of the famous 16th century ship.
Blood Cries Afar: The Forgotten Invasion of England, 1216
May 18, 2018 by
The large French expeditionary force that landed in England in May 1216 allied with baronial rebels against King John to divide the country for eighteen months. For a year the French occupied and ruled the richest one-third of England, including the capital, London.
10 things you might not know about British cathedrals
March 23, 2018 by
Discover 10 curious facts you might not know about Great Britain’s most famous cathedrals.
The Idea of the Castle in Medieval England
March 1, 2018 by
The castle has long been regarded as a practical, military architecture, introduced by the Normans as a tool of feudal control. More recently, castles have been accorded a certain symbolic significance, expressing military and political power.
Who was Edward I?
February 11, 2018 by
The Five-Minute Medievalist talks about the life and times of Edward I, King of England.
English Queenship 1445-1503
January 10, 2018 by
The Wars of the Roses marked a period of political instability which brought into question existing ideologies of kingship and, within that, of queenship, reshaping the latter office and its rituals.
Constructing Communities: Identification and Self-Understanding in the Twelfth-Century North of England
January 10, 2018 by
This is a study of local communities in the north of England between 1069 and 1200. It examines the way these communities were constructed, imagined and perceived by contemporary individuals.
The social, political and religious contexts of the late Medieval carol
December 18, 2017 by
This thesis examines the late medieval English carol, an important indigenous musical form that is abundant in a number of sources from the late fourteenth to the early sixteenth century, both with and without extant musical notation.
The Courts Christian in Medieval England
December 6, 2017 by
This article examines the structure and jurisdiction of the pre-Reformation ecclesiastical courts in England to determine their effect on the Reformation.
Messengers in Later Medieval England
November 29, 2017 by
Varied documents other than Exchequer records expose a terminological confusion in the generic term of ‘messengers’; as a result, the nature of medieval messengership is not easy to approach.
Mapping Women’s Movement in Medieval England
November 29, 2017 by
Women, as a less-dominant group in all periods and most cultures in history, have experienced many forms of spatial limitation.
The Execution and Burial of Criminals in Early Medieval England, c. 850-1150
November 21, 2017 by
This thesis seeks to discover where criminals where buried after the Norman Conquest and examines the influences behind the changes in funerary treatment of judicial offenders.
The Walking Dead in Medieval England: Literary and Archaeological Perspectives
November 16, 2017 by
The aim of this study is to analyse the popular perception of the walking dead – ‘revenants’ – in medieval England, using both written and archaeological sources.
The English Lyric, Medieval to Early Modern
October 24, 2017 by
This talk explores the relationship among the medieval and early modern traditions of the lyric in English to argue for the latter’s creative readings of the former.
Assets to the Country: Countesses in Fourteenth Century England
October 23, 2017 by
Surviving sources can tell us much about medieval noblewomen, even if many earlier historians ignored them. We learn that these women were strong and intelligent, and can answer questions about their childhoods, their abilities to choose marriage partners, their daily and annual schedules, and their experiences during widowhood.
Agatha, Clerical ‘Wife’ and Wet Nurse to King John of England, Longtime Companion to Godfrey de Lucy, Bishop of Winchester
October 16, 2017 by
Agatha is the earliest royal wet nurse for whom at least a faint sketch of her life can be drawn, and she presents a rare view of a non-noble, non-royal, non-religious English woman of the late twelfth- and early thirteenth centuries.
‘Becoming English’: Nationality, Terminology, and Changing Sides in the Late Middle Ages
October 10, 2017 by
Late medieval English chronicles contain several puzzling references to the idea of people ‘becoming English’ by changing allegiance, usually in the context of war.
Law and Mental Competency in Late Medieval England
October 10, 2017 by
Between the late thirteenth century and 1540, when Henry VIII established the Court of Wards and Liveries, the English royal courts oversaw hundreds of inquisitions involving individuals thought to be idiots or ‘natural fools’.
Love and Lust in Later Medieval England: Exploring Powerful Emotions and Power Dynamics in Disputed Marriage Cases
October 4, 2017 by
Depositions from matrimonial litigation are a compellingly, if deceptively, vivid source for the words, sentiments and circumstances surrounding courtship and marriage making.
Tournaments, Jousts and Duels: Formal Combats in England and France, circa 1380 – 1440.
October 3, 2017 by
During the period circa 1380-1440, knights and men-at-arms in England and France engaged in armed combat in a range of different contexts. One of these contexts was in formal combats, which included jousts, judicial duels, and foot combats.
Wild to domestic and back again: the dynamics of fallow deer management in medieval England
October 1, 2017 by
The medieval fashion for parks transformed the English landscape: it is estimated that by 1300 AD over 3000 had been established, covering about 2% of the total area of countryside
How you can Follow Us!