A memoir of the court of Henry VII
The memoir of the court of Henry VII for the years of 1486-90, contained in BL, MS Cotton Julius B. XII, fols. 8v-66r, represents an invaluable source for the study of court and socio-political life during the early years of the reign of Henry VII.
Why We Need to Think About the Global Middle Ages
Medieval history has become synonymous with the study of western Europe. This article argues that it is important to widen the geographic focus to better understand the Middle Ages as a whole, and in doing so, counter Eurocentric views of the past that have dominated and shaped views of the past.
How to criticize: The Chronicle of Constantine Manasses
Few can match the 12th century chronicler Constantine Manasses when it comes to inventive ways to criticize a ruler.
Understanding medieval chronicles with Lane Sobehrad
This week, Danièle speaks with Dr. Lane Sobehrad about how medieval people wrote history, and how historians today can do their part to help future generations through outreach.
Profile of an Emperor: Reading Vita Karoli Magni in Light of Its Sources and Composition
In composing Vita Karoli Magni, Einhard borrows heavily from Suetonius’s De vita Caesarum – Vita divi Augusti in particular – and Annales regni Francorum.
What was the fate of the ‘True Cross’ in the Byzantine-Sassanid Wars?
Despite the fact that there is a relative abundance of contemporary or near contemporary sources on Heraclius’ campaigns, it is hard – if not impossible – to retrace the chronology of the events leading up to the restoration of the Cross.
Ethics and Representation of War in the Lanercost Chronicle, 1327–47
I argue that Lanercost’s distinctive style is not simply the result of patriotic or anti-Scottish fervour, but instead reflects a sensitive awareness of the death and destruction of war.
In Search of Medieval Africa: Sources, Methods, and Traps
Since my talk today is the first in a series I’m going to begin by placing the study of medieval Africa in the larger context of the writing of African history since the 1960s
“Fiction Piled on Fiction”: The Uses and Abuses of King Arthur
Here we are in 2019 still discussing the possibility of an historical King Arthur. How and why that is the case is a fascinating story told expertly by the historian Nicholas J. Higham in King Arthur: The Making of a Legend,
Time, Myth and the Origins of the Lombards
Origins, Identities and ethnicities were all central concerns of Early Medieval writers
The world view of the anonymous author of the Greek Chronicle of the Tocco, 14th-15th centuries
Written in 3923 ‘political verses’, the anonymous Chronicle of the Tocco is an epic family chronicle, which describes the history of the Tocco family – mainly the deeds of Carlo I Tocco, as well as the events which took place in Western Greece and the islands of Zakynthos, Leukas, Cephalonia and Ithaca during the years 1375-1422.
Why did the Byzantines write History?
Our desires and expectations for good history do not align with those of the medieval authors of Byzantine histories.
‘A nation nobler in blood and in antiquity’: Scottish national identity in Gesta Annalia I and Gesta Annalia II
The origins and development of a sense of Scottish national identity have long been a matter of critical importance for historians of medieval Scotland.
Chronology and History in Byzantium
Compared with historiography, chronological writing develops against a wider background than human affairs, and it focuses on the order of events and the time intervals between them, rather than on their internal development, their meaning, or their causes.
The historical reputation of Edward IV, 1461-1725
This thesis comprises a chronological study of different historical accounts of Edward IV’s life and reign from his life until the early eighteenth century.
What is Universal about History?
Here I want to concentrate on three issues relevant to good historical practice with a global consciousness.
Viking invasions, a French failure?
Vikings never interested French Historians. Pagan, illiterate, barbaric, Germanic, everything was despicable in the eyes of the French Historians of the 19th century.
“Flanders was empty and uncultivated and heavily wooded”: Historiography as Urban Resource in the Twelfth Century
This sentence tells us little about the actual beginnings of the county of Flanders but it does tell us something about the way Lambert imagined the beginnings of the county in the first part of the twelfth century.
Five Things to Know About Gerald of Wales
Gerald of Wales, or Giraldus Cambrensis, was a twelfth-century cleric who wrote a whole raft of influential works on clerical reform, kingship, and history.
Reframing the Conversation on Medieval Military Strategy
This question of the history of strategy is a question of intellectual history: did medieval writers generate and transmit derivative and/or original ideas about how to wage war?
Episcopal Virginity in Medieval England
The literature on medieval sainthood is substantial, rich and varied, but on one point it is almost unanimous: sexuality, and in particular virginity, was of far greater significance to female saints than to their male counterparts.
The ‘joyous entry’ of Archduke Maximilian into Antwerp (13 January 1478): an analysis of a ‘most elegant and dignified’ dialogue
An in-depth analysis of a contemporary account of Maximilian’s joyous entry into Antwerp (13 January 1478) adds a new perspective to historiography by showing how the public urban spaces functioned as complex social products.
Which Witch?: Morgan le Fay as Shape-Shifter and English Perceptions of Magic Reflected in Arthurian Legend
The name Morgan le Fay holds many meanings and has appeared in various forms throughout the course of medieval and modern history.
Serbian scientific institutions and medieval research
Since the beginning of critical historiography, Serbian researchers and historians have dealt with the medieval history of Serbia, Serbian lands, and of its neighboring countries,
