The history of Hungarian fortification and castle-building has been a subject of Hungarian historiography ever since the 1870s, when Bela Czobor wrote his pioneering study, “Hungary’s Medieval Castles.”
England’s First Attempt to Break the Commercial Monopoly of the Hanseatic League, 1377-1380
July 27, 2014 By
During the second half of the fourteenth century English traders first seriously threatened the Hanseatic League’s commercial monopoly in the Baltic. The League, attempting to defendits monopoly, treated the English unjustly,where upon in 1377 the English Parliament rescinded the charter that granted the League important concessions and privileges in its English trade.
Wise Sayings from Medieval Ireland – The Maxims of King Aldfrith of Northumbria
July 17, 2014 By
Be cautious so that you may not be burdened with debts. / Be thrifty so that you may not be grasping. / Be obliging so that you may be loved.
Britain and the Beginning of Scotland
July 14, 2014 By
Until recently it was generally held that Scotland first began to take shape with a union of Picts and Scots under Cinaed mac Ailpín, who died in 858.
Saints, Tradition and Monastic Identity: The Ghent Relics, 850-1100
July 7, 2014 By
The extraordinary story ofthe Ghent relics was first told by Oswald Holder- Egger in an article published in 1886. During his work on part two of volume 15 of the Monumenta Germaniae Historica Scriptores series, which Holder- Egger had just finished, he had come across the hagiographie literature produced at the abbeys of St Baafs and St Pieters in Ghent.
Kingdom, emporium and town: the impact of Viking Dublin
June 24, 2014 By
In recent years the precise location and nature of Viking Dublin have been much debated. It is now generally accepted that there was a longphort phase from 841 to 902: a period of enforced exile from 902 to 917, and thereafter a dún phase.
Memorial to Athelney Island, Home of Alfred the Great
June 18, 2014 By
Alfred was forced to flee with his family to safety in the woods and eventually made his way to the island of Athelney in the marshes of Somerset.
The Carolingian Army and the Struggle against the Vikings
June 18, 2014 By
There have been many previous studies of the Carolingian army, but none examining the ninth-century armies which faced the Viking invasions.
Anglo Saxon and Viking Ship Burial – The British Museum
June 9, 2014 By
This session explores Viking and Anglo Saxon ship burials between the seventh and tenth centuries presented at The British Museum.
Quid Tacitus . . . ? The Germania and the Study of Anglo-Saxon England
June 6, 2014 By
This paper considers the vexed historiography of Tacitus’s Germania and its reception history, first among German and other European historians and then among Anglo-Saxonists.
Time, space and power in later medieval Bristol
May 26, 2014 By
With a population of almost 10,000, Bristol was later medieval England’s second or third biggest urban place, and the realm’s second port after London. While not particularly large or wealthy in comparison with the great cities of northern Italy, Flanders or the Rhineland, it was a metropolis in the context of the British Isles.
Linear frontiers in the 9th century: Bulgaria and Wessex
May 24, 2014 By
I intend to answer some of those questions through a comparison between two famous, yet relatively neglected examples of imposition of ‘linear frontiers’ onto the landscape of early medieval Europe, both dated to the 9th century.
How Destructive were the Vikings?
May 21, 2014 By
Danielle Trynoski reports on the paper “How Much Material Damage Did the Northmen Do in Northern Europe?” given by Lesley Anne Morden
Charles the Fat and the Viking Great Army: The Military Explanation for the End of the Carolingian Empire
April 22, 2014 By
In late July 885 a large Viking fleet gathered at the mouth of the River Seine and began to move upstream in the direction of Paris.
Bjarmaland and interaction in the North of Europe from the Viking Age until the Early Middle Ages
April 6, 2014 By
This article intends to look at interaction in the very north of early medi- eval Europe with Bjarmaland as a starting point. After a short introduction to sources and historiography about Bjarmaland, the main content of the sources will be shortly discussed in order to establish what kind of informa- tion the written sources have to offer.
Queenship, Nunneries and Royal Widowhood in Carolingian Europe
March 30, 2014 By
Fulk‟s letter therefore introduces us to some central aspects of Carolingian thinking about the appropriate behaviour of laywomen especially, and serves as a way into the principal themes of this article. In particular, it is noticeable that the archbishop highlighted his expectations of Richildis in two roles: her supposed misdemeanour was concerned specifically with a failure to meet her obligations as a widow and as a queen.
Herb-workers and Heretics: Beguines, Bakhtin and the Basques
March 22, 2014 By
During the Middle Ages and early Renaissance, the word beguine was used by women to identify themselves as members of a wide-spread and influential women’s movement. The same term was used by their detractors and overt opponents, with the highly charged negative meaning of “heretic.” The etymology of the term “beguine” and ultimate origins of the movement have never been satisfactorily explained.
Fortified Settlements of the 9th and 10th Centuries ad in Central Europe: Structure, Function and Symbolism
March 10, 2014 By
The structure, function(s) and symbolism of early medieval (9th–10th centuries ad) fortified settlements from central Europe, in particular today’s Austria, Hungary, Czech Republic and Slovakia, are examined in this paper.
The Military Use of the Icon of the Theotokos and its Moral Logic in the Historians of the Ninth-Twelfth Centuries
February 15, 2014 By
Starting at least by the late tenth century, Byzantine emperors took icons of the Mother of God with them on campaign. This article examines the appearance of such icons in the narratives of historical texts.
The Vikings and Baron Dupuytren’s disease
February 8, 2014 By
Dupuytren’s disease (DD) is an ancient affliction of unknown origin. It is defined by Dorland as shortening, thickening, and fibrosis of the palmar fascia producing a flexion deformity of a finger.
The Lost Secret History of Nicetas the Paphlagonian
January 27, 2014 By
Although the Secret History of Nicetas the Paphlagonian has failed to reach us in its original form, it has probably shaped our knowledge of Byzantium in the ninth and early tenth centuries more than any surviving text.
A fascinating musical instrument
January 25, 2014 By
A fascinating musical instrument Saadat Abdullayeva IRS Heritage: No.9 (2012) Abstract Among the Eastern musical instruments, the UD has a very interesting history of many centuries, which is proved by archeological finds and manuscripts. Thus, according to terra cottas (9-10 cm fired statuettes with a flat back and embossed face, most of which date back […]
The Acculturation of Scandinavians in England: A consideration of the burial record
January 11, 2014 By
he portrayal of the ‘Vikings’ as an archetypal barbarian ‘other,’ wreaking death and destruction wherever they went, was already current in the medieval period, but in England the depictions became more extreme in the centuries after the attacks.
Children and Literature in Medieval England
January 10, 2014 By
Deals with childrens’ literature in medieval England. Kinds of literature heard by children in England; Examples of rhymes used by medieval children; Ways of linking rhymes with children.
Did King Alfred write anything?
January 7, 2014 By
The author investigates the question of whether King Alfred translated Latin texts into English. According to the author, modern scholarship seems to conclude that Alfred did compose the extant translations of a number of texts, although there are questions about Alfred’s linguistic and intellectual skills.
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