This article discusses various forms of ordeals, such as the ordeal of hot iron, and analyzes whether, and to what extent, these ordeals could have served as ‘rational’ forms of adjudication during the period.
Between A Rock And A Hot Place: The Role Of Subjectivity In The Medieval Ordeal By Hot Iron
November 22, 2015 By
England’s Immigrants 1330-1550: Resident Aliens in the Later Middle Ages
November 21, 2015 By
Paper by Bart Lambert given at Medieval and Early Modern Records Seminar held in Leeds, on August 2, 2014
How to Tell if Your 12th-Century Lover is Just Not That Into You
November 14, 2015 By
In the twelfth century, courtly love was all the rage with the French nobility. To participate in this trendiest of trends, though, you actually needed to know the rules.
Penal enslavement in the early middle ages
October 26, 2015 By
In the specific form it took during the medieval period, penal enslavement therefore amounts to a strikingly new phenomenon. How did such a system come about, and what functions did it serve?
Manifestations of psychiatric illness in texts from the medieval and Viking era
October 26, 2015 By
The medicine of medieval Europe was influenced above all by the Hippocratic and Galenic legacies, conveyed through the medical School of Salerno, albeit also to an extent embedded in demonological and supernatural beliefs and folklore customs.
Down to the Last Stitch: Sumptuary Law and Conspicuous Consumption in Renaissance Italy
October 21, 2015 By
Fashion and luxury were very important in Italian Renaissance society. One’s appearance indicated more than whether one was simply attractive, it also indicated one’s social standing.
A Medieval Love Letter (and eat your meat)
October 18, 2015 By
‘I pray you, my own sweet cousin even as you love me, to be happy and to eat your meat like a woman.’
Marking the Face, Curing the Soul? Reading the Disfigurement of Women in the Later Middle Ages
September 29, 2015 By
This specific example, and a survey of later medieval texts suggests that the period between 1150 and 1500 was one of increasing attention to the facial features of both men and women within and outside clerical circles, driven partly by increased exposure of western Europeans to peoples of different physical appearance, and partly by the rediscovery of the ancient pseudo-science of physiognomy, which claimed to read character traits from facial features.
Patrician Purity and the Female Person in Early Renaissance Venice
September 25, 2015 By
This essay studies the Venetian patriciate’s enforcement of its exclusiveness and superior status by focusing on the purity and social standing on the women of the class.
Performative Rituals for Conception and Childbirth in England, 900–1500
September 24, 2015 By
This study proposes that performative rituals—that is, verbal and physical acts that reiterate prior uses—enabled medieval women and men to negotiate the dangers and difficulties of conception and childbirth.
Another Medieval Drinking Song
September 23, 2015 By
But bring us in good ale, good ale, and bring us in good ale,
For our blessed Lady’s sake, bring us in good ale!
The Fool as Entertainer and Satirist, on Stage and in the World
September 20, 2015 By
In the Middle Ages he symbolized the vanity of human pretension, whereas the lord he served represented divine perfection; it was a neat image of the antithesis within man’s nature, as they conceived it, sublime and ridiculous together.
The Iconography of ‘Husband-beating’ on Late-Medieval English Misericords
September 17, 2015 By
More misericords depicting husband-beating survive in England than in other European countries, and their artistic profusion is mirrored in the rich vernacular tradition for which violent wives proved a favoured subject.
The Problem of Old Debts: Jewish Moneylenders in Northern Castile
September 13, 2015 By
Focusing especially on Jewish moneylending, the article explores economic relations between Jews and Christians in Northern Castile at the turn of the fourteenth century.
Capital and Corporal Punishment in Anglo-Saxon England
September 11, 2015 By
Jay Gates, Nicole Marafioti and Valerie Allen speak about Capital and Corporal Punishment in Anglo-Saxon England
‘Spurred on by the Fear of Death’: Refugees and Displaced Populations during the Mongol Invasion of Hungar
September 6, 2015 By
Sensitized by the grim headlines which daily announce the appalling plight of twentieth-century refugees in eastern Europe, I was motivated to investigate the behavior and conditions of medieval refugees fleeing the Mongols.
Dear Dad, Send Money – Letters from Students in the Middle Ages
September 5, 2015 By
I ask of you greetings and money.
Locks of Difference: The Integral Role of Hair as a Distinguishing Feature in Early Merovingian Gaul
September 5, 2015 By
The aim of this paper is to understand the meanings that the Franks ascribed to hair and, in this quest, it will survey the different interpretations of hair that existed in sixth century Gaul.
13th century insult discovered etched into the walls of Nidaros Cathedral
August 27, 2015 By
LAURENSIUS CELVI ANUS PETRI / Lars is Peter’s butt.
Sexual Violence in the Early Medieval West
August 21, 2015 By
What kind of acts do we consider as sexual violence in relation to the early Middle Ages? And in particular: does the phenomenon come down to a forced sexual act (in the broadest sense of the word, i.e. in a situation whereby somebody against the will of another person achieves sexual satisfaction)?
Between Subjects and Citizens: the Commons of England, c. 1300-1550
August 17, 2015 By
The political, social and cultural conditions of later medieval England fostered a situation in which ordinary people could have remarkable political agency.
Alcohol and its Consumption in Medieval Cairo: The Story of a Habit
August 11, 2015 By
Through the ages of Cairene history the alcoholic beverages, entangled in political and religious developments, depended more on prevailing doctrinal currents than on people’s habitual or taste inclinations. Therefore, the story of these beverages’ consumption is – not surprisingly – a turbulent one.
King Sverre on Drunkenness
August 9, 2015 By
Sverre Sigurdsson, a medieval King of Norway, tells his followers about the dangers of overdrinking.
New online database allows users to explore the families of Medieval England
July 15, 2015 By
Mapping the Medieval Countryside has announced that the beta version of their searchable English translations of inquisitions post mortem (IPMs) – a major source into the lives and legacies of thousands of families from the Later Middle Ages.
Scottish Witchcraft: Background and Practices
July 12, 2015 By
Witch hunting became intensified in many parts of Europe during the Protestant Reformation, and especially so in Scotland.
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