Medievalists.net » Technology http://www.medievalists.net Where the Middle Ages Begin Sun, 06 Dec 2015 19:35:15 +0000 en-US hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.9.9 How to make swords talk: an interdisciplinary approach to understanding medieval swords and their inscriptions http://www.medievalists.net/2015/12/02/how-to-make-swords-talk-an-interdisciplinary-approach-to-understanding-medieval-swords-and-their-inscriptions/ http://www.medievalists.net/2015/12/02/how-to-make-swords-talk-an-interdisciplinary-approach-to-understanding-medieval-swords-and-their-inscriptions/#comments Wed, 02 Dec 2015 13:53:59 +0000 http://www.medievalists.net/?p=62927 In the present article we want to explain in detail the methods we used for the documentation and interpretation of medieval swords and their inscriptions.

The post How to make swords talk: an interdisciplinary approach to understanding medieval swords and their inscriptions appeared first on Medievalists.net.

]]> http://www.medievalists.net/2015/12/02/how-to-make-swords-talk-an-interdisciplinary-approach-to-understanding-medieval-swords-and-their-inscriptions/feed/ 0 Rapid Invention, Slow Industrialization, and the Absent Entrepreneur in Medieval China http://www.medievalists.net/2015/09/27/rapid-invention-slow-industrialization-and-the-absent-entrepreneur-in-medieval-china/ http://www.medievalists.net/2015/09/27/rapid-invention-slow-industrialization-and-the-absent-entrepreneur-in-medieval-china/#comments Mon, 28 Sep 2015 04:37:47 +0000 http://www.medievalists.net/?p=61378 For some sixteen centuries, about eight times the length of the period since the onset of England’s Industrial Revolution, China was the source of an astonishing outpouring of inventions that included a vast variety of prospectively valuable novelties as diverse as printing, the blast furnace, the spinning wheel, the wheelbarrow, and playing cards, in addition to the more widely recognized gunpowder and compass.

The post Rapid Invention, Slow Industrialization, and the Absent Entrepreneur in Medieval China appeared first on Medievalists.net.

]]> http://www.medievalists.net/2015/09/27/rapid-invention-slow-industrialization-and-the-absent-entrepreneur-in-medieval-china/feed/ 0 Renaissance Robotics: Leonardo da Vinci’s Lost Knight and Enlivened Materiality http://www.medievalists.net/2015/09/24/renaissance-robotics-leonardo-da-vincis-lost-knight-and-enlivened-materiality/ http://www.medievalists.net/2015/09/24/renaissance-robotics-leonardo-da-vincis-lost-knight-and-enlivened-materiality/#comments Fri, 25 Sep 2015 03:21:53 +0000 http://www.medievalists.net/?p=61335 The knight, when activated, would spring upright while simultaneously closing its arms in a lateral, pectoral embrace.

The post Renaissance Robotics: Leonardo da Vinci’s Lost Knight and Enlivened Materiality appeared first on Medievalists.net.

]]> http://www.medievalists.net/2015/09/24/renaissance-robotics-leonardo-da-vincis-lost-knight-and-enlivened-materiality/feed/ 0 How did medieval seafarers turn trees into boat parts? http://www.medievalists.net/2015/08/10/how-did-medieval-seafarers-turn-trees-into-boat-parts/ http://www.medievalists.net/2015/08/10/how-did-medieval-seafarers-turn-trees-into-boat-parts/#comments Mon, 10 Aug 2015 22:20:32 +0000 http://www.medievalists.net/?p=60308 In this video, Professor Jon Adams of the University of Southampton explains the techniques by which shipwrights have converted the trees of the forest into the components of the boats in which people eventually sailed around the world.

The post How did medieval seafarers turn trees into boat parts? appeared first on Medievalists.net.

]]> http://www.medievalists.net/2015/08/10/how-did-medieval-seafarers-turn-trees-into-boat-parts/feed/ 0 Medieval Studies and STEM http://www.medievalists.net/2015/07/26/medieval-studies-and-stem/ http://www.medievalists.net/2015/07/26/medieval-studies-and-stem/#comments Sun, 26 Jul 2015 21:02:10 +0000 http://www.medievalists.net/?p=59997 Here are 15 ways that medieval studies and STEM are working together.

The post Medieval Studies and STEM appeared first on Medievalists.net.

]]> http://www.medievalists.net/2015/07/26/medieval-studies-and-stem/feed/ 0 The Astrolabe: Medieval Multi-Tool of Navigation http://www.medievalists.net/2015/05/21/the-astrolabe-medieval-multi-tool-of-navigation/ http://www.medievalists.net/2015/05/21/the-astrolabe-medieval-multi-tool-of-navigation/#comments Thu, 21 May 2015 19:44:06 +0000 http://www.medievalists.net/?p=58343 They were the Swiss Army knife of medieval travelers.

The post The Astrolabe: Medieval Multi-Tool of Navigation appeared first on Medievalists.net.

]]> http://www.medievalists.net/2015/05/21/the-astrolabe-medieval-multi-tool-of-navigation/feed/ 0 Ore, Fire, Hammer, Sickle: Iron Production in Viking Age and Early Medieval Iceland http://www.medievalists.net/2015/05/06/ore-fire-hammer-sickle-iron-production-in-viking-age-and-early-medieval-iceland/ http://www.medievalists.net/2015/05/06/ore-fire-hammer-sickle-iron-production-in-viking-age-and-early-medieval-iceland/#comments Wed, 06 May 2015 22:15:05 +0000 http://www.medievalists.net/?p=58092 Iron production may be used as a window through which to view, in part, the economic structure of Icelandic society during the Viking Age (c. AD 870-1000) and Early Medieval (AD 1000-1264) periods.

The post Ore, Fire, Hammer, Sickle: Iron Production in Viking Age and Early Medieval Iceland appeared first on Medievalists.net.

]]> http://www.medievalists.net/2015/05/06/ore-fire-hammer-sickle-iron-production-in-viking-age-and-early-medieval-iceland/feed/ 0 Places to See: The King Richard III Visitor Centre in Leicester http://www.medievalists.net/2015/04/19/places-to-see-the-king-richard-iii-visitor-centre-in-leicester/ http://www.medievalists.net/2015/04/19/places-to-see-the-king-richard-iii-visitor-centre-in-leicester/#comments Sun, 19 Apr 2015 15:09:44 +0000 http://www.medievalists.net/?p=57700 Now that Richard III has been laid to rest, and his tomb is open to the public for viewing, what more is there left to see when you’re in Leicester? Plenty.

The post Places to See: The King Richard III Visitor Centre in Leicester appeared first on Medievalists.net.

]]> http://www.medievalists.net/2015/04/19/places-to-see-the-king-richard-iii-visitor-centre-in-leicester/feed/ 0 The Men Behind the Metal http://www.medievalists.net/2015/04/16/the-men-behind-the-metal/ http://www.medievalists.net/2015/04/16/the-men-behind-the-metal/#comments Thu, 16 Apr 2015 18:32:34 +0000 http://www.medievalists.net/?p=57637 Medieval blacksmiths were loved, hated, thought to have magical healing powers, and able to fend off the devil. Here’s a quick look at the men behind the metal.

The post The Men Behind the Metal appeared first on Medievalists.net.

]]> http://www.medievalists.net/2015/04/16/the-men-behind-the-metal/feed/ 0 The Pre-History of Gunpowder http://www.medievalists.net/2015/02/15/pre-history-gunpowder/ http://www.medievalists.net/2015/02/15/pre-history-gunpowder/#comments Sun, 15 Feb 2015 13:56:40 +0000 http://www.medievalists.net/?p=56184 There is a Chinese tradition that a cook carrying a bowl of saltpetre slipped and dropped it onto a charcoal fire. That would certainly create a considerable conflagration but, as the ingredients were not mixed, hardly an explosion.

The post The Pre-History of Gunpowder appeared first on Medievalists.net.

]]> http://www.medievalists.net/2015/02/15/pre-history-gunpowder/feed/ 0