The Augustinian Canons in England and Wales: Architecture, Archaeology and Liturgy 1100-1540

Augustinian - Canons Regular

The Augustinian canons remain very much the Cinderellas of British medieval monastic history.

The derivation of the date of the Badon entry in the Annales Cambriae from Bede and Gildas

Battle of Badon

The battle of Badon [Bellum Badonis], in which Arthur carried the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ for three days and three nights on his shoulders and the Britons were victorious.

Antiquarians, Archaeologists, and Viking Fortifications

Vikings

This article addresses the depth of our knowledge regarding Viking fortifications in England, Scotland, and Wales, assessing perceptions of them as a monument type

Maurice, Son of Theodoric: Welsh Kings and the Mediterranean World AD 550-650

Emperor Maurice

Among the many petty rulers of early medieval Wales was a king whose name can be rendered Maurice, son of Theodoric.

Lleision ap Morgan Makes an Impression: Seals and the Study of Medieval Wales

Seal_of_Owain_Glyndwr

Seals are a very important source of evidence for the social, political, economic and religious history of medieval Wales, but generally have received little attention from scholars.

Children and Literature in Medieval England

Children's Book

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.

Dead virgins: feminine sanctity in medieval Wales

Saint Non's Chapel-Fenster - St.Winifred

Examines literature on the medieval traditions associated with Welsh holy women. Prerequisites for feminine sanctity; Biographical pattern of the female saints; Implications of the popularity of the Welsh women saints.

Book of Aneirin put online by National Library of Wales

Book of Aneirin - image courtesy National Library of Wales

The Book of Aneirin, one of the most important literary works from medieval Wales, can now be freely viewed online.

The Origins of Local Society in late Anglo-Saxon England

Helmet

The Origins of Local Society in late Anglo-Saxon England Hirokazu Tsurushima Paper given at: The Third Japanese-Korean Conference of British History (2008) Abstract The purpose of this paper is to show the issues surrounding the origins of local society in late ‘Anglo-Saxon’ England, by examining a single original document from 968. A local society not […]

New App allows users to explore the archaeology of Wales

archwilio app - photo courtesy Centre of Excellence in Mobile Applications and Services

The new Archwilio App will now allow smartphone and tablet users to digitally explore over 100,000 archaeological records in Wales for the first time.

The uses of secular rulers and characters in the Welsh Saint’s lives in the Vespasian Legendary

St Teilo in Holy Trinity Church, Abergavenny - photo by Gwenddwr

This study focuses on the functional use of famous characters from the Welsh literary and historical contexts, like King Arthur and King Maelgwn of Gwynedd, in the Welsh Saints’ Lives found in the Vespasian Legendary, the most significant Welsh legendary extant, dated to ca. 1200.

Hywel Dda manuscript now online

Boston Manuscript of the Laws of Hywel Dda - photo courtesy National Library of Wales

The National Library of Wales has digitized and put online the Boston Manuscript of the Laws of King Hywel Dda. The manuscript was purchased last year at auction for £541,250.

Medievalist looks for crowd funding to help support his PhD

Spencer Gavin Smith

How you can support Spencer Gavin Smith do research about medieval gardens and parks

Deer park created by Llywelyn the Great discovered by archaeologists

deer

Archaeologists in Wales have discovered the remains of a thirteenth-century deer park, likely built during the reign of Llywelyn the Great (1195–1240).

The Hospitallers’ and Templars’ involvement in warfare on the frontiers of the British Isles in the late thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries

Templari_MatthewParis

Although in theory they were independent religious orders answerable only to the pope, in the British Isles the Templars, and particularly the Hospitallers, were increasingly secularised institutions, serving the king of England and playing important roles in royal government

Networking Scribes

Detail of a miniature of a scribe writing the miraculous Gospels of Kildare - Royal 13 B.VIII, f.22

This was the keynote paper given at the Celtic Studies Association of North America Annual Conference at the University of Toronto April 18 – 21, 2013.

Welsh Poetry and the War of the Roses

Choosing the Red and White Roses - The War of the Roses

This is a brief summary of a paper on Welsh poetry, patronage and politics. It was given at the Celtic Studies Association of North America Annual Conference at the University of Toronto April 18 – 21, 2013.

Rhetoric and Ethnicity in Gerald of Wales

Gerald of Wales

This paper was given at the 2013 Celtic Studies Association of North America Annual Meeting at the University of Toronto.

Lincolnshire and the Arthurian Legend

Howard Pyle illustration from the 1903 edition of The Story of King Arthur and His Knights

This article is intended to rectify this, proceeding from the widely-held assumption of the existence of a genuinely ‘historical Arthur’, before going on to consider the even more fundamental question of whether we ought to believe in Arthur’s existence at all.

The Welsh soldier: 1283-1422

medievalwarfare

The present thesis is a study of the reality – and the myth – of the ‘Welsh soldier’ in the later middle ages.

Project on the medieval saints in Wales receives £775 000 in funding

Stained glass window ( 1934 ) showing Saint David - photo by Wolfgang Sauber

A project to better understand the history of medieval saints in Wales and created new online resources has been award more than three-quarters of a million points by The Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC).

Chaucer’s Arthuriana

Guinevere’s marriage to Arthur

The majority of medieval scholars, including Roger Sherman Loomis, argue that the popularity of the Arthurian legend in England was therefore on the wane in the latter half of the fourteenth century; as a result, the major writers of the period, such as John Gower and Geoffrey Chaucer, refrained from penning anything beyond the occasional reference to King Arthur and his court.

Limits of Viking influence in Wales

Map of Wales

Wales experienced sporadic raids, a few settlers and trade, writes Mark Redknap.

The Welsh Female Saint: Patterns within a Social Framework

Brigit of Kildare

Historia Divae Monacellae, the Latin Life of Melangell is also comparatively late in composition, with the earliest manuscript being from the 16th century, but possibly drawing on earlier written sources.3 When we look at the availability of written texts relating to male saints the difference in source material is immediately evident.

The Conquest of Wales (1282)

The Conquest of Wales (1282)

That was when an English king, Edward the First, sent an army along this route I’m travelling now. He conquered Wales, he built castles as symbols of his power, and he shipped in English settlers to exploit this land. And the Welsh became second-class citizens in their own country.

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