How Coal Played a Part in Medieval Air Pollution
Pollution was a problem long before the Industrial Revolution and complaints of air pollution and its association with fuel can be traced back over seven hundred years.
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How Coal Played a Part in Medieval Air Pollution
Pollution was a problem long before the Industrial Revolution and complaints of air pollution and its association with fuel can be traced back over seven hundred years.
Medieval Geopolitics: The Origins of Jihad and the Islamic Conquests
This short column will explain the historical context for the conquests and the three major transformations that made them possible.
The Mind’s Eye: Visualizing Encyclopedic Knowledge in the Later Middle Ages
The present project examines two exceptional fifteenth-century French copies of this encyclopedia (BnF fr. 9141 and BnF fr. 135/6), and interprets them in light of the shifting intellectual culture and evolving reading practices of late-medieval lay audiences.
Hadrian IV (1154-1159) and the “bull” Laudabiliter: a historiographical review
This work represents an exploration into the historiography of a hotly debated historical document known as Laudabiliter.
Windows on a medieval world: medieval piety as reflected in the lapidary literature of the Middle Ages
The lapidary literature of the Middle Ages has been overlooked as a source for the study of medieval Christian piety.
Warriors and women: The Sex Ratio of Norse Migrants to Eastern England Up To 900 AD
It suggests that female migration may have been as significant as male, and that Norse women were in England from the earliest stages of the migration, including during the campaigning period from 865.
Manuscript Palaeoproteomics: Discovering the field of biocodicology
Sarah Fiddyment discusses the study of the biomolecular information that formed part of the biological history of manuscripts – the biomolecules found on the surface of these manuscripts that can reveal something about their history.
Staffordshire Hoard secrets revealed in new book
Following a decade of intensive conservation and expert research, a new book is revealing the importance of the spectacular Staffordshire Hoard to our knowledge of British and world history. It is set to offer fascinating discoveries about England in the seventh century.
Medieval Manuscripts: Book Altar of Philip the Good
The miniatures of the diptych, dating back to around 1430, were so precious to Philip that he had to have them with him every time he said his prayers.
Philip II “Augustus” of France
The early reign of Philip II of France was an exhibition of poor generalship, but by the early 1200s, Philip had seized most of the counties and duchies under the control of England’s King John
Why some greens turn brown in historical paintings
Copper acetate (also known as verdigris) and copper resinate were used in European easel paintings between the 15th and 17th centuries
Five ‘medieval’ video games that are coming out in 2020
The Middle Ages have often been a popular topic in video games, and there are always more on the way. Here are five games – some more historically-based than others – to look forward to in 2020.
New insights into the genetic evolution of the Black Death
Analysis of 34 ancient plague genomes from the Black Death and succeeding plague epidemics in Europe between the 14th and 17th centuries, reveals how the bacterium diversified after a single introduction
Chatting with Medievalists.net
This week, Sandra Alvarez, cofounder of Medievalists.net was back in Toronto, so Danièle sat down with Sandra and Peter Konieczny to talk about how the website got started, and how the field has changed in the decade since.
Project to discover who came to Mount Athos in the Middle Ages
Zachary Chitwood of Mainz University will set up a comprehensive database that will include the inhabitants and visitors of Athos over a period of 700 years.
Creating Viking Age Clothing in the 21st Century
Today’s cultural image of a Viking is of a hulking man fit with a horned helm and piles of fur. Is there a better way of creating clothing that melds fantasy and reality?
Has the Battle of Brunanburh been discovered?
The famous medieval battlefield has been lost for centuries. Has new archaeological research discovered the site?
Medieval Manuscripts: The Pearl Manuscript
This is the story of a grieving father who loses his two-year-old daughter and finds her in a dream. The conversation between them, written in poetry at the end of the 14th century and immortalized in an illuminated codex, is unanimously regarded as one of the treasures of Middle English literature.
Medieval Reads: The Thirteen Hallows, by Michael Scott and Colette Freedman
Arthurian horror is a thing.
Has the Battle of Brunanburh battlefield been discovered?
The famous medieval battlefield has been lost for centuries. Has new archaeological research discovered the site?
Outlawry in the Icelandic Family Sagas
The present study scrutinizes the outlawry and outlaws that appear in the Icelandic Family Sagas.
The Mongol Peace and Global Medieval Eurasia
The Mongol moment has found its place in new scholarship on early forms of globalisation in Eurasia.
Heavy Metal Meets Byzantium! Contact Between Scandinavia and Byzantium in the Albums ‘The Varangian Way’ (2007) and ‘Stand Up and Fight’ (2011) by the Finnish Band Turisas
The Finnish Heavy Metal band Turisas has focused on the subject of Byzantium and its relations with Scandinavia.
Siege Engines during the Crusades
In the Holy Land during the eleventh to fourteenth centuries, it seemed as if one place or another was continually under siege, and armies on both sides of the crusades moved from city to city attempting to dominate each other.
BooksAll posts
Medieval Reads: The Thirteen Hallows, by Michael Scott and Colette Freedman
Arthurian horror is a thing.
New Medieval Books: Early Medieval Britain
New Medieval Books: Emperors, Philosophers, Mystics, Bandits and Guilds
New Medieval Books: From Matilda to Married Life
The death of Richard III
New Medieval Books: The Lords of the Winds, by C.J. Adrien
New Medieval Books: Texts and Translations
Which books about the Vikings should I read?
New Medieval Books: Finds from Kalamazoo
Places to SeeAll posts
Örebro Castle: History, Secrets, and Romance
For anyone who visits Örebro, it is hard to miss its castle – an ancient-looking fortress made of weathered grey stones that stands on an islet in the middle of the city centre.
The Vasa: Gustav II Adolf’s Glorious and Doomed Warship
On the 10th of August 1628, the Vasa sank in Stockholm harbour, thus ending the career of the most powerful warship that Sweden had ever seen.
Uppsala Slott: 5 Things You Ought to Know About One of Sweden’s Greatest Castles
This strategic location not only makes the castle a majestic sight, but also earns it the reputation as the most modern defence fortress in its time. But, as all ancient buildings, there is always more than meets the eye. Here are the five things that you may not know about Uppsala Castle.
Making Your Mark: Medieval Masons’ Marks at Tarascon
How do you operate a business when you can’t read and your knowledge of math is extremely limited? Making your mark on the…
The Weird, the Wonderful, and the Macabre in the Cathedral of Narbonne
Narbonne is one of those European cities with evidence of its past on every street.
Medieval English Embroidery on Display for the Last Time at the V&A’s Opus Anglicanum Exhibit
The V&A Museum opened its latest medieval exhibit exhibit on Saturday: Opus Anglicanum: Masterpieces of English Medieval Embroidery. I had the opportunity to see it opening day and it was spectacular.