Where the Middle Ages Begin
Did people in the Middle Ages really suffer from terrible teeth and foul breath? A closer look at medieval medical texts and hygiene practices reveals a more complex picture of dental care and everyday health.
What everyday objects did people use in the Middle Ages? From clothing and household necessities to tools for work and warfare, these 25 medieval items were essential to daily life and shaped how people lived, ate, and survived.
Delve into the pivotal figures of the Middle Ages whose enduring legacies shaped the course of history. From visionary leaders and profound scholars to prolific writers and formidable warriors, these individuals left an indelible mark on medieval society.
Discover the 50 most significant events of the Middle Ages, spanning the years 500 to 1500.
Here are seven vivid facts about colour in the Middle Ages
In medieval times, many unique jobs, such as Ale-wife and Groom of the Stool, were essential but have since vanished. Discover these obsolete occupations and how historical changes led to their disappearance.
Are you wanting to talk more like someone from the Middle Ages? We have a list of 30 great sayings and proverbs that you can use in your conversations.
Have you wondered what a medieval king did on a typical day? Thanks to Christine de Pizan, we have an account of what daily life was like for King Charles V of France.
Some of our most popular phrases have a long history, including some that go back to the Middle Ages.
Want to know what kind of jobs there were in the Middle Ages? A unique source from the 15th century gives us some beautiful images of medieval people at work.
A new study finds that political borders shaped the spread of medieval chant, revealing how tropes travelled across Europe after the Treaty of Verdun.
Did people in the Middle Ages really suffer from terrible teeth and foul breath? A closer look at medieval medical texts and hygiene practices reveals a more complex picture of dental care and everyday health.
The Household and Wardrobe Accounts are English records that document the daily needs of the king and his family. This book serves as a guide to these sources, showing how they can be used and what valuable insights they offer into medieval government.
Explore how the memory of the Geats—Beowulf’s tribe—survives in the language, place names, and landscape of modern Sweden.
One of the most important accounts from the Near East in the 12th century is the Chronicle of Michael the Great. This book offers an English translation of the abridged Armenian version of that chronicle.
Archaeologists in Germany have uncovered a fragment of a medieval hand cannon that may date to 1390, making it one of the earliest known portable firearms in Europe.
Was the Byzantine defeat at Manzikert caused by betrayal or by poor decisions on the battlefield? George Theotokis re-examines the medieval chroniclers and the search for scapegoats after one of Byzantium’s most famous defeats.
Two medieval bronze doors by Donatello have been restored and returned to the Basilica of San Lorenzo in Florence after a major conservation project.
A medieval English bronze jug that travelled to a royal palace in West Africa and back is the focus of a new British Museum exhibition.
Othon de Grandson was one of the leading household knights of Edward I of England. This biography traces Othon’s career, from his military service in Wales to his participation in crusading expeditions to the Near East and his later work as a diplomat in continental Europe.
Newly discovered Arabic document confirms the existence of a ‘legendary’ African king and reveals how rulers governed in Nubia.
How have video games reshaped our view of the Middle Ages? Discover ten ways gaming has transformed how we imagine medieval society, rulers, religion, and history.
By the end of the Middle Ages, the last predominantly pagan regions of Europe were undergoing conversion to Christianity. This book traces that transition and explores how older pagan beliefs and practices continued to endure for centuries afterward.
In the eighth century, an English nun named Leoba composed a short Latin poem that has quietly survived for more than a millennium. Though brief, the verse offers valuable insight into the education, literary culture, and spiritual ambitions of women in the early medieval Church.
A selection of illuminated medieval manuscripts, including a Netherlandish missal and a Florentine Book of Hours, will be displayed by Les Enluminures at EXPO Chicago 2026.
Major medieval art exhibition in Italy will explore how Giotto, Saint Francis, and Umbrian painters helped transform religious art in the early fourteenth century.
Norway has announced new funding to preserve its medieval stave churches, including maintenance projects, research grants, and a 3D scanning project at Borgund Stave Church.
Planning to visit the northeast corner of England and explore its many castles? This guide is your companion, now expanded to include over 500 entries.
This six-week course begins Friday, March 6th, with live sessions from 2:00 to 3:30 pm EST.
An interdisciplinary study examining the final century of China’s Tang dynasty argues that repeated droughts and floods may have played a key role in weakening the empire and contributing to its eventual collapse in 907 CE.
A major Nordic research effort is taking a fresh look at the earliest written culture in medieval Finland—by studying not only what documents say, but what they are made of.
David Bachrach on Charlemagne’s failed invasion of Spain in 777–778, a campaign that ended with the Frankish defeat at Roncevaux Pass and later inspired the Song of Roland.
A Viking-Age grave containing a woman buried with her dog has been identified as one of the most intriguing archaeological discoveries in Norway from 2025.
The Morgan Library & Museum has appointed Dr. Joshua O’Driscoll as Melvin R. Seiden Curator and Department Head of Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts.
The Household and Wardrobe Accounts are English records that document the daily needs of the king and his family. This book serves as a guide to these sources, showing how they can be used and what valuable insights they offer into medieval government.
A conversation with Marica Cassis about the archaeological study of the east Roman world and how it interfaces with traditional, text-based historiography. What can archaeology see and what not? What challenges has it faced to emerge as a field and what are the prospects that it faces today?
A conversation with Alicia Walker on the pseudo-Arabic inscriptions that appear on a number of tenth- and eleventh-century churches in Greece, most notably at the monastery of Hosios Loukas. What did the Arabic script signify in Orthodox culture at the time if not tension with Islam?
After Henry V’s death, the Hundred Years’ War flares back to life as a Franco-Scottish army confronts the English in Normandy. In this episode of Bow & Blade, Michael and Kelly dig into the Battle of Verneuil—one of the war’s bloodiest clashes—and why it mattered.
The Assassins and the Knights Templar have become two of the most iconic groups of fighters from the period of the Crusades. In recent times, they have been popularised through the video game and movie franchise, Assassin’s Creed. But who were they really and how did they interact in the Holy Land?
A conversation with Kevin van Bladel on his proposal regarding “The Classical Near East,” a constellation of fields defined by the classical literary…
Scotland’s in turmoil in the 1330s—and Edward III spots an opening. In this episode of Bow & Blade, Michael and Kelly break down the Battle of Dupplin Moor, where tactics, terrain, and timing turn chaos into catastrophe.
