Tolerance of Usury
In the Middle Ages, could usury be tolerated in the law?
Letter Collections in the Middle Ages
‘Letters are among the most important sources of medieval history, but also among the most problematic.’
Dining at King’s College in the 15th century
Perhaps unsurprisingly, fish and seafood formed a major component in the diet of the fellows and scholars.
Slavery and Identíty in Mozarabic Toledo: 1201-1320
Román Iberia became thoroughly Romanized early in its existenec. Spain adopted the law, the language, the culture, and eventually the religión of clas- sicat Rome. Moreover, Hispania produced some truly stellar figures in the arena of Latin scholarship, including Séneca, Lucían, Quintilian, Columella, and Prudentius.
How Not to (Re)Write World History: Gavin Menzies and the Chinese Discovery of America
The author’s attempt to rewrite world history, however, is based on a hodgepodge of circular reasoning, bizarre speculation, distorted sources, and slapdash research.
The Librarius and Libraire as Witnesses to the Evolving Book Trade in Ducal Brittany
In monasteries and cathedrals of the medieval West, the « custos librariae » functioned primarily as a custodian or keeper of bound codices, and we see a similar role emerge from extant medieval registers from Breton cathedral chapters.
Cultural Identity and Dress: The Case of Late Byzantine Court Costume
At the earliest stages of its development, ceremonial costume was often a more ornate and luxurious version of contemporary attire. It’s use in a ritual context, however, resulted in its becoming imbued with a symbolic significance, a significance that epitomized the political and religious ideology of the state in general and the self perception of the ruling class in particular.
Mont Orgueil wall painting
Visitors to Mont Orgueil Castle can now see the remains of an ancient wall painting that has been uncovered in the Medieval Great Hall. David Park, Emily Howe and Sharon Cather, of the Coutauld Institute of Art, investigate the origins of this mysterious, exceptional work.
The Stamford and Peterborough mints
The Stamford mint has received considerable attention from several numismatists and historians, some of whom, including the Rev. Rogers Ruding, Francis Peck, the Stamford annalist, and Samuel Sharp, a Northamptonshire numismatist and antiquary, located the mint at Stamford Baron, Northamptonshire.
Iron Smelting in Vinland
Any former iron smelting site presents a special problem for archaeologists. The process of converting iron rich ore into a working iron bar requires a complex series of steps. Each separate function is most likely to be undertaken by heavily modifying the previous equipment set up. Unfortunately for the archaeologist, the evidence of those important earlier stages is certain to be blurred, if not totally obliterated, by later steps. It will be the very last part of the whole process which alone remain as evidence.
Character-Assassination: Conrad de Monferrat in English-language Fiction and Popular Histories
It is a story will all the ingredients of epic tragedy: a brilliant, courageous and handsome nobleman travels to distant lands, fights battles, marries princesses, is elected King but is slain by treachery, still relatively young, just before he is crowned.
The fabric of society: The organization of textile manufacturing in the Middle East and Europe, c. 700 – c. 1500
In recent years several attempts have been made to use institutional theory to explain this divergence between the Middle East and Europe. Most of these attempts focus on the organization of international trade.
Townscape as text: the topography of social interaction in Fethard, county Tipperary, AD 1300-1700
The idea that complex social order in the past can be ‘read’ in the built environment, and indeed in material culture – tangible artefacts and landscape phenomena – in general, is a foundation of contemporary archaeology and historical geography.
Scissors or Sword? The Symbolism of a Medieval Haircut
Simon Coates explores the symbolic meanings attached to hair in the early medieval West, and how it served to denote differences in age, sex, ethnicity and status.
Thousand-year-old Buddhist statue was created from a meteorite, new study reveals
Known as the Iron Man statue, it is first carving of a human in a meteorite
Tolerance for the People of Antichrist: Life on the Frontiers of Twelfth-Century Outremer
Professor Jay Rubenstein deals with a fascinating aspect of the early Crusaders – how these Western European holy warriors quickly adopted the lifestyles and practices of the East, just within a few years of conquering the area.
“The King’s Library: Construction, Representation and Reception of the Ideal Kingship in the Late French Middle Ages”
This paper on Charles V of France and his contribution to education was given on October 5th, 2012 as part of a workshop between Freiburg and the University of Toronto.
Count Robert’s “Pet” Wolf
What the count of Artois did do after the wolf’s ravening of the peasants’ livestock in the spring of 1302 could not have been what the villagers wanted. It reads like a joke…
Medieval Podcasts
Here are eighteen podcasts/radio programs you can listen to which offer great content on the Middle Ages.
The Fall of the Angevin Empire
A damned inheritance, hopelessly over-extended and out-resourced by the kings of France? Or an effective empire thrown away by incompetence and harshness? John Gillingham weighs the blame for John’s loss of the Angevin dominions.
World Without End – Review of Episode 5: Pawns
‘Caris Wooler, your spirit and heart are all that I love of England. If I am still King tomorrow, I will grant your petition.’
Aristocratic Politics and the Crisis of Scottish Kingship, 1286–96
In late 1292 the new king of Scots, John Balliol, did homage to Edward as his superior lord and during the next three years lived with the consequences of this act.
A monk from Melrose? St Cuthbert and the Scots in the later middle ages, c. 1371–1560
Whilst in theory the cult of the saints was a universal phenomenon, in practice saints and their shrines were often appropriated to regnal, local or institutional causes.
Interview with Sarah Gristwood, author of Blood Sisters: The Hidden Lives of the Women Behind the Wars of the Roses
It was really Margaret of Anjou, Henry VI’s wife, with her ambition and determination – her refusal to let the Duke of York assume control, after her husband had fallen into a catatonic stupor – that kickstarted the civil war.