Labyrinth, Part 2
So we continue with the exciting conclusion of last week’s two part mini-series, Labyrinth. Alice is being pursued by unsavory attackers, and Carcassonne has all but fallen.
Beowulf and Boyology: The Processes of Medievalism
Between 1870 and 1914 more than twenty children’s versions of Beowulf were published, with twenty more done in rest of 20th century.
The Pagan Heritage of St George
In this paper, I want to look at the legend of St George and at possible pagan and pre-Christian sources for the legend, as well as some of the other literary descendants that may be associated with him.
The 727/1327 Silk Weavers’ Rebellion in Alexandria: Religious Xenophobia, Homophobia, or Economic Grievances
A brawl in the streets of 14th century Alexandria between Egyptians and Europeans – what caused it?
The Sovereign and the Pirates, 1332
One Monday in early Spring 1332 a galley commanded by two Genoese ran aground on the tiny island of Brescou in the Mediterranean, a mile or so off shore of the episcopal city of Agde.
Columban Christian influence in Northumbria, before and after Whitby
The Synod of Whitby of 664 has traditionally been regarded as the great ‘set-piece’ debate between the so-called ‘Celtic’ and Roman churches in Britain, and as the turning-point for Irish – and more specifically Columban – ecclesiastical domination in Northumbria (and beyond).
Medieval Cures from The Alphabet of Galen
Use green mint to stop hiccups, radish to relieve aching joints and donkey dung as toothpaste! Some medieval cures from the Alphabet of Galen, the pharmacy handbook of the Middle Ages.
Medieval Military Technology
A new edition of Medieval Military Technology, by Kelly DeVries and Robert D. Smith, is now available.
Poisons and Poisoning in the Republic of Dubrovnik
Dubrovnik authorities occasionally resorted to poisoning as a means of resolving state affairs.
Servants’ Tales at Twelfth-Century English Shrines
Using the stained glass windows of Canterbury Cathedral, Koopmans examines how they show the lay people, including servants, more informal helpers and hangers on, and how they correspond to textual references to what the laity did at shrines.
In It for the Money: The Birth of Commercial Book Production
This lecture introduces the main players of this world of medieval book commerce — parchment makers, paid scribes, illuminators, shopkeepers — and discusses why these traditionally separate professions blended into a closely knit community that stands at the cradle of our bookish world today.
Plague, Settlement and Structural Change at the Dawn of the Middle Ages
Calculations on the number of inhabitants during these centuries are, however, impossible to make. The most famous attempt, by J.C. Russell, is, as will be revealed below, not satisfying. Using results from other studies, like those referred to above, Russell assumed hypothetical population figures without any real empirical evidence.
Dark Age Migrations and Subjective Ethnicity: The Example of the Lombards
This study is an attempt to clarify the functions and structure of the Volker- wanderungen. Peoples or warrior-bands? The basic problem is that small warrior bands as well as big migrations of peoples are characterized in the same way by the classical and early medieval writers: they used tribal names.
The Swedish Kings in Progress – and the Centre of Power
Why did the rulers travel! One reason was purely financial: the economy demanded a constant movement of the household. Once the food supplies in one place of abode had been eaten up it was easier to move to a new residence than to transport provisions overlong distances. Mobility contributed to the proper utilization of the produce of manors.
The Invisible Wall of St John. On Mental Centrality in Early Medieval Italy
The spatial categories of this society provided the basis for the view of certain places as being associated with a sacral materiality which is foreign to modern conceptualizations. It is the aim of this study to elucidate some of these early medieval notions of space.
Hincmar of Reims on King-making: The Evidence of the Annals of St. Bertin, 861–882
The Histories and Chronicles Hincmar had in mind were presumably Frankish ones; and Lothar II, succeeding his father, thus clearly came into this section of Hincmar’s third category. But of the timing or form of Lothar’s becoming king, Hincmar said not a word, preferring, instead, to spell out the Biblical lesson that a bad king (and he hastily disclaimed any allegation that Lothar’s father had been a bad king) would see the succession depart from his line.
The Emergence of the North
Apart from this bipolar system that contrasted North and South, authors writing in the Old Norse-Icelandic language also appear to use the term Norðrlönd within a quadripolar system that held good beyond the immediate region: Norðrlönd, the Vestrlönd (the British Isles), Suðrríki (Germany, the Holy Roman Empire), and Austrríki or Austrvegr (Russia and other lands to the East).
Kind hearts are more than cunning heirs and simple pride than property
Reading the excursus alerts the reader and raises the question whether there is any foundation in the rune-stones for such revision as Birgit Sawyer argues for. One should bring along these doubts when turning to the two chapters dealing with rune-stone inscriptions as expressions of claims to inheritance of property.
Abandoned to Love: The Proceso of María de Cazalla and the Mirror of Simple Souls
In comparing the trial of María de Cazalla with Marguerite Porete’s Mirror of Simple Souls, one of the most notable works of medieval mysticism, the present study aims to demonstrate how the main components of alumbradismo may be discerned in a single normative example of medieval mystical theology.
The Consuetudines canonice of Lund
In this paper we shall deal with the customs in Lund, the so-called Consuetudines canonice.
“So Stirring a Woman Was She”: A Closer Look at Early Modern Representations of Matilda, Lady of the English
I demonstrate what early modern subjects thought about their own queens by showing how authors and historians wrote about Matilda before, during, and after the reigns of Queens of Mary I and Elizabeth I
The Duomo: The Touchstone of Florence
The Duomo, ‘cathedral’ in Italian, is the touchstone of Florence’s architectural achievements and was built to serve forever as a symbol of Florence’s power and prosperity to the surrounding Tuscan communities.
Women’s Experiences During the Wars of the Roses
This paper will discuss the lived experiences of women of the English nobility and gentry during the period between 1450 and 1485, which covers the end of the Hundred Year’s War to the end of the Wars of the Roses.
The Royal Abbey of Fontevrault: Religious Women and the Shaping of Gendered Space
This article examines the religious and architectural history of the Royal Abbey of Fontevrault, in the French province of Anjou, investigating the active and deliberate role women played in shaping the physical and symbolic space of this female monastic community.
Funding given to commemorate the 500th Anniversary of the Battle of Flodden
The Flodden 500 Project will receive £887,300 from the Heritage Lottery Fund to commemorate the 500th anniversary of one of the largest battles ever fought between Scottish and English forces.