The Prudent Village: Risk Pooling Institutions in Medieval English Agriculture
The prudent peasant chose to scatter his farm fields to protect himself and his family from idiosyncratic agricultural shocks because better alternatives did not exist. Peasants had no better way of protecting themselves from idiosyncratic agricultural shocks.
Woman-Woman Love in Islamic Society
Women have only recently become visible at all in Islamicist/Orientalist discourse. Within most present-day Islamic states, where representation of even married heterosexual conduct is heavily censored, woman-woman sexuality remains thoroughly submerged.
Brick making in Britain during the later medieval period
This essay aims to briefly examine the mechanisms of how brick making arrived in England and to describe the manufacturing process from documentary and archaeological evidence from a selected number of sites.
Celtic Search Talk III: Irish Classical Studies and the Irish History of Troy
This was part of a series of papers given at the University of Toronto in competition for a position in the Celtic Studies department. This paper focused on the reception of literature and the reception of the classics in medieval Ireland.
How to make a medieval pen
How people wrote in the fifteenth century isn’t really a lot different to how people write today. You need to basic tools of the trade – piece of paper to write on, something to write with, and some ink.
The early years of Justin I’s reign in the sources
In the night of 8—9 July 518 the aged emperor Anastasius died during a violent storm. On the following day, 9 July, the magister officiorum Celer gathered together the other high palace officials to deliberate and choose another emperor.
Moors at the Court of James IV, King of Scots
Were sub-Saharan Africans part of the court of a medieval Scottish king?
Edward II: His Friends, His Enemies, and His Death
Edward I was a hard act to follow. By 1295, he had subdued Wales. He promulgated what Michael Prestwich calls a “majestic set of statutes” that led to his being called the English Justinian. Though his relationships with the nobility were sometimes stormy, there was no doubt who was in charge. The same would not be said about his son.
A glimpse into the early origins of medieval anatomy through the oldest conserved human dissection (Western Europe, 13th c. A.D.)
Little is known about medieval anatomical preparations, as only theoretical treatises signed by surgeons and physicians have survived. In 2003, a mummified human torso was sold by a medical antiquities art dealer from Paris, and is now conserved in a Canadian private collection; its recent multidisciplinary analysis was the occasion of a whole description of such an anatomical preparation, and to improve our knowledge about early occidental autopsy/dissection techniques and body preservation
Margaret of Denmark, Queen of Scotland
The marriage of Margaret of Denmark and King James III of Scotland may not have been very happy. But the union had a significant impact on the territorial gains of Scotland.
500-year-old arrest warrant for Machiavelli discovered
The original copy of a proclamation – exactly 500-years old – calling for the arrest of Niccolò Machiavelli has been discovered by a British historian.
Castle for Sale in Scotland
This 14th-century Scottish keep is surrounded by an 18th-century estate with homes and gardens. Located the on the Isle of Bute, the current owners are renting out five of its cottages for tourists.
Medieval Obstetrics, or How I learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Womb
The practice of gynecology was a unique brand of medicine, which drew stark boundaries based on gender of both practitioner and patient. Midwives were responsible for the treatment of feminine maladies and the care of expectant mothers.
Was King Richard III a control freak?
University of Leicester psychologists believe Richard III was not a psychopath – but he may have had control freak tendencies
Myths and mandrakes
Others, however, began to wonder whether the possession of roots might not bring them success in other areas as well—wealth, popularity, or the power to control their own and other people’s destinies, and took to wearing them as good luck charms.
Brigit: Goddess, Saint, ‘Holy Woman,’ and Bone of Contention
Brigit1 and Patrick, two saints from the beginnings of Christianity in Ireland in the fifth century CE, retain their popularity with Catholic Christians to this day.
Thomas Hatfield: Bishop, Soldier, and Politician
Thomas Hatfield (c. 1310–81) rose from origins amongst the Yorkshire gentry to become a valued royal servant under King Edward III.
Speculations on the Celtic Origins of Marie de France’s ‘Eliduc’
The basic plot of the story is fantastic. A good and loyal knight is in exile from his own country, France, and offers his services to a king in England. There he falls in love with the princess even though he has a loyal and loving wife at home….
Vikings – Review of Episode 1: Rites of Passage
A review of the series premiere of Vikings
Al-Maqrizi and the Fatimids
There are other less dramatic examples. Only a small section of the massive history by al-Musabbih ̋| (d. 420/1029)2 has been recovered and it is now in the Escorial. On the title page of that manuscript is the signature of al-Maqr|z|, indicating apparently that he once possessed and/or used it.
Notes on a private library in fourth/tenth-century Baghdad
Studies on medieval Arabic bibliophilia have mainly focussed on public and semi-public institutions, for some of which we have detailed information. Less is known about private libraries and their physical arrangement. This paper looks at the library of Abū Bakr al-Ṣūlī (d. 335/947), which is described by the sources in unique terms, contextualising it with al-Ṣūlī’s own words on collecting and organizing books.
Widows in Anglo-Saxon England
Owing to a fairly large number of mainly vernacular codes of law that have survived, we are in a position to see at least how in legislation the position of women in general, but also of widows in particular, was defined.
The Scientific World of the Crown of Aragon under James I
This article seeks to provide a general overview of the cultural landscape during the reign of James I, with a particular focus on science.