The Acculturation of Scandinavians in England: A consideration of the burial record
he portrayal of the ‘Vikings’ as an archetypal barbarian ‘other,’ wreaking death and destruction wherever they went, was already current in the medieval period, but in England the depictions became more extreme in the centuries after the attacks.
The Public and Private Boundaries of Motherhood: Queen Igraine in Geoffrey of Monmouth’s Historia and Laȝamon’s Brut’
In literary criticism, awareness of transmission of tales between British and continental literature tends to encourage a view of some Arthurian narratives as more similar in tone, style, and language than they in fact are.
Lleision ap Morgan Makes an Impression: Seals and the Study of Medieval Wales
Seals are a very important source of evidence for the social, political, economic and religious history of medieval Wales, but generally have received little attention from scholars.
Book Review: The Walls of Byzantium, by James Heneage
To get through this maze, Heneage employs the time proven and very useful conceit of human interest at its most personal level – a love story, not merely triangular but quadrilateral, plus the ardent love of place…
Worldly Unease in Late Medieval European Travel Reports
Comparing the Book of John Mandeville with Jean de Jeanville’s Vie Saint Louis and William of Rubruck’s Journey, this chapter argues that cosmopolitan perspectives in these texts seem to emerge in spite of rather than because of their contacts with other cultures.
Parzival, the perfect Medieval hero?
When we now think of knights, we automatically think of knights in shining armours, saving damsels in distress while killing dragons and other mythical creatures. But is this image we have of these heroes correct? Was the Medieval hero really just a tough guy who saved beautiful ladies and killed the ´bad guys´. In this paper I will try to give a standard description of what a Medieval hero really was. After which I will try to determine if Parzival really was a medieval hero, compared to the standards that I have tried to set.
The Middle English culinary recipes in MS Harley 5401: an edition and commentary
The culinary manuscripts of the Middle Ages are increasingly a concern of those interested in social history — among others;(1) yet a significant impediment to research on Middle English culinary matters remains in the remarkable fact that there are still at least six sizeable collections of recipes that have never been edited and/or printed at all, as well as about a dozen more that have been only selectively collated in editions of material taken primarily from other manuscripts.
Children and Literature in Medieval England
Deals with childrens’ literature in medieval England. Kinds of literature heard by children in England; Examples of rhymes used by medieval children; Ways of linking rhymes with children.
Promiscuous Priests and Vicarage Children: Clerical Sexuality and Masculinity in Late Medieval England
Historians continue to debate the the full extent to which priests had relationships with women, but unchaste clergy on the European Continent have been more forthrightly acknowledged and studied than those in England.
Eclipses in the Middle East from the Late Medieval Islamic Period to the Early Modern Period
This paper deals with the analysis of data obtained from observations of two sets of three lunar eclipses in the Late Medieval Islamic Period.
Ekphrasis in the Alexiad
Ekphrasis in the Alexiad By Niki Touriki Diogenes, Vol. 1 (2014) Introduction: The historical text of the Alexiad written by Anna Komnene in the…
How Do We Know about the Middle Ages?
No matter which dates you use to define it, the medieval period was a very long time ago. Most of the people who existed during that time lived and died anonymously – at least as far as history is concerned. So how is it that we know anything about this period at all?
Four Medieval Manuscripts With Mathematical Games
Focuses on the medieval manuscripts of Bodleian Library, Sussex College, Gonville and Caius College that present mathematical games. How the Josephus Problem was presented in Bodleian Library manuscript; Explanation on symbols in Sussex College manuscript which describe the Josephus Problem; Errors of presenting the problem founded in the manuscript of Gonville and Caius College.
Isabel of Portugal, Duchess of Burgundy
There was not another offer for Isabel’s hand until December 18, 1428 when she was thirty years old. Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy had already been married and widowed twice by 1428.
The boy and the catapult – a story from the life of William Marshal
Word came of this to his father,
but he said that he did not care
about the child, since he still had
the anvils and hammers
to produce even finer ones.
Legendary Samurai – Videos on Art and Warfare in Medieval Japan
Three videos from the Portland Art Museum
Dead virgins: feminine sanctity in medieval Wales
Examines literature on the medieval traditions associated with Welsh holy women. Prerequisites for feminine sanctity; Biographical pattern of the female saints; Implications of the popularity of the Welsh women saints.
Estreitement bende: Marie de France’s Guigemar and the erotics of tight dress
This article examines the change in women’s fashion that occurred during the 12th century. Garments went from loose and flowing to tightly fitted, featuring belts and laces. The author examines this cultural change through the romance stories complied in the “Lais” of Marie de France, specifically one featuring the character of Guigemar.
Fief, 1429 – classic French game being updated for English audience
Having already raised over $66,000 on Kickstarter, an American-based gamemaker is set to release a new version of the classic game Fief, 1429.
An Ideal Marriage: Abraham and Sarah in Old English Literature
Offers a look at how Bible characters Abraham and Sarah are treated in the old English literature. How their marital relationship is portrayed; Neglect in the character of Sarah; Development in the character of Abraham; How the old English literary writers treated Abraham.
Christian warriors and the enslavement of fellow Christians
In this paper I shall argue that this most striking innovation was fundamental to the emergence of an effective notion of non-combatant immunity, itself widely regarded as the key norm in modern discussions of ius in bello.
Old English ‘wundenlocc’ hair in context
Immediately she feels my might, she who confines me, the wundenlocc woman.
Rothschild Prayerbook expected to sell for as much as $18 million at auction
The Rothschild Prayerbook, which once set a record for the most expensive illuminated manuscript sold at auction, will again be offered for sale by Christie’s.
Queer times: Richard II in the poems and chronicles of late
The article focuses on the representation of deviant sexual behavior in 14th-century English poetry and other chronicles. The portrayal of King of England Richard II as a rebellious youth, which is interpreted as perverse and lacking manliness, and the propaganda needed to offset this perception are discussed. Historical information is given about the political culture and power of the church. The murder of Edward II after being accused of sodomy by the Bishop of Hereford is mentioned.