Privacy in the Middle Ages
I thought it might be worth taking five minutes to address just one of these statements: privacy is a relatively new idea.
Christian Charm Discovered on 1,500-year-old Tax Receipt
A 1,500 year old papyrus fragment found in The University of Manchester’s John Rylands Library has been identified as one the world’s earliest surviving Christian charms.
Grainne Uaile: The Movie
An up and coming movie about Grace O’ Malley (Grainne Uaile), Ireland’s famous female pirate!
Premodern Queenship and Diplomacy in Europe – conference and lectures to be hosted by Canterbury Christ Church University
Canterbury Christ Church University is hosting two free public lectures this week on the role that medieval and early modern queens played in diplomatic relations throughout Europe.
Historian to develop online edition of the Augsburg Master Builders’ ledgers
The German Research Foundation has awarded Professor Jörg Rogge of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz a grant of EUR 400,000 to create a digital edition of the Augsburg Master Builders’ ledgers.
Top 10 Scandals of the Middle Ages
What are the scandals that made headlines in the Middle Ages? Kings and Popes would be involved in some of the craziest stories of sex and corruption that would make today’s news seem quite tame. From a cross-dressing prostitute to the trial of a dead Pope, here are ten almost-unbelievable medieval scandals.
Viking Fortress discovered in Denmark
Archaeologists from The Danish Castle Centre and Aarhus University have made a sensational discovery south of Copenhagen, Denmark. On fields at Vallø Estate, near Køge, they have discovered traces of a massive Viking fortress built with heavy timbers and earthen embankments. The perfectly circular fortress is similar to the famous so-called ‘Trelleborg’ fortresses, which were built by King Harald Bluetooth around AD 980.
Call for Papers: Third Annual Symposium on Medieval and Renaissance Studies
June 17-19, 2013 at Saint Louis University
Narratives of resistance: arguments against the mendicants in the works of Matthew Paris and William of Saint-Amour
The rise of the new mendicant orders, foremost the Franciscans and Dominicans, is one of the great success stories of thirteenth-century Europe. Combining apostolic poverty with sophisticated organization and university learning, they brought much needed improvements to pastoral care in the growing cities.
The Case of the Greenlandic Assembly Sites
In the early 20th century, scholars identified two possible Greenlandic assembly sites at Brattahalíð and Garðar respectively.
Turning Toward Death: The Medievals’ Terrestrial Treatment of Death in Art During the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries
Throughout the Middle Ages, religious iconography was a main theme of art and the Church heavily patronized works that embodied virtuous ideals. Art was often used as a religious implement in which the Church instructed the illiterate masses. However, art can also represent pain and trauma acting as an outlet for the artist.
Characteristics of Medieval Artillery in the Light of Written Sources from Bohemia and Poland
Artillery appears in Central Europe at the end of the 14th c. and it starts playing a more significant role only in the next century.
Sleepwalking and Murder in the Middle Ages
It happens that many people get up at night while asleep, take weapons or sticks, or ride a horse.What is the cause of this? What is the remedy?
Banditry and the Clash of Powers in 14th-Century Thrace: Momcilo and his Fragmented Memory
In the 14th century, a time of civil wars, religious and dynastic strifes, epidemics, natural disasters and miserable living conditions for the wider strata in the cities and the countryside that increased migratory movements, banditry, an indigenous phenomenon in the Balkan mountainous regions, intermingled with the intensified political struggles.
The Friars Preachers: The First Hundred Years of the Dominican Order
When Dominic of Caleruega began preaching in southern France in the early 1200s, he would have had no idea of the far reaching influence that the band of men he would attract would leave such a broad and enduring influence on medieval history.
The Perquisite of a Medieval Wedding: Barbara of Cilli’s Acquisition of Wealth, Power, and Lands
The aim of my research will be on the one hand to highlight the beginnings of Barbara’s relationship with Sigismund; particularly their engagement and wedding…
Irish Hagiographical Lives in the Twelfth Century: Church Reform before the Anglo-Norman Invasion
In order to further disentangle the reality and fiction of this view of culture versus barbarity and of reform versus wickedness, I shall analyse twelfth-century Irish vitae.
Fast and Feast – Christianization through the Regulation of Everyday Life
This article will illustrate that an important part of rulers’ wish to create a Christian society was the introduction of Christian legislation.
The Sign of the Cross on the Early Medieval Axes: A Symbol of Power, Magic or Religion?
The tradition of adorning of weapons goes back into the distant past. In the early Middle Ages people also tried to make their weapons look impressive.
Taxes, Loans, Credit and Debts in the 15th Century Towns of Moravia: A Case Study of Olomouc and Brno
The paper explores urban public finance in the late medieval towns on the example of two largest cities in Moravia—Olomouc and Brno.
Arms and Armor: A Farewell to Persistant Myths and Misconceptions
But the image remains—the knight in shining armor, gleaming, protected, hidden, isolated behind helm; yet gallant, courtly, protector of the weak, of maidens, of orphans, widows; dedicated to God, devoted to the distant lady, never turning back from the challenge of a joust, brave and gentle, proud and courteous, forever riding off in search for adventure, in quest of Holy Grail or holy war.
20 Great Quotes about History
From the funny to the profound, here are 20 people with famous quotes about history.
Constructing the Wicked Witch: Discourses of Power in the Witch-Hunts of Early Modern Germany
For the people of early modern Germany, the witch was not the cackling menace of fairytales or myth, but a real-life scourge on society that needed to be purged from their lives.
Vassals or Vikings?: Orkney‘s identity in the changing Norwegian world (1151-1206)
Throughout the Middle Ages, the Jarldom of Orkney and Caithness maintained a fine balance between its geographical proximity to the Scottish mainland and its political and cultural proximity to the kingdom of Norway.