The Top 10 Viking Movies
YouTuber Listy McGee has created his list of the Top 10 Viking Movies
The Proud Symbolism of Heraldry: Why It Matters; Why It is Fun!
It is often regarded as an esoteric science and something for the snobs.
Terry Gilliam’s deleted animations from Monty Python and The Holy Grail
To celebrate the 40th anniversary theatrical re-release of ‘Monty Python and the Holy Grail’ and the release of the 40th anniversary Blu-Ray DVD Monty Python has put together this video of Terry Gilliam’s lost animations from the film.
The Last Kingdom: An Interview with Bernard Cornwell
What I find most compelling is the struggle to create a country which became England, a struggle that must have seemed hopeless at times and which roiled Britain in constant fighting. We think of England (especially) as a peaceful landscape, but in the 9th, 10th and 11th centuries it was horribly brutal and merciless.
Seven Myths of the Crusades: An Interview with Alfred J. Andrea and Andrew Holt
Seven Myths of the Crusades examines the many misconceptions that are associated with one of the most fascinating episodes of the Middle Ages.
Which Explorer Are You At Heart?
Marco Polo, Christopher Columbus, Sir Walter Raleigh – would you be an explorer like them?
Review: The Last Kingdom – Episodes 1 and 2
Would the BBC version be true to the novel or just Game of Thrones lite?
The Medieval Magazine – Issue 37
This week we report on the BABEL Working Group Meeting – perhaps the most unusual medieval studies conference you can attend. We also have an interview with Alfred J. Andrea and Andrew Holt about their new book Seven Myths of the Crusades, and share with you our favourite parts of Richard de Bury’s Philobiblon – The Love of Books.
Teaching Historical Understanding with Christopher Columbus
I’m a big fan of Christopher Columbus. Not the man, the phenomenon.
Fair Trade? A Look at the Hanseatic League
In the 14th century, an ongoing feud ensued between the Hanseatic League and non-Hanse merchants. Here’s a quick look at the rise and fall of the one of the most powerful organizations of the Late Middle Ages.
The Love of Books
Books delight us, when prosperity smiles upon us; they comfort us inseparably when stormy fortune frowns on us.
Medieval Lisbon: Castelo de São Jorge
Above Lisbon’s skyline of colourful tiled houses and red roofs lies Castelo de São Jorge, a dominating, but beautiful, 11th century fortress in the heart of this vibrant city…
The new knighthood: Terrorism and the medieval
Norwegian terrorist Anders Behring Breivik describes himself as a member of a neomedieval, underground paramilitary group known as the Knights Templar.
Said in jest: Who’s laughing at the Middle Ages (and when)?
The essay begins with a negative image of a medieval scene in Monty Python and the Holy Grail, which is used to point out that the scene is a knowing parody rather than founded on a genuine belief in an unmitigatedly dark age
Courtesy and Politeness in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
A close reading of three selected passages of the Middle English alliterative romance Sir Gawain and the Green Knight provides a detailed picture of fictional and fairy-tale manifestations of courtly and polite behaviour in Middle English, a period that imported many new terms of courtesy and politeness from French.
How Well Do You Know The Locations Of Shakespeare?
As a new Macbeth film is released, test yourself on how well you know the names and places associated with the Bard.
Music for a Captured King: Richard the Lionheart and Blondel
Love him or hate him, one thing you can say about England’s Richard the Lionheart is that there are some great stories about him.
Livestock and animal husbandry in early medieval England
Major themes in the zooarchaeological record regarding livestock and animal husbandry in England from the 5th to 11th Centuries AD are reviewed.
Researching Architectural History Through Archaeology: The Case of Westminster Abbey
For half a millennium, scholars have researched and written about the history and architecture of Westminster Abbey, using documents and visual inspection. One might therefore assume that the architectural history of this iconic building is well understood, and in some respects it is.
Anne Boleyn’s Songbook
Now for the first time in 500 years much of the music included in Anne Boleyn’s songbook has been recorded by the Alamire Consort, under the direction of Dr. David Skinner of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge University.
Exploring Medieval Manuscripts: An Interview with Erik Kwakkel
‘I love that something quirky and nerdy like the medieval book is becoming mainstream.’
Glimpse of medieval trade revealed along the River Forth
Over two weeks in September, the Cambuskenneth Harbours project brought together a wide range of experts and local volunteers to investigate the medieval harbour of Cambuskenneth Abbey, which lies on the River Forth near Stirling.
Honour, community and hierarchy in the feasts of the archery and crossbow guilds of Bruges, 1445–81
Archery and crossbow guilds first appeared in the fourteenth century in response to the needs of town defence and princely calls for troops. By the fifteenth century these guilds existed across northern Europe.
Book Burning in Chaucer and Austen
Chaucer has also composed a scene in which he, a maker of books, makes a character who destroys books, combining both making and unmaking in the work of creation.
A Needle’s Breadth Apart: The Unexplored Relationship Between Medieval Embroidery and Manuscript Illumination
I am currently exploring records showing that there is evidence that some individuals were involved in both. In particular, mention of two nuns who were known as embroiderers and illuminators.