International Conference on Medieval and Renaissance Music Comes to Northern England
MedRen2025, an international conference on medieval and Renaissance music, is taking place this week across three universities in northern England—Northumbria, Newcastle, and Durham—bringing together over 250 scholars and performers from around the world.
Earrings and Infamy: The Male Ear in the Medieval Imagination
Explore how male earrings were viewed in the Middle Ages—from symbols of infamy and foreignness to fashionable adornments—through art, religion, and cultural transformation.
Medieval Rules for Jousting
Explore the medieval rules of jousting established by King Alfonso XI of Castile in 1330, offering a rare glimpse into how knights were judged in tournament combat.
Uncovering Margaret Paston’s Hidden Voice: How Forensic Linguistics Revealed a Medieval Woman’s Authentic Words Through 500-Year-Old Letters
Using computational analysis to solve a 15th-century mystery: Did scribes silence Margaret Paston’s true voice?
The Hours of Jean de Montauban: Apocrypha and Devotion in a Medieval Manuscript
Discover how a 15th-century Book of Hours uses vivid imagery from the Vita Adae et Evae to explore apocryphal stories of Adam and Eve, spiritual struggle, and medieval views on sin and redemption.
Fencing with Exclusion: How Medievalists Are Defending Trans Inclusion in Sword Sports
After a fencing controversy sparked an American debate over transgender participation, medievalist communities like HEMA and the SCA are standing firm in support of inclusion and trans rights in sword sports.
Strategic Rivals: How England and France Waged War in the High Middle Ages
How medieval kings like William the Conqueror, Henry II, and Philip II used strategy, diplomacy, and finance to wage war and build power across England and France.
Medieval Islamic Maps on Display at Dublin’s Chester Beatty
A thirteenth-century Arabic manuscript featuring one of the earliest known collections of Islamic world maps is the focus of Routes and Realms –…
Mysterious Manuscripts with Garry Shaw
This week on The Medieval Podcast, Danièle speaks with Garry Shaw about who was encrypting their manuscripts, the codes they used, and the centuries of attempts to crack the Voynich Manuscript.
The Medieval Church as a Military Power
Discover how the medieval Church emerged as a major military power, mobilizing secular armies, launching crusades, and creating unique warrior-monks through the military religious orders.
Otto the Great’s Tomb Opened for Investigation and Conservation Work
The tomb of Otto the Great has been opened in Magdeburg Cathedral. Conservators discovered human remains, medieval textiles, and grave goods as part of a major conservation project to save the emperor’s burial site.
The Medieval Sleeping Beauty
Perceforest: a medieval tale with a sleeping princess.
Romeyka, a parallel branch of Greek surviving in northeastern Turkey, with Ioanna Sitaridou
A conversation with Ioanna Sitaridou about a Greek language (Romeyka) still spoken in northwestern Turkey, though now endangered, whose grammar retains interesting archaic features.
Getty Museum Acquires Major Gift of Italian Renaissance Manuscripts
The Getty Museum has acquired 38 illuminated manuscript leaves from the Burke Collection, showcasing masterpieces of Italian art from the 12th to 17th centuries, including works by Lorenzo Monaco and Giovanni di Paolo.
Renaissance Fresco Restored in Italy
A rarely seen Renaissance fresco by Beato Angelico has been restored at the Convent of San Domenico in Fiesole, near Florence. The Crucifixion scene reveals new insights into the artist’s early work.
Online Course: Tolkien and his Medieval Sources
Tolkien and his Medieval Sources is a six-week online course starting on July 3rd, with live sessions each Thursday from 3:00 to 5:00pm EST.
Did Medieval People Discover Dinosaurs? Rethinking Fossils in the Middle Ages
Could medieval people have found dinosaur bones? This article explores how fossils may have shaped medieval legends, religious relics, and monstrous beasts long before science named them.
“I Shall Tell You of Fair Grace”: John Page and the Siege of Rouen
The harrowing events of the 1418 Siege of Rouen, as depicted in a medieval eyewitness poem, serve as the inspiration for the Soldier of Fortune novels, where John Page becomes a soldier, outlaw, and reluctant hero.
From Troy to Camelot: The Classical Origins of King Arthur
Explore how the Historia Brittonum and classical literature shaped the legends of King Arthur, from Trojan ancestry to medieval political identity in Wales and beyond.
The Bees of Byzantium: A 10th-Century Guide to Medieval Beekeeping
Discover how medieval Byzantines kept bees with practical advice from the 10th-century Geoponika, a rare farming manual that covers hives, honey, and the remarkable nature of bees.
What Summer Was Like in the Middle Ages
Discover how people in the Middle Ages endured the heat, managed harvests, treated sunburns, and found ways to keep cool during the summer months.
Medieval Gateway in York Undergoes Major Conservation Effort
Bootham Bar, one of York’s medieval gateways, is undergoing significant conservation work as part of the city’s ongoing efforts to preserve its historic walls.
Shoes in the Middle Ages
From turn shoes to poulaines, learn how medieval shoes reflected fashion, status, and politics in the Middle Ages.
Medieval Hospital Unearthed Beneath Sinkhole in York
A recent sinkhole in the centre of York has led to the discovery of what archaeologists believe are the remains of one of the largest medieval hospitals in northern England.
