Time, Prayer, and Song: Medieval Monasticism and the Divine Office
Explore the origins and daily practice of the Divine Office in the Middle Ages, from the Desert Fathers to Benedictine monasteries, where time, music, and prayer shaped every aspect of monastic life.
Medieval Dreaming and Divination in Byzantium
Explore how Byzantines—emperors and commoners alike—interpreted their dreams through intuition, tradition, and oneirokritika, revealing a rich spiritual culture that blended ancient beliefs with Christian thought.
Diabolus in Musica: Did the Medieval Church Believe that the Tritone Could Summon the Devil?
From terrifying medieval depictions of Satan to the enduring myth of the “Devil’s interval,” this article uncovers what people really believed about the tritone and its place in medieval music.
The Medieval Folktale of St. Prokop of Sázava
Discover the extraordinary folk traditions surrounding St. Prokop of Sázava, a medieval Czech saint whose legend includes demon expulsions, devotion to the Slavonic rite, and a ghostly return to defend his monastery.
Work, Prayer and Service: The Beguines of Medieval Paris
A detailed look at the beguines of medieval Paris, examining their origins, royal support, daily life, and the debates their unconventional religious vocation sparked.
Le Boucicaut: A Medieval French Marshal in Byzantium
Explore the remarkable journey of Boucicaut, the medieval French marshal whose 1399–1400 expedition to Byzantium placed him at the centre of crusading politics and Ottoman-Byzantine conflict
Medieval Metamorphosis: Bera and Her Magical Meal
A look at the cannibalistic enchantment in Hrólfs saga kraka and what it reveals about magic, sympathetic rites, and late medieval Icelandic culture.
Medieval Time: Candles, Sundials, Clocks, and Stars
How did medieval people tell time? What devices did they use to mark its passage?
Musical Retribution: The Medieval Tale of the Pied Piper of Hamelin
A look into the medieval folk tale The Pied Piper of Hamelin and what occurred in the thirteenth-century German town of Hamelin.
What Happens to a Widow Who’s Un-Widowed?
By Danièle Cybulskie One thing that can definitely be said for the modern age is that it is much, much easier to communicate.…
Love Between Muslim and Jew in Medieval Spain: A Triangular Affair
We will soon find that, in affairs of love as in so many others, Muslims and Jews in Christian Spain were not in an exclusive dialogue.
Marrying the Mongol Khans: Byzantine Imperial Women and the Diplomacy of Religious Conversion in the 13th and 14th Centuries
Marrying the Mongol Khans: Byzantine Imperial Women and the Diplomacy of Religious Conversion in the 13th and 14th Centuries By AnnaLinden Weller Scandanavian Journal…
History and Fiction in the Kings’ Sagas: The Case of Haraldr Harðráði
History and Fiction in the Kings’ Sagas: The Case of Haraldr Harðráði By Alison Finlay Saga-Book, Volume XXXIX, 2015 Haraldr harðráði was the…
The 1381 Rising in Bury St Edmunds: The Role of Leaders and the Community in Shaping the Rebellion
The 1381 Rising in Bury St Edmunds: The Role of Leaders and the Community in Shaping the Rebellion By Joe Chick PONS AELIUS:…
The Economics of Guilds
The Economics of Guilds By Sheilagh Ogilvie Journal of Economic Perspectives,Volume 28, Number 4, 169–192 (2014) Occupational guilds have been observed for thousands of…
‘To Avoide All Envye, Malys, Grudge and Displeasure’: Sociability and Social Networking at the London Wardmote Inquest, c.1470–1540
‘To Avoide All Envye, Malys, Grudge and Displeasure’: Sociability and Social Networking at the London Wardmote Inquest, c.1470–1540 By Charlotte Berry The London Journal,…
Holy Blood Devotion in Later Medieval Scotland
Holy Blood devotion in later medieval Scotland By Richard Oram Journal of Medieval History, Volume 43, Issue 5, 562-578 Sometime in 1440 the townsfolk…
What Exactly is the Forum Confessionis? Secrecy and Scandal in Church Governance
What Exactly is the Forum Confessionis? Secrecy and Scandal in Church Governance (12th – 14th Centuries) By Arnaud Fossier Academia.edu First of all,…
Encounters with Alcabitius: Reading Arabic Astrology in Premodern Europe
Encounters with Alcabitius: Reading Arabic Astrology in Premodern Europe By Margaret Gaida PhD Dissertation, University of Oklahoma, 2017 The most popular text on…
Beekeeping from Antiquity Through the Middle Ages
Beekeeping from Antiquity Through the Middle Ages By Gene Kritsky Annual Review of Entomology, 2017. 62:249–64 Humans and honey bees have a long history…
Medical Auxiliaries from the Physician’s Viewpoint in Ancient, Medieval and Renaissance Medical Texts
Medical auxiliaries from the physician’s viewpoint in Ancient, Medieval and Renaissance medical texts: codifying professional skills or establishing a hierarchy? By Dina Bacalexi and…
The Irish DNA Atlas: Revealing Fine-Scale Population Structure and History within Ireland
The Irish DNA Atlas: Revealing Fine-Scale Population Structure and History within Ireland By Edmund Gilbert, Seamus O’Reilly, Michael Merrigan, Darren McGettigan, Anne M. Molloy,…
St Albans Cathedral Finds Lost Abbot
Archaeologists from the Canterbury Archaeological Trust (CAT) working at St Albans Cathedral have discovered the grave of John of Wheathampstead, a former Abbot…
Are These the Bones of Santa Claus?
A new radio carbon analysis of a relic claimed to be part of St. Nicholas’ pelvis suggests the bone could possibly be authentic.…
