How were medieval churches affected by the 2016 Umbrian earthquake?
In 2016, earthquakes in the Italian region of Umbria caused the collapse of several medieval churches, resulting in the destruction of local architectural and cultural heritage. A recent article investigates the cause of this problem and what may be done about it.
Reading Recommendations for a Marvellous Medieval Summer
In preparation for summer reading, Natalie Anderson shares some of her favourite works of medieval historical fiction.
Noble warriors: the military elite and Henry VIII’s expeditions of 1513 and 1544
This thesis is concerned with identifying and understanding the typical behaviour of the early Tudor nobility, particularly in relation to military activity.
Survival at the frontier of Holy War: political expansion, crusading, commerce and the medieval colonizing settlement at Biała Gora, North Poland
In the southern Baltic, episodes of colonisation were accompanied by processes of military conquest, political subjugation and religious conversion.
Pope Clement VI: attempts to resurrect the papal monarchy
The papacy of Clement VI (1342-1352) was distinguished by its political activism, its attempt to resurrect the impetus for crusading, and its efforts to attract the best and brightest talents to Avignon.
Creating Holy People and Places on the Periphery
Holy people have been venerated in various forms by all religions and ideologies throughout history. Christianity is no exception with the development of the cults of saints beginning shortly after its formation.
Image and Art on Medieval Coinage
There is no question that coinage was a major part of the visual material world of the Middle Ages. Whether that qualifies it as a major art form, or an art form at all, begs the distinction between material culture and art.
A Diet of Tournaments: Maximilian at Worms, 1495
In 1495, during the political negotiations surrounding the imperial diet in Worms, Maximilian I still found time to compete against a famous Burgundian knight in a tournament that was to reach legendary proportions.
Medieval Forensics: Investigating the Death of a Byzantine Emperor
John II Komnenos (1087-1143) was an accomplished and successful medieval ruler whose death has long been the subject of scholarly discussion. While out hunting, John was allegedly poisoned by an arrow – but was this really the cause of the emperor’s death?
The family or the farm: a Sophie’s choice? The late medieval crisis in the former county of Flanders
The county of Flanders provides an interesting test case with which to verify the neo-Malthusian Duby-Postan thesis about the so-called late medieval crisis.
Reformist Hagiography: The Life of St Roding of Beaulieu and the Struggle for Power in Early Eleventh-Century Lotharingia
This paper explores an example of ‘reformist’ hagiographic production in early eleventh-century Lotharingia by focusing on the Life of St Roding of Beaulieu, a small monastery in the diocese of Verdun.
Textile entrepreneurs and textile workers in the medieval city
What made the southern Low Countries in the Middle Ages unique in a European perspective was the weight of the region as an export-oriented industrial area.
On Learning How to Teach the Black Death
Plague science is a rapidly developing field, as is paleogenetics more generally. Increasingly, too, developments in climate science will likely be able to contribute meaningfully to our understanding of the role of changing climatic conditions and major outbreaks of plague.
Reframing the Conversation on Medieval Military Strategy
This question of the history of strategy is a question of intellectual history: did medieval writers generate and transmit derivative and/or original ideas about how to wage war?
Viking Age Animal Art as a Material Anchor? A New Theory Based on a Head Motif
Within research history, there have been repeated attempts to establish a connection between the figurative language of skaldic poetry and the pictorial language of animal art.
Danish Kings and the Foundation of Jómsborg
Jómsborg, the great stronghold and residence of that famous warrior band the Jómsvíkings, is closely related in the Old Norse tradition to numerous Scandinavian rulers and is also associated with several Danish kings.
Literacy and Trade in Late Medieval Norway
The present article tries to study whether or not it is possible to relate the notion of literacy to trade in this period of time in late medieval Norway.
The Knowability of Divine Being according to Meister Eckhart’s Principal Thesis: «The Act to Be Is God»
First, this article tries to clarify the meaning of the thesis ‘The act to be is God.’ Then it asks the questions how we come to know the act to be, and how God is known as the act to be.
The Unicorn in the Symbolic and Semantic Expression of the Film Director Ridley Scott in the Context of Medieval Bestiaries
This paper observes and researches the relations between symbolic unicorn representation in Ridley Scott’s movies Blade Runner and Legend comparing it to the medieval bestiary descriptions and representations.
Enduring City-States: The Struggle for Power and Security in the Mediterranean Sea
This thesis will examine medieval and early modern city-states in the Mediterranean as illustrative of political, commercial and military responses to threats and opportunities in the premodern period.
Stowford: an early medieval hundred meeting place
In the summer of 2015 archaeological excavation sought to examine the location of an early medieval hundred meeting place (‘moot’) in southern Wiltshire.
Winners, Wasters, and the Shadow of Envy: Theories of Justice and the Scene of Medieval Literature
Is envy at the root of all claims for justice (so says Freud), or is envy a regrettable but surmountable human tendency that will be minimized in a just society (as Rawls has it)?
Drugs, Books, Patients: Marketing Medieval Medicine
Because a number of health care structures were established in the Middle Ages this lecture tries to answer questions about how medieval medicine laid the groundwork for drug regulations.
The Romance of the Past? Nineteenth-Century Medievalism and the Tournament
The nineteenth century saw a rebirth of fascination with the Middle Ages, although this interest often had more to do with romance than reality. A perfect medium for the expression of this nineteenth-century medievalism was the tournament.
Foreign envoys and resident Norwegians in the Late Middle Ages – a cultural clash?
In this article, I will discuss the question of multiculturalism in Norway in the Late Middle Ages, focusing on potential cultural differences in the interaction between Norwegian farmers and foreign envoys or royal administrators.