Dutch medieval bone and antler combs
Bone and antler combs are common finds in medieval northern europe. Two major types occur in the netherlands: the composite comb, usually made of antler, and the longbone comb.
Bernard of Clairvaux’s Writings on Violence and the Sacred
Monk, exegete, political actor and reformer, Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153) was not just a man of his times; he was a man who shaped his times.
Pigs and Pollards: Medieval Insights for UK Wood Pasture Restoration
In this article, I examine the medieval evidence for how pig husbandry functioned in wood pasture in England.
A Heresy of State: Philip the Fair, the Trial of the ‘Perfidious Templars,’ and the Pontificalization of the French Monarchy
This article provides an outline for a new interpretation of the trial of the Templars, with special attention to the texts written by the instigators of the case, namely, Philip the Fair and his ministers.
Why the Middle Ages Mean So Much for Us Today and Tomorrow
Curiously, despite huge difficulties everywhere, perhaps mostly coming from the administrative side where enrollment figures matter the most, medieval research is booming, and the output of new critical studies on the Middle Ages is truly astounding.
Saint Patrick’s Purgatory: a fresco in Todi, Italy
This essay deals with the tradition of the revelation of Purgatory to St. Patrick on Station Island in Lough Derg, whose popularity is testified not only in literary texts in the various languages of Medieval Europe but also in a unique work of art in the convent of the Sisters of Saint Clair at Todi, Umbria
Badia Burning: The Spectacle of Violence in 14th-century Tuscany
The theme of this paper is the use of ecclesiastical properties as sites of theatrical violence, and violence as a major element in the complex discourse between powerful rural lords and the Florentine commune.
Movement Through Stillness: Imagined Pilgrimage in Medieval Europe
This paper examines the phenomenon of ‘spiritual’ or ‘imagined’ pilgrimage in Medieval Europe.
Alphabet Poems: A Brief History
As a collector of alphabet books, and sometime editor of a newsletter on the subject, I have had many opportunities to consider the history of the alphabet poem. Although alphabet poems may take a wide range of forms, most are generally divided into twenty-six parts (lines, couplets, stanze…), one for each letter.
‘Some Like it Hot’: The Medieval Eroticism of Heat
The late fourteenth-century romance Sir Launfal narrates the financial, martial and erotic adventures of one of the lesser-known knights of the Arthurian court.
Espionage in the 16th century Mediterranean: Secret Diplomacy, Mediterranean Go-betweens and the Ottoman-Habsburg Rivalry
This dissertation compares both empires’ secret services and explains the differences between the two systems of information gathering based on these empires’ differing organizational structures.
Clontarf in the Wider World
While a lively debate has continued for decades between Irish historians concerning the impact of the battle, Clontarf’s place in a wider field of European events has received less attention.
Harold Godwinson’s Posthumous Reputation, 1066-c.1160
This text will show in which ways Harold’s posthumous reputation was constructed to cement the Norman claim to legitimacy and how this legacy lasted well beyond William the Conqueror’s death.
Sickness in the Nidaros Cathedral?
Up towards the ceiling vault of the Nidaros Cathedral, a number of artworks are hidden from public view. Many of the stone sculptures portray mythological animals and other scary creatures. In such company, one would imagine that human faces were also intended to evoke fear and anguish. Do they depict people with diseases?
The Salisbury Spire Scaffold Debate
Rising 168 feet (51 m) from the main crossing tower to a height of 404 feet (123 m) above ground level, the spire of Salisbury Cathedral, the tallest stone spire in England
Elizabeth de Burgh, Queen of Scotland
When Robert the Bruce carried on his fight for the Scottish throne, Elizabeth and the rest of Bruce’s family were to suffer the consequences.
Avignon vs. Rome: Dante, Petrarch, Catherine of Siena
In the fourteenth century the image of ancient Rome as Babylon was transformed into the positive idea of Rome as both a Christian and a classical ideal.
Mordred: Treachery, Transference, and Border Pressure in British Arthurian Romance
This study focuses on the question of how Mordred comes to be portrayed as a traitor within the British Arthurian context.
Discrimination Against the Jewish Population in Medieval Castile and León
I have tried to show the degree of discrimination suffered by the Jewish community in these two kingdoms in the Middle Ages through a deep analysis of the legal sources, lay as much as ecclesiastical, and also through documentary collections reflecting their practical application
All the King’s Men: Icelandic Skalds at Scandinavian Court
Spanning the gap between Iceland and mainland Scandinavia and sitting somewhere between freemen and nobility on the social scale were Icelandic court skalds, who frequented courts on the mainland throughout the Viking Age.
Accepting Fools as Heroes
What sociocultural attitudes towards the intellectually disabled – commonly referred to as fools – were prevalent during the Viking Age?
Fortified Settlements of the 9th and 10th Centuries ad in Central Europe: Structure, Function and Symbolism
The structure, function(s) and symbolism of early medieval (9th–10th centuries ad) fortified settlements from central Europe, in particular today’s Austria, Hungary, Czech Republic and Slovakia, are examined in this paper.
The Red Sea and the Port of Clysma. A Possible Gate of Justinian’s Plague
The aim of this study is to present the sea and land commercial routes of the Byzantine Egypt and their role in the dissemination of the plague bacteria Yersinia pestis from the Red Sea to Mediterranean ports. The Mediterranean port of Pelusium was considered as the starting point of the first plague pandemic…
‘The King of Scottis is now hoom in his land’: James I and Joan Beaufort: A Political Partnership (1424-1436)
James I’s behaviour, during his short reign as an adult king of and in Scotland, was very much influenced by his queen Joan Beaufort.