Medieval Manuscripts: Gradual of Gisela von Kerssenbrock
Only a few women in history devoted their lives to writing and illuminating manuscripts. Gisela von Kerssenbrock, a nun living in a remote village of 14th-century Germany, was one of them.
The Bastille is Being Stormed
Though the French Revolution is most definitely postmedieval—and unrivalled for the apathy many of my undergraduates have shown towards it—never has the fall of the French feudal regime been more relevant to current events.
What to get for a medieval baby shower
As any parent who’s ever tried to travel with a baby will know, babies require a fair bit of stuff to keep them safe, happy, and comfortable.
New Medieval Books: Historical Fiction in 2020
Taking a look at what’s new this year with historical fiction set in the Middle Ages. Here are seven (plus one) novels for medievalists.
A Tang dynasty monk and his secret candy recipe
A new column by Elizabeth Smithrosser will be looking at China in the Middle Ages. In her first post she looks at a very tasty treat dating back to the Tang dynasty.
Who were the peasants in the Middle Ages?
Our new columnist Lucie Laumonier explains the four common characteristics of what is a peasant in the Middle Ages.
Eastern Europe in the Middle Ages: What, Where, When
Alice Isabella Sullivan is a new columnist at Medievalists.net, working on Eastern Europe in the Middle Ages. In her first post, she aims to define what Eastern Europe actually is.
The Hundred Years’ War Revisited: The Medieval ‘World War’
How the Hundred Years’ War became a kind of world war involving nearly every major power in Latin Christendom.
In Search of the Promised Land: Saint Brendan’s Voyage
The story of an Irish monk and his fourteen companions who embarked on a dangerous journey in the fifth century.
Jousting in the Middle Ages with Emma Levitt
This week on The Medieval Podcast, Danièle speaks with Dr. Emma Levitt about tournaments and the joust in the Middle Ages. Dr. Levitt tells us all about how to score a joust, how the tournament changed over time, and how jousting was used to mend fences during the Wars of the Roses.
Taking Care of Babies in the Middle Ages
When it comes to taking care of babies in the Middle Ages, this meant swaddling them and rocking them in cradles.
William Longespée: The Tyrant’s Enforcer
Born sometime around the mid 1170s, William Longespée was the son of King Henry II and the most aristocratic and well connected of his known mistresses, Ida de Tosny.
New Medieval Books: 10 Open Access Books in Medieval Studies
Here are 10 books published in 2019 and 2020 which you can freely download and read right now.
Isabella of France, Queen of England
This week on The Medieval Podcast, Danièle tells the story of one of her favourite queens, Isabella of France, who went from being a child bride to storming England and toppling an anointed king.
Finding Sir Lancelot in Medieval Poland
Today, being the world’s only Lancelot wall paintings preserved in situ, the Siedlęcin set ranks among the most outstandingly complete and well preserved in Europe.
Looking for the Northern Lights in Medieval Iceland, finding Jane Austen
Ármann Jakobsson attempts to answer the questions he keeps being asked about Icelandic sagas.
The Legendary History of Norway
That the legendary forefathers of Norway are named after elements of nature (and winter) is interesting.
The Hundred Years War Revisited: The ‘Caroline War’, 1369-1389
This phase is distinctive in that it saw the scope of the conflict between England and France become truly international – some of its most notable battles were fought far from the home territories of the two belligerents in places as far north as Scotland and Flanders and as far south as Castile and Portugal.
Negotiation and tolerance or brutal show of force? The Normans in Southern Italy
What was the strategy of the Norman expansion in Apulia, Calabria and Sicily and what were the factors that shaped it?
Five Myths about Medieval Peasants
This week, Danièle takes on five common myths about medieval peasants.
Signs of the Apocalypse in 15th century Germany
Many cultures have beliefs about the end of the world. In 15th-century Germany the Apocalypse would be coming if you saw a castle hanging from a thread and a giant hatching from an egg.
Medieval Manuscripts: The Dancing Book of Margaret of Austria
Courtiers in fifteenth-century Europe loved to move their feet to the rhythm graceful music. And when they forgot the choreography, they consulted an elegant booklet written in gold and silver on dark black vellum.
Medieval Reads: Creating stories with Mary Stewart and Geoffrey of Monmouth
Mary Stewart’s rather well known Arthurian trilogy-with-extra-volumes used a sub-Roman British setting, and placed an entirely twelfth century story of Arthur into it.
Kings of the Sun: Indigenous Medieval Culture in the Movies
Kings of the Sun is a fascinating, if ultimately flawed, film. It is almost unique in Hollywood history because it tells an entirely indigenous, medieval American tale without contact with Europeans.
The Story of the Dog whose Eyes led to Adultery
Once upon a time, there was a knight who was called away on business, and in what might be the heaviest bit of foreshadowing ever, said…