Game of Thrones – East and West, Constantinople and Rome, Emperor and Bishop
The following is a tale of the struggle between the Emperors of Constantinople and the the Bishops of Rome
Caterina Sforza’s Experiments with Alchemy
She collected over four hundred alchemical, medicinal, and cosmetic recipes, and corresponded with other alchemical adepts about materials and laboratory techniques.
‘Such a great multitude’: Biblical numerology as a literary device in Nauigatio Sancti Brendani
This presentation will begin by briefly summarizing the text, presenting evidence for its intended audience and purpose, defining Biblical numerology and outlining its role in Jewish and Christian textual traditions up to the early medieval period. Then the presentation will provide a handful of examples in the use of Biblical numerology in Nauigatio.
Late Medieval Enclosed Gardens of the Low Countries
In the late Middle Ages and Early Modernity an artistic phenomenon emerged in a feminine religious context, particularly in the Low Countries and the Rhineland: the so-called Enclosed Gardens.
Who wrote Magna Carta?
This year’s lecture celebrates the 800th anniversary of Magna Carta which falls on 15 June 2015.
Ibn Al-Haytham’s Contributions to Optics and Renaissance Art
I am going to talk about the science of optics, the history of western art, and the influence of Ibn Al-Haytham.
GoPro to the Middle Ages
How medieval history lovers are making use of GoProCameras
Crafting the Perfect Army: Innovation and the Assizes of Arms in Plantagenet England
Daniel Franke, Assistant Professor for medieval and military history at the United States Military Academy, examines military obligation towards English rulers and how the crown raised armies for their campaigns against enemies such as France and Scotland.
Enumerating the Battles, Skirmishes, and Naval Actions at the Siege of Acre
Hosler examines the many episodes during the siege, which involved Saladin’s Egyptian and Syrian troops, fighting against crusader forces that were eventually joined by kings Philip Augustus and Richard I.
The Multilingual Origins of Medieval Irish Surnames
Surnames came into widespread use in Ireland at a time where five vernacular languages were in operation – Irish, English, Norse, Welsh and Norman French.
David Nirenberg on ‘Religion and Violence’
Do the respective claims of the Jewish, Christian, and Islamic holy texts contribute to the violence between the various communities that read them? Or do they provide a basis for solidarity between the three Abrahamic religions?
Moses as a Germanic hero? Biblical Poetry in Anglo-Saxon England
Samantha Zacher talks about Anglo-Saxon Jewish heroes.
Law in the Lives of Medieval Women: Beyond the Magna Carta
Ruth Mazo Karras discussed, through an analysis of the lives of three women, the way law affected (or not) women at different levels of society in medieval England.
Shining Light on Medieval Illuminations: Pigments through the Ages
Identifying the materials used in medieval illuminated manuscripts gives us an insight into the techniques and skills of the scribes and illuminators, as well as the sometimes complex trade routes of the times.
A Young Man’s Progress – The First Book of Fashion
A Young Man’s Progress is art work by London photographer Maisie Broadhead and fashion designer Isabella Newell in collaboration with Cambridge cultural historian Ulinka Rublack.
Regarding the Medieval Book
What hooked me on medieval studies was my fascination with the material documents themselves: their feel, their smell, their creaking bindings, the specific and idiosyncratic redactions of texts they contain, and the marks of use on their pages.
Ostsiedlung or Transition of German Law? Legal Perspective on Settlement According to German Law in Medieval Poland
Paper given at Twenty-First Annual Forum of Young Legal Historians – 6th Berg Institute International Conference
The Skeleton in the Car Park: Richard III and the legacy of his re-discovery
Two years on, as his body is reinterred in Leicester Cathedral, what difference has this discovery made? How has the team’s research changed the way we see the ruler, his reign, and the establishment of the Tudor dynasty?
Templars, Hospitallers, and 12th-Century Popes: The Maltese Evidence
To date, scholars have cataloged approximately 1,000 pre-1198 papal documents for Templars and Hospitallers, including deperdita (lost documents, inferred from other, still existing documents), as well as forgeries and falsifications.
Middle Age Couriers: How Medieval Polish Manuscripts Turned Up in Milwaukee, and How They Got Back Home to Poland
Middle Age Couriers: How Medieval Polish Manuscripts Turned Up in Milwaukee, and How They Got Back Home to Poland Lecture by Neal Pease…
William the Conqueror and the Harrying of the North
This lecture examines the events leading up to the Harrying of the North and the impact of this event on the North of England.
Lessons from the Viking Lifestyle
‘I am here to talk to you about my life as a Viking and how it has changed and shaped my personality and the way I view several aspects of today’s society, and how I started hunting for the authentic experience.’
The Rise and Fall of the Byzantine Empire
A five-minute video shows the fortunes of the Byzantine Empire, from the year 396 to the fall of Constantinople to the Ottomans in 1453
Local and Traditional on the Millennial Scale: Sustainable Waterfowl Management from Viking Age Iceland
Inhabited by Vikings since approximately 600 AD, the islands hosts an abundant, but terribly fragile resource, puffins, flightless birds that nest on rocky exposed cliffs, in easy range of the islanders other prime food source, pigs.
Breaking the Mold: The First Woman in Italian Literature
Active between 1260-1270, the woman known only as La Compiuta Donzella (the fulfilled damsel) attracted the attention of several male writers. Two of them were astonished that such wisdom could be found in a female.