The Norse and the Sea: the Maritime Cultural Landscape of Scandinavian Scotland
This paper presents early results of the ongoing research project The Norse and the Sea with particular emphasis on the fieldwork carried out on the Isle of Eigg in September 2022.
Walled Up Arcs and Ruined Pigeon Houses: How to Tell a Castle’s Story?
How to read and understand castles, what stories hide within the walls of those that have survived to our times almost intact, but also of those which barely have one wall remaining.
Amongst the Cornish: The formation of Cornwall and the Cornish identity in the Early Medieval Period
How did this identity emerge? What happened to Dumnonia? And how did the fledgling Cornish survive the eventual rise of England to preserve their own identity, language and culture into the modern era?
The Rediscovery of Reading Abbey
Reading Abbey was built as a royal mausoleum by King Henry I; a great architectural statement made by a king who has been described as the most powerful of his time in Western Europe
The Cairo Geniza and Medieval Global Trade
To what extent is global trade a new phenomenon? Documents from the Cairo Geniza, a cache of manuscripts from a medieval Egyptian synagogue, hold answers to this question, even if getting at them requires knowledge of multiple semitic languages, skill in paleography and bookkeeping worthy of medieval long-distance traders themselves.
Was the First Medieval Monk a Woman? – Reconsidered
My argument is that contrary to the self-perception and master narrative, the roots of many key aspects of monastic life can be found in much older traditions of female religious life rather than in the imagined world of the desert fathers.
Medieval Childhood: Dark Age or Golden Age?
Nicholas Orme’s lecture uses the huge surviving body of evidence about medieval children to show that children were seen by adults very much as they are today, and enjoyed a rich culture of relationships, clothes, toys, games, and books.
Medieval Anarchy? Autonomous Traditions in Iceland and Ireland
Joint discussion about medieval Iceland and Ireland, and Brehon Law and early Icelandic Law, showing how justice, society, free markets, and lawmaking worked without centralized power.
How Pagan Was Medieval Britain?
Ronald Hutton explores how the idea of pagan survivals became prevalent among British historians, based on work by folklorist Lady Raglan and Margaret Murray.
Pater Ecgberct of Rath Melsigi: The Hero of Bede’s Historia Ecclesiastica?
Are there heroes that can be celebrated in this period? Is it possible that somebody like Ecgberct could be a hero of somebody like Bede and in something like Historia Ecclesiastica?
Ireland, Scotland, and the Hundred Years War: A New Vista
This paper will consider how the Gaelic aristocracy interacted with ‘European’ affairs in this period.
Viking Pagan Gods in Britain
Viking Pagan Gods in Britain Lecture by Ronald Hutton Given at Gresham College on March 8, 2023 Abstract: The Norse and Danish invaders…
The Medieval Agricultural Revolution: New Evidence
The Medieval Agricultural Revolution: New Evidence Lecture by Helena Hamerow Given at Gresham College on March 23, 2023 Abstract: During the medieval ‘agricultural…
Archives and Record Keeping in the Medieval Eastern Mediterranean
We present three case-studies which showcase a diverse range of historical actors, exploring state record-keeping, the archival practices of religious scholars, and the preservation of legal documents, to illustrate the rich and complex archival history of this region.
The Medieval Arab Predecessors of Champollion
Ancient Egypt as the land of science and Mirabilia fascinated medieval Arab scholars. Many wrote serious studies on Egyptian culture and environment.
The Kidnapping of Baby Bonafilla: Jewish guardianship, conversion, and mixed families in the aftermath of 1391 in Girona
In early 1417, the Jewish guardians of Bonafilla, the daughter of Nacim Roven, kidnapped the young toddler to prevent her conversa mother and stepfather from converting the child
Rebels and Renegades: Lisān al-Dīn ibn al-Khaṭīb (d. 1374) and the Christians of Medieval Granada
This paper seeks to demonstrate the convergence between Nasrid discourses about ethno-religious identity and the complex borderland realities of the Muslim-Christian frontier in 14th-century Iberia.
Placenames, Politics, Settlement and Society in Medieval Argyll, c.AD 400–1400
This lecture will take a broad view of the evidence that placenames can provide for exploring the history of Atlantic Scotland by investigating them in tandem with historical and archaeological evidence.
Armour and the Knight in Life and Afterlife
The medieval knight was defined by his armour, which set him apart from other fighting men. However, the study of knightly armour poses a number of daunting challenges.
The Annals of Clonmacnoise
Lecture focusing on Armagh Robinson MS A – the oldest manuscript of Conall Mag Eochagáin’s English translation of Irish Annals
John Ball and the Peasants’ Revolt
This public lecture will look at how Ball’s ideas about the Bible and apocalyptic transformation would have been understood in 1381, particularly among peasant audiences.
Leonardo da Vinci, the Last Supper, and the Art of Throwing a Great Dinner Party
This presentation will explore the evolution of the Last Supper in Italian art, beginning with early Christian images through to the late Renaissance, including one of the world’s most famous works of art: Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper.
The Crusades and Apocalyptic Thought in the Middle Ages
My research is concerned with how medieval perceptions of the end times interface with ideas concerning the brand of pre-modern holy warfare known as the Crusades
The Irish at the Carolingian Court and the Europeanization of Europe
During the eighth and ninth centuries, Irish clergymen and theologians such as Virgil of Salzburg, Dicuil, Sedulius Scottus, and John Scottus Eriugena were drawn to the courts of the Carolingian kings and emperors.