Medieval church building-boom took place in the 12th century, study finds
A recent study looking at the construction history of churches during the Middle Ages has found that a building boom took place in Western Europe during the 12th century.
Where the Middle Ages Begin
A recent study looking at the construction history of churches during the Middle Ages has found that a building boom took place in Western Europe during the 12th century.
Swedish archaeologists have discovered 170 silver coins dating to the 12th century. They were found in a grave on the island of Visingsö at Lake Vättern in the central part of the country.
The Avars are one of the least understood peoples of the early medieval period. A new study reconstructs their social dynamics by using ancient DNA data with archaeological evidence.
A 16th-century tower house in northeastern Scotland has reopened to visitors after Historic Environment Scotland carried out necessary repairs to its masonry.
In 1495, the Danish warship Gribshunden sank off the coast of Sweden. In recent years, researchers have dived to explore the wreck and have made several important discoveries.
A history of this Egyptian metropolis from its founding by Alexander the Great to our own day. Close to a hundred pages are devoted to the medieval era.
One of the key dates from the Middle Ages is the year 1453. In this episode of Bow & Blade, Michael and Kelly discuss how the Ottomans were able to conquer the city of Constantinople and bring an end to the Byzantine Empire.
Let’s take a brief look at what judicial execution was really like in the Middle Ages.
An overview of the civil war in 15th-century England, this book showcases the artwork of Graham Turner, a leading modern-day artist who focuses on recreating historical scenes.
Abbot Samson of Bury St Edmunds is a good case study of leadership during times of trouble – in this case when a monastery was drowning in debt.
James Turner analyses this 14th-century battle in Scotland.
What happens when William Marshall and King Richard I take part in the same siege?
This book examines how the medieval Middle East was reshaped by the invasion of the Mongol Empire in the thirteenth century. In this story of war and politics, new groups would emerge while others, including the Crusaders, would lose it all.
As described in a number of sagas, the “blood eagle” was a particularly gruesome form of ritual sacrifice of high-status captives to the god Odin. Historians have debated whether this ritual was an actual practice or an invention of thirteenth-century saga writers based on a misunderstanding of an eleventh-century skaldic poem.
What’s new in medieval studies? Here are ten articles published in March, which tell us about topics including the Bayeux Tapestry and Louis the Stammerer.
This week on The Medieval Podcast, Danièle speaks with Taylor McCall about what medieval people knew about internal medicine, where they learned it, and how they illustrated it.
Archaeologists from Newcastle University have unearthed evidence for an evolving sacred landscape spanning centuries in Eastern England.
A collection of eleven articles about how witches and witchcraft were depicted in the Middle Ages. Many of the articles focus on the connections between women and magic and how this gradually troubled medieval society.
Byzantine bullion fuelled Europe’s revolutionary adoption of silver coins in the mid-7th century, only to be overtaken by silver from a mine in Charlemagne’s Francia a century later, new tests reveal. The findings could transform our understanding of Europe’s economic and political development.
“Those who have ever suffered similar misfortunes can judge from their own experiences how great my agitation and anxiety were at the moment.”
In 2014, archaeologists came across an interesting item from an early medieval grave in southeastern Germany. Ten years later they have been able to identify it as a hard-boiled egg.
A fun book about the Middle Ages, filled with many manuscript images. Half the book deals with medieval daily life while the other half – The Bestiary – focuses on animals and beasts from the period.
Solar eclipses are one of our most remarkable episodes of natural phenomena. This was true as well in the Middle Ages, which are told in ten accounts from around the medieval world.
Historical graffiti, ranging from symbols to dedications, adorns Venice’s columns, entrances, and walls, weaving a rich tapestry of the city’s narrative. Spearheaded by…
Translations of two law codes that were made in eastern Norway during the fourteenth century. These law codes focus on rules related to the Christian Church, ranging from baptisms to the paying of tithes.
An explanation of volcanoes and why they erupt from a medieval scientist.
Was preventing beer spillage significant enough to be deemed a miracle? Surprisingly, for one seventh-century writer, it was!
A conversation with Monica White about the earliest contacts between Constantinople and the first Rus’-Varangian raiders, traders, and mercenaries to cross the Black Sea. Who were these people, what did they want, and how did contact with East Roman culture change them?
Scotland and England are at war again, with the important border town of Berwick-upon-Tweed under siege. In this episode of Bow & Blade, Michael and Kelly discuss how the English were able to inflict a quick and devastating defeat on the Scots.
This book profiles the life of Kassia, a ninth-century Byzantine aristocrat who spurned an emperor and became a nun and abbess. Her story tells us much about being a woman and a religious leader in Byzantium.
For anyone who visits Örebro, it is hard to miss its castle – an ancient-looking fortress made of weathered grey stones that stands on an islet in the middle of the city centre.
On the 10th of August 1628, the Vasa sank in Stockholm harbour, thus ending the career of the most powerful warship that Sweden had ever seen.
This strategic location not only makes the castle a majestic sight, but also earns it the reputation as the most modern defence fortress in its time. But, as all ancient buildings, there is always more than meets the eye. Here are the five things that you may not know about Uppsala Castle.
How do you operate a business when you can’t read and your knowledge of math is extremely limited? Making your mark on the…
Narbonne is one of those European cities with evidence of its past on every street.
The V&A Museum opened its latest medieval exhibit exhibit on Saturday: Opus Anglicanum: Masterpieces of English Medieval Embroidery. I had the opportunity to see it opening day and it was spectacular.