Where the Middle Ages Begin
A French crusader’s tomb in New York reveals a surprising secret — a carved Chinese sword. Discover how this rare weapon reached the d’Aluye knight and what it reveals about medieval global connections.
What everyday objects did people use in the Middle Ages? From clothing and household necessities to tools for work and warfare, these 25 medieval items were essential to daily life and shaped how people lived, ate, and survived.
Delve into the pivotal figures of the Middle Ages whose enduring legacies shaped the course of history. From visionary leaders and profound scholars to prolific writers and formidable warriors, these individuals left an indelible mark on medieval society.
Discover the 50 most significant events of the Middle Ages, spanning the years 500 to 1500.
Here are seven vivid facts about colour in the Middle Ages
In medieval times, many unique jobs, such as Ale-wife and Groom of the Stool, were essential but have since vanished. Discover these obsolete occupations and how historical changes led to their disappearance.
Are you wanting to talk more like someone from the Middle Ages? We have a list of 30 great sayings and proverbs that you can use in your conversations.
Have you wondered what a medieval king did on a typical day? Thanks to Christine de Pizan, we have an account of what daily life was like for King Charles V of France.
Some of our most popular phrases have a long history, including some that go back to the Middle Ages.
Want to know what kind of jobs there were in the Middle Ages? A unique source from the 15th century gives us some beautiful images of medieval people at work.
From Baghdad to Barcelona, Jews, Christians and Muslims rubbed shoulders in streets and in marketplaces, shared meals, undertook joint economic ventures, traveled together, etc.
This study examines the development of the theory of war in the jus commune, or common law, of the late Middle Ages, and considers how such legal theory was put into practice by the government of Florence in the same period. In particular, the study examines the law on war in the fourteenth century in detail, and places Florentine wartime diplomacy in the context of its legal disputes and negotiations, in the period 1388-1402.
In Western eyes, the delicately cut piece of food is often regarded as central to traditional Japanese cooking. The skilful use of the knife is indeed one of the most prominent features of the Japanese kitchen, and mastery of various cutting-techniques is a matter of course to the Japanese chef as well as to the ambitious homemaker.
Professor William Ayliffe provides an overview of some of London’s most important medieval hospitals, including St Bartholomew’s, St Thomas’ and St Mary’s Bethlem, and compares our own healthcare systems with those of the Tudors, in terms of cleanliness, dignity to patients and even hospital architecture.
To celebrate the publication of Italian Medieval Sculpture in The Metropolitan Museum of Art and The Cloisters by Lisbeth Castelnuovo-Tedesco and Jack Soultanian, international specialists will present talks on medieval sculpture.
This article explores issues of cross-cultural communication raised by the Ottoman court’s intense patronage of European artistic talent during the early part of Suleyman the Magnificent’s reign (1520-1566).
The first part of the essay is an analysis of lexical heraldic items. The analysis is made according to different classes of the heraldic terms, starting with the ordinaries, then describing other charges.
In this paper the relative frequency of duck and goose bones found in archaeological sites of Roman and medieval times in Britain will be discussed.
Like Dante, Chaucer composed in the vernacular rather than in Latin, organized his work by means of the frame story of a guided pilgrimage, and included himself as a character in the journey that he describes. Yet Chaucer gives each of these elements a carnivalesque turn, so that the serious matter of Dante’s Commedia becomes, in The Canterbury Tales, the stuff of comedy.
The research, published in Weather, analyses the writings of scholars, historians and diarists in Iraq during the Islamic Golden Age between 816-1009 AD for evidence of extreme weather in Iraq, including snowfalls and hailstorms in Baghdad.
It is now possible to zoom into the intricate, breathtaking details of one of the most important works of art from the medieval world, thanks to a newly completed website focused on the Ghent Altarpiece.
This paper will attempt to uncover some information about the technological level of artillery used during the decline of the Roman empire and the beginning of the middle ages (300 AD – 600 AD). Although several types of artillery were used during this time, only the onager seems to have been unique to the period.
The author of Dives and Pauper tells the story of an old man who transfers all of his wealth to his son and moves into his son’ s house. His son and daughter-in-law soon resent the aged father’s presence in their home. They banish the old man to the porch where he falls ill….
In this paper, however, I wish to offer a different approach to the problem of meaning in the painting. I shall argue that the Ambassadors is a painting that involves a secret, but that revelation of this secret cannot be effected by an inquiry founded on the contrast between literal and figurative meaning.
The goal of the present thesis is to study the reception of the Chanson de Bertrand du Guesclin by Cuvelier from the time of its creation around 1385 up to the publication in print of one of its prose versions around 1480.
This paper attempts to explain the accelerated economic growth of medieval Europe by incorporating communications technologies in the analysis. During the reign of Charlemagne, written and spoken Latin was effectively standardized which reduced the cost of information storage relative to transmission.
Great epidemics mark the agricultural world of the past; from Neolithic times onwards. The formation of much denser societies with respect to those of hunters and gatherers, and daily contact with domestic animals are at the origins of serious epidemic infections which have accompanied humans for 10,000 years.
The notion of purgatory or a third place had great and direct impact on the way people thought because this third place was the immediate destination of the soul after death in the minds of most Christians. People imagined at death that this would be the next form of being.
The crossbow could be carried loaded,required little training or strength,and propelled its quarrel or bolt with frightening accuracy and force for eighty yards on direct aim and double or triple that on extreme range.
Richard Holt recently reminded us that mills were at the forefront of medieval technology and argued persuasively that windmills may have been invented in late twelfth-century England.
There is archaeological evidence that the Vikings did not possess magnetic compass, and they navigated on the open sea with the help of a sundial composed of a wooden disc with a perpendicular gnomon in its centre.
In order to understand the regulations that were put into place to deal with prostitutes and their trade in medieval England and France, it is important to have an understanding of what the legislators were trying to regulate. Who were these prostitutes? What acts constituted prostitution? What actions made a person a procurer, pimp, or bawd?
This dissertation discusses molecular analyses of dental and skeletal material from victims of the Black Death with the goal of both identifying and describing the evolutionary history of the causative agent of the pandemic.
This article considers some physical aspects of the medieval pageant wagons used for the York Cycle. Many modern reconstructions have assumed that the pageants played side-on, but this view rests on assumptions derived from modern theatre, medieval two-dimensional art, or the demands of the open campus locations where many modern performances have taken place.
A new biography of Æthelstan, released to mark 1,100 years since his coronation in 925, seeks to restore the early medieval ruler’s reputation as the first king of England.
This week on The Medieval Podcast, Danièle speaks with David Woodman about Æthelstan’s life, his rule, and his attempt to unite the kingdoms of Britain.
This week on The Medieval Podcast, Danièle speaks with James Ross about the life of Robert de Vere – the infamous bff of King Richard II – his impact on the kingdom, and why it’s always worth taking a second look at the facts.
Maid, hero, heretic, saint – Joan of Arc is one of the most fascinating figures of the Middle Ages. This week on The Medieval Podcast, Danièle speaks with Deborah McGrady about Joan’s incredible life and death, her voice, and her complex and enduring legacy.
This week on The Medieval Podcast, Danièle speaks with Myra Stokes and Ad Putter about where we find love letters, and the way people wrote and sent them, along with a couple of spicy – and hilarious – examples.
This week on The Medieval Podcast, Danièle speaks with Sharon Kinoshita about why Marco travelled so far, what sort of detail he wanted to share with his readers, and what was going on in the world around him.
A conversation with Ada Palmer about the invention of the idea of the Italian Renaissance and the functions that it serves in the western historical imagination. “Byzantium” is a similarly invented category that often works in tandem with “the Renaissance” to mark good and bad moments in the history of culture.
