A Medieval Autobiography
The autobiography of Opicino de Canistris is both very mundane and very strange.
Latest Posts
Women, Suicide, and the Jury in Later Medieval England
Were medieval jurors more inclined to condemn female self‐killers to a suicide’s death because of the familiar figure of the mad, possessed woman?
Representations of Anglo-Saxon England in Children’s Literature
The way in which children’s authors have translated medieval history into their own “historicity” has changed during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries as popular and scholarly attitudes toward the Middle Ages have changed. Looking at these changes, my purpose in this thesis will be to answer two questions: why would children’s authors draw upon Anglo-Saxon England for their subject matter? And, what relevance does children’s literature have for an audience of medievalists?
“Alien” Encounters in the Maritime World of Medieval England
This essay explores these encounters, whether on English shores, on board ship, or abroad in foreign ports.
Roger of Powys, Henry II’s Anglo-Welsh Middleman, and His Lineage
Roger of Powys, Henry II’s Anglo-Welsh Middleman, and His Lineage By Frederick Suppe The Welsh History Review, vol.21:1 (2002) Introduction: In his play…
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An Interview with Christopher Dinsdale, author of Stolen Away
An Interview with Christopher Dinsdale, author of Stolen Away Stolen Away is the second book written by Christopher Dinsdale. Aimed at younger readers,…
Interview with Natalie Zemon Davis
Natalie Zemon Davis is a Professor of History (Emeritus) at Princeton University and currently teaches at the University of Toronto.
Interview with Florin Curta
Florin Curta is the Associate Professor of Medieval History and Archaeology at the University of Florida. After working as an archaeologist in Romania,…
Interview with János Bak, Central European Medieval Texts Series
János Bak is Professor Emeritus at the Department of Medieval Studies, Central European University (CEU), in Budapest. He is also one of the…
Sources on the First Crusade: Insights from Three Editors
In the last few months we have seen three important accounts of the First Crusade. Each text offers new perspectives on the pilgrimage/campaign/movement…
Enamel Defects, Well-being and Mortality in a Medieval Danish Village
Biological anthropologists are in the unique position of being able to analyze human skeletal remains in order to reconstruct health, nutrition, environmental stress, disease and mortality experiences, in past populations. Skeletal assemblages have the potential to tell us about many types of individuals – rich, poor, male, female, young, old, healthy and sick.
Brian Boru: King, High-King, and Emperor of the Irish
This dissertation studies the career of Brian ‘Bórumha’ mac Cennétig from its beginning with his election to the kingship of his ancestral kingdom of Dál Cais in 976 until his death as the high-king of Ireland at the Battle of Clontarf in 1014.
Expositiones sequentiarum: Medieval Sequence Commentaries and Prologues. Editions with Introductions
The sequence commentary, part of the vast commentary literature of the Middle Ages, emerged in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries as a new field for writing expositions on liturgical poetry. It is, however, a genre that has been practically neglected by modern research.
Church and nation: The discourse on authority in Ericus Olai’s Chronica regni Gothorum (c. 1471)
The Chronica regni Gothorum or Chronicle of the realm of the Goths is the first Swedish national history in Latin prose. It was completed after 1471 by a member of the Uppsala cathedral chapter, Ericus Olai, who, arguably, intended his work primarily for the readership of his own arch see. Ericus professed to compile a history of the Swedish realm from the birth of Christ until his own time and according to the succession of kings and bishops governing from Uppsala.
The Birka Warrior: the material culture of a martial society
The warriors from Birka’s Garrison had a share in the martial development of contemporary Europe but with their own particular traits.
Animals in an Urban Context. A Zooarchaeological study of the Medieval and Post-Medieval town of Turku
This study aims to reveal what the role and importance of the different animal species in Turku was. This question is studied through the osteological data and documentary evidence, from the medieval to the post‐medieval period and from an urban‐rural perspective.
Between Herbals et alia: Intertextuality in Medieval English Herbals
The study points out the close relationship between medical recipes and recipe-like passages in herbals (recipe paraphrases). The examples of recipe paraphrases show that they may have been perceived as indirect instruction.
The Sovereign and His Counsellors : Ritualised Consultations in Muscovite Political Culture, 1350s-1570s
Muscovite understanding of how the autocratic ruler and his subjects should interact with each other was explicitly expressed in ritualised con- sultations between the sovereign and his counsellors. In my work, I endeavour to answer the question of how these consultations met the ide- ological needs of the autocracy and the requirements of the state adminis- tration.
Clothing in Medieval Europe
The following is a powerpoint presentation that examines how clothing was worn in the Middle Ages. It deals with the clothing worn by…
Medieval Architecture and the New Media: Representing and Creating Knowledge in Cyberspace
Medieval Architecture and the New Media: Representing and Creating Knowledge in Cyberspace Lecture by Stephen Murray Given on November 4, 2003 Stephen Murray…
The idea of paradigm in church history: the notion of papal monarchy in the thirteenth century, from Innocent III to Boniface VIII
The three works of medieval history most clearly connected with the paradigm concept are Willemien Otten,’s From Paradise to Paradigm: A Study of Twelfth- Century Humanism and the essay collections Paradigms in Medieval Thought Applications and Medieval Paradigms.
Norman and Anglo-Norman Participation in the Iberian Reconquista c.1018 – c.1248
Norman and Anglo-Norman Participation in the Iberian Reconquista c.1018 – c.1248 By Lucas Villegas-Aristizabal PhD thesis, University of Nottingham (2007) Abstract: This thesis covers the…
The Middle Ages as Fantasy
Discusses the famous writers J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis and the influence of medievalism on their storytelling.
BooksAll posts
New Medieval Books: Egypt and the Mediterranean World
A collection of fifteen essays that look at Egypt’s history between the years 500 to 1000, as it transitions from being under Byzantine rule to Islamic rule.
Book of the Month: Matthew of Edessa’s Chronicle, Volume 2
New Medieval Books: The Bones of Birka
New Medieval Books: The Cambridge History of the Polar Regions
New Medieval Books: The Other Renaissance
New Medieval Books: Minstrels and Minstrelsy in Late Medieval England
Book of the Month: Matthew of Edessa’s Chronicle, Volume 1
New Medieval Books: Making a Medieval Stained Glass Window
New Medieval Books: Empires of the Normans
Places to SeeAll posts
Örebro Castle: History, Secrets, and Romance
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.
The Vasa: Gustav II Adolf’s Glorious and Doomed Warship
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.
Uppsala Slott: 5 Things You Ought to Know About One of Sweden’s Greatest Castles
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.
Making Your Mark: Medieval Masons’ Marks at Tarascon
How do you operate a business when you can’t read and your knowledge of math is extremely limited? Making your mark on the…
The Weird, the Wonderful, and the Macabre in the Cathedral of Narbonne
Narbonne is one of those European cities with evidence of its past on every street.
Medieval English Embroidery on Display for the Last Time at the V&A’s Opus Anglicanum Exhibit
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.