Medieval Swear Words: What People Really Said in the Middle Ages
People in the Middle Ages swore very differently from us. Explore medieval swear words, insults, and religious oaths that shocked medieval society.
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New Medieval Books: Corruption, Protection and Justice in Medieval Europe
It’s very much a tale of those seeking justice and how power and corruption played a very big role in their outcomes.
The Mongols
Michael and Kelly are joined by Nicholas Morton, author of The Mongol Storm, to discuss how Chinggis Khan and the Mongols were able to use their military power to conquer large parts of the world in the 13th century.
New Medieval Books: The Story of Attila in Prose
This book gives the text and English translation of a 13th-century fictional account of the wars of Attila the Hun against Christians. It includes a subplot where Sarah, Queen of Padua leads her people away from the Huns and founds the city of Venice.
Glass windows could be found in Viking-Age Denmark and Sweden, study finds
New research has revealed that the Vikings had windows with glass panes as early as the 9th century. While glazed windows are associated with medieval churches and castles, we have plenty of examples from Viking-age Denmark and Sweden.
Phantomology: from soul to brain. Medieval Studies meets Neuroscience
This joint lecture investigates what the speakers are calling ‘phantomology’, ranging from medieval theology to modern neuroscience.
What makes a good military leader? The Byzantine answer
Despite the extraordinary attention that modern armies pay to the subject of military leadership, the answer to the question, “What makes a good (military) leader?” is neither simple nor universal.
Do Manuscripts Burn? Royal Diplomas in Late Pre-Norman England (871–1066)
The presentation addressed the problem of the geographical and chronological representativeness of the surviving corpus of English pre-Norman royal diplomas of 871–1066 AD.
Right-handed or Left-handed? A Medieval View
Was it really bad to be left-handed in the Middle Ages? Or was it better than being right-handed? The ninth-century writer of all things unusual, al-Jahiz, weighs in.
Medieval castle repaired in England
Repairs have been completed at Merton Castle. The ruined 12th-century fortification was at risk of collapse, but thanks to £288,840 in funding the site has been stabilized.
New Medieval Books: The Art of Anatomy in Medieval Europe
There is a myth that medieval Europeans did not understand human anatomy and did not perform human dissections. Taylor McCall’s new book definitively disproves that and has the images to back it up.
Beyond the chessboard: Adventures in Abbasid literature and historiography
An exploration of the ways in which the Abbasid court made sense of the past and, in general, of what ‘historiography’ means in a medieval Arabic context.
How to de-colonize Byzantine Studies, with Ben Anderson and Mirela Ivanova
A conversation with Ben Anderson and returning guest Mirela Ivanova on their co-edited volume of papers on the question Is Byzantine Studies a Colonialist Discipline? Toward a Critical Historiography. We talk about how colonial, imperialist, or exploitative practices and ideologies have marked the history of our field, whether by making it complicit in them or by colonizing it.
How Often Do You Think About the Crusades?
In light of the TikTok trend asking, “how often do you think about the Roman Empire?” Danièle discusses how to gently correct misguided assumptions about history in the people we love.
How England’s oldest joke book answers your questions
What cannot freeze? What came first: the chicken or the egg? You can find out the answers to these questions from England’s oldest joke book.
Archaeologists discover site where Otto the Great died
One of the most important medieval rulers of the 10th century, Otto I (936-973) founded the Holy Roman Empire in central Europe. Archaeologists believe they have found the site where this king and emperor died.
New Medieval Books: The Emperor and the Elephant
A book on medieval diplomacy, it is a case study of Carolingian relations with the Islamic world, particularly the Abbasids in the Middle East and the Umayyads in Iberia. It is a fascinating account of political relations revealing a more complex situation than has previously been thought.
Inks and Skins: Investigations into the Materiality of the late-medieval Gaelic Manuscript
A series of papers dealing with medieval manuscripts from Ireland.
The Power of Medieval States – A Report from 1423
What was the wealth and military power of states in the Middle Ages? It is a question that the Venetian government tried to figure ou
How Medieval Kings Paid for War
In 1242 Henry III of England raised a large army to protect his lands in France. It cost £40,000, roughly the same as the normal annual income of the crown. So how could such a sum be met?
Did Women defend Castles?
It is the seventh Q&A episode of Bow & Blade, with Michael and Kelly answering listener questions. Here they talk about the women defending castles, the Italian banks supporting Edward III, mustering troops from specific regions, Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE), and where were the windmills in the Middle Ages.
New Medieval Books: City of Echoes
This book intertwines the history of Rome and the history of the Papacy, to show how each influenced the other and the legacy they created together.
New Medieval Exhibition at Dutch museum to focus on the year 1000
This month, the Dutch National Museum of Antiquities (Rijksmuseum van Oudheden in Leiden) is going back in time over a thousand years with the exhibition ‘The Year 1000’. Over 400 items from the Netherlands and beyond will be on display.
From Bread to Mechanical Women: 10 Medieval Studies’ Articles Published Last Month
What is new in medieval studies? Here are ten articles published in September, which tell us about topics including riddles, droughts, gunshot wounds and more.
Project maps murder cases in medieval London, Oxford and York
A project mapping medieval England’s known murder cases has now added Oxford and York to its street plan of London’s 14th-century homicides, and found that Oxford’s student population was by far the most lethally violent of all social or professional groups in any of the three cities.
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New Medieval Books: The Medieval Mediterranean between Islam and Christianity
If you are interested in the connections between Christian and Islamic cultures in the Middle Ages, physical objects can reveal remarkable stories of exchange and interaction. This book brings together ten essays exploring the materials, artifacts, and goods that moved between these two societies, shedding light on the cultural ties that linked the medieval Mediterranean world.
Earth Wounds: Creative Explorations of Viking Age Funerary Customs
New Medieval Books: Exhortation to the Monks by Hyperechios
New Cambridge History Explores the Arthurian Legend from the Middle Ages to Modern Media
New Medieval Books: The People’s Princes
New Medieval Books: Chinese Characters across Asia
New Medieval Books: Medieval German Tales
New Medieval Books: The Art of Making Verses
New Medieval Books: Vikings, Knights, Elves, and Ogres
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Q&A #14: Why were Infantry Defeating Knights in Battle?
In the latest Q&A episode of Bow & Blade, Michael and Kelly answer questions about infantry vs cavalry in late medieval battles, will there be archaeological excavations at Hundred Years’ War battlefields, favourite centuries and what our hosts will be doing this summer.
Julian Augustus and the Dream of a Platonic Roman Empire, with Jeremy Swist
A conversation with Jeremy Swist on the emperor Julian (361-363 AD) and how he tried to combine his love of philosophy with ruling the Roman Empire. We talk about why Julian continues to excite such passions, how in some ways he may have been more Roman than Greek, and how he read Roman history in light of the theurgical Neoplatonism that he espoused.
The Battle of Grandson (1476)
Charles the Bold was building his Duchy of Burgundy into a European power when he faced the Old Swiss Confederacy. In this episode of Bow & Blade, Michael and Kelly talk about the Battle of Grandson, a key event of the Burgundian Wars.
The Menologion of Basil II, with Charlie Kuper
A conversation with Charlie Kuper about the Menologion of Basil II, a lavishly illustrated manuscript pairing brief notices about the saints with images of them and their ordeals, arranged according to the liturgical calendar.
The Dumbarton Oaks Medieval Library, with Nicole Eddy
A conversation with Nicole Eddy about the Dumbarton Oaks Medieval Library, one of the most important publishing ventures of recent times when it comes to medieval texts and literature.
How and Why We Teach Roman History, with Beth Digeser
A conversation with Beth Digeser about pedagogy, specifically about what we are hoping to accomplish by teaching Roman history.