Got Kids? Get Medieval
If you have kids or know kids who you’d like to expose to the Middle Ages, here are a few books you might like to explore over the summer holiday.
Copycat: The Life of a Medieval Scribe
Here’s a five-minute look at the process by which a book came to be copied.
Medieval Song of Summer: Sumer is Icumen In!
One of the most famous pieces of music that has survived is a Middle English song about summer.
The Wonderful Wonders of the East
The Wonders of the East is an author’s attempt to not only introduce readers to strange sights they may never see with their own eyes (since most people did not travel extensively), but also to make sense of some things they might see every day.
MOVIE REVIEW: ‘A Knight’s Tale’
Staying home on a Sunday night? Looking for a fun medieval movie to watch? Here is my review of ‘A Knight’s Tale’ for your Sunday night selection!
Five Things to Love About A Knight’s Tale
Was it really just a sports movie set in the past? Yes. Was it edited until the plot seems a little less-than-coherent? Yes. But are there things we can love about it? Absolutely.
Oh, Baby! Medieval Childbirth
Like most things in the Middle Ages, the process of giving birth was mired in both superstition and religion.
Love in the Time of the Black Death
When I first started writing this blog, I wanted to tell a medieval love story. It is the story of the dashing Black Prince of Wales, and his Joan, the Fair Maid of Kent.
Is There a Doctor in the Castle?
To picture medieval medicine is to picture screaming patients being bled or cauterized, perhaps biting some sort of leather belt or other. While bleeding and cautery were definitely part of the medieval medical tradition, there were many other remedies to be found, some surprisingly modern.
Education in the Middle Ages
Let’s have a five-minute look at medieval education.
Tempus Fugit: The Middle Ages and Time
If you needed to know the time between bells, there were several ways to find out.
The Beauty of the Bestiary
Bestiaries were encyclopedias of animal life, complete with descriptions of the animals, their places in the world, and often their symbolic relationships to Christianity.
How Do We Know about the Middle Ages?
No matter which dates you use to define it, the medieval period was a very long time ago. Most of the people who existed during that time lived and died anonymously – at least as far as history is concerned. So how is it that we know anything about this period at all?
Lancelot Can Keep His T-Shirt
If t-shirts had been all the rage in the Middle Ages, you can bet there would have been ‘Team Lancelot’ ones selling like hotcakes. You can also bet that I wouldn’t have owned one.
Let the Drama Begin
Unlike in many of today’s performances, audiences were encouraged to participate in the action, heckling the ‘bad guys’ and cheering for the ‘good guys.’
Under Siege
So, how does one attack a walled city successfully?
Medieval Myth-Busting at the Movies
The five of the most common myths about the Middle Ages from the movies, busted.
A Word About Our Words
This may be a little hard to believe, considering the conspicuous lack of “thee” and “thou” in modern writing, but the forms of English that came before are even more foreign.
Ironing Out the Myth of the Flat Earth
It seems there’s one fact about the Middle Ages that always seems to astound people: medieval people did not actually think the world was flat.
Love and Marriage: Medieval Style
What may be even more surprising about medieval marriage is that it was (at least officially) very much based on mutual consent.
Robin Hood: The Original Rebel With a Cause and Fundraising Mascot
By Danièle Cybulskie When we think about Robin Hood these days, we have him firmly placed in Sherwood Forest, outside of Nottingham, in…
Werewolves and the Dog-headed Saint in the Middle Ages
Stories of werewolves and their canine kin have been around for centuries, and some of them may be a bit surprising.