Swimming in the Middle Ages
Did medieval Europeans swim for fun?
Mothers Who Weren’t: Wet Nurses in the Medieval Mediterranean
By Cait Stevenson The mother’s traditional role as first teacher of virtue and religion began with suckling. It’s no wonder, then, that later…
What did medieval peasants eat?
Researchers from the University of Bristol have uncovered, for the first time, definitive evidence that determines what types of food medieval peasants ate and how they managed their animals.
Laundry Ladies in Medieval Poland
Usually considered to be “women’s work”, this paper takes a close look at how laundry was done in medieval Poland, calling into question common historical stereotypes.
Medieval Jews and the Cairo Geniza in the Digital Age
Recent projects to digitize the contents of the Cairo Geniza—the largest cache of Jewish manuscripts ever discovered—have revolutionized research in the field.
The Winter Blues in the Middle Ages
Winter got you feeling down? You’re not alone. The long, dark nights of winter have always been the cause for a little doom and gloom, especially before the age of electric lights and electric blankets.
Technologies of appearance: Hair behaviour in early medieval Europe
I will outline the archaeological evidence for a concern with hair and grooming between the fifth and eleventh centuries AD
Blue and Green Eyes in the Islamicate Middle Ages
In this paper I examine usages of classical Arabic words with the z-r-q root to understand how they are differently mobilised in the Qur’ān, Qur’ānic commentaries, hadith, early medical treatises and words of adab.
10 Medieval Jobs That No Longer Exist
Ten medieval jobs that have been made redundant, mostly because of changing technology.
Childhood in the Middle Ages
What was childhood like in the Middle Ages?
What was the role of the Blacksmith in medieval society?
It must be asked ‘what was there in the life of a blacksmith aside form hammering out swords for lords?’ What sort of world did he inhabit and what were the rules he had to play by?
Crafts in Medieval Malbork. The state of research, and prospects for further study
The main idea of this article is to present the present state and the future of research on crafts in Medieval Malbork. As the capital city of the Teutonic Order’s state, Malbork is very interesting because of the castle in the town.
Working in the Middle Ages: The Medieval Clothier
Clothiers were the entrepreneurs at the heart of the cloth trade which became England’s leading industry in the late Middle Ages. No other industry created more employment or generated more wealth.
Medieval Daily Life on Birchbark
Hundreds of medieval writings on birchbark have been discovered in Russia. They reveal great insights into daily life in the Middle Ages.
Meet the medieval servants at York’s Barley Hall
Volunteers will take over York’s recreated medieval townhouse throughout the summer to showcase the lives of servants in the medieval period.
Medieval swimming – from the Good to the Scared
The extent of summer swimming in medieval Europe is a fairly open question. We know that some people certainly could swim, although the skill was rare enough to be remarked.
Medieval Grooming Tools
The Five-Minute Medievalist takes a look at some of the grooming tools from the Middle Ages that she has come across in her travels.
How to get a Nuremberg Chronicle’s Hairstyle
Janet Stephens’s tutorial for creating 15th century look on natural hair, using simple, period appropriate tools and techniques. Based on hairstyles of the Nuremberg Chronicle.
Reading the Exeter Book Riddles as Life-Writing
There is much to be gained from interpreting the tenth-century Exeter Book riddles as a characteristically biographical group of texts. They comprise a rich source of information for the study of Anglo-Saxon concepts of life courses and life stages.
Medieval Fitness Tips
Need advice on keeping fit and how to exercise? Cait Stevenson tells us how it was done in the 15th century.
Game on: medieval players and their texts
Medieval games, I argue, do not always fit neatly into traditional or modern theoretical game models, and modern blanket definitions of ‘game’—often stemming from the study of digital games—provide an anachronistic understanding of how medieval people imagined their games and game-worlds.
Medieval Tightrope Walking
Even in the Middle Ages one can find accounts of people doing death-defying stunts for our entertainment.
Clothes Make the (Wo)Man: Interpreting Evidence of the Secondhand Clothing Trade in Late Medieval England
There is very little work done on the topic of secondhand clothing in the Middle Ages, but what has been done has revealed a new phenomenon that reshaped the social structure of medieval England.
Fish on Friday I: Economic Blessing or Dietary Sacrifice?
A lack of red meat on the medieval table meant the diners were having a humble meal, and fish was a convenient substitute protein.
