Investigating a Murder: The Case of the Justinianic Plague in Scythia Minor
The study beforehand applies a logical scheme of analysis over a possible presence of the Justinianic plague in the province of Scythia Minor.
BOOK REVIEW: Genoa ‘La Superba’: The Rise and Fall of a Merchant Pirate Superpower by Nicholas Walton
While most books about Italy have been dedicated to tourist hubs like Milan, Florence, Rome, Sicily and Venice, Genoa with its rich history, rugged landscape, and tenacious residents, has been given only a passing mention.
Christianization of Early Medieval Societies: an Anthropological Perspective
Conversion of early medieval Europe may be discussed as a continental process or as a series of local events having their specific characteristics.
The Afterlife of the Dead: Reform in Attitude Towards Medieval Burials, Corpses and Bones
The International Medieval Congress is taking place at the University of Leeds, I’m on hand this week to report on the conference. This blog post reports on my first session.
Magna Carta Conference Offers New Insights Into The 800-year-old Document
Magna Carta just celebrated its 800th birthday this past Monday. In honour of this incredible milestone, King’s College London, and the Magna Carta Project, hosted a 3 day conference dedicated to this historic document.
Fashion Old and New: Weaving and Tailoring in the Early Medieval and Early Modern Period
Fashion fan? Interested in medieval and early modern textiles? Then this was your session. 2 papers from opposite ends of the spectrum: Early Medieval weaving and Early Modern Tailoring.
Beyond the Medical Text: Health and Illness in Early Medieval Italian Sources
The vast majority of surviving evidence for health care, medicine and attitudes to illness in early medieval northern Italy comes not from traditional medical texts, but legal, hagiographical and archaeological sources.
‘Such a great multitude’: Biblical numerology as a literary device in Nauigatio Sancti Brendani
This presentation will begin by briefly summarizing the text, presenting evidence for its intended audience and purpose, defining Biblical numerology and outlining its role in Jewish and Christian textual traditions up to the early medieval period. Then the presentation will provide a handful of examples in the use of Biblical numerology in Nauigatio.
Bishops and Their Towns
Another #KZOO2015 post – this one examines Bishops and Their Towns.
Human-Bovine Plagues in the Early Middle Ages
In other words, when spreading among cattle, a now-extinct morbillivirus episodically colonized and spread in human populations during the early Middle Ages.
Katherine of Alexandria: Decline of an Empire
According to hagiographers, (C)Katherine was a princess, the daughter of Roman governor named Constus. She was well educated, beautiful and highly intelligent. She converted to Christianity at the age of 13 or 14 and caught the eye of the Roman Emperor, Maxentius (278-318 AD).
Incest in Early Medieval Society
The question of what persons and why can have sexual relations with each other and consequently, can contract marriage, is of basic importance for the functioning of every society, irrespective of time, place and the degree of the society’s development.
Plague, Settlement and Structural Change at the Dawn of the Middle Ages
The plague of Justinian definitely hit the coastal areas of the lands surrounding the Mediterranean as well as the inland areas connected with the sea
Early Historic Scotland to 761
The question that concerns us now is how the kingdom came into being. The best-known story is that Fergus Mór mac Erc, a king of Dál Riata who died in AD 501, led the migration.
Where would you find the Vikings
We created this short guide to explain all the lands that the Vikings came to – either to raid, trade or settle in – which stretched from Russia to North America.
Historian discovers evidence of malaria from the Early Middle Ages
In his paper, ‘Malaria and Malaria-Like Disease in the Frankish Empire, c.450-950, Timothy Newfield examines over fifty references to illnesses which appear in Merovingian and Carolingian sources
BOOKS: Medieval Ireland
In celebration of St. Patrick’s Day, here are some great books on medieval Ireland!
Picts offer historians a picture of non-Roman Briton culture
History has never been too kind to a group of early British Isle inhabitants referred to as the Picts, but the often mischaracterized, always mysterious people may serve as a historical laboratory to explore how the island’s culture might have developed without Roman intervention, according to a Penn State historian.
10 Cool Medieval Things to See at the Musée de Cluny
I just visited Muée de Cluny this week while in Paris and picked out a few fabulous items you might want to check out on your next visit to this amazing medieval museum!
Slavs in Fredegar and Paul the Deacon: medieval gens or ‘scourge of God’?
This article presents a new interpretation of the accounts of Slavs given by two early medieval Latin narrative sources.
The Anglo-Saxon War-Culture and The Lord of the Rings: Legacy and Reappraisal
The literature of war in English claims its origin from the Homeric epics, and the medieval accounts of chivalry and the crusades.
The Early Medieval Cutting Edge of Technology
Comparison of knives from England, Dublin and Europe revealed that the Vikings had little direct impact on England’s knife manufacturing industry, although there was a change in manufacturing methods in the 10th century towards the mass produced sandwich welded knife.
Medieval Books for Christmas
It’s that time of year again – the mad scramble for the perfect Christmas gift for the historian, nerd, avid reader on your list. Here are a few suggestions for you – new releases for December and January!
London in the Not-So-Dark Ages
An overview of the results of over 40 years of archaeological research into the origins, development and decline of the Middle Saxon trading settlement of Lundenwic, London.
Charlemagne’s Denarius, Constantine’s Edicule, and the Vera Crux
In 806 a much-discussed silver denarius bearing the likeness of Charlemagne was issued. This is called the “temple-type” coin due to the (as yet unidentified) architectural structure illustrated on the reverse side, and which is explicitly labeled as representing the epitome of “Christian Religion.”