Mass graves of soldiers from 1491 French siege discovered
In 1491, French forces laid siege to the city of Rennes. A team of researchers have now discovered two mass graves that contain the remains of over thirty soldiers who fought and died during the conflict.
Ivory, Copper, and the Island of Gold: Medieval trade between France and West Africa
Discussing the development of trade networks linking medieval Europe and western Africa, exploring the important role played by Africa in the medieval world system of Europe.
The Borderlands of Slavery in Medieval Mediterranean France
Daniel Lord Smail examines slavery in medieval France.
The Love and Loyalty of the Good Duke and his Men
Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the Chronicle is how it depicts the love of his soldiers for him, and his love for them. It shows his friends observing him in action. The Chronicle is as much a portrait of Louis’ circle of friends as it is of Louis himself.
‘War, Cruel and Sharp’: England’s Grand Strategy during the Hundred Years’ War
Edward developed a grand strategy for his war against France: use highly disciplined, compact forces to penetrate deep into French territory in chevauchées for the purpose, not of occupying territory, but of wreaking extensive economic, social, and psychological havoc on the French, with the ultimate goal of fatally undermining France’s war effort.
Medieval Geopolitics: The Hundred Years’ War: A Tale of Two Crowns
Ultimately, the war was caused by the confluence of a series of events – deeply rooted in medieval concepts of statehood and sovereignty that seem alien at first to modern observers – that eventually formed into a cascade that swept both belligerents (as well as the rest of Europe) out of the medieval era and towards their early modern national destinies.
Seizing Power, Keeping Power, and kicking up a fuss in early medieval England and France
The early middle ages on both sides of the Channel is full of episodes of rebellion and opposition by many parties with an axe to grind, whether disinherited members of ruling families, sidelined aristocrats, or disgruntled peasants.
French castle for sale: Manoir de la Sausserie
In 1198, Eleanor of Aquitaine gave lands to Robert le Saucier, the bailiff of Domfront and kitchen officer of the English queen. Robert built a manor house, located near the Norman town of La Haute-Chapelle.
Philip II “Augustus” of France
The early reign of Philip II of France was an exhibition of poor generalship, but by the early 1200s, Philip had seized most of the counties and duchies under the control of England’s King John
The Forgotten Battle of Bevershoutsveld, May 3, 1382: Technological Innovation and Military Significance
It may have been at Bevershoutsveld where gunpowder weapons first decided the outcome of a battle.
How Philip Augustus outmanoeuvred three English kings
King Philip II of France mastered the art of foreign relations, and used his skills against Henry II, Richard I, and John.
How Much did the Gothic Churches Cost? An Estimate of Ecclesiastical Building Costs in the Paris Basin between 1100-1250
I estimate that over this 150-year period, on average, 21.5 percent of the regional economy was devoted to the construction of these Gothic churches, 1.5 percent of which is directly related to the implicit cost of labor.
Aiming for Peace and Responding to Crisis: Movement and the Saints in Eleventh-Century Southern French Miracle Collections
In the miracle texts of Saints Vivien at Figeac, Privat at Mende, and Enimie at Sainte-Enimie, all written in the eleventh century in the south of France, movements abound in a flurry of danger and excitement in reference to their relics.
The Great Western Schism, Legitimacy, and Tyrannicide: The Murder of Louis of Orléans (1407)
I will argue that the use of this kind of vocabulary during the Schism may have facilitated a slip into the rhetoric of tyrannicide, and may have incited it. I will suggest that the climate and rhetori of the Schism may have led John the Fearless to rationalize tyrannicide against his cousin, Louis of Orléans.
The Hundred Years’ War with David Green
Episode 3 of The Medieval Podcast – Taking a look into the Hundred Years’ War between England and France with David Green.
How the Borders of France changed in the Middle Ages
Here are four videos created by Youtubers that show the changing borders in France during the Middle Ages.
Torture and Confession in the Templar Interrogations at Caen, 28–29 October 1307
Perhaps more clearly than anywhere else in the documentation of the “Trial of the Templars,” these acts reveal how royal agents extracted confessions from the Templars in the weeks following their arrest.
Viking invasions, a French failure?
Vikings never interested French Historians. Pagan, illiterate, barbaric, Germanic, everything was despicable in the eyes of the French Historians of the 19th century.
When Medieval England was Almost Invaded
Froissart enthusiastically notes that many among the French host ‘considered England to be already crushed and devastated, all her men killed, and her women and children brought to France in slavery’.
Early Medieval Muslim Graves in France: First Archaeological, Anthropological and Palaeogenomic Evidence
This study provides the first archaeo-anthropological testimony of the Muslim establishment in South of France through the multidisciplinary analysis of three graves excavated at Nimes.
Medieval sunken buildings in the North of France: from samples to micro-features
Thirty years of development of preventative archaeology in France have permitted a renewal of the research into the early medieval period.
A Woman as Leader of Men: Joan of Arc’s Military Career
Though she was radically different from other contemporary military leaders, her troops followed her with a loyalty unsurpassed by any other late-medieval captain.
The Rhythms of Vengeance in Late Medieval Marseille
Interpersonal violence was common in late medieval Marseille, as it was everywhere in Europe. In the fourteenth century, the city was riven by warfare between two great factions involving some of Marseille’s leading families.
Castle for Sale: Montaiguillon
The ruins of this thirteenth-century castle in northern France are available for €280 000.