Halt! Who Comes There?: Locking Up Tower of London – The Ceremony of the Keys
A review of the Tower of London’s medieval Ceremony of the Keys!
A Fifteenth-Century Merchant in London and Kent: Thomas Walsingham (d.1457)
In 1424 the London citizen and vintner Thomas Walsingham acquired the manor of Scadbury, then in the parish of Chislehurst in north-west Kent.
The City of London and the Magna Carta
A brief, but enlightening, discussion of the intermingled histories of the City of London and Magna Carta.
Magna Carta Through the Ages exhibition to take place in London
The Society of Antiquaries of London will launch a historic exhibition to celebrate the 800th anniversary of the sealing of Magna Carta. It will bring together and display, for the first time, the Society’s three copies of the charter.
London at War: The City of London’s Involvement in Warfare from 1330-1400
This dissertation will discuss this military organisation, firstly in respect to the troops London was required to raise, how many, and where these men were sent.
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.
The Archaeology of St Paul’s Cathedral
Recent work has brought together what we know of the Anglo-Saxon and medieval cathedrals beneath and around Wren’s St Paul’s, the City of London’s most important historic building and monument.
A Medieval Dream and its Interpretation
Medieval people were also interested in dreams, and they attempted to figure out what they meant. Often a dream would be interpret as a sign of future events, or a divine warning that someone needed to change their ways.
CONFERENCES: Arnold Fitz Thedmar: an Early London chronicler
Another fascinating paper given at the Institute for Historical Research in central London. For those of you interested in chronicles, urban history and London, this paper was definitely for you. Ian Stone discussed his dissertation about thirteenth century London through the eyes of wealthy Alderman, Arnold Fitz Thedmar.
CONFERENCE: The Historical Novel Society – London 2014
My review of the recent Historical Novel Society conference that took place in London, England.
Were medieval monks obese?
The modern image of the medieval monk, as often depicted in Robin Hood’s Friar Tuck, is of the overweight man who indulges in food. How accurate is this stereotype?
Public Toilets in the Middle Ages
Where should you go to find a public toilet in the medieval city?
Two Lost Libraries in London
Medieval libraries in England were assembled in many places and for different purposes.
Air Pollution and Fuel Crises in Preindustrial London, 1250-1650
I intend to show in this paper that the occurrence of air pollution in London before the Industrial Revolution was symptomatic of one of these basic environmental problems
Medieval London Murders: Edmund de Brekkles
On Sunday, June 10, 1324, the body of Edmund de Brekles, a chaplain, was found dead in the house of John de Maltone and Juliana Aunsel, in the Ward of Bishopsgate.
Citie Calls for Beere: The Introduction of Hops and the Foundation of Industrial Brewing in London 1200-1700
This paper examines the impact of hopped beer on the brewing trade in London between the years 1200-1700.
London’s Medieval Pottery
Learn about the pottery discovered from medieval London with Jacqui Pearce of the Museum of London Archaeology.
Medieval London Murders: Joice de Cornwall
This is the first in a series of posts that will look at homicides from medieval London.
Property, Propriety, and Patriarchy: Abduction, Assault and Housebreaking in the Court of Common Pleas, 1399-1500
The purpose of this thesis is to examine how pleas of assault, housebreaking, and abduction cases in the Court of Common Pleas were shaped by social visions of gender hierarchy, and the personal conduct expected of persons as members of households and governors of households
Where medieval London got its fish from
During the 13th century the supply of fish to London dramatically changed from a local supply to one important from outside England.
Time, space and power in later medieval Bristol
With a population of almost 10,000, Bristol was later medieval England’s second or third biggest urban place, and the realm’s second port after London. While not particularly large or wealthy in comparison with the great cities of northern Italy, Flanders or the Rhineland, it was a metropolis in the context of the British Isles.
Origin and Creation: London Guilds of the Twelfth Century
London, as well as other towns and cities of the twelfth century, acted as the epicenter for guilds to create a regulated authority over members, monopolies, and outside merchants.
Mortality Risk and Survival in the Aftermath of the Medieval Black Death
The results indicate that there are significant differences in survival and mortality risk, but not birth rates, between the two time periods, which suggest improvements in health following the Black Death, despite repeated outbreaks of plague in the centuries after the Black Death.
Environmental management in medieval London: was London a ‘filthy city’?
The BBC series ‘Filthy Cities’ presented medieval London as knee deep in muck, with rivers of butchers’ waste washing into streams and chamber pots emptied on the heads of hapless passers-by.