BOOK REVIEW: “Defending the City of God” : A Medieval Queen, the First Crusades, and the Quest for Peace in Jerusalem, by Sharan Newman
This is my review of Sharan Newman’s latest book, Defending the City of God: A Medieval Queen, the First Crusades, and the Quest for Peace in Jerusalem.
Drug Overdose, Disability and Male Friendship in Fifteenth-Century Mamluk Cairo
Shihab al-Din al-Hijazi (1388-1471) was an unexceptional legal student in Mamluk Cairo, who, at the age of 24, overdosed on marking nut, a potent plant drug valued for its memory-enhancing properties
Ibn Wāṣil: An Ayyūbid Perspective on Frankish Lordships and Crusades
Ibn Wāṣil (604/1208-697/1298) was a relatively prominent scholar and administrator who had close links with the political and military elites of Ayyūbid- and early Mamlūk-period Egypt and Syria throughout his career.
Environmental Effects in the Agriculture of Medieval Egypt
Agriculture has been the main source of the economy for all dynasties established in Egypt and the Mamluk kingdom was no exception.
Christmas Books: Great Medieval Fiction Reads for the Christmas Holidays!
Some medieval stocking stuffers for the historians on your Christmas list!
Sending Home for Mom and Dad: The Extended Family Impulse in Mamluk Politics
Although the biological sons of sultans did inherit their father’s positions, everyone, including the dying sultan and the son himself, knew that the son was functioning as a placeholder, since real power would then be assumed by one or even multiple commanders, either covertly, in which case the nominal sultan remained as a figurehead, or overtly, in which case the nominal sultan was deposed.
Plagues, Epidemics and Their Social and Economic Impact on the Egyptian Society during the Mameluke Period
The study aims at shedding light on plagues and epidemics that hit Egypt during the Mameluke period through describing the plague disease and the plagues and epidemics that hit Egypt, and their social and economic effects on the Egyptian society, The study is based on some historical sources contemporary of the Mameluke period, especially the book “Al-Suluk li-marifatiduwal Al-muluk” by Al Maqrizi.
From Montpèlerin to Tarabulus al-Mustajadda: The Frankish-Mamluk Succession in Old Tripoli
Modern Tripoli still shows the division into two different urban areas existing since the Middle Ages. Until the arrival of the Crusaders Tripoli merely consisted of the ancient town on the coast.
Bīmāristān Al-Manṣūrī: State and Medical Practice in Mamluk Egypt (1285-1390)
The Bīmāristān was the major part of a huge complex built in the center of Cairo in 1285 by the Mamluk Sultan al-Manṣūr Qalāwūn, who was the founder of the Qalāwūnid dynasty/dawlah that ruled the Mamluk empire for over a century
The 727/1327 Silk Weavers’ Rebellion in Alexandria: Religious Xenophobia, Homophobia, or Economic Grievances
A brawl in the streets of 14th century Alexandria between Egyptians and Europeans – what caused it?
The Indigenous Christians of the Arabic Middle East in an Age of Crusaders, Mongols, and Mamlūks (1244-1366)
The chronological period of study is highlighted by the usurpation of the Ayyūbid-ruled Sultanate by the Baḥrī Mamlūks, while the two most important political-military events in the region were the collapse of the Crusader States and the invasion of the Mongols. This thesis will examine how events impacted on the nine Christian Confessions, treating each separately.
Crusader sword sells for £163,250
A rare medieval sword, which had been given to the Mamluk rulers of Egypt and then looted from them by the same Crusader king, sold for £163,250 at auction this week, with an entire collection taking in bids over £ 1 million.
“Qa’idat al-Mamlakah”: Structural Changes in Taxation and Fiscal Administration during the Reign of al-Nasir Muhammad bin Qalawun
Al-Nasir Muhammad’s reign was defined by his reorganization of the tax system and investment in the agricultural infrastructure of the sultanate in a manner which fundamentally altered the economic structure of the Mamluk state.
Curricula and educational process in Mamluk Madrasas
This study examined and discussed about the process of education in Egypt and Syria during the Mamluk Era (1250 – 1517).
Labor Markets After the Black Death: Landlord Collusion and the Imposition of Serfdom in Eastern Europe and the Middle East
The differences in the imposition of serfdom led to different economic and political effects for the peasantry in Europe. In Western Europe, wages rose, grain prices fell, and the consumption of meat, dairy products, and beer increased. More and more peasants moved into a widening “middle class” that could afford to buy manufactured goods.
Food and Cooking during the Mamluk Era: Social and Political Implications
The preparation of food was of interest mainly to the top echelon of the Mamluk ruling elite, to members of the civilian upper class who were able to cook food at home, and to the professional cooks who kept shops catering to the vast urban lower classes.
Sultans with Horns: The Political Significance of Headgear in the Mamluk Empire
The aim of this article is to present the changing fashions of headgear of the ruling elite in the Mamluk Empire throughout their reign in Egypt and Syria, and to show how fashion and headgear functioned as markers of social differences in a medieval Islamic society
How Venice almost got a second head of Saint Mark the Evangelist
In 1419, Venice was almost able to get a second head of Saint Mark the Evangelist.
Cache of Crusader gold coins discovered in Israel
Archaeologists working in the ruins of the Crusader town of Arsuf have uncovered a cache of more than 100 gold coins, worth more than $100 000.
Tales of a Medieval Cairene Harem: Domestic Life in al-Biqai’s Autobiographical Chronicle
The extraordinarily intimate nature of the text is best illustrated by the author’s tell-all accounts of his own messy domestic life: failed marriages, family feuds, harem melodrama, as well as childbirth, nursing, and infant mortality.
The Use of Fortification as a Political Instrument by the Ayyubids and the Mamluks in Bilad al-Sham and in Egypt (Twelfth-Thirteenth Centuries)
Beginning in 1170/1171, Salah al-Din built fortifications as the Fatimid vizier of Egypt. His considerations were primarily defensive in this period, following the Frankish campaign of 1168 that led to the siege of Cairo, and the Frankish-Byzantine naval expedition against Damietta in 1169.
Education and training under the Mamluks
Education and training under the Mamluks By Sevak Joseph Manjikian Master’s Thesis, McGill University, 1998 Abstract: This work analyzes the methods the Mamluk…
The great crusader hero: Louis IX or Joinville?
The great crusader hero: Louis IX or Joinville? Almeida, Adriana (Aluna de Mestrado da Faculdade de Letras do Porto) Revista Medievalista Online, ano 4, número…
The Letters of Eljigidei, Hülegü, and Abaqa: Mongol Overtures or Christian Ventriloquism?
The Letters of Eljigidei, Hülegü, and Abaqa: Mongol Overtures or Christian Ventriloquism? Aigle, Denise (French Institute for the Middle East – Damascus) Inner…
Homoerotic Liasons among the Mamluk Elite in Late Medieval Egypt and Syria
Homoerotic Liasons among the Mamluk Elite in Late Medieval Egypt and Syria By Everett K. Rowson Islamicate sexualities: translations across temporal geographies of…