Medieval History in Ōtautahi
Can studying medieval Europe in New Zealand, with a New Zealand context, ever really be relevant?
Stolen Sheep and Wandering Cows: Reclaiming Lost and Stolen Property in Early Medieval Ireland and Britain
Professor Eska offers a comparative analysis of early Irish and British legal texts and contextualizes them within broader legal traditions.
When this medieval English queen died, 68,000 people were fed
The death of a medieval queen was often an occasion for great sorrow throughout their own country – even more so when the…
10 Things You Should Know about William the Conqueror
A quick guide to William I (c.1028-1087), Duke of Normandy and King of England, one of the most famous rulers of the medieval era.
The Alternative Histories of the Norman Conquest of England
Have you read the version where Harold Godwinson survived the Battle of Hastings?
Medieval castle repaired in England
Repairs have been completed at Merton Castle. The ruined 12th-century fortification was at risk of collapse, but thanks to £288,840 in funding the site has been stabilized.
Project maps murder cases in medieval London, Oxford and York
A project mapping medieval England’s known murder cases has now added Oxford and York to its street plan of London’s 14th-century homicides, and found that Oxford’s student population was by far the most lethally violent of all social or professional groups in any of the three cities.
New Medieval Books: The Hot Trod: A History of the Anglo-Scottish Border
While billed as covering from Roman times to today, the bulk of this book focuses on the 13th to 16th centuries, a period of long conflict between Scotland and England.
The Templars and the Murder of Becket
The Templars wanted peace in the West – but if that was not possible, they could turn moral outrage into money for the defence of the East.
The Templars and the Two Mathildas
Even the Templars, one of the medieval world’s most masculine institutions, were eager to get in touch with their feminine side when money and power was at stake.
Tale of 14th-century Killer Monk uncovered by historian
A historian searching through manuscripts in the United Kingdom’s National Archive in Kew has uncovered a fourteenth-century document that describes the extraordinary criminal career of John of Tintern, abbot of a Benedictine monastery in Wiltshire.
England’s weather in 1269 revealed by medieval report
What was England’s weather like in the year 1269? Thanks to a fascinating document possibly written by Roger Bacon, we have a detailed weather report.
The Deaths of English Kings, according to Anonymous of Béthune
What do we know about the deaths of medieval kings? Here is how History of the Dukes of Normandy and the Kings of England reports the deaths of kings Harold to John.
New Open Access Book: Meteorological Disasters in Medieval Britain (AD 1000‒1500)
This timely book examines extreme weather events that struck Britain during the latter half of the Middle Ages.
The Templars in Britain: A Difficult and Ominous Beginning
The Templars went on to achieve great things and a high-profile reputation. But they came from very humble beginnings. In Britain, they got off to a very difficult start.
The Rediscovery of Reading Abbey
Reading Abbey was built as a royal mausoleum by King Henry I; a great architectural statement made by a king who has been described as the most powerful of his time in Western Europe
England’s King Edward IV died of syphilis, study finds
Cryptic comments in two medieval sources suggest that the English king died of syphilis, a sexually transmitted infection that was spreading among elites in the later Middle Ages.
Edward I and the Scottish Succession Crisis of 1290
A long history of Anglo-Scottish relations would lead to Edward I becoming the person who would determine the next King of Scotland.
New Medieval Books: Medieval Horizons
This book examines how the lives of medieval people, particularly people in England, changed between 1000 and 1600, and how those changes were important for us living in the modern world.
Saying No to Medieval Fratricide: Why it wasn’t Ok to kill your Brother
A look into the lack of royal fratricide in twelfth-century England.
New Medieval Books: The Making of England
A general overview of English history from the mid-4th to the mid-16th centuries, with a very good balance of coverage between the Early and Later Middle Ages.
New Medieval Books: De La Pole, Father and Son
A double biography of two leading nobles in fifteenth-century England: John de la Pole, 2nd Duke of Suffolk, and his son, also named John. They become involved in the politics of the English crown and the Wars of the Roses.
Henry II’s Court from Hell
You might think your job is bad, but if you heed the words of Walter Map, it must be worse to work in the court of England’s King Henry II.
Medieval comedy performance discovered in 15th century manuscript
‘By me, Richard Heege, because I was at that feast and did not have a drink.’
Did Jousting Give King Edward III Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE)?
Could one of the greatest warrior kings of medieval England have secretly suffered from a very modern seeming aliment and if so, was his lifelong and ardent devotion to the chivalric cult to blame?