Black Death burials reveal the diversity of London’s medieval population
New research on people buried in London during the Black Death suggests that the city’s population was more diverse than currently believed, including the presence of people with African heritage.
Viking Age Hair
In Viking-Age Scandinavia, hair also seems to have played an important role in social dynamics.
Population genomics of the Viking world
We find evidence for a majority of Danish Viking presence in England, Swedish Viking presence in the Baltic, and Norwegian Viking presence in Ireland, Iceland, and Greenland.
Defamation, Gender and Hierarchy in Late Medieval Yorkshire
At some point in 1362, one Robert de Berlay, servant in a gentry household in the West Riding of Yorkshire, was accused of impregnating Margery de Pickworth, the unmarried daughter of Thomas de Pickworth, a knight and Robert’s master.
The Cooks of the Canterbury Tales: The Backstage of Bourgeois Social Drama
This article aims at analysing Chaucer’s depiction of the cooks in the Canterbury Tales, and to discuss their function in contributing to the social changes as figures at the backstage of bourgeois social drama.
The Danger of the Soft Life: Manly and Unmanly Romans in Procopius’s Gothic War
Rather than uncovering the Goths, Byzantines, and Italians “as they really were,” this paper seeks to unearth some of the purpose and reasoning behind Procopius’s gendered depictions and ethnicizing worldview.
Prisons and Punishments in Late Medieval London
In the history of crime and punishment the prisons of medieval London have generally been overlooked.
10 Things to Know About the Great Famine
One of the most severe crises to strike medieval Europe was the Great Famine. Beginning in the year 1315, much of northern Europe would face years of bad weather, crop failures and widespread deaths from disease and starvation.
Children of a One-Eyed God: Impairment in the Myth and Memory of Medieval Scandinavia
This thesis counters scholarly assumptions that the impaired were universally marginalized across medieval Europe. It argues that bodily difference in the Norse world was only viewed as a limitation when it prevented an individual from fulfilling roles that contributed to their community.
New Discovery Sheds Light upon England’s leading Medieval family
A small medieval memorial brass has brought to light the sad story of a young girl whose short life, and tragic death, had previously gone unnoticed by historians and academics.
Prostitution in Urban Brothels in Late Medieval Austria
Municipal authorities officially established urban brothels in late medieval Austria as a necessary evil in order to control the lust of unmarried men and thus protect women from sexual abuse
Love, marriage and abduction in Byzantium: the epic romance of Digenes Akritas
What can an epic poem from the the 12th century tells us about love and marriage in the Byzantine world?
Gendered viewing, childbirth and female authority in the residence of Alice Chaucer, duchess of Suffolk, at Ewelme, Oxfordshire
This article examines the visual culture of the late medieval great residence from the perspective of the female gaze.
Medieval torture with Larissa ‘Kat’ Tracy
What was torture really like in the Middle Ages? Larissa ‘Kat’ Tracy joins Danièle to talk about iron maidens, dungeons, executions and more on The Medieval Podcast.
The Rocky Road to Assimilation: Converso-Old Christian Intermarriage in the Late 15th Century
Focusing on converso / old Christian intermarriage will I hope shed more light on the social and religious processes in the individual decision making that were involved in the gradual assimilation of a good number of converso families into old Christian society.
Slaves, Wealth and Fear: An Episode from Late Mamluk-Era Egypt
Slaves, Wealth and Fear: An Episode from Late Mamluk-Era Egypt By Nur Sobers Khan Oriens, Vol. 37 (2009) Introduction: In the spring of 1446 a…
The Measure of Literacy in Late Medieval England: The Case of St. Albans, 1237-1399
In the mid-thirteenth century, the tenants living on the manors of the liberty of St Albans had no use for letters.
‘I wanted to make them a little book’: The knight and the book for his daughters
I wanted to make them a little book to read so they might learn and study and understand the good and evil that has already happened, in order to keep them from that which is yet to come.
Domestic violence against women as a reason to sanctification in Byzantine hagiography
The lives of Matrona of Perge, Mary the Younger and Thomaïs of Lesbos are rare examples of how domestic violence against women could be also interpreted as a reason to sanctify the woman suffered abuses of this sort.
Bastards and Priests in the Middle Ages with Sara McDougall
What was it like to be a bastard in medieval Europe? Were you excluded from one of the most important institutions of the time: the priesthood? Danièle is joined by Sara McDougall to talk about bastards, priests, and if you could be both at that same time.
Wages of sin: The financial operations of a medieval church court
An overwhelming number of the criminal charges made in the Consistory from the second half of the fourteenth century until the last quarter of the fifteenth, the period for which records are most complete, were sexual in nature.
Disabilities in the Middle Ages with Kisha Tracy
How did medieval people deal with physical and mental challenges? Danièle speaks with Kisha Tracy of Fitchburg State University on why its important to talk about disabilities in the Middle Ages and what evidence we have for how people cared for each other when there was physical or mental disabilities.
Medieval manliness – Students design board game in history class
What better way to understand medieval masculinity than through a game?
Medieval Marriage with Ruth Mazo Karras
Episode 7 of The Medieval Podcast – What was marriage in the Middle Ages really like? Danièle is joined by Ruth Mazo Karras to discuss love, weddings and partnerships in medieval society.
