Obligation and Opportunity: Urban Military Service in Medieval England
This talk examines the development and use of urban soldiers in warfare in medieval England with a focus on military efficacy and strategy value.
Cleaning Up Renaissance Italy with Jane Stevens Crawshaw
This week on The Medieval Podcast, Danièle speaks with Jane Stevens Crawshaw about environmental policies in fourteenth and fifteenth-century Genoa and Venice.
22 Intriguing Characters from a Medieval City’s Underworld
Discover 22 intriguing characters from the medieval underworld in Muhammad Ibn Dāniyāl’s play, “The Amazing Preacher and the Stranger.” Explore the lives of medieval street performers, animal trainers, and shady tradesmen.
New Medieval Books: Cleaning Up Renaissance Italy
This book examines how Venice and Genoa dealt with environmental issues, including waste management, water supply and street congestion. It also reveals the mindset of the medieval Genoese and Venetians when it came to having a clean and healthy city.
40,000 pieces of graffiti discovered in Venice
Historical graffiti, ranging from symbols to dedications, adorns Venice’s columns, entrances, and walls, weaving a rich tapestry of the city’s narrative. Spearheaded by…
Discovery sheds new light on lost medieval Bristol landmark
The exact location of a long-lost stone cross erected by the 14th century that acted as a boundary marker to define the then city limits of Bristol, and which was also the site of a gallows which stood for hundreds of years, has been discovered by a historian from the University of Bristol.
Traffic Problems in the Medieval City
The medieval city was seen as a crowded, bustling place, with people, horses, carts and wagons all moving around. Just as in our modern city, this would all lead to inevitable traffic problems.
The 5 Most Common Jobs in a Medieval City
The five most common jobs were farming, carpentry, butchery, shoemaking and Church-related work.
Public Toilets in the Middle Ages
Where could a medieval person find public toilet?
New Medieval Books: Records of Medieval Newmarket
This book offers translations of various court and manorial records from Newmarket, a small town in southeastern England.
New Medieval Books: The Fabric of the City: A Social History of Cloth Manufacture in Medieval Ypres
This is a very interesting book if you want to know more about how business and trade worked in the Middle Ages. It covers a full range of individuals and groups involved in this industry, from the owners to the workers, including some case studies.
Southern Africa’s largest medieval city had an extensive water management system, researchers find
Great Zimbabwe, the largest city in southern Africa during the Middle Ages, made use of dozens of large pits to store water. A new study reveals how this system allowed the community to manage a stable water supply in a region prone to drought.
New Medieval Books: London: A Fourteenth-Century City and its People
A look at the daily life of medieval Londoners using the abundant records from the city. Over 40 different topics are covered, ranging from sanitation to crimes and roads to religion.
Sources of Life: Food and water sustainability in Abbasid Baghdad
Managing access to clean water and large quantities of grain and other foodstuffs was essential for the development of an exceedingly large city such as Baghdad under the Abbasids.Managing access to clean water and large quantities of grain and other foodstuffs was essential for the development of an exceedingly large city such as Baghdad under the Abbasids.
Exploring the monuments of Byzantine Constantinople, with Sergey Ivanov
A conversation with Sergey Ivanov on the monuments, buildings, and ruins of the Byzantine phase of the City’s history. We talk about how to explore them, how to access their history, and even get a feel for the lingering presence of the events that took place in them. We ponder what has been lost and what might yet be found.
The Story of the Leonine Walls
The urban wall that once enclosed St. Peter’s Basilica and its neighborhood is one of the best-preserved monuments of medieval Rome, but seldom gets the love it deserves.
Government Jobs in the Middle Ages: 14th-century London
What were the kinds of jobs that medieval people did in a city government? A book from 14th-century London offers details about the positions and roles of civic officials in that city, ranging from the Mayor to Scavengers.
Corrupted Air and Water: Pollution in Medieval Cities
When poop and entrails filled the Thames. Dealing with urban pollution in the Middle Ages.
Peasant Kids at Work: Apprenticeship and Service in the Middle Ages
What trade should the child of a medieval peasant learn?
Imagining Microplaces: From Medieval into the Present
Exploring how thinking through microplace might open up new possibilities for historians, bringing together research, imagination, and varied tools for immersive, experiential analysis and interpretation.
Sanitation in Medieval Paris with Emily Hutchison
Just how dirty was medieval Paris? And what did people do with their waste? This week on The Medieval Podcast, Danièle speaks with Emily Hutchison about sanitation in the Middle Ages.
Medieval Apartment Buildings
We know that medieval cities could be crowded and space could be in short supply. There were even some places where people lived in what we would call apartment buildings.
How to go to the toilet, medieval style?
A history of not-so-private privies in the Middle Ages.
The 5 Most Common Jobs in a Medieval City
The five most common jobs were farming, carpentry, butchery, shoemaking and Church-related work.