Three Heresiologists of the 12th-century: Zigabenos, Kamateros, and Choniates, with Alessandra Buccosi, Niccolò Zorzi, Marco Fanelli, and Ottavia Mazzon
A conversation on three twelfth-century heresiological texts, the challenges of publishing and studying them, and the ways their central concerns can be presented in a museum exhibition.
Judas in the Middle Ages: The Making of an Anti-Hero
Judas was one of the most troubling figures in medieval Christian thought, not simply as Christ’s betrayer but as a symbol of despair, envy, and damnation. Lorris Chevalier explores how medieval writers turned him into a full anti-hero, reshaping a brief biblical figure into one of the era’s most powerful moral myths.
New Medieval Books: Light on Darkness
For the uninitiated, the rituals, prayers, and music of the Catholic Church can seem difficult to understand. This book provides an accessible introduction to liturgy in Western Europe, showing what these rituals were meant to convey from the Middle Ages to the present day.
Heresiology in the Twelfth Century, with Alessandra Bucossi
On Byzantium & Friends, a conversation with Alessandra Bucossi on the preoccupation with heresy in the twelfth century, which resulted in the production of a number of massive anti-heretical treatises.
New Medieval Books: Silence of the Gods
By the end of the Middle Ages, the last predominantly pagan regions of Europe were undergoing conversion to Christianity. This book traces that transition and explores how older pagan beliefs and practices continued to endure for centuries afterward.
Did Alfred the Great send an embassy from England to India?
A new study is taking a fresh look at one of the most surprising lines in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle—the claim that, in the 880s, King Alfred the Great sent two men on a mission to India.
New Medieval Books: Blessed Mary and the Monks of England
Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ, has long stood at the centre of Christian theology and devotion. This book explores how English monks expressed their reverence for her—and how they held her up as a model for Christian life.
New Medieval Books: Impossible Recovery
The writings of Julian of Norwich, the fourteenth-century English mystic, have long fascinated medievalists. This book zeroes in on Julian’s illness during her visions, asking what that experience was like in human terms — as the author puts it, “What did she really experience, what did she feel, there in her sickbed in 1373?”
Medieval Discovery: Richard Rolle’s Original Emending of Life Survives in One Copy
New research identifies a medieval manuscript as the only complete original copy of Richard Rolle’s Emending of Life, restoring lost passages and language.
Early Medieval Church in Iraq Points to Christian–Zoroastrian Neighbours
Archaeologists excavating Gird-î Kazhaw in Iraq’s Kurdistan Region say an early medieval church complex near a Sasanian fort may show Christians and Zoroastrians living side by side in the fifth–sixth centuries.
The Medieval Origins of Military Chaplaincy
How medieval armies developed military chaplaincy, from Constantine’s bishops to Ireland’s repeatable confession and the Carolingian reforms that put priests on campaign across Western Europe.
Bethlehem’s Christmas Relic: The Chalky Soil of the Milk Grotto
Discover Bethlehem’s Milk Grotto and its chalky white soil, a medieval Christian relic linked to the Virgin Mary’s milk and used in devotion, healing, fertility, and pilgrimage traditions across Europe.
Forgotten Medieval Miracles of the Augustinians Revealed in New Study
New research reveals how Augustinian friars shaped medieval rural life through overlooked miracles—from healing livestock to restoring barren land—challenging long-held assumptions about the order’s history.
Work, Prayer and Service: The Beguines of Medieval Paris
A detailed look at the beguines of medieval Paris, examining their origins, royal support, daily life, and the debates their unconventional religious vocation sparked.
The Language of Heresy with Erin Wagner
This week on The Medieval Podcast, Danièle speaks with Erin Wagner about what late medieval people meant when they used the word heresy, how the usage evolved, and how medieval people applied ideas of heresy beyond the borders of Christianity.
The Mysterious Tombs of the Knights of the Round Table
In the 13th-century, a Dominican preacher linked real graves in Burgundy to the legendary Knights of the Round Table. Étienne de Bourbon’s account reveals how medieval belief, archaeology, and Arthurian myth intertwined in the mysterious tombs of Saint-Émiland.
Who Could Baptize? Clerical Authority and Emergency Baptisms in the Middle Ages
During the Middle Ages, baptism was essential for salvation—but who could perform it? This article explores how the medieval Church balanced clerical authority with the necessity of emergency baptisms by lay people and midwives.
Weird Medieval Job: The Criers of the Dead
Meet the “criers of the dead,” professional mourners who once roamed medieval towns announcing deaths with bells and prayers. Explore how these strange but vital figures shaped the soundscape of mourning in the Middle Ages.
Baptism and Belonging: How Identity Was Shaped in Medieval Europe
Explore how baptism shaped faith, identity, and belonging in medieval Europe, influencing community ties, godparents, and views on the unbaptized.
Did the Inquisition Allow Heresy to Endure? Lessons from the 1335 Trial in Giaveno
A 1335 trial in Giaveno reveals the flaws of the medieval Inquisition—fragmentation, community resistance, and gender bias—that allowed heresy to endure despite brutal methods.
New Medieval Books: The Crown of Thorns
Among the most striking images of Jesus Christ is his mock coronation with the Crown of Thorns. But what if this was never a crown of thorns at all? This book explores the origins of the symbol, its transformation across centuries, and the ways medieval kings appropriated the imagery for their own authority.
New Medieval Books: Barbarian Queens and the Conversion of Europe
Queens played a pivotal role in bringing Christianity to new parts of Europe – or at least that’s how the story goes. This book explores eight cases in which women married pagan rulers and worked to introduce and establish the Christian faith among their husbands and the people they ruled.
Priests and the Black Death: Faith Amid Plague
When the Black Death swept through Europe, priests were among those who paid the highest price. Risking their lives to comfort the dying, they stood on the front lines of faith against the deadliest plague of the Middle Ages.
Medieval Scholar Called Out the Shroud of Turin as a Fake, Study Finds
A new study reveals that Nicole Oresme, one of the great minds of fourteenth-century France, denounced the Shroud of Turin as a fake decades before its famous 1389 controversy. His writings highlight both medieval skepticism and clerical deception.