Vasco da Gama’s astrolabe discovered
Guinness World Records have independently certified an astrolabe excavated from the wreck site of a Portuguese Armada Ship that was part of Vasco da Gama’s second voyage to India in 1502-1503 as the oldest in the world.
Technologies of appearance: Hair behaviour in early medieval Europe
I will outline the archaeological evidence for a concern with hair and grooming between the fifth and eleventh centuries AD
Virtual prototyping of medieval weapons for historical reconstruction of siege scenarios starting from topography and archaeological investigations
Therefore, the aim of this research is the development of methodologies for reconstructing virtual scenarios of sieges, starting from the scarce information available
Using Westminster Abbey windows to shine light on glass myth
Is medieval glass transitioning to liquids? Yes, but the process will take billions of years before you will notice.
The Medieval Sketches of Villard de Honnecourt
Ten of our favourite pages from Villard de Honnecourt’s 13th century sketchbook.
The role of the mechanical clock in medieval science
What is a mechanical clock? The answer to this question depends on whom you ask. Today, most people consider it a time-telling instrument.
The Dead in 3D: The Rothwell Charnel Chapel Project Online!
In the past seven months, the Rothwell Charnel Chapel Project has evolved to become more than just a research and preservation project, but has morphed into a virtual exhibit, and fascinating online learning resource that will be available globally.
Medieval Eyeglasses: Wearable Technology of the Thirteenth Century
It’s a common misconception that medieval minds regarded every little gadget with superstition and fear. Like us, medieval people loved wearable tech, and adapted useful gear – like sundials – to take with them on the go. In the thirteenth-century, Europeans were keen to get on board with the latest high-tech gadget to come out of Italy: eyeglasses.
From Stone Axe to Nukes — Technology and Warfare
As obvious as the impact of technical and technological means is on warfare as astonishing is that there are not very many books describing the long history of technology and warfare.
Robot Saints in the Middle Ages
While it’s easy to think of the Middle Ages as a backward time in which everyone struggled with the most basic things, medieval people were no strangers to some pretty cool technology, including robots.
The World’s Earliest Dated Tide Mill
Thomas McErlean discusses the story of the discovery the earliest mill in Ireland and the earliest presently known example of a tide mill in the world.
How to make swords talk: an interdisciplinary approach to understanding medieval swords and their inscriptions
In the present article we want to explain in detail the methods we used for the documentation and interpretation of medieval swords and their inscriptions.
Rapid Invention, Slow Industrialization, and the Absent Entrepreneur in Medieval China
For some sixteen centuries, about eight times the length of the period since the onset of England’s Industrial Revolution, China was the source of an astonishing outpouring of inventions that included a vast variety of prospectively valuable novelties as diverse as printing, the blast furnace, the spinning wheel, the wheelbarrow, and playing cards, in addition to the more widely recognized gunpowder and compass.
Renaissance Robotics: Leonardo da Vinci’s Lost Knight and Enlivened Materiality
The knight, when activated, would spring upright while simultaneously closing its arms in a lateral, pectoral embrace.
How did medieval seafarers turn trees into boat parts?
In this video, Professor Jon Adams of the University of Southampton explains the techniques by which shipwrights have converted the trees of the forest into the components of the boats in which people eventually sailed around the world.
Medieval Studies and STEM
Here are 15 ways that medieval studies and STEM are working together.
The Astrolabe: Medieval Multi-Tool of Navigation
They were the Swiss Army knife of medieval travelers.
Ore, Fire, Hammer, Sickle: Iron Production in Viking Age and Early Medieval Iceland
Iron production may be used as a window through which to view, in part, the economic structure of Icelandic society during the Viking Age (c. AD 870-1000) and Early Medieval (AD 1000-1264) periods.
Medieval Blacksmiths: The Men Behind the Metal
Medieval blacksmiths were loved, hated, thought to have magical healing powers, and able to fend off the devil. Here’s a quick look at the men behind the metal.
The Pre-History of Gunpowder
There is a Chinese tradition that a cook carrying a bowl of saltpetre slipped and dropped it onto a charcoal fire. That would certainly create a considerable conflagration but, as the ingredients were not mixed, hardly an explosion.
Mons Meg removed from Edinburgh Castle for conservation work
Mons Meg, one of the most famous weapons of the Middle Ages, was removed from Edinburgh Castle last month for specialist restoration and conservation work.
Saltpetre in medieval gunpowder: Calcium or Potassium Nitrate?
Until recently, it has been accepted that the formulation of gunpowder has always been based on variable mixtures of charcoal, sulphur and potassium nitrate. This has recently been challenged.
From Tempests and Hydraulic Machines to the Arno Diversion: the Historical Significance of da Vinci’s Study of Water
Reemergence of classical thought and the importance of water in society led da Vinci to pursue multiple projects regarding his study of water – culminating in the project to divert the Arno River.
A Portal to the Universe: The Astrolabe as a Site of Exchange in Medieval and Early Modern Knowledge
This essay analyzes the astrolabe and its ability to transfer ideas and culture across traditional geographic boundaries, from the perspective of Europe in the Medieval and Early Modern eras.
