Tempus Fugit: The Middle Ages and Time
If you needed to know the time between bells, there were several ways to find out.
Fireproofing of war machines, ships and garments
Incendiary missiles were in use in antiquity and developed rapidly in the Hellenistic period, and various forms of fire extinguishers were invented to deal with them.
Medieval Writing Surfaces: An Interview With Dr. Mary Watt
Dr. Mary Watt of the University of Florida talks about what people in the Middle Ages wrote on: parchment and vellum
Depicting the Medieval Alchemical Cosmos: George Ripley’s Wheel of Inferior Astronomy
Alchemical writing often develops the idea of a physical or analogical correspondence between heaven and earth: a relationship most fre- quently and conveniently expressed by the use of the seven planetary symbols (Sol, Luna, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn) to denote the seven metals (usually gold, silver, quicksilver, copper, iron, tin and lead respectively).
Learning by doing or expert knowledge? Technological innovations in dike-building in coastal Flanders (13th-18th centuries AD)
Dike construction apparently uses simple technology, with slow and gradual change; not the kind of technology that reshaped the material conditions of living, comparable to the spread of electricity or sanitation in the 19th century ‘networked’ city (and linked to the disciplining of society and the rise of domesticity and the modern self-reflexive individual) (often inspired by Latour and Foucault).
Finland, Tallinn and the Hanseatic League: Foreign Trade and the Orientation of Roads in Medieval Finland
What was the role of Finland in the trade of the Hanseatic League in the Middle Ages? Thisquestion has been widely discussed in Finnish history since 1882, when J.W. Ruuth publishedhis study on the relationship between Finland and the Hanse before 1435.
Healthscaping a Medieval City: Lucca’s Curia viarum and the Future of Public Health History
Healthscaping a Medieval City: Lucca’s Curia viarum and the Future of Public Health History G. Geltner (Department of History, University of Amsterdam) Urban History: 40,…
How Shall a Man Be Armed? Evolution of Armor during the Hundred Years War
Special presentation at the 2013 International Congress on Medieval Studies
Spectacles through the ages and period inaccuracies
One of the most annoying errors made in historical entertainment, at least for the optical profession, is the use of spectacles which are inappropriate for the period being depicted.
Into the frontier: medieval land reclamation and the creation of new societies. Comparing Holland and the Po Valley, 800-1500
In the paper it is shown that medieval land reclamation led to the emergence of two very divergent societies, characterised by a number of different configurations; (a) power and property structure, (b) modes of exploitation, (c) economic portfolios, and (d) commodity markets.
The Serpent in the Sword: Pattern-welding in Early Medieval Swords
In the pattern-welded sword blades made from the Migration Period through the mid-Viking Age (5th through 10th centuries), swordsmiths manipulated the piled structure of the blade to create a striking decorative effect
The Engineering Beauty of the Trebuchet
Trebuchets were used to break through castle walls from about 850-1350 C.E. Dead livestock or giant rocks were the usual ammunition, but sometimes prisoners of war or especially annoying people were added to the flying debris.
The role and status of the smith in the Viking age
This thesis begins by exploring the literary expressions of smiths in Viking Age myths, legends, and sagas.
English government bought “many millions” of crossbow bolts during the 13th century, historian finds
A new study about the medieval military industry shows that the English Royal government was making and purchasing as much as hundreds of thousands of crossbow bolts each year, revealing how important this weapon was to the medieval armies of England.
A Pedagogical Trebuchet: A Case Study in Experimental History and History Pedagogy
The case study presented here shows how a project in experimental history applied to a medieval trebuchet was used to solve just such problems by encouraging historical thinking, hypothesis testing of a historical problem, and reinforcing traditional primary source research.
Give us this day our daily bread: A study of Late Viking Age and Medieval Quernstones in South Scandinavia
Porridge and bread were by far the two most important elements in the Viking Age and medieval diet.
‘Fromm thennes faste he gan avyse/This litel spot of erthe’: GIS and the General Prologue
This paper was given at the Canada Chaucer Seminar on April 27, 2013.
Brick making in Britain during the later medieval period
This essay aims to briefly examine the mechanisms of how brick making arrived in England and to describe the manufacturing process from documentary and archaeological evidence from a selected number of sites.
Master builder of the Middle Ages and design build of today: an analysis and comparison
European architecture went through a period of great development and building between 1150 and 1450.
Genre Into Artifact: the Decline of the English Chronicle In the Sixteenth Century
Most modern scholars would agree with the thrust of these contemporary statements even while making the more subtle distinctions among different chroniclers that the perspective of four centuries provides. Few would now wish to argue that the chronicle, once the form of historical writing, had fallen into anything but a state of decay.
Questioning the Accepted Techniques for Sword-Forging in Anglo-Saxon England and in Frankish Europe
Frankish swords were absolutely crucial to the rise of the Carolingian empire and they played a major role in Afro-Eurasian commerce during this period.
The Trebuchet
Recent reconstructions and computer simulations reveal the operating principles of the most powerful weapon of its time
The Scottish wars of Edward III, 1327-1338
This thesis deals with the events of the Anglo-Scottish wars of the 1330s and the English military machine that allowed Edward III to win numerous successes against the Scots yet was unable to secure a permanent conquest of any portion of Scotland save Berwick-upon Tweed.
The Use of Gunpowder Weapons in the Wars of the Roses
During the fourteenth century, while continental gunpowder holdings were largely in local control England’s gunpowder weaponry never fell under a similar local control, but was always exclusively a royal possession.