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.
Early Islamic Maritime Technology
This paper examines the extent to which the events of the 7th century were actually responsible for alterations to the maritime technology and associated practices of the Mediterranean during the early Islamic period.
The weir and the flowing earthworks of Bedford
Surprisingly few urban dwellers today know in which direction their local river flows. Which way is upstream and which downstream? Such knowledge, once so crucial, no longer has much significance for town inhabitants. Other flows – of electricity, gas and oil – now provide most of the energy that the town needs.
Medieval Military Technology
A new edition of Medieval Military Technology, by Kelly DeVries and Robert D. Smith, is now available.
Technological Development in Late Saxon Textile Production: its relationship to an emerging market economy and changes in society
The process of change from domestic textile production in early Anglo-Saxon England (5th – mid-7th century) to the more commercially based, organised industry of the late Saxon period (late 9th – 11th century) is a long and complex one.
Jewish Lightning Rod: Between Magic and Science
People learned how to “tie up a portion of lightning” only recently. We have no information aboutany experiments of medieval scientists with lightnings, and even the fundamental dictionary of thehistory of science by Mayerhöfer is silent about it.
Coptic Dress In Egypt: The Social Life Of Medieval Cloth
Coptic textiles in most collections present a very rich iconography, somewhat derived from classical traditions, which has also attracted the attention of art historians. Very little of their work, however, has made any headway in our understanding of the contemporaneous meanings of Coptic textile images and other decorations.
The Traction Trebuchet: A Reconstruction of an Early Medieval Siege Engine
Traction trebuchets were medieval rotating-beam siege engines; they were powered by a human team pulling ropes and hurled stone projectiles from a sling.
Building a Model Astrolabe
This paper presents a hands-on introduction to the medieval astrolabe, based around a working model which can be constructed from photocopies of the supplied figures.
Technologies of authority in the medical classroom in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries
In this paper I would like to explore the strategies developed by the university medical master towards the recognition and establishment of authority for himself and for those contemporary authors who, like himself, worked within the medieval Studia. I would develop this possibility by analysing a uniquely academic product, the medical commentary.
Sailing with the Mu’allim: The Technical Practiceof Red Sea Sailing during the Medieval Period
The status of the Red Sea as a lane of communication be-tween the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean has beenwidely commented upon…The medieval period was no exception to this. The establishment of Mecca as a centre of pilgrimage and theincreasing importance of Cairo both served to provide further motives for seafaring activity along and across theRed Sea.
Friction and Lubrication in Medieval Europe: The Emergence of Olive Oil as a Superior Agent
Medieval machines suffered from a variety of internal stresses that were controlled only by the weight of their parts.