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.
Construction Methods and Models of Cistercian Abbeys in North-Western Italy between XII and XIII Century
Studies on the so-called bernardine plan (plan bernardin, bernhardinischer Grundtypus), a rigid layout without bending elements (transept with squared chapels on the eastern and western sides, and a rectangular pro- jecting church), and the diffusion of this planning choice in the multiform world of the Cistercian architecture made remarkable progress in recent years, thanks to fine job of collecting and classifying examples of this in different European countries
The Talking Brass Head as a Symbol of Dangerous Knowledge in Friar Bacon and in Alphonsus, King of Aragon
The talking brass heads in Greene’s plays are descendants of two ancient traditions that became intermingled during the Middle Ages
Technology and Military Policy in Medieval England, c.1250-1350
During this period of intense conflict and growth, virtually every type of armament from the simple arrowhead to large and complex siege engines underwent rapid development.
The personnel of English and Welsh castles, 1272-1422
In England, the role played on the continent by the castellanies would appear to have been performed by the county castle and the sheriff, a post that remained firmly under the king’s control in all but a few counties. Instead, a more subtle link between the castle community and political power will have to be found. It will be searched for in the appointment of constables to royal castles, and in grants of ownership of castles, royal or forfeited. It may be found in the building activity that was so common in this period, or in the marriage alliances that created many of the great castle owning estates.
The warhorse and military service under Edward III
How, for example, are we to assess the likely extent and distribution of campaigning profits (and, indeed, costs) in society – or the impact of military service on the workings of shire administration, or the influence of war on the retaining practices of the nobility and gentry – without first establishing the identities of those who served in the king’s armies during this period? There can be few major research undertakings in the field of late medieval English history that would offer such wide-ranging benefits as a full-scale reconstruction of the military community.
Inland water transport in Medieval England—the view from the mills: a response to Jones
As has been pointed out by several commentators, from early times mills began to have a significant impact, for good or ill, upon inland water transport. They were not the only objects to do so, since fishing weirs could also have a major impact, but mills tended to be mostly permanent structures and, once established, maintained a strong presence on England’s waterways.
From Wine to Beer: Changing Patterns of Alcoholic Consumption, and Living Standards, in Later Medieval Flanders, 1300 – 1550
The basic problem with the ‘hop’ thesis is that the Flemish evidence for the relative shift from wine to beer consumption comes too late. My primary sources are the annual revenues from sales of excise tax- farms on wine and beer consumption recorded in the treasurers’ accounts of two towns: Bruges and Aalst.
The Art of the Science of Renaissance Painting
During this study we began to examine paintings for the presence of optical artifacts that could serve as supporting scientific evidence for these visual observations. Here we briefly describe some of the scientific evidence contained within three paintings that demonstrate lenses were in use by certain artists to project images as early as c1425. We present only a general discussion here, and refer interested readers to previous publications for details.
Airship and Submarine in the Medieval Imagination
The king is seen flying aloft, to the amazement of the bystanders, in a metal cage drawn by four griffins; nearby, we see him lowered into the sea in a glass tub.
Cogs, Sails and Longbows: Implications of Naval Tactics and Technology in the Hundred Years War
There were several naval engagements during the Hundred Years War. The three that will be looked at in this work are the battle of Sluys in 1340, the battle of Les Espagnols-Sur- Mer in 1350, and the capture of a French fleet from La Rochelle. The battle of Sluys is the best known of these, but it can be argued that subsequent engagements are of equal or greater importance. Many historians have downplayed these events.
The Printing Press: As An Agent of Social Change
Europe was ready to receive the printing press as the 12th and 13th centuries had been a period of radical change in the way new inventions and innovations changed the traditional ways of managing of production, and economic growth.
Fulling Mills in Medieval Europe : comparing the manuscript and archaeological evidence
This paper provides a brief overview of the current knowledge concerning medieval fulling mills, but is primarily focused on eliciting further information and speculation from conference attendees about recent archaeological finds and manuscript evidence from medieval France and other parts of Continental Europe
The Lexis of Building in Wood in Bilingual Medieval England
The medieval literatures of England, in English, Anglo-Norman French, and Latin, make frequent references to the necessities of life such as shelter, food and clothing, but always in passing.
Glass discovered at Glastonbury Abbey dates back to 7th century, researchers find
Glass furnaces recorded in 1955-7 were previously thought to date from before the Norman Conquest. However, radiocarbon dating has now revealed that they date approximately to the 680s, and are likely to be associated with a major rebuilding of the abbey undertaken by King Ine of Wessex.