Where the Middle Ages Begin
In Medieval England Matthew Lewis offers his readers a sweeping history covering (as the subtitle promises) a vast swath of time from the Vikings to the advent of the Tudors. Its purpose is to offer an engaging overview of this topic suitable for anyone wishing to begin their immersion into medieval English history.
Delve into the pivotal figures of the Middle Ages whose enduring legacies shaped the course of history. From visionary leaders and profound scholars to prolific writers and formidable warriors, these individuals left an indelible mark on medieval society.
Discover the 50 most significant events of the Middle Ages, spanning the years 500 to 1500.
Here are seven vivid facts about colour in the Middle Ages
In medieval times, many unique jobs, such as Ale-wife and Groom of the Stool, were essential but have since vanished. Discover these obsolete occupations and how historical changes led to their disappearance.
Are you wanting to talk more like someone from the Middle Ages? We have a list of 30 great sayings and proverbs that you can use in your conversations.
Have you wondered what a medieval king did on a typical day? Thanks to Christine de Pizan, we have an account of what daily life was like for King Charles V of France.
Some of our most popular phrases have a long history, including some that go back to the Middle Ages.
Want to know what kind of jobs there were in the Middle Ages? A unique source from the 15th century gives us some beautiful images of medieval people at work.
If you lived during the Middle Ages, what kind of things would you have? Here is a guide to some of the everyday items that a medieval person would have used or had.
In Medieval England Matthew Lewis offers his readers a sweeping history covering (as the subtitle promises) a vast swath of time from the Vikings to the advent of the Tudors. Its purpose is to offer an engaging overview of this topic suitable for anyone wishing to begin their immersion into medieval English history.
What’s new in medieval studies? Here are ten open-access articles published in October, which tell us about topics including looking at manuscripts to the denizens of hell.
In this lecture, el-Leithy will present a set of paper fragments found in an unlikely place: the inside of medieval hats.
The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri stands as one of medieval literature’s greatest masterpieces. This book follows the remarkable journey of Dante’s epic, from its creation in the early 1300s through centuries of both fame and neglect, to its enduring influence today, inspiring books, movies, and more.
This paper charts changing attitudes to urban agriculture between the late Roman and early medieval periods, with attention to how Christianity changed people’s views on flowers, how new regional economies affected what people ate, and how people in medieval Italy viewed gardens and gardening.
The Anglo-French war of 1294-1303, also known as the Gascon War, was Edward I’s main focus, driving England and France into fierce battles and alliances over Aquitaine. This book delves into the bloody confrontations of the conflict, including the pivotal Battle of the Golden Spurs.
In a surprising revelation, medieval frescoes have been uncovered in the Slovakian village of Sása. The frescoes were found in the sacristy of the Church of St. Catherine of Alexandria, which was constructed in the 13th century.
Using the huge amount of archaeological evidence we have excavated over the past 60 years, we can use this to reconstruct life at home in Ireland’s Viking-Age towns.
A groundbreaking study on the skeletal remains from the 16th-century English warship Mary Rose suggests that a person’s dominant hand could influence changes in collarbone chemistry as they age.
If you’re choosing your next ruler, you might take a page from Odo of Cheriton’s book. This 13th-century English preacher and storyteller offered tales of birds, frogs, trees, and ants who tried their hand at electing kings—and their choice backfired.
This book, featuring a dozen essays and over a hundred images, illuminates the significance of light in the Middle Ages. From scientific studies on optics to the ways sunlight filled churches, medieval society harnessed light in stunning and inventive ways.
In the medieval world, incense burners were a popular item, often crafted with great skill. This book explores how artisans in Central Asia shaped these metal burners into forms like lions, horses, and other animals, creating a unique and thriving industry.
From scavengers cleaning city streets to symbols of royal power, pigs left an indelible mark on medieval history—often in the most unusual ways.
Byzantium & Friends, Episode 122: A conversation with Eleanor Dickey on Latin words in ancient and Byzantine Greek. Eleanor has tracked them down and compiled them in a specialized dictionary, where she also offers new arguments about when, how, and why they were borrowed by Greek-speakers. It reaches down to 600 AD, but many of them survived later too, even into modern spoken Greek.
When it comes to classics of literature, it can feel like there’s a lot of pressure to nod along with the crowd and say that some authors are just brilliant, full stop. But sometimes even great literature isn’t so great. This week on The Medieval Podcast, Danièle speaks with Tison Pugh about the good, the bad, and the downright ugly in Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales.
Save 25% off our next online course: Monsters!! This 6-week class begins November 14th.
This biography about the famous 13th-century writer Gerald of Wales was actually written by Gerald himself. Writing in the third-person, Gerald narrates his career in the Church, his efforts to become a bishop, and his time in the courts of the Kings of England.
What began as a routine excavation for a Stone Age settlement has led to the discovery of a massive Viking Age burial ground in Tvååker, in southwest Sweden.
A translation of a 15th-century account of a young knight from Burgundy. Jacques de Lalaing was only 32 years old when he died, but he had already become quite famous for his success in tournaments as well as his military career.
If there’s anything we have in common with our medieval ancestors, it’s our love of monsters.
How did people convert to Christianity in early medieval England? What happens if we prioritise archaeological and art historical sources?
The British Library’s Medieval Women: In Their Own Words exhibition offers a rare glimpse into the lives of medieval women through over 140 fascinating artifacts. One of the exhibition’s curators shares five standout pieces that reveal the resilience, creativity, and influence of women in the Middle Ages.
Leonardo also studied and dissected animals at many points of his career. His subjects included horses, bears, monkeys, frogs, dogs and oxen – as surrogates for human material, as independent subjects of study, and on occasion to compare explicitly human and animal anatomy.
Did medieval kings really drink from the skulls of their enemies, or is this just one of history’s grisly exaggerations?
In Medieval England Matthew Lewis offers his readers a sweeping history covering (as the subtitle promises) a vast swath of time from the Vikings to the advent of the Tudors. Its purpose is to offer an engaging overview of this topic suitable for anyone wishing to begin their immersion into medieval English history.
Byzantium & Friends, Episode 122: A conversation with Eleanor Dickey on Latin words in ancient and Byzantine Greek. Eleanor has tracked them down and compiled them in a specialized dictionary, where she also offers new arguments about when, how, and why they were borrowed by Greek-speakers. It reaches down to 600 AD, but many of them survived later too, even into modern spoken Greek.
When it comes to classics of literature, it can feel like there’s a lot of pressure to nod along with the crowd and say that some authors are just brilliant, full stop. But sometimes even great literature isn’t so great. This week on The Medieval Podcast, Danièle speaks with Tison Pugh about the good, the bad, and the downright ugly in Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales.
This week on The Medieval Podcast, Danièle speaks with Kevin O’Connor about medieval Riga, its tumultuous place as a trading post between West and East – as well as war between bishops and crusaders – and how its medieval history plays out in today’s politics.
New and high-tech solutions for a sustainable future are being proposed on the daily, but what if some of the best ideas actually reside in the past? This week on The Medieval Podcast, Danièle speaks with Annette Kehnel about the way medieval communities shared, recycled, and even upcycled.
Last week, we looked at the story of Richard II and Henry IV, and the way these two cousins wielded the power of the English crown. This week on The Medieval Podcast, we round out the cycle that makes up the Hollow Crown by looking at Henry V, a man who many – including this week’s guest, Dan Jones – have called England’s greatest warrior king.
Richard II came to the throne as a young child, only to lose it to his cousin Henry IV in 1399. But why did Henry take such drastic action? And what became of the teenage boy who stood up to a crowd of angry peasants and held his own? This week on The Medieval Podcast, Danièle speaks with Helen Castor about these rival cousins, the events that shaped them, and how an anointed king could lose his hollow crown.