#medieval-social-history

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History
fromOpen Culture
3 days ago

How Everything in a Medieval Castle Worked, from Its Moats to Its Dungeons

Medieval castles were complex structures designed for defense, featuring elements like barbicans, moats, and parapets.
History
fromenglish.elpais.com
1 day ago

Henry V, the great medieval English king, offers an uncomfortable example of nobility and leadership to the current Windsor monarchy

Henry V is celebrated not only for his military victories but also for his complex life and character beyond the battlefield.
History
fromMedievalists.net
5 days ago

New Medieval Books: Light on Darkness - Medievalists.net

Liturgy is central to Western cultural history, rich in artistic expression and emotional depth, influencing society for over a thousand years.
History
fromMedievalists.net
2 days ago

Judas in the Middle Ages: The Making of an Anti-Hero - Medievalists.net

Judas Iscariot symbolizes despair and damnation in medieval thought, evolving from a biblical figure to a powerful moral myth.
#archaeology
fromMedievalists.net
3 days ago
History

Medieval Gold Discovery Goes on Display in Newcastle - Medievalists.net

A 9th-century gold artefact discovered by a student will be featured in a new exhibition at the Great North Museum: Hancock.
fromMedievalists.net
1 week ago
History

Medieval Knight with Rare Genetic Disorder Identified in Spain - Medievalists.net

A knight with craniosynostosis lived and fought in medieval Spain, identified through remains found at Zorita de los Canes castle.
Philosophy
fromThe Conversation
3 weeks ago

Notions of 'Christendom' often miss the mark - medieval Europe's ideas about faith and power were not so simple

Christian nationalism relies on a distorted historical view, particularly a romanticized medieval Christendom that conflates religious and political authority in ways that did not actually function as imagined.
History
fromMedievalists.net
4 days ago

How Church Leaders Helped Defend Medieval Germany - Medievalists.net

Church leaders in Ottonian Germany were responsible for organizing defenses and mobilizing communities to protect the kingdom.
History
fromMedievalists.net
1 week ago

New Medieval Books: Basics of Bloomery Iron Smelting - Medievalists.net

The book provides a practical guide to bloomery iron smelting, detailing furnace construction and metalworking methods.
History
fromMedievalists.net
1 week ago

Medieval Goths and Goth Music: The Surprising Connection - Medievalists.net

The Goths influenced modern goth music, linking a historical Germanic tribe to contemporary cultural styles.
fromMedievalists.net
1 week ago

How Many Workers Built a Medieval Cathedral? - Medievalists.net

The financial accounts kept by the fabrique for Girona Cathedral provide exceptionally detailed records, allowing historians to calculate the total number of workers and the average employed per year.
History
Science
fromwww.npr.org
1 month ago

Unlocking the secrets of an ancient plague

A single strain of Yersinia Pestis bacteria killed hundreds of people in 7th-century Jerash within days, revealing the rapid spread and lethality of the Plague of Justinian pandemic.
History
fromMedievalists.net
1 week ago

The Size of Armies in Early Medieval Warfare - Medievalists.net

The size of early medieval armies remains debated, with some scholars arguing for small warbands while others suggest larger fighting forces existed.
Science
fromOpen Culture
1 month ago

How Medieval Cathedrals Were Built Without Science, or Even Mathematics

Medieval cathedral builders engineered complex structures like Sainte-Chapelle without mathematics or formal science, using practical techniques and empirical methods instead.
History
fromMedievalists.net
2 weeks ago

When Charlemagne Became a Thief: A Medieval Tale Retold - Medievalists.net

Charlemagne's legacy includes tales of his youth, notably an adventure involving a thief named Basin, showcasing his character and moral lessons.
History
fromMedievalists.net
2 weeks ago

Medieval Chess Reveals a More Diverse Middle Ages, Study Finds - Medievalists.net

Medieval chess functioned as a rare intellectual arena where people from different cultures and races engaged as equals, challenging assumptions about rigid medieval social hierarchies.
History
fromMedievalists.net
2 weeks ago

Medieval Words That Became Slang - Medievalists.net

Many modern slang words originated in the Middle Ages and earlier centuries, often with meanings vastly different from their contemporary usage.
History
fromMedievalists.net
2 weeks ago

Two Medieval Men Found Buried in Prehistoric Site - Medievalists.net

Medieval men were buried in the Menga dolmen, a Neolithic monument in Spain, over 4,000 years after its construction, demonstrating the site's enduring symbolic importance across millennia.
fromMedievalists.net
3 weeks ago

New Medieval Books: Approaching Records of the Household and Wardrobe - Medievalists.net

The Household and Wardrobe Accounts are English records that document the daily needs of the king and his family. This book serves as a guide to these sources, showing how they can be used and what valuable insights they offer into medieval government.
History
fromMedievalists.net
3 weeks ago

Political Borders Shaped the Spread of Medieval Chant, Study Finds - Medievalists.net

Tropes were additions inserted into established Gregorian chants. They could include new words, new melodies, or a combination of both, expanding the original liturgical piece and sometimes offering additional theological or rhetorical commentary. In many cases, tropes circulated long before they were recorded in writing. Their melodies and texts were transmitted orally for centuries before being preserved in medieval manuscripts, creating a complex web of regional variants across Europe.
History
fromHyperallergic
1 month ago

All About Love From a Black Medieval Angel

Looking to the Middle Ages for answers to the perennial puzzles of life can seem quaint, even artificial, a long reach across centuries marked by violence, hierarchy, and exclusion. And yet medieval culture offers a way of thinking about love that still speaks to the present. If love is most urgently tested in moments of strain and upheaval, then it is in those moments - where care is stressed or obscured - that its meaning comes most clearly into view.
Arts
History
fromMedievalists.net
3 weeks ago

New Medieval Books: Widow City - Medievalists.net

Late medieval Italian widows mourned their spouses and navigated their lives through religious or secular paths, evolving from allegorical subjects to prominent authors who reshaped public discourse on widowed identity.
Miscellaneous
fromArchitectural Digest
9 years ago

The 11 Most Beautiful Gothic Cathedrals Around the World

Gothic cathedrals, built 12th–16th centuries, prioritize height and light using pointed arches, ribbed vaults, and flying buttresses to create taller, stronger stone structures.
#medieval-history
fromOpen Culture
1 month ago

Cats in Medieval Manuscripts & Paintings

Renais­sance artist Albrecht Dür­er (1471-1528) nev­er saw a rhi­no him­self, but by rely­ing on eye­wit­ness descrip­tions of the one King Manuel I of Por­tu­gal intend­ed as a gift to the Pope, he man­aged to ren­der a fair­ly real­is­tic one, all things con­sid­ered.
Arts
History
fromMedievalists.net
4 weeks ago

New Medieval Books: Silence of the Gods - Medievalists.net

Europe's last pagan peoples underwent Christian conversion from the 14th to 20th centuries while maintaining their indigenous religious traditions despite political pressure to adopt Christianity.
History
fromMedievalists.net
3 weeks ago

10 Ways Video Games Have Rewritten the Middle Ages - Medievalists.net

Video games have become a primary way modern audiences encounter the Middle Ages, creating a distinctive form of medievalism shaped by gameplay mechanics that emphasizes warfare and reshapes historical reality.
Arts
fromHyperallergic
2 months ago

A Millennia-Long Fascination With Armor

The Worcester Art Museum's reopened armor galleries present global armor traditions, challenging medieval European romanticism and showcasing one of the nation's largest arms-and-armor collections.
History
fromMedievalists.net
1 month ago

New Medieval Books: Castles and Strongholds of Northumberland - Medievalists.net

Northumberland contains more castles, towers, peles, bastles and barmkins than any other British county, serving as private residences and fortifications for nobility and landowners.
History
fromMedievalists.net
1 month ago

New Online Course: En Garde! Fencing in Late Medieval and Early Modern England - Medievalists.net

A six-week course explores fencing instruction and martial arts careers in late medieval and early modern England, taught by medieval studies expert Dr Jacob H. Deacon.
History
fromMedievalists.net
1 month ago

Dreaming of Owning a Medieval Artefact? Here's Your Chance - Medievalists.net

TimeLine Auctions' March 3 online sale features hundreds of medieval historical objects including a 13th-century Limoges cross, 1224 Chinese armor, Viking silver mount, and Anglo-Saxon brooch.
History
fromMedievalists.net
1 month ago

New Medieval Books: The Taifa Kingdoms - Medievalists.net

The eleventh-century collapse of the Umayyad caliphate fragmented al-Andalus into rival taifa kingdoms, initiating the centuries-long process that ended Islamic rule in Iberia by 1492.
#assassins
fromMedievalists.net
1 month ago

New Medieval Books: The Conqueror's Gift - Medievalists.net

Imperial Roman ethnography was a gift the Romans made for themselves, because it embraced concepts with which they could address the great cultural diversity of their world. It was a gift that came from the conquerors, reflecting their supposition of preeminence. At the same time, Roman ethnography was a somewhat less welcome present for the many peoples who found themselves trapped in Rome's vision, needing to find a place within it that made sense to Roman demands.
History
History
fromMedievalists.net
2 months ago

When were the Middle Ages? - Medievalists.net

The Middle Ages lack a single, natural start or end; appropriate boundaries depend on whether political, religious, economic, or cultural changes are prioritized.
History
fromMedievalists.net
1 month ago

The Magical Gemstones of King John of England - Medievalists.net

King John's gemstones reflect medieval belief in jewels' protective and healing powers; Victorian and Edwardian historians judged monarchs as 'good' or 'bad' by parliamentary contributions.
fromMedievalists.net
2 months ago

New Medieval Books: Interconnected Traditions - Medievalists.net

This open-access book brings together more than thirty essays on languages and the ways they develop, interact, and influence one another. Its main focus is the Middle East, where Hebrew, Arabic, and Aramaic long existed side by side and often overlapped in everyday use, scholarship, and culture. In line with Geoffrey (Khan)'s commitment to the maximally accessible dissemination of research, this Festschrift has been published in both open-access digital editions and affordable printed formats.
History
History
fromMedievalists.net
1 month ago

Military Intelligence and Planning in the Carolingian Empire - Medievalists.net

Carolingian rulers built systematic intelligence networks—interrogating travelers and compiling detailed reports to gather topographical, political, and military information for campaign planning.
fromMedievalists.net
2 months ago

New Medieval Books: The Forsaken 14th Century - Medievalists.net

In this volume, the authors aim to provide a truly global overview of the 14 century, with each region given approximately the same space. It is obviously impossible to cover every event in every country of the world in a single volume, just as you would not be able to visit every city in every country if you traveled around the world for a year.
History
History
fromMedievalists.net
1 month ago

25 Tips from the Middle Ages - Medievalists.net

Medieval practical literature provided specific everyday guidance on posture, hygiene, conversation, remedies, and social behavior, blending useful tips with odd, superstition-based methods.
History
fromMedievalists.net
2 months ago

New Online Course: Medieval Europe 870 - 1300 - Medievalists.net

10-week course starting January 15 offers a panoramic overview of European history (9th–13th centuries), covering politics, economics, gender, technology, warfare, society, and external relations.
fromMedievalists.net
1 month ago

10 Medieval Studies' Articles Published Last Month - Medievalists.net

In this paper we investigate whether infant and childhood feeding practices influenced the imbalanced adult sex ratio reported in medieval Europe from historical and osteological evidence. First, we examine hypotheses for the observed imbalanced sex ratios in Europe and the evidence presented to support these hypotheses. We then use stable isotope analysis (δ13C and δ15N) of incremental dentine in 64 first molars from adults at three medieval sites (Aulla, Badia Pozzeveri, and Montescudaio) in north-western Tuscany (11th-15th c. CE).
History
History
fromMedievalists.net
2 months ago

New Medieval Books: The Horse in History - Medievalists.net

Eleven studies examine horse equipment, training, folklore, and material culture across time and Europe, emphasizing archaeological evidence and diverse methodological approaches.
fromMedievalists.net
2 months ago

Online Course: The Normans in Europe - Medievalists.net

We get started by exploring the origins of the Normans in the county and then duchy of Normandy. We will understand their Norse background and their relationship with the Carolingians. The timeline approach will help us discover all the counts and dukes of Normandy, and what they contributed to their realm. This will set the foundation for the interconnected stories that will lead us to England and the Mediterranean.
History
History
fromMedievalists.net
1 month ago

Previously Unknown Medieval Chronicle Discovered - Medievalists.net

A previously unknown 8th-century Maronite chronicle (dated 712–13 CE) offers early Christian perspective on Arab-Islamic expansion and Late Antique religious-political change.
fromMedievalists.net
1 month ago

New Medieval Books: A Crusade Against the Turks as a Means of Reforming the Church - Medievalists.net

This project will focus on the Camaldolese hermits' proposal for achieving what they considered to be the most crucial task in the repair of the church, eliminating Islam and all Muslims. Our study will begin with an examination of the recipient of the Libellus, Giovanni de' Medici, who would become Pope Leo X. Next will be an exploration into the backgrounds of Paolo Giustiniani and Pietro Querini,
History
History
fromMedievalists.net
1 month ago

Medieval Diets Varied by Social Status in England, Study Finds - Medievalists.net

Social inequality in medieval Cambridge produced lifelong dietary differences detectable in bone carbon and nitrogen isotope signatures.
History
fromMedievalists.net
2 months ago

10 Medieval Studies' Articles Published Last Month - Medievalists.net

Local populations in Anatolia used spolia to assert cultural continuity with the ancient and Byzantine past, challenging exclusive Western claims to that heritage.
History
fromMedievalists.net
2 months ago

Richard the Lionheart: New Study Rethinks His Capture After the Crusade - Medievalists.net

Richard I's capture becomes clearer when examined through regional political incentives and rival rulers' interests rather than legend and fate.
History
fromMedievalists.net
1 month ago

New Medieval Books: Celtic Magic - Medievalists.net

Ancient and medieval Celtic-speaking peoples maintained distinctive magical beliefs and practices whose evidence appears in inscriptions, classical accounts, medieval manuscripts, charms, and medical recipes.
History
fromMedievalists.net
2 months ago

New Online Course: Urban Europe: Towns and Cities in the Middle Ages - Medievalists.net

A four-week course examines the rise and management of medieval European cities, everyday town life, occupations, and religious and cultural influences.
History
fromMedievalists.net
1 month ago

New Medieval Books: Ipomedon - Medievalists.net

A twelfth-century Anglo-French romance about Ipomedon, an incognito prince tested by adventures, tournaments, and ironic narration exploring chivalry, humour, and social values.
fromMedievalists.net
2 months ago

New Medieval Books: A Demon Spirit - Medievalists.net

Abū Nuwās's poetry is sheer joy: it never fails to delight, surprise, and excite. His diwan, his collected poems, encompasses the principal early Abbasid poetic genres: panegyrics ( madīḥ), renunciant poems ( zuhdiyyāt), lampoons ( hijāʾ), hunting poems ( ṭardiyyāt), wine poems ( khamriyyāt), love poems ( ghazaliyyāt) to males ( mudhakkarāt) and females ( muʾannathāt), and transgressive verse ( mujūn).
History
History
fromMedievalists.net
2 months ago

Military Education in Early Medieval Europe: Learning from Books - Medievalists.net

Early medieval military leaders learned warfare from books—Roman manuals, handbooks, and case studies—informing campaigns, sieges, and logistical planning.
fromMedievalists.net
1 month ago

Online Course: Medieval Gender and Sexuality - Medievalists.net

Eleanor Janega is one of the most well-known historians of the Middle Ages, widely recognised as the host and co-creator of several history series on HistoryHit TV and the podcast Going Medieval. She is also a prolific writer and public educator, bringing medieval history to a broad audience through her engaging books, articles, and media appearances. With a keen focus on medieval society, gender, and power structures, Janega challenges popular misconceptions and makes the past accessible with wit and scholarly depth.
History
fromMedievalists.net
2 months ago

Rules of a Medieval Library - Medievalists.net

When universities began to emerge in Europe during the eleventh and twelfth centuries, they soon became important centres of knowledge. Their libraries could hold hundreds of books, and many of the most valuable volumes were kept under close control - sometimes even chained to desks. We have few details about how medieval university libraries operated, but a revealing set of rubric headings survives from the University of Angers in western France.
History
History
fromMedievalists.net
2 months ago

Medieval Maps of Britain - Medievalists.net

Medieval cartography depicted Britain variably, evolving from vague island outlines to clearer, labeled representations showing towns, provinces, and classical influences.
History
fromMedievalists.net
1 month ago

New Medieval Books: A Medieval Case for Islam's Superiority - Medievalists.net

An eighth-century Abbasid letter to the Byzantine emperor defends Islam, critiques Christian misunderstandings, and reflects Abbasid-Byzantine diplomacy and Baghdad's intellectual life.
History
fromMedievalists.net
1 month ago

New Medieval Books: Blessed Mary and the Monks of England - Medievalists.net

English Benedictine and Cistercian monks (1000–1215) shaped medieval Mariology by deepening Marian devotion, theological reflection, and using Mary as a model for Christian life.
fromMedievalists.net
2 months ago

New Medieval Books: Chasing the Pearl-Manuscript - Medievalists.net

This is a book about a book: the small, cropped, somewhat ragged but brightly illustrated volume now known formally, and rather forbiddingly, as British Library MS Cotton Nero A.x/2. The fame and beauty of its four Middle English poems have given it sobriquets beyond the shelfmark, however, which are more familiar and intimate: it is also the Gawain-Manuscript or, as I will call it, the Pearl-Manuscript.
History
History
fromMedievalists.net
2 months ago

Medieval Self-Portraits: Ten Artists Who Put Themselves in the Picture - Medievalists.net

Medieval self-portraits functioned as devotional, personal, and social statements revealing how individuals in the Middle Ages wanted to be seen.
History
fromMedievalists.net
1 month ago

New Online Course: The Americas during the Middle Ages - Medievalists.net

An online six-week course examines indigenous peoples of North America and Mesoamerica (500–1500 CE), emphasizing diverse peoples, environments, lifestyles, and pre-contact historical trends.
History
fromMedievalists.net
2 months ago

Victory in Death: The Templars at Cresson - Medievalists.net

Templar zeal led to reckless charges against vastly superior forces, turning battlefield defeats into celebrated martyrdom and precluding negotiated truces.
History
fromMedievalists.net
2 months ago

Early Medieval England Saw Continuous Migration, Study Finds - Medievalists.net

Migration in early medieval England was continuous from the end of Roman rule to the eve of the Norman Conquest, with regional and sex differences.
History
fromMedievalists.net
2 months ago

Crusader Frontiers: Mapping the Medieval Holy Land - Medievalists.net

Medieval Crusader frontiers functioned as dynamic networks of castles, passes, ports, and strongpoints that require detailed geospatial mapping to accurately represent shifting landscapes.
History
fromMedievalists.net
2 months ago

New Medieval Books: Impossible Recovery - Medievalists.net

Julian of Norwich's illness and visions show how sickness and revelation intertwine, shaping personal recovery and the subsequent expression and theorization of experience.
History
fromwww.medievalists.net
2 months ago

Hattin and the Templars' Last Stand

The Templars' desperate rear-guard charge at the Horns of Hattin in July 1187 failed disastrously, marking a pivotal collapse of the Crusader army.
History
fromMedievalists.net
2 months ago

New Medieval Books: Joan of Arc - Medievalists.net

Joan of Arc's life transformed into a mutable cultural icon, repeatedly recast as hero, monster, and saint, maintaining powerful resonance in France across six centuries.
History
fromMedievalists.net
2 months ago

Ten Medieval Discoveries That Shaped How We Understand Sleep - Medievalists.net

Medieval Arabic and Persian physicians developed clinical observations and treatments of sleep, including recovery indicators, comparative treatment testing, and detailed descriptions like sleep paralysis.
History
fromMedievalists.net
2 months ago

Medieval hall discovered in Northern England - Medievalists.net

Excavations at Sparrow Croft near Skipsea Castle reveal rare Anglo-Saxon high-status structures: a malthouse, timber tower foundation and large hall predating 1066.
History
fromWorld History Encyclopedia
2 months ago

Clothing Through History: Fashion Across Three Millennia

Clothing across centuries signaled social status, practical needs, and personal identity, varying by materials, colours, and silhouettes across cultures and eras.
History
fromMedievalists.net
2 months ago

New Medieval Books: Mongol Invasion against Europe (1236-1242) - Medievalists.net

Mongol campaigns into Rus and Eastern Europe (1236–1242) reshaped regional military and political orders and spurred renewed scholarly inquiry into their consequences.
fromMedievalists.net
2 months ago

Online Course: Medieval Education: From Schools to Universities - Medievalists.net

Explore the history of education in the Middle Ages through the development of schools, curriculums, the growth of universities, and the diverse individuals who were involved in teaching and learning during this 1000 years of history. Class begins on Saturday, January 24th. This six-week course includes live 90-minute sessions with Ryder Patzuk-Russell each week from 12:00 to 1:30 pm EST.
History
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