This is one of several posts on drink in the Middle Ages. The others are: Early Medieval French wine Stumbling through history towards beer Getting drunk in Medieval France Beyond wine, water and beer: what else they drank in Medieval … Read more
When Sam Nixon, an archaeologist with the British Museum, excavated ancient coin molds in Tadmekka, Mali, in 2005, it triggered a several-year exploration of how medieval Africans purified the gold they were using for their currency. Nixon had found little … Read more
If you know nothing else about medieval European illuminated manuscripts, you surely know the Book of Kells. “One of Ireland’s greatest cultural treasures” comments Medievalists.net, “it is set apart from other manuscripts of the same period by the quality of its … Read more
Tucked within the Danish Royal Library in Copenhagen and the Bavarian State Library in Munich, rare medieval manuscripts depict something unusual, even for the Middle Ages—a man and woman fighting in a trial by combat. The man is drawn waist-deep … Read more
HURDY GURDYS, LUTES, GREGORIAN CHANTS, THUNDERING DRUMSAND PUNISHING PERCUSSIVE FOLEY FX. THE EP-1320 IS THE FIRST OF ITS KIND:FEATURING A LARGE LIBRARY OF PHRASES, PLAY READY INSTRUMENTSAND ONE-SHOT SAMPLES FROM AN AGE WHERE DARKNESS REIGNED SUPREME,THE INSTRUMENTALIS ELECTRONICUM IS THE … Read more
Deliciously detailed 13th century plan. And a Tudor one, too. How I lost myself in Medieval London. Image: Matt Brown Welcome to your Wednesday instalment of Londonist: Time Machine. We’ve featured quite a few maps in this newsletter over the … Read more
A small cache of medieval game pieces has been discovered in the ruins of a recently discovered castle in southern Germany. The finds provide a window into leisure time, possibly among actual knights, dating back nearly a millennium, approximately the … Read more
Image by Toni Pecoraro, via Wikimedia Commons Go to practically any major city today, and you’ll notice that the buildings in certain areas are much taller than in others. That may sound trivially true, but what’s less obvious is that … Read more
A lady plays with a pet squirrel, wearing a belled collar, in the early 14th century Luttrell Psalter. Credit: British Library Board Ms Add. MS 42130 f. 33r Evidence from archaeological sites in the medieval English city of Winchester shows … Read more
By Danièle Cybulskie It’s one of the quintessential “medieval” images: a kingly figure sits at a long table, chewing the meat from a drumstick with his mouth open and tossing the bones on the floor for the dogs before taking … Read more