Daily Medieval

Giovanni Gualberto (c. 985 – 12 July 1073) was not the sort of person you would expect to found a monastic order. A nobleman born in a castl...

One of the "side-effects" of the Crusades was allowing Western Europeans to look for artifacts connected to the Bible and the life...

The reign of Pope Urban II was barely more than a decade, but he made some decisions with profound effects for centuries. He was born Odo of...

In 1095 CE, Gaston of Valloire (or of Dauphiné) founded a religious order, sanctioned by Pope Urban II (who also called for the First Crusad...

When Peter of Blois ' old law professor, Baldwin of Forde (pictured here outside of Canterbury Cathedral), became Archbishop of Canterbu...

Because the First Crusade was successful, in 1100-1101 several of those who had avoided going on the First (or started and turned back beca...

William IX, Duke of Aquitaine and Gascony (1071 - 1127), also Count of Poitiers, had a shaky start in life. He was the son of Duke William V...

The Peace of God and the Truce of God wrought changes in the chivalric culture of Western Europe. Starting in the 11th century, knighthood ...

William I, Duke of Aquitaine, founded Cluny Abbey in 910. Built in the Romanesque style, it had a basilica that was the largest in the world...

How do we know what happened hundreds of years ago? Sometimes we have an archaeological finds that are subject to interpretation. Sometimes ...

It can be argued that the First Crusade, announced in 1095, could not or would not feasibly have been undertaken much earlier than the end o...

Christianity in the Middle Ages did not approve of Islam and its swift growth. It was not many years after the death of Muhammad in 632 CE t...

Saint Hugo persuades Bruno of Cologne to found the Carthusian Order (cathedral window in Grenoble, France) The Carthusians have been me...

Henry IV (center), with his sons Henry V & Conrad Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV is best known for the Investiture Controversy and the...

To be thorough: there was more to the plan. Emperor Alexios I of Byzantium had requested help from the pope against invading Turks, and the ...