Daily Medieval

[see Part 1 here and Part 2 here ] [Meanwhile, In Constantinople...] Alexios IV Emperor Alexios III Angelos (c.1153-1211) over...

[see Part 1 here ] From Venice to Zara, and later to Constantinople Those members of the 4th Crusade who went to Venice were lodged ...

The Kingdom of Jerusalem, established after the First Crusade by Europeans, had been re-conquered by Saladin in 1187. Much of that was rec...

Plaque on the site of Montfort's death Simon de Montfort has been mentioned before, opposing Henry III , but that was the 6th Earl ...

This past Saturday, the 21st of June, was the anniversary of the death of Enrico Dandolo, the 42nd Doge of Venice. His tenure as Doge had...

Doxe de Venexia. Doge di Venezia. The Doge of Venice. The title is based on the Latin dux ["military leader"], from which ...

Tomb of Margareta, at the Monastery Church of Mary Medingen To wrap up a week of religion and mysticism, we turn to Margareta Ebner, a ...

And God said to the soul: I desired you before the world began. I desire you now As you desire me. And where the desires of two come toget...

The walled town of Nördlingen in Bavaria Henry of Nördlingen was an interesting character. We don't know when he was born, nor when...

From the Church of St. Sebald in Nuremberg; Christina Ebner stands to the side of the Virgin and Child Christina Ebner was born on Goo...

17th century painted icon (ironically) representing the "Not Made by Human Hands" tradition; the Greek letters in the halo ind...

(photo credit Conor Hogan, 2014) The picture here is medieval, although not from the Middle Ages. It's of the dome of Our Lady of V...

Treatise on Musical Intervals, by Jean de Muris Jean de Muris was mentioned in the post on Ars Nova as the author of Ars novæ musicæ [...

from Italian manuscript J. IV.115, an example of Ars Nova notation Beginning in the early 1300s there was a change in musical style, an...

Fauvel holds forth.   A 14th century manuscript is an amazing example of a "multi-media" piece of fiction. The story? It...

Harthacanute's death at the wedding feast [Cambridge University Library, Ee.3.59, fo. 7r] He was the son of King Cnut, and his roya...

Gilbert de Clare, Tewksbury Abbey Unknown if this is "our" Gilbert, his son, or his grandfather Gilbert de Clare, 7th Earl of...

Evesham Abbey had existed for about five and a half centuries by the time Henry III was captured by Simon de Montfort at the Battle of L...

The skull of Skeleton 180, with sword damage The monks of Lewes Priory ran a Hospital of St. Nicholas in the Middle Ages, now long gone...

The remains of Lewes Castle King John wasn't the only English monarch who had his barons turn against him (forcing him to sign the...

These may be the remains of Olaf Guthfrithsson Not historical coincidence; recent coincidence. In the post on Vikings in Ireland , just...

Ivar the Boneless, played by Vaclovas Kiselevicius in the TV show "The Dark Ages" The post on Vikings in Ireland mentioned I...

A sign of Viking presence in Ireland: a Viking ship built in Dublin c. 1042 As alluded to in the post on King Edmund I , Ireland was th...

from a  genealogy of the kings of England Edmund I Edmund the Magnificent Edmund the Just Edmund the Deed-Doer It isn't often...

Because medieval universities were often designed as breeding grounds for educated clerics, clerical robes were a standard form of dress....

[ source ] Yesterday we mentioned Dr. Sharon DeWitte of the University of South Carolina, who examines skeletons from the Middle Ages ...

When learning about people in the Middle Ages, you can only go so far with records and archaeology. Sometimes you have to go to the peopl...

Month of May from British Library MS Harley 2332 I don't mean locating a mate, but the practice of locating a particular event some...

Sancho in a contemporary manuscript King Sancho IV of Castile (1258 - 1295), also known as Sancho the Brave, ruled the combined Iberian...

Ælfgifu on the Bayeaux Tapestry Ælfgifu of Northampton was once mentioned here as the wife of King Cnut. When King Svein Forkbeard of ...