Daily Medieval

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...

The term "ergot" refers to a group of fungi that grow on rye and other grains. The illustration shows a stalk of wheat with a grow...

Gregory of Tours tells the story of the 3rd century Pope Fabian sending seven bishops to different parts of Gaul. One of them, Martial, wen...

When Pope Clement VI wanted to build a new chapel connected to the papal complex in Avignon and have it lavishly decorated, he called on Ma...

Clement VI (1291 - 1352) was a different pope from some of his predecessors. One of his first acts was to promise gifts to every cleric who ...

One of the major events during the reign of Pope Clement VI  (1291 – 6 December 1352) was not of his making. He had been pope for four years...

Pierre Roger was born in 1291 into a noble family; his siblings all had successful careers and marriages. Roger, however, entered the Benedi...

From his beginnings as a bishop and persecutor of heretics, Jacques Fournier was enthroned as Pope Benedict XII in January 1335. Although h...

Jacques Fournier (c.1285 - 25 April 1342) was born in Foix, a county in the southern part of France. He earned a Doctor of Philosophy at the...

When French historian Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie (1929 – 2023) set out to write an account of a typical French medieval village, based on certa...

There are plenty of examples of combs from centuries gone, and sometimes they are two-sided, with one side having the teeth extremely close ...

What does hair have to do with piety? Well, monks would get tonsured so that their outward appearance signified their role in society. As me...

Paul in the First Epistle to the Corinthians calls a woman's hair her "glory" and says it must be covered, because no one shou...

Hair is a fascinating resource. It is a crop that renews without any special tending, producing thread and cushioning. It can be cut, dyed, ...

The legend of Piast the Wheelwright begins with a visit by strangers who ask to join the celebration of his son's (Siemowit) 7th birthd...

I suppose it starts with Piast the Wheelwright. According to Gesta principum Polonorum ("Deeds of the Princes of the Poles"), Pia...

The king of Poland from 1333 to 1370 was Casimir III, later called "the Great" (the only Polish monarch to be given that title). W...

After the death of his second wife, Anna of Cilli , Jogaila looked for another suitable match. Because he was Lithuanian, and ruling that c...

The first ruling dynasty of Poland was the House of Piast, starting c.960 with Duke Mieszko and ending in 1370 with the death of Casimir the...

Although Sigismund, King of Hungary and brother-in-law to Jadwiga of Poland , had tried to annex parts of Poland and allied himself with the...

The unifying of Poland and Lithuania after the marriage of Jadwiga of Poland and Jogaila, the Grand Duke of Lithuania , did not resolve al...

In 1385, Lithuania was a very large territory on Poland's eastern border. Poland's throne was held by the pre-teen Jadwiga , who was...

Jadwiga of Poland (c.1373 - 17 July 1399) was the youngest of three daughters of Louis I, King of Hungary and Poland, and Elizabeth of Bosni...

The conversion of Mindaugas, Grand Duke of Lithuania  (ruled 1253-1263), was largely a political move to gain allies, and did not extend to ...

As the western world was turned to Christianity from paganism, there was one area that did not rush to baptism. In 1009CE, there is a refere...

Although Christianity was replacing paganism all over Europe, pagan cultural influences inevitably lingered, and we can see this everywhere....