Daily Medieval

Folk often look to the past as a "Golden Age," or even just as having facets that fascinate the current era. There was a "Cel...

In yesterday's post about the Ardagh Hoard it was compared to the Book of Kells  as prime examples of early Irish art, but then mention...

In 1868, two boys were digging in a potato field west of Ardagh in County Limerick when they struck something solid that was definitely  not...

Legend says that St. Patrick arrived in Ardagh c.434 and created a Christian settlement over which he put his nephew, Mel of Ardagh , in cha...

St. Patrick had sisters. One of them was discussed yesterday, Derarca , called the "mother of saints" because she had so many chil...

Whether Brigid of Kildare was an early Irish saint or a pre-Christian goddess , her legend says that her mother was a slave baptized by St....

It is not unusual for Christian symbols of the cross to have variation. We all recognize the two straight lines perpendicular to each other,...

When the King of Leinster, Crimthann Mac Énnai (died 483) told his vassal Dubhthach to free a young girl from slavery, he knew she was spec...

The Annals of Ulster mention that, in the Battle of Áth Dara in 458, Crimthann mac Énnai led the Laigin forces against high king Lóegaire m...

Ireland has three national saints. Besides St. Patrick and St. Columba there is St. Brigid of Ireland, also called Brigid of Kildare. Kild...

Yesterday's post mentioned Candlemas among the cross-quarter days. It takes place on 2 February, and has taken on Christian association...

The post about Quarter Days promised an explanation for Cross-Quarter Days, and here it is. Just as the Quarter Days are the solstices and ...

I mentioned yesterday that Lady Day was one of the Quarter Days, and that I would explain them. As you might guess, Quarter Days are a Brit...

Yesterday's post on the new year  mentioned the solstices and equinoxes and their significance in the calendar year. The winter solstice...

Yesterday's post briefly pointed out the confusion over how to state the year that legislation took place when the date of the start of...

With Dafydd ap Gruffudd executed for high treason and Wales under his control, it was time for Edward to establish the government he wanted...

With Llywelyn ap Gruffudd dead  in December of 1282, the title Prince of Wales went to his younger brother, Dafydd ap Gruffydd. Dafydd was n...

It is not that surprising that the details of one particular death during a battle is not noticed, but when that person is the highest ranke...

The Treaty of Aberconwy  in 1277 was supposed to make everyone happy. Dafydd ap Gruffydd (his coat of arms is shown here) was out from under...

Hostilities between Wales and anyone living to the east who wanted to control them was ongoing for centuries, but it wasn't until Edward...

Yesterday we learned about Hywel Dda ("Howell the Good"), the 10th-century Welsh ruler, and mentioned that the parliament of Wale...

Hywel ap Cadell was known as Hywel Dda ("Howel the Good"), a Welsh king who accomplished so much that his name is attached to the ...

When the people of Northern Europe sailed westward and landed in the island of Great Britain, there were already people living there. These ...

Ranulf de Blondeville died in October 1232 without leaving an heir to the title Earl of Chester , so King Henry III needed to choose one. Fo...

Ranulf de Blondeville was the 6th Earl of Chester, but also (sort of) the 4th. The Earldom of Chester was created in 1067 by William the Co...

Yesterday I mentioned how Roger de Lacy was required, as Constable of Chester, to support Ranulf de Blondeville. Ranulph was his overlord, ...

Roger de Lacy is one of those people for whom I started this blog: a person not famous enough to be of interest to the Modern Age but who wa...

Château Gaillard had a long history after its creation by Richard I, and what remains can still be visited today. Richard I built it in Norm...

It was called the Bellum Castrum de Rupe ("the Fair Castle at the Rock"), and has a fascinating history, starting with the illega...

Walter de Coutances was a courtier and then Archbishop of Rouen whose life was tied up in the careers of three kings of England: Henry II, ...