Daily Medieval

Our first foray into the special medieval holdings of the Bodleian Library is "Cædmon's Hymn." Bede wrote that Cædmon was an...

Yesterday we talked about the medieval attitude toward Noah , mostly from the Jewish viewpoint. Another group that spent a significant amoun...

There is a question about Ursus arctos  in England, the brown bear that was most common in that part of the world: when did it disappear? Th...

Many of you already know about the Norman Invasion of 1066 when William the Conqueror became ruler of England and the Anglo-Saxons within. T...

Alfred the Great (848 - 26 October 899) was not the King of England, because at the time there was no unified England. He was king of the We...

I remember the character Queenie in the TV show "Lark Rise to Candleford" (based on the partially autobiographical books by Flora ...

In a part of southwest Scotland that used to be in Northumberland stands a stone cross 18 feet high, the Ruthwell Cross, carved with runic i...

Some of the pieces from the Anglo-Saxon Staffordshire Hoard. The largest hoard of Anglo-Saxon gold and silver coins was uncovered in St...

From a feast at the University of Rochester Most readers of this blog will be familiar with the Boar's Head Carol. The version we...

The European Middle Ages did not like bland food, and used spices extensively—often in combinations we would find odd or downright unappeal...

Tolkien in his study Time to break one of my rules and discuss a 20th century event. Today is the 41st anniversary of the death of J....

First page of the Textus Roffensis. The water damage is from the early 1700s. The Textus de Ecclesia Roffensi per Ernulphum episcopum  ...

As best we can determine, Symposius was a 4th- or 5th-century author of the Ænigmata , a collection of 100 Latin riddles. The oldest known...

The Vercelli Book, opened to "The Dream of the Rood" The post on The Exeter Book mentioned that it was one of four sources of...

"The Wanderer" in the Exeter Book The Exeter Book was mentioned as the source of two poems about St. Guthlac . It holds much m...

The various Anglo-Saxon kingdoms Poor Æthelbert! All the attention this blog gives him is in regard to wergild . He deserves attention f...

Deer park at Kentchurch Court, UK A royal prerogative in many eras and cultures was to be able to hunt where and when the ruler wished. ...

Edgar and his sister, St. Margaret, landing at Wearmouth after their ship was blown off course Yesterday was the anniversary of the Ba...

Plaque in Queenhithe. One of modern London's 25 Wards, Queenhithe, has an ancient history. It is currently quite silted up, but orig...

Were the Norse Norns/Fates the "Mothers"? Among the notable works of the Venerable Bede (c.673-735) is De temporum ratione (T...