Daily Medieval

Theodore of Tarsus likely never thought that a Greek who in his youth had to flee Persian and Muslim invasions would one day wind up Archbis...

When Deusdedit was Archbishop of Canterbury (from 655 to 664), he had in his household a Saxon priest named Wighard. The date of Deusdedit...

This blog has covered many men and women from the past who, at a young age, decided to take on a religious lifestyle, whether in a monastery...

Things seemed to be going well for Ralph Neville , the Bishop of Chichester and Lord Chancellor for life. He had a nice new manor on New Str...

Ralph Neville is an example of a powerful figure in Medieval English administration whose personal details are little known. He was ordained...

The controversy between King Henry II and his best friend, Thomas Becket, was far from the only clash between temporal and ecclesiastical p...

While Anselm was still abbot of Bec and avoiding the journey to England to become Archbishop of Canterbury because of William II's auth...

One of Anselm's last challenges was dealing with a challenge to his authority, but this time not from a secular source. England had two ...

Gerald of Wales (c.1146 - c.1223) provided us with extensive information on  Ireland and Wales and England of his time. Serving several Pla...

What made Baldwin of Forde (c. 1125 – 19 November 1190) think his connections and his rise to the highest ecclesiastical position in England...

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

Peter of Blois (c.1130 - c.1211) was well-connected; not through his family, but through people he knew growing up and going to school. One ...

The Venerable Bede tells a story of Pope Gregory I in the Roman slave market, seeing some fair-haired and light-skinned slaves from Britain ...

The martyrdom and subsequent popularity of Thomas Becket  inspired several legends, which is not unusual. Since pilgrimages were popular i...

Thomas Becket rose from decent middle-class origins to the highest non-royal position in England. As Archbishop of Canterbury, however, hi...

When King Henry II of England saw his good friend and loyal Lord Chancellor become Archbishop of Canterbury, he assumed he had an ideal oppo...

Simon of Sudbury, or just Simon Sudbury, was one of those people who shows up here and there, for instance during the Peasants' Revolt w...

Christine de Pizan and her dog [ link ] In Chaucer's Canterbury Tales , the Prologue describes the Prioress as having small lapdogs...

Off the coast of Mystic, Connecticut is Enders Island. Only 11 acres in size, it is named for Dr. Thomas B. Enders, who purchased it in 191...

Excerpt from the Taxatio; see the word "Census" upper-right Today is the birthday of  Pope Nicholas IV; you can read a brief ...