Daily Medieval

There was more than one period of time called an Interregnum ("between reigns") when a ruler for a specific area was lacking. The ...

The earliest reference of the Vision of Tnugdalus  comes from the Scots Monastery in Regensburg, Germany. Why was it called "Scots...

We are now in the Christian season of Advent, from the Latin adventus,  meaning "coming." It comprises the four Sundays leading...

Statues of the two Ewalds, in the church at Cologne. Although the Saxons were not converted to Christianity until Charlemagne did it by...

Henry IV (center), with his sons Henry V & Conrad Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV is best known for the Investiture Controversy and the...

Remains of an irminsul in Friedrichsgrund The Royal Frankish Annals have an entry for 772: The most gracious Lord King Charles then h...

[ source ] This blog has mentioned before that St. Boniface called for help from women as well as men when he attempted to christianize...

There is a lot more to say about Trial by Combat than can be put into a brief post. The history includes interesting anecdotes and surpri...

The dueling area was typically 60 feet square. One of the things "everyone knows" about the Middle Ages is the idea of Trial ...

Bronze-Iron Age buttons as ornament. [ source ] Although evidence of buttons exists as far back as the classical era, it appears that th...

Hildegard of Bingen shown with a psaltery. One of the oldest known composers of liturgical music—and perhaps the earliest medieval drama...

Henry being offered the position of King of Germany, while working with his nets. (1900, Hermann Vogel) Richard Wagner's opera, Lo...

The name "Hedwig" is now familiar to millions as the name of Harry Potter's owl, but it has a long history that predates its u...

It's far from St. Stephen's Day, but yesterday was the anniversary of the death of the man who is associated with that holiday. ...

Scholar and Teacher, Priest and Politician There are two reasons why I want to mention Lanfranc today. One is because today is the 923rd a...