Daily Medieval

Technically, he was King William II of England but was called "Rufus" for his reddish beard, William was the third eldest son of W...

There have been many references in this blog to the children of lords by their mistresses, but we've given very little attention to the ...

Margaret of Wessex (c.1045 - 16 November 1093) was born in Hungary while her family was exiled there. Her father was Edward the Exile, heir ...

Edgar Ætheling had been through many ups and downs . For the trouble he had caused for William II of Normandy as an "alternate choice...

So the Duchy of Normandy was created when King Charles the Simple made a treaty in 911 with Rollo, a Viking who had established himself as C...

The Duchy of Normandy was created in 911 by the Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte, an agreement between King Charles III ("the Simple...

Orderic Vitalis was given the job of writing a history of the Church. Like most medieval authors, however, he did not start with a blank pag...

At a time when Christian priests could marry, a French priest named Odelerius of Orléans came to England following his patron, who became th...

Taking sole credit for a written work was not always as important as it is to some authors today.  William of Jumièges (c.1000 – post-1070) ...

In 1876, in the nave of the chapel of Mont Saint-Michel, a grave was opened to reveal the remains of a former abbot. With the remains was a ...

King David I (pictured here) was one of many sons of Malcolm III of Scotland, several of whom had their chance on the throne after it had be...

In the years 1100 - 1350, a type of musical performer arose called a troubadour. They did not call themselves troubadours; that term was fir...

Becoming a monk was not always a choice. Sometimes it was the default choice for someone with no skills that he could turn into a career, or...

Want to own a speaker that plugs into your laptop and depicts the ordination of Guthlac? You can! Today is the feast day of an English...

Orderic Vitalis (1075-c.1142) has been mentioned here and here for his history writing. The 13 books of his Historia ecclesiastica [...

William of Malmesbury tells us of a disastrous event on 25 November 1120: the sinking of the White Ship off the coast of Normandy: Here al...