Daily Medieval

First, some background. In what is now eastern Belgium there was a territory called Hasbania. In French it is now referred to as Hesbaye. Th...

The idea of actual Papal States  giving the pope serious temporal power really took off in 756 when Pepin the Short , king of the Franks, ga...

Desiderius, from a 15th century miniature I mentioned here how Charlemagne fought and defeated Desiderius, King of the Lombards, and s...

Bertrada of Laon Properly speaking, the Carolingian Era started with Carolus Martellus, Charles "the Hammer" Martel (c.688-741...

Nicknames: so easy to get, so hard to get rid of. When Mayor of the Palace and military genius  Charles Martel presented his 12-year-old s...

Kings cannot run every administrative detail of their household themselves, so they appoint people to do it for them. Chamberlain, senescha...