Daily Medieval

Władysław III of Poland was born on 31 October 1424. He was named King of Poland when he was 10 years old and King of Hungary at the age ...

Ferdinand I, son of Pedro the Cruel Inheritance is never more complicated than when a throne is involved. The stakes are too high for a...

Afonso (1210 - 1279) was the second son of Afonso II of Portugal, and so never expected to inherit the throne. It was supposed to go to h...

A memorial in Lisbon* We touched on the Lisbon Massacre, in which between 1000 and 2000 (and maybe more) Jews were slaughtered, in the p...

The other day I mentioned that King Alfonso of Portugal in the 15th century had a Jewish treasurer. He was a statesman and scholar as well,...

A secret seder [ source ] Yesterday I alluded to a third option available to persecuted Jews in the Middle Ages who were forced into t...

The Inquisition in Portigal [ source ] When the Alhambra Decree gave Jews the choice of converting to Christianity or leaving the kingd...

Christopher Columbus is about as late as a "medieval" blog should deal with, but to me it seems appropriate. The world that Colu...

King John I of Portugal weds Philippa of Lancaster, 1386 ( Chronique de France et d'Angleterre,  Jean Wavrin, 15th c .) When Edward ...