Daily Medieval

A collection of notes related to the date and to this blog*: St. Francis was first mentioned here , then the phenomenon of his stigmata h...

In the 12th century in England, the practice of writing histories was becoming relatively common. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicles and the Chro...

In the history of the Middle Ages, there must be many "forgotten kings"—those whose rules were too short or too obscure or too t...

Painting, Vincenzo Foppa (1430-1515) St. Francis of Assisi has already been mentioned , but since this is the anniversary of his death ....

Melrose Abbey, on the Scottish border, mentioned in connection with St. Cuthbert , is historically significant for other reasons. Many Sco...

In the history of medieval Christianity, there are stories of entire countries converting all at once. The tale of St. Rémy (c.437-533) is o...

Today is the 805th anniversary of Rumi's birth. On the 800th anniversary, in a story done by BBC News online, he was referred to as ...

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. ...

The Classical and Middle Ages generated more Saints Anthony that you can shake a crozier at: Anthony of Antioch (d.302) Anthony the Hermi...

Coptic Icon of St. Mark Coptic Christians have suddenly been in the news, from a centuries-old fragment of papyrus with a supposed refer...

For a long time, there were two competing theories about how the eyes see—both wrong. Alhazen ibn al-Haytham Aristotle believed in w...

Murder has long been considered the worst crime in many societies. Unlike theft, or vandalism, it cannot be paid back. The only "prop...

Hermann, with crutch & Salve Regina Hermann of Reichenau (1013-1054) was born to Count Wolverad II and his wife Hiltrud in Upper Swa...

Holy Trinity Church in Barsham, Suffolk The equinox, from Latin aequinoctium (the time of equal days and nights), the day twice each ye...

One street is all that remains of the Jewry Jews had followed William the Conqueror to England* and established a significant presence i...

[For earlier history, see here .] Finding the origin of nursery rhymes can be unreliable, since one never knows how long a rhyme was circu...

London Bridge—the first of which was built in 80 CE—has, indeed, fallen down. In fact, for the first millennium of the Common Era, the wood...

Abbot Suger in stained glass Back here , I discussed Gothic architecture, but there was no time to mention its birthplace, the Abbey Chu...

Locks are mentioned as far back as the Old Testament. The book of Nehemiah , which describes events in the second half of the 5th century, m...

Silk was not a medieval invention. According to Chinese tradition , Empress Si-Ling-Chi in 2460 BCE watched silkworms spinning cocoons; she ...

12th c. image of St. Cuthbert St. Cuthbert (c.634-687), briefly mentioned here , never stayed in one place for very long—not even after ...

Today is the 758th anniversary (according to tradition) of the birth of Marco Polo (1254-1324). Son of a wealthy Venetian merchant who tra...