Daily Medieval

Edward I receiving homage; Lord Borchard de Herle is on the far right Does a diplomat owe his loyalty to his monarch or his mission? Can...

When your religion is centered on a holy text, and a majority of the population cannot read, how do you bridge the gap between a devoti...

The Peasants' Revolt of 1381 was mentioned last year over a five-day span , but the events in London weren't the only expression of ...

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

Tiffany window of Charlemagne and Alcuin at LaFayette College (1898) Alcuin of York has been mentioned before, primarily in his relat...

Speaking of the monastic life... Today (13 May) is the feast day of John the Silent (452-558), who took living a private life to an extr...

St. Anthony the Great is credited with being the first monk in that he did not just live an ascetic life, but also he removed himself fro...

Anthemius of Tralles (c.474-c.557) was mentioned as one of the builders (along with Isidore of Miletus) of the new Hagia Sophia . We know m...

The greatest church in the eastern Mediterranean was the Hagia Sop hia [Greek Ἁγία Σοφία - "Holy Wisdom"] in  Constantinople. Th...

Dimashq. دمشق. Dimishe'. al-Sh ām. The City of Jasmine. "Oldest continuously inhabited city in the world." Damascus. I...

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

One Latin form of Augustine was "Austinus" Augustine of Hippo (354-430), pious man and brilliant theologian, has been mention...

The Council of Constance (illustrated here) in 1414 has been mentioned before—or, at least, its outcomes. It was at this, the 16th ecumenica...

Romsey Abbey was, for a brief time, the home of Matilda of Scotland and her sister Mary. It is called "Romsey" because it was or...

Seal of Queen Matilda When King William II died mysteriously in 1100, his brother immediately ascended the throne. Needing a queen, he ...

(I apologize if the title—or the topic—is too crude for some.) The poor fellow to the right (the one half showing) is suffering from an an...

The "Beast of Provence" (also known as the "Giant of Provence" or "Bald Mountain") is actually Mont Ventoux [M...

Let's see...so many to choose from. The Feast Day of St. George , patron saint of England (who certainly did not exist) Anniversary of...

Recent events in Boston have underscored what Americans do not know about world geography. The news that the alleged bombers were Chechen, f...

Every once in awhile, I decide to throw in bits and pieces that come my way but don't fit into a regular post. I did one here for the d...

Since we brought up Canterbury yesterday, and arguably its most famous archbishop, let us take a look at his predecessor, who was very much...

Whan that Aprille with his shoures soote  The droghte of Marche hath perced to the roote  DailyMedieval doesn't usually talk about...

Madaba, a town east of the Dead Sea, suffered from a devastating earthquake in 746 and was left to become wilderness. Centuries later, Madab...

In the Middle Ages, the evidence suggests that Ethiopia was a Christian nation surrounded by hostile Muslim territories. Medieval manuscript...

Did a monk of the 11th century accomplish the first manned flight? There is reason to believe so. In the Gesta Regum Anglorum [Deeds of...

This blog has touched on the debate over the date of Easter in the past, but the truth is that the early Church went through different phase...

Rudolph of Swabia was referred to as an anti-king after he was defeated by Henry IV in 1080. Anti-popes are a common concept in history, ...

Today picks up from the previous post . Although canon law did not apply to non-Christian populations, that attitude changed when Europe...

Since I've been looking into canon law lately ( here and here ), I thought I would share an interesting facet of Medieval era canon law...

Ignorantia juris neminem excusat. Ignorance of the law excuses no one. Many years ago, comedian Steve Martin offered up a mono...