Daily Medieval
A daily post on the Middle Ages by Tim Shaw.
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The Walking Dead of Orderic Vitalis
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04 December 2024
Leo, Son of Basil
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As Byzantine Emperor Basil I (811 - 886) reached his later years, his mood and health declined. He was depressed at the death of his eldest ...
03 December 2024
Zoe Zaoutzaina, Consort
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Emperor Leo VI "the Wise" became Byzantine emperor in 886. He had married, in 883, the daughter of a dynasty that had been emperor...
02 December 2024
More Holy Girdles
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I do not know if the Girdle of Thomas in the Prato Cathedral inspired the others, or if the stories of others in the East inspired a Girdle...
01 December 2024
The Girdle of St. Thomas
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Speaking of relics you can find in Tuscany, let's turn to Prato Cathedral where we can find a knotted woven cord in a golden reliquary ...
30 November 2024
The Holy Face of Lucca
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King William II of England was known to curse by saying "By the face of Lucca!" In a 1970 book from Margaret A. Murray, The God o...
29 November 2024
Death in the New Forest
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When he was in his 40s, King William II "Rufus" of England had successfully dealt with rebellions , been pretty successful in dea...
28 November 2024
Rufus versus Anselm
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The professional relationship between Anselm of Bec (later "of Canterbury") and King William II of England was as rocky as any s...
27 November 2024
William Rufus
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Technically, he was King William II of England but was called "Rufus" for his reddish beard, William was the third eldest son of W...
26 November 2024
The Rebellion of 1088
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When William the Conqueror died, he had already made his wishes clear about the division of his lands. His older son, Robert Curthose , bec...
25 November 2024
Odo's Downfall
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After the Trial in 1076 that re-apportioned some of the property (and therefore income) of Odo of Bayeux , he was quiet for a few years. As...
24 November 2024
The Trial of Penenden Heath
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Odo of Bayeux had it all. He was the half-brother of Duke William of Normandy (they shared a mother ), who made him a bishop. When William ...
23 November 2024
Odo of Bayeux
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William the Conqueror had two half-brothers, due to his father having an affair with Herleva of Falaise , who later had two sons after marr...
22 November 2024
Herleva of Falaise
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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 ...
21 November 2024
Robert of Mortain
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When William of Normandy decided to conquer England, he planned carefully. This was going to be a big undertaking, and he needed help and a...
20 November 2024
Vitalis of Savigny
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In the 1170s, a canon of the Church of Saint-Evroult in Mortain (in northwestern France) wrote about a man who had died 50 years prior but w...
19 November 2024
Dalon Abbey
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In 1114, the ruler of Salles in France—Gerald de Salles, a French monastic reformer—wanted to found an abbey in the town of Sainte-Trie. He ...
18 November 2024
Baron Bertran de Born
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When Henry the Young King attacked his brother Richard in 1183, he had the support of a lord of Hautefort. Hautefort was surrounded by pro...
17 November 2024
Young King Henry, Part 3
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When Henry II of England crowned his son, Young King Henry , as a co-ruler, he could not have predicted that the son would attempt to overt...
16 November 2024
Young King Henry, Part 2
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King Henry II of England followed the one-time Capetian practice of having your son and heir crowned king in your lifetime to prepare for th...
15 November 2024
Young King Henry, Part 1
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Henry II of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine were married in 1152 and had a son in 1153, but William died in 1156 at the age of two. On 28...
14 November 2024
Marriage Alliances
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It was expected that kings and other nobles would try to gain alliances (and therefore security) by marrying their sons and daughters to imp...
13 November 2024
Eleanor Later
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In the later years of their marriage, Eleanor of Aquitaine spent long stretches of time apart from King Henry II. From 1168 until 1173, for...
12 November 2024
Eleanor in England
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On 19 December 1154, Archbishop Theobald of Canterbury crowned Henry Curtmantle as King Henry II of England. His wife, the former queen of F...
11 November 2024
Attacking Henry and Eleanor
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When Eleanor of Aquitaine married Henry Curtmantle (the future King Henry II of England), the move felt threatening to many people on the c...
10 November 2024
Eleanor on the Run
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With the annulment on 21 March 1152 from King Louis VII of France, Eleanor of Aquitaine was now a target for any unscrupulous noble who t...
09 November 2024
Louis, Eleanor, Annulment
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King Louis VII of France had a problem. His clever and wealthy wife, Eleanor of Aquitaine , was really getting on his nerves. On the Second ...
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