Daily Medieval

We saw yesterday how Walter de Coutances did not want to give the site of Andeli to Richard I for a fortress, even though Richard was his l...

Once Richard I was out of captivity and home in England, he forgave his brother John for John's actions while Richard was away on the T...

On his way back from the Third Crusade, King Richard I of England was captured by Leopold V of Austria, who blamed Richard for the murder of...

After the Treaty of Jaffa and the official dissolution of the Third Crusade, Richard I of England headed home. He had left his brother John ...

After the Battle of Jaffa , with Richard I and the members of the Third Crusade once again in control of the city, a truce was made between ...

The Battle of Arsuf was a great disappointment for Saladin's Ayubbid forces, and to even the score with the Third Crusade under Richar...

Once the Hospitallers broke ranks and attacked Saladin's Ayubbid forces at the Battle of Arsuf , the nearest contingent—Frankish troops—...

Saladin had been following the forces of the Third Crusade, led by Richard I of England, down the coast of the Mediterranean toward Jaffa. R...

When Richard I of England arrived to lead the Siege of Acre that had been begun by Guy of Lusignan , things started looking up for the Crus...

When the Third Crusade started , it became a problem for Saladin. This was not only because it meant more Western European Christians trying...

Perhaps the most prominent Muslim in the centuries of the Crusading period was Yusuf ibn Ayyub, a Kurdish man who was given the nickname or ...

After the disastrous Battle of Hattin , when Guy of Lusignan overestimated his ability to counter Saladin's encroachment on territory c...

Guy of Lusignan (c. 1150 – 18 July 1194), who married Sibylla of Jerusalem (twice!) in yesterday's post ,  has been mentioned before in ...

I've written many times before about the importance of marriages in noble families, forging alliances with other powerful families throu...

Although Baldwin IV of Jerusalem was confirmed to have leprosy, he was still the only viable candidate to succeed his father, Amalric, as K...

When William of Tyre was asked by King Amalric of Jerusalem to raise and tutor his son, Baldwin (1161 - 1185), he noticed something unusual...

The First Crusade founded several Christian territories in the East. In order of their founding, they were the County of Edessa, the Princip...

In yesterday's post on Eve of Wilton I mentioned that much of what we learn about her comes from the writing of Hilary the Englishman. ...

Goscelin of Canterbury was a monk and writer of hagiographies, producing (among others) one of Saint  Edith of Wilton while he was chaplain...

In some ways, this is an extension of yesterday's post on the Politics of Saints , because Goscelin—our chief source of information on E...

After Edith of Wilton died (c.984), her canonization was a slow process, taking 13 years (slow for the time; canonization these days in the...

Imagine being a toddler, being raised by your mother in a convent, and then discovering that you are a royal princess. I cannot imagine how ...

King Edgar (c.944 - 975) had a few children by a few women . One of the women was Wulfthryth of Wilton, an English noblewoman born c.937 who...

After the startling murder of Edward the Martyr , Ælfthryth's role in the incident came under scrutiny. Was she simply greeting her step...

Ælfthryth was the first wife of a king of England ( Edgar the Peaceable ) to be crowned queen herself. She was the third woman (that we know...

King Edgar the Peaceable was known to have three consorts, one or two of whom he might even have married. Two of his sons went on to become...

Edgar (c.944 - 8 July 975) was king of England, a son of Edmund I , gaining the throne after the death of his older brother Eadwig. His imme...