Daily Medieval

(I said we would get back to Amalric, but I've discovered a side story that I would rather not put off.) King of Jerusalem Amalric I di...

In 1163, the young Fatimid caliph of Egypt was al-Adid, who was only 12 and a puppet of several strong nobles and viziers. His current vizie...

Born into the Zengid Dynasty, Al-Malik al-Adil Abu al-Qasim Nūr al-Dīn Maḥmūd bin Imad al-Dīn Zengī, known as Nur ad-Din, became Emir of Ale...

Baldwin III, King of Jerusalem, contracted dysentery in 1162 after taking some pills from a Syriac physician. He was only 33 years old, and ...

Some women in the Middle Ages became pawns as wives to powerful men. Some women had power in their own right and wielded it despite oppositi...

Queen Melisende and Fulk of Anjou had a second son, Amalric, born in 1136. When his grandfather, King Baldwin II of Jerusalem, was on his d...

The young King Baldwin III of Jerusalem really wanted to be seen as a military commander. To do this, he would have to take steps to overcom...

After the defeat and embarrassment of the Bosra incident , Queen Melisende tried to keep her son and co-ruler, King Baldwin III of Jerusale...

The decision to go to Bosra (pictured) and help Altuntash become ruler of the Hauran against the wishes of Damascene ruler Mu'in ad-Din ...

With Fulk of Anjou dead from a riding accident  in 1143, Melisende now had full control over the Kingdom of Jerusalem with her son Baldwin ...

The King and Queen of Jerusalem were very involved in supporting and promoting the Christian religion. Queen Melisende contributed to many...

After a rocky start to their life as King and Queen of Jerusalem, Fulk of Anjou and Melisende  started to work together. Melisende was part...

Fulk of Anjou made sure that King of Jerusalem Baldwin II's choice of eldest daughter Melisende to succeed him was firm before he agree...

Baldwin II, Count of Edessa, and Morphia of Melitene had four daughters. When it seemed likely that a son was not going to happen, Baldwin n...

When Thierry of Alsace, the Count of Flanders, made his third pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 1157, he took his wife, Sibylla of Anjou . They...

When Fulk V of Anjou married his daughter Sibylla (c. 1112 – 1165) to William Clito , a grandson of William the Conqueror, it seemed like a ...

So King Henry I of England managed to get the marriage of William Clito and Sibylla of Anjou annulled in 1124 through the help of Pope Cali...

When William the Conqueror died, he had already made his wishes clear about the division of his lands. His older son, Robert Curthose , bec...

When Pope Honorius II wanted to resolve a dispute in England between the Archbishops of Canterbury and York, he sent Giovanni of Crema as h...

Bernard of Clairvaux was concerned (as just about everyone for several centuries) about the relationship between religious and secular autho...

After making a deal with Roger II of Sicily , Pope Honorius II turned his attention back to focusing on monasteries he felt were too powerf...

On July 1127, William II, Duke of Apulia, died without an heir, and Roger II of Sicily (pictured) raced to the peninsula to take control of ...

Pope Honorius II (pictured) was aggressive about doing what he felt was right for the Church, which sometimes meant taking to task religious...

After his atypical election  in December 1124, Pope Honorius II got to work clashing with Holy Roman Emperor Henry V over Henry's claim ...

Lamberto Scannabecchi was born on 9 February 1060 in a rural community. He entered the priesthood and became the archdeacon of Bologna. He g...

Arguably one of the longest names for a Holy Order, the name comes from The Order of Canons Regular of Prémontré, called so because the Orde...

In the Czech Republic is the town of Milevsko, first mentioned in records in 1184, placed at the intersection of two important trade routes....

The Catholic Encyclopedia says "The question has long been debated whether Christ was crucified with three or with four nails." [ ...