Our perception of stench and filth in medieval cities is an exaggeration. But the cities certainly had...
Middle Ages
“A garden enclosed is my sister, my spouse; a garden enclosed, a fountain sealed up.” Introduction Hortus...
The Wife of Bath’s outspoken views on marriage, power, and religious doctrine. Introduction Alisoun, the Wife of...
Remarkable for the detailed information it contains on the medieval connections between astrology and the human body....
It was shaped within the paradigm of religious orders that was ultimately the product of “history from...
The canon law of the Catholic Church has all the ordinary elements of a mature legal system:...
We see how one 14th-century man understood the political and ethnic realities of his world. Introduction What...
Fisher King legends imply that the King has become unable to support a new generation which can...
The plant lore around the mandrake goes back to ancient times. What has made this odd-looking plant...
We think of assistive technology as something modern, but disabled medieval people could be highly mobile. People...
Three events set the stage—and would influence agriculture for centuries—in Europe. Introduction Agriculture in the Middle Ages describes...
Many dark-skinned people who appear in portraits of European royals were later painted white or simply cropped...
The Geneva Bible followed the Great Bible of 1539, which was the authorized Bible of the Church...
The Industrial Revolution, a time of extremely rapid technical growth, took place in the 18th and 19th...
Believe it or not, gambling in medieval times was an activity embraced by one and all. It...
In the Middle Ages as today, popular attitudes to the romantic lives of rulers were ambiguous. Fascination...
Their struggles to respond to plague and constant warfare helped shape the kinds of Christianity in the...
The massacre became particularly significant and controversial among German nationalists in Nazi Germany. Introduction The Massacre of Verden was...
This illustrated health manual dating back to the 13th century provides a glimpse of daily life for...
Medieval toilets were nothing but openings that led into a latrine or castle moat below. Introduction The...
The war challenged the status quo and led the lower class to hope for a radical change...
Christian pilgrims hoped to bring home a relic, such as a piece of the ‘True Cross’. Introduction...
In the late 9th century, Prince Oleg of the Rurikid Dynasty of Varangians formed the loose federation...
The Twelve Articles were a response to the oppression of the peasants by the nobility and the...
The ordeal ranked along with the oath and witness accounts as the central means by which to...
The Rurik dynasty held its own in some parts of Rus’ for a total of twenty-one generations....
The image of a ‘holy warrior’ became much more popular during the First Crusade. By Anakin CaryHistory...
The period saw major technological advances in a number of areas. Paper Paper was invented by the Chinese...
A blending of Slavic and Greek traditions eventually produced Russian culture. Russia’s Birth Overview In addition to...
Khotyn is one of the oldest preserved fortifications of Eastern Europe. Introduction Khotyn fortress is a complex of...