A pair of academics from Durham University in the United Kingdom have discovered an 827-year-old reference to an unusual weather-related phenomenon in an obscure medieval English text. While...
Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II (1194-1250) was known as the Wonder of the World, Stupor Mundi , because there had never been anyone like him; nor will there ever be another to match him. Like many...
The site of Sherwood Forest , legendary home of ‘Robin Hood and his Merry Men’ lies a bit more than 240 kilometers (150 miles) west of London. In the 1200s, which is usually considered by many to be...
Medieval battle scenes in movies or television shows usually feature heavily armed warriors mounted on huge horses, thundering across the plains to attack their cowering and quivering enemies. While...
One of the most successful, but little known kings who reigned during the Middle Ages was Roger II (1095-1154) who controlled the island of Sicily along with Apulia and Calabria in Southern Italy...
Singing and Christmas seem to go naturally together, like plum pudding and custard. Even those who would not normally attend a choir concert or church service throughout the year might happily...
A 400-year-old gold signet unicorn ring has just sold at auction for 26,470 dollars (23,550 euros). Everyone is talking about the ring’s value and its association with a noble family linked to...
A recent re-examination of artifacts from Soviet era digs in the Dzhetyasar territory in southwest Kazakhstan has identified a fourth-century AD lyre that shows remarkable similarity with the one...
A Norwegian archaeologist digging in the frozen ground at a medieval excavation site in Oslo found something extremely rare and most unexpected. While sorting through a waste layer left behind by...
People migrated long distances in early medieval Scotland, concluded a new study on the Blair Atholl Man published in the Tayside and Fife Archaeological Journal . The study reveals that he was not...
Archaeologists stumbled upon medieval material underneath the Dutch parliament building last week. The area is being prepared for a major renovation that’s long overdue. Fortunately, as a matter of...
There are very few texts that survive from early medieval Wales, an era spanning the moment when the Romans left Wales until the Normans arrived. This is one of the reasons that historians have...
Witch trials are among some of the cruelest events in European history. Thousands of innocent women were murdered by people who provided fake accusations. In England, one of the most famous witch...
Any enthusiastic lover of history undoubtedly dreams of that perfect castle vacation filled with ancient stories and thrilling historic sights. Alas, holidays don’t always turn out quite as planned...
Archaeologists in western France have been up to their elbows excavating enormous oak ship timbers at a “surprise” 10th-century medieval port, where evidence of wine production, fishing trade, and...
Scottish archaeologists have released a mind-boggling 3D reconstruction of the largest royal Pictish fort ever discovered. Burghead Fort was the largest settlement of northern Picts in what is today...
Archaeologists digging at the site of a Norman-era church north of London received quite a surprise recently. Their ongoing excavations unearthed the well-preserved remains of three large Roman...
A first-time study of a privately owned 16th-century prayer roll from England is a valuable addition to knowledge on medieval England’s Christian ‘cult of the Cross’ in which the Holy Cross was...
The original purpose of a mysterious patch of land beside England’s Fountains Abbey has finally been deciphered. Experts have concluded that it’s the largest and best-preserved tannery ever...
Medieval chivalric duels were undoubtedly the most thrilling events of the time. The last vestige of the ancient gladiatorial fights, knightly duels were a true display of the skill with arms and...
For nearly fifty years, the town of Craco in southern Italy has stood uninhabited. Here, dark windows look out at potential travelers like empty eye sockets and the streets and buildings of this...
For centuries, a commonality across the various monarchies of the world was a direct association between the ruler and a higher power. Kings and queens were seen either as God’s Chosen One or, in...
Excavations at the Church of Our Lady in the heart of historic Bruges, Belgium, have unearthed a third medieval burial vault. Just like the first one discovered back in May, this one also features...
Tucked away in an almost-forgotten manuscript from the 11th century is the extraordinary tale of St Rumwold, an infant saint who lived on this earthly plane for only three days. But in that short...
