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Replica of the “Saxon Princess” bed burial at Kirkleatham Museum. Source: Prioryman/CC BY-SA 3.0

Bed Burials Linked to Medieval Christian Husband Hunters

A burial practice among elite medieval Europeans was to be interred on their beds, a rite which archaeologists call “a bed burial.” An English researcher has now completed an analysis of 72 bed...
The medieval peasant off to work in the fields. Source: Demian / Adobe Stock

The Hard and Dirty Life of a Medieval Peasant

The daily life of a medieval peasant in England and elsewhere was extremely difficult, long, and busy. They faced endless days of manual labor working on farmland starting as early as three in the...
Skull on medieval tombstone. Source: devnenski / Adobe Stock

Soul-Destroying Job of a Sin-Eater Was to Consume the Sins of the Deceased

The Middle Ages had its fair share of terrible jobs, from cesspit cleaners to rat catchers and even royal bottom-wipers , but few were as soul-destroying as the job of a sin-eater, who carried the...
Leumeah Castle. Photo credit: Jeremy Piper

Grab Yourself a ‘Medieval’ Castle… in Australia!

An English couple in Australia are selling a home. But this is not your typical suburban semi-detached house, it’s a full-blown English-style medieval castle , complete with a moat… the last thing...
A knight taking a serf bride off to fulfill his right of jus primae noctis, or first night intercourse.	Source: diter/Adobe Stock

Jus primae noctis: Did Medieval Lords Really Sleep With Serf Brides First?

The jus primae noctis , droit du seigneur , or “right of the first night,” is an alleged medieval custom which permitted lords to engage in sexual intercourse with the brides of their male subjects...
A Rhynchites auratus weevil. 	Source: Florian / Adobe Stock

The Trial of the Weevils: When French Winemakers Took Insects to Court

One surprising quirk about life in medieval times is that people could, and did, take animals and insects to court and try them as if they were humans. While there is scant verifiable evidence on the...
The Curious And Precarious Life Of A Medieval Jester

The Curious And Precarious Life Of A Medieval Jester

The medieval jester has become an iconoclastic figure in society, regularly appearing in the TV shows, films, and video-games of the modern era. The classic jester, replete with flamboyant colorful...
Painting ‘Combate de Mujeres’ by José de Ribera showing a female duel. Source: Public Domain

Women Scrapping with Swords and Pistols: Famous Female Duels

The use of private duels as a way of settling questions of honor spread through Europe from Italy in the end of the 15th century, though the institutional practice was much older. These encounters...
Skeleton in mass grave Durham, England

Mysterious Mass Graves Contained Oliver Cromwell's Prisoners

In November 2013 archaeologists from the University of Durham in northern England found two mass graves near Durham Cathedral. At first the archaeologists thought the bodies belonged to the Cathedral...
Killer rabbit in the Smithfield Decretals, c. 1300, British Library, London, UK. Detail. (British Library/CC BY 4.0)

Killer Rabbits Terrorized the Pages of Medieval Manuscripts

In early medieval art and literature fluffy white rabbits, bunnies, and hares were typically motifs of innocence, venerability, and purity. However, more in sync with these animals’ rate of...
Mass Grave Found in Vianen the Netherlands

Dutch Mass Grave Mystery: Skeletons were British Soldiers

In 2020 construction workers in the Netherlands made a gruesome discovery. While working in the city of Vianen they came across an enigmatic mass burial. Were the 82 skeletons victims of war, a...
Scenic view of typical narrow alleyway lined laundry lines in the Medieval Centro Storico of Naples ( lazyllama/ Adobe Stock) and Munaciello according to popular imagery ( Lady of a times /CC BY-SA 4.0)

Mischievous Munaciello, A Folletto Character Of Neapolitan Folklore

Every country in the world has its own rich folklore , every city and village has its own legends about fantastic creatures and supernatural beings told by grandparents to parents to children,...
A bear guards the moat wall at Cesky Krumlov Castle, Czech Republic. Source: Ondrej Novotny / Adobe Stock

A Czech Castle Had a Moat of Bears… And Still Does!

Popular depictions of castle moats in film and television usually involve hungry crocodiles , flesh-eating piranhas or dangerous sharks. While most of these depictions are fanciful, one medieval...
Representational image of Ermine de Reims. Source: inarik / Adobe Stock

The Visions of Ermine de Reims - Supernatural Forces in Everyday Medieval Life

Ermine de Reims was a relatively inconsequential peasant woman who moved to the town of Reims, in northeastern France, from rural Vermandois with her elderly husband in 1384. She was a pious woman,...
17th-century icon of the Translation of the Relics of Saint. Nicholas of Myra. Historic Museum in Sanok, Poland. (Public Domain)

Furta Sacra: Medieval Trafficking In Saintly Relics

It is hard to imagine that the gruesome topic of bodysnatching and the ghastly, gory and gorgeous world of relics would be a main focus of religious veneration throughout the Middle Ages. Through...
A caged pig. Source: Jasmine / Adobe Stock

Medieval Justice: Pig Was Tried in Court, Sentenced and Executed for Murder

In the Middle Ages, animals were put on trial just like human beings. A wide range of crimes could be committed by these animals including murder, being an accomplice in bestiality , and damage of...
In the Middle Ages, medieval aphrodisiacs were a very important tool to ensure that husbands had enough lust to actually make love and male heirs.						Source: Giovannino de' Grassi / Public domain

Medieval Aphrodisiacs: Body Scented Bread Dough!

People in Europe in the Middle Ages boosted libidinal sexual intimacy through the use of medieval aphrodisiacs, some of which are truly bizarre. Dr. Eleanor Janega, a medieval historian based in...
A medieval cart of vegetables, now thought to be more representative of the Anglo-Saxon royal’s diet. 	Source: Dmytro Surkov/Adobe Stock

Forget the Pig Roast, Anglo-Saxon Royalty Were Largely Vegetarian, Says Study

It has long been assumed by historians that medieval English royals consumed a heavily meat-based diet. But a new bioarchaeological study proposes that, before the arrival of the Vikings, Anglo-Saxon...
The hoard of silver bracteate medieval coins found by a dog in Poland!                  Source: Dolnośląski Wojewódzki Konserwator Zabytków

Polish Dog Unearths Rare Booty of Revealing Bracteate Medieval Coins

Out on his daily constitutional, a dog in Poland unexpectedly struck gold, or rather, silver. The dog was being taken for a walk by his owner near the city of Wałbrzych in southwestern Poland when he...
This Hanseatic League ship, which may exceed the Bremen Cog for preservation quality, was miraculously discovered 5 feet (1.5 meters) beneath the streets of Tallinn, Estonia’s capital.	 	Source: Patrik Tamm / ERR

Massive Medieval Hanseatic League Ship Found Near Tallinn, Estonia

One of the largest ports in the Baltic Sea, Estonia’s Tallinn Port is also one of the oldest in northern Europe, famous as trade center between Rurik Novgorod and Viking Scandinavia. Yesterday, a 700...
Ukrainian refugees in Ballindooley Castle, Ireland.		Source:  Ballindooley Castle

Ukrainian Refugees Hosted in Historic 15th Century Castle in Ireland

When Barry and Lola Haughian purchased an historic old castle on the outskirts of Galway in west Ireland in 2017, they had no idea that one day they would be opening the castle doors to people...
The other side of this graffiti covered slab at The Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem led to the discovery of the beautiful medieval ancient altar.		Source: YouTube screenshot / Reuters

Stunning Lost Medieval Altar Found in the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem

For many years in an obscure back corridor of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in the Old City of Jerusalem there was a large stone slab leaning against a wall. The eight-feet-by-five-feet (2.5 meter...
The screen poster for the 1982 film The Return of Martin Guerre.		Source: Erogers148 / CC BY-SA 4.0

Martin Guerre: A Much Celebrated Historic Tale of Stolen Identity

On the 16th of September 1560, in the small rural French town of Artigat, a man named Arnaud du Tilh was put to death by hanging for a most unusual crime: for over three years, he had assumed an...
Saffron has always been a luxury because it is so labor intensive but saffron money was all the rage as a way for medieval English elites to show off until Puritan values began to weigh against this odd currency that was even used to pay the rent!	Source: Marco Verch Professional Photographer / CC BY 2.0

Medieval Cambridge Elites Used Saffron to Pay Rent

The world’s most expensive spice by weight, saffron, has been valued and coveted by many ancient civilizations for a multitude of purposes, and debates over its origins still continue. Worth its...

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