#castles-and-fortresses

#castles-and-fortresses

We are delighted to unite these incredible archaeological finds from across the North for our latest exhibition. From Roman silver discovered along Hadrian's Wall to 9th-century gold found by a Newcastle University student, this is a rare opportunity to see these scattered treasures displayed alongside one another.

The Grade II listed building is on Historic England's Heritage at Risk Register and is currently recorded as being in poor condition. The national Marine Society and Sea Cadets (MSSC), which held the lease, has confirmed that it can no longer meet the building's repair obligations and will surrender the lease so that restoration can be carried out by new occupants.

Tropes were additions inserted into established Gregorian chants. They could include new words, new melodies, or a combination of both, expanding the original liturgical piece and sometimes offering additional theological or rhetorical commentary. In many cases, tropes circulated long before they were recorded in writing. Their melodies and texts were transmitted orally for centuries before being preserved in medieval manuscripts, creating a complex web of regional variants across Europe.

In Italy, the most common topic mentioned as a source of national pride was culture and the arts. These were cited by 38 percent of respondents, more than any other place. An Italian woman who took part in the survey said she was proud of 'the works in the churches, paintings, sculpture ... most places in Italy have something beautiful.' An Italian man said that 'Italy is an open-air museum.'

Travelers often overlook tiny European countries, but, as I discovered on a recent trip to Luxembourg-Europe's seventh-smallest nation, with a population of just 699,000-there's much to discover in these hidden gems. Last summer, I visited my aunt, who has lived in Europe for over 20 years, with stints in Paris, Vienna, Zug, Switzerland, and now, Luxembourg. We spent three days touring the historic city nestled between Belgium, Germany, and France. It's built on a rocky plateau overlooking deep gorges, a sweeping canyon, and surrounding countryside.

In the UK and the US, it is often crystal clear when your new home is classified as a heritage home or period property, but in France it can be less obvious. You could be breaking the rules simply by installing new windows. So how can you check that your big plans aren't going to upset anyone - or worse, break the law?

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

The chateau was rebuilt in the 19th century after it was largely destroyed during the French Revolution (Getty/iStock) Chateau de Chantilly, located north of Paris, is appealing for "public generosity" to finance a 68 million (59 million) renovation over the next decade. The historic French chateau requires significant work to protect its extensive book collection, which includes 60,000 volumes, including rare antique books and illuminated medieval manuscripts.

Europe has never been short on spectacle. Yet beyond the headline cities and endlessly recycled itineraries lies a quieter, deeper continent; one that's best encountered through patience and a willingness to detour from the obvious itinerary. Our 7 wonders of Europe for 2026 in Europe are not places that beg for attention. Instead, they reward those prepared to explore more than a few miles from the nearest airport and linger a little longer than planned.

Some of the best hotels in Scotland exist outside of the cities of Edinburgh and Glasgow -but that's not to say you can't find somewhere exceptional to stay wherever you wish to lay your head across the country. Whether you're looking for a cosmopolitan city break or hoping to explore Scotland's stunning coastline on the road trip of a lifetime, there's somewhere stunning for any type of traveler.

When it comes to visiting France, Paris gets most of the attention, but don't overlook the country's gorgeous small towns. In these quaint destinations, many accessible by train, you can exchange the bustle of the city for wide-open beaches, mountain trails, medieval castles, and sprawling vineyards. From the French-German border to the Mediterranean coast to the mountainous intersection of France, Italy, and Switzerland, these small towns and villages (all home to less than 15,000 people) offer a slower pace and warm French hospitality.

In this book of moons, I am writing for people for whom the medieval world and its literatures and arts may be unfamiliar. I hope that in telling the stories of medieval moons, I also introduce these readers to the wonderful, mesmerising realm of medieval texts and images. But I also hope that this book may be useful to those with greater familiarity with medieval languages, literatures, and arts.

For many travellers, France begins and ends with Paris, Provence, or the French Riviera. Yet venture west and a very different France emerges, one shaped by Celtic roots, dramatic coastlines, diverse local cuisine, and a fierce sense of regional identity. Brittany ( La Bretagne) is a world unto itself, where land and sea shape daily life, and it should be the location for your next French holiday.

This Sunday, step back a century (or ten) at the Society for Creative Anachronism's ninth annual Deck the Halls of Valhalla, featuring activities and performances highlighting the arts of the Middle Ages. New York City better known as the Crown Province of stgar resides in the East Kingdom of the SCA, a Medieval history and culture organization with members around the globe.

A group of polychrome wood panels discovered under the floorboards of a house in Toledo in 2018 are going on display at the National Archaeological Museum in Madrid. They were found during construction of a hotel planned to go up over several buildings in the Bajada del Pozo Amargo street next to Toldeo's Cathedral. They had been stripped from their original location on the upper part of the walls of a quadrangular hall and reused as raw carpentry material in the house's subfloor.

The Assassins and the Knights Templar have become two of the most iconic groups of fighters from the period of the Crusades. In recent times, they have been popularised through the video game and movie franchise, Assassin's Creed. But who were they really and how did they interact in the Holy Land? It's an intriguing story that Dr Steve Tibble and Tony McMahon investigate in the first episode of their new podcast series, Talking Templars.

This open-access book brings together more than thirty essays on languages and the ways they develop, interact, and influence one another. Its main focus is the Middle East, where Hebrew, Arabic, and Aramaic long existed side by side and often overlapped in everyday use, scholarship, and culture. In line with Geoffrey (Khan)'s commitment to the maximally accessible dissemination of research, this Festschrift has been published in both open-access digital editions and affordable printed formats.

We get started by exploring the origins of the Normans in the county and then duchy of Normandy. We will understand their Norse background and their relationship with the Carolingians. The timeline approach will help us discover all the counts and dukes of Normandy, and what they contributed to their realm. This will set the foundation for the interconnected stories that will lead us to England and the Mediterranean.

In this paper we investigate whether infant and childhood feeding practices influenced the imbalanced adult sex ratio reported in medieval Europe from historical and osteological evidence. First, we examine hypotheses for the observed imbalanced sex ratios in Europe and the evidence presented to support these hypotheses. We then use stable isotope analysis (δ13C and δ15N) of incremental dentine in 64 first molars from adults at three medieval sites (Aulla, Badia Pozzeveri, and Montescudaio) in north-western Tuscany (11th-15th c. CE).

So, on Sunday 25th January, members of the reenactment society will converge on The Mall from all across the country, some arriving already dressed in buff coats and broad-brimmed hats, others changing into period clothing on arrival. There are pikes to be shouldered, muskets checked, and a few tentative practice swings as old drill is recalled, before the ranks are set and order restored.