#medieval-queens

#medieval-queens

The letter, dated 25 July 1498, is eleven pages long and was written while Pedro de Ayala was in London, brokering peace negotiations between England and Scotland.

The fabrics used were intended to 'promote British fashion, excellence and production'. Weaved into the outfit's feminine cut and low-key tones are connotations of 'stability, dependence, soft power'. It's 'I'm in charge', without being too loud about it.

The Carolingians and Abbasids built ties that extended from western Europe to the eastern Mediterranean, reshaping the political landscape of their age.

This collection of essays honors Shaun F.D. Hughes by sharing scholarship that engages deeply with Middle English, Old English, Icelandic, and Old Norse traditions, while also breaking new ground.

Extreme weather in the 1430s triggered a major economic crisis in England, leading to food shortages, livestock deaths, and widespread disruption, reshaping landholding practices.

Although Eleanor's marriage to Edward in 1253 was political in nature (it settled a dispute over Gascony), the two were besotted and virtually inseparable. Over the course of a 30-year marriage she gave birth to 16 children (only six survived) and became Edward's confidant, accompanying him on crusade in the early 1270s.

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.

The Household and Wardrobe Accounts are English records that document the daily needs of the king and his family. This book serves as a guide to these sources, showing how they can be used and what valuable insights they offer into medieval government.

Eleanor Janega is one of the most well-known historians of the Middle Ages, widely recognised as the host and co-creator of several history series on HistoryHit TV and the podcast Going Medieval. She is also a prolific writer and public educator, bringing medieval history to a broad audience through her engaging books, articles, and media appearances. With a keen focus on medieval society, gender, and power structures, Janega challenges popular misconceptions and makes the past accessible with wit and scholarly depth.

In this volume, the authors aim to provide a truly global overview of the 14 century, with each region given approximately the same space. It is obviously impossible to cover every event in every country of the world in a single volume, just as you would not be able to visit every city in every country if you traveled around the world for a year.

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).

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.

Beyond the reach of medieval Christendom, Viking-age Scandinavia drew its ideas about gender less from scripture than from myth, law, and the practical demands of life in a raiding and trading world. Luke Daly explores how women could wield real authority-as estate managers, property holders, ritual figures, and, at times, political actors-within a society that was still hierarchical and often violent. Beyond the cathedrals and the long shadow cast by Rome lay societies whose moral and social assumptions were not governed by the cross.

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.

Imperial Roman ethnography was a gift the Romans made for themselves, because it embraced concepts with which they could address the great cultural diversity of their world. It was a gift that came from the conquerors, reflecting their supposition of preeminence. At the same time, Roman ethnography was a somewhat less welcome present for the many peoples who found themselves trapped in Rome's vision, needing to find a place within it that made sense to Roman demands.

If you follow the advice of Caterina Sforza, 'you will see that thing become so narrow that you yourself will be in admiration.' That striking promise appears in the Experimenta, a collection of recipes attributed to the Renaissance noblewoman Caterina Sforza. Best known as the formidable ruler of Imola and Forli and a fierce opponent of the Borgia family, Sforza also cultivated a keen interest in medicine, alchemy, and cosmetics.