This won't come as a surprise to many of you, but the attached article points out that medieval themed shows are lately dominating the airwaves. Whether it is the show "Vikings" which uses real ships instead of CGI, or the Borgias which came out a few years back, or the Game of Thrones which is… Continue reading Long live the Middle Ages – on TV, medieval themed shows hold sway.
With a typical ghastly Halloween fast approaching, undoubtedly many of our noble listeners are contemplating getting plastered in a public house and acting like a ergot-possessed French villager of the 16th century. Oh sure, when you were a youngster, this was not your wont. Rather you'd dress up as a witch or a pirate, or… Continue reading Witches’ costumes resemble those of medieval beer-makers! BURN THEM!!!
My lords! Duchesses! Hear ye! Yesterday was the 600th anniversary of the Battle of Agincourt where Henry V of England (who had a really stupid haircut) used his ridiculous Lloyd Christmas-hairded longbow men to great effect and defeated a much larger army of French knights who undoubtedly died, one and all, with really stupid haircuts.… Continue reading 9 medieval battles that were even more significant than Agincourt? Say it ain’t so!
Fellow medievalists, Just today the Utrecht Psalter went on display at the Museum Catharijneconvent, open to the public! Normally it is kept in a controlled and secluded atmosphere so the likes of you can't see it. This renowned Psalter is from the period of about 830 (Carolingian Period) and includes the art work of nine separate… Continue reading Unleash the Utrecht Psalter!!! (and the Kraken too, I suppose – he needs the exercise)!!!!
Here are some splendid medieval maps. http://www.medievalists.net/2013/07/28/ten-beautiful-medieval-maps/ While they might sometimes be inaccurate, and even downright silly, nobody can possibly say that all of them are simple T maps, with Jerusalem at the center. Some of them, like the map of Scandinavia, are verging on the accurate. Others of these maps depict cities and such.… Continue reading Medieval maps – fabulous, inaccurate, and awful nice for to look at
Some researchers in Italy are excitedly announcing that they may have, at last, found the bones of the real life Mona Lisa who posed for Leonardo da Vinci back in the 1500s. They found some fragments in a convent where she is thought to have retired after a brilliant career of sitting around, smiling in… Continue reading Alas, the Mona Lisa… I knew her, Horatio!
Has anyone ever called you a drate-poke? Has anyone ever pointed in your general direction, saying, "Be off with you, you fopdoddle!" ?? Have you ever had to endure the hurt of being called a saddle-goose? If you have escaped these misfortunes, then count yourself lucky. In medieval England, nasty insults of this kind were… Continue reading 42 Old English Insults
I don't know if you know this, but your DNA, Kyle, has been teaching a lot about history lately. It turns out DNA studies can confirm some of the details about mass migrations recorded in the history books. For instance, the so-called barbarian invasions and all the resulting admixture show up as a lot of… Continue reading Your DNA is teaching us about medieval history! Who knew your DNA was such a brainiac?
Another article that speaks well of the merry old Middle Ages, deploring our use of the term "medieval" to convey something barbaric like the time people fought in Walmart over Tickle-Me Elmos and it was caught on video and posted on Youtube! Not so, says the writer. Not so. The Middle Ages were actually a… Continue reading The Middle Ages Were Fun!
