Steven Till

On this date, October 31st, in medieval history:

1147 -Robert, the Earl of Gloucester, dies
1517 - Martin Luther presents his “95 theses” to the Catholic Church, which he may or may not have posted on the door of the castle church at Wittenburg (scholars and historians debate this point)

Filed under: Medieval Timeline, Middle Ages History, Medieval History on October 31st, 2008 | No Comments »

Bailiff
[bey-lif]
Etymology: Middle English baillif, bailie, from Anglo-French baillif, from bail power, authority, office, from baillier to govern, administer, from Medieval Latin bajulare to care for, support, from Latin, to carry a burden
1) Manorial official, overseer of the manor, chosen by the lord. (Gies, Joseph and Francis. Life in a Medieval Castle, 229)
2) Chief representative of […]

Filed under: Middle Ages History, Medieval Glossary, Medieval History on October 31st, 2008 | No Comments »

The Medieval Fortress: Castles, Forts, And Walled Cities Of The Middle Ages by J.E. Kaufmann and H.W. Kaufmann is one of the most comprehensive, detailed books on castle architecture in the medieval period. The book is split into five major sections: Elements of Medieval Fortifications, Early Medieval Fortifications, The Age of Castles, Decline of the […]

Filed under: Middle Ages History, Medieval History, Book Reviews on October 30th, 2008 | No Comments »

Essential Pictures has acquired the rights to develop Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series into a major motion picture. Randall Wallace (Braveheart, We Were Soldiers) will write the screenplay. No word on a director or cast yet, but Essential hopes to put the project into production by next spring.
I haven’t read the novels myself, but I know […]

Filed under: Historical Fiction, Fantasy, Literary News on October 30th, 2008 | 6 Comments »

Following my last post and keeping in the spirit of Elves and fantasy role-playing, I stumbled across a site that automatically generates your elvish name. Mine is Finrod Telrúnya.
Names are generated based on an algorithm that takes the first and last letters of each name, and then, based on a character set, expresses those letters […]

Filed under: Fantasy on October 29th, 2008 | 11 Comments »

The Elfish Gene: Dungeons, Dragons and Growing Up Strange by Mark Barrowcliffe is a self-analyzing book about the influence a fantasy role-playing game has on the life of an adolescent and the effects it has on adulthood.
Read the AP article “Dungeons & Dragons Memoir Oozes Nerd Nostalgia” by Dan Scheraga.
Product Description on Amazon:
Summer, 1976. […]

Filed under: Fantasy, Literary News on October 29th, 2008 | 4 Comments »

The Sword and the Shield of the Realm by Florian Stone Wells
Paperback: 352 pages
Publisher: sapientus; 1st edition (January 15, 2008)
Average Customer Review on Amazon: 5 stars (5 customer reviews)
Product Description from Amazon:
Part mystery and part alternative history, this novel debuts a magnificent historical saga, which takes the reader on a grand adventure during the religious, […]

Filed under: Middle Ages History, Medieval History, Historical Fiction on October 28th, 2008 | No Comments »

Justiciar
[juh-stish-ee-er]
Etymology: Medieval Latin justitiarius, from Latin justitia
1) The head of the royal judicial system and the king’s viceroy when absent from the country. (MEDIEV-L. Medieval Terms)
2) Regent in England under William I, chief minister until the 1220s. (Gies, Joseph and Francis. Life in a Medieval Castle, 230)
3) A high administrative and judicial officer who ruled […]

Filed under: Middle Ages History, Medieval Glossary, Medieval History on October 24th, 2008 | No Comments »

I was stumbling the Internet this morning, and first of all, came across a list of 100 extensive libraries that anyone from around the world can access, and on that list was the Syracuse University Digital Library, so I clicked that link and about half-way down the page was a link to a digital collection […]

Filed under: Middle Ages History, Medieval History on October 23rd, 2008 | No Comments »

The Good Men: A Novel of Heresy by Charmaine Craig
Paperback: 480 pages
Publisher: Riverhead Trade (March 4, 2003)
Average Customer Review on Amazon: 4.5 stars (28 reviews)
Editorial Review from Amazon.com:
The Good Men, Charmaine Craig’s fascinating tale of medieval torments and unrequited love, is brutally illuminating. The story concerns Pierre Clergue, a 14th-century French rector. Pierre is a […]

Filed under: Middle Ages History, Medieval History, Historical Fiction on October 22nd, 2008 | No Comments »