5th Century Germanic Settlement Uncovered in Kent
A team of 30 archaeologists has been studying debris at the site in Rushenden, on the Isle of Sheppey, to learn how the original settlers lived.
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Medieval History Term of the Week: Heater Shield
Heater Shield
Semi-cylindrical shield with a flat top edge. The shield was about 95 cm. long in the first half of the fourteenth century but was shortened later in the century. (Wise, Terence. Medieval Warfare, 249)
*term definitions retrieved from Netserf’s Medieval Glossary (http://www.netserf.org/Glossary)
**image retrieved from wikipedia.org
Medieval Timeline: Today in Medieval History
Since it’s my birthday today, I definitely wanted to post about what happened on this day in medieval history.
1282 - Death of Llywelyn the Last (Llywelyn ap Gruffydd), the last prince of Wales before it was conquered by Edward I
1475 - Birth of Pope Leo X (Giovanni de’ Medici); Pope Leo X excommunicated Martin Luther
*Sculpture […]
A Brief History of Medieval Banks
The Lombards and other Italian merchants first introduced the term bank in the commercial centers of medieval western Europe to signify the business of money. Banks - the term means “credit negotiated on a counter at banco” — grew in the Middle Ages as a result of a wider money economy during the 11th and […]
Medieval Historical Fiction Novel of the Week
Isabella: Queen Without a Conscience by Rachel Bard
Paperback: 460 pages
Publisher: Book Publishers Network; 1st edition (October 15, 2007)
Average Customer Review on Amazon: 4.5 stars (5 customer reviews)
Product Description:
In her day the beauteous Isabella of Angouleme was called a Jezebel, a sorceress, an adulteress. As the young bride of King John of England she was charged […]
Medieval History Term of the Week: Merchet
Merchet
[ múrchet ]
Etymology: The word comes from the plural form of daughter, merched, in old Welsh.
1) Payment due to a manorial lord upon marriage.
(Bennett, Judith M. Women in the Medieval English Countryside, 234)
2) A payment by unfree tenants for the right to marry off daughters or other female relatives.
(Waugh, Scott. England in the Reign of […]
Famous Wars in Medieval History: Aethelbad’s War
Aethelbad’s War
Date: 733 - 750
Aethelbad’s War involved the kingdoms of Mercia, Wessex, and Northumbria. The Mercian king, Aethelbad (r. 716 - 757), and his cousin Offa — who was to be Athelbad’s successor — invaded Wessex and Northumbria with the vision of unifying England under Mercian rule. At the time, Mercia was one of the […]
Medieval Historical Fiction Novel of the Week
Belisarius: The First Shall Be Last by Paolo A. Belzoni
Paperback: 248 pages
Publisher: Arx Pub; 1st edition (December 15, 2006)
Average Customer Review on Amazon: 4 stars (2 customer reviews)
Product Description:
The year is AD 504. The all-powerful Roman Empire lies in tatters, its western provinces dismembered into a patchwork of new kingdoms ruled by barbarians. In […]
Medieval Timeline: Today in Medieval History
On this date, December 1, in medieval history:
1135 - King Henry I of England, the fourth son of William the Conqueror, dies. He was buried at Reading Abbey.
1170 - Thomas Becket reconciles with King Henry II and returns to his See at Canterbury after a six-year-long exile.
*image source: Miniature of King Henry I, from illuminated […]
Medieval History Term of the Week: Machicolation
Machicolation
[muh-chik-uh-ley-shuhn]
Etymology: Medieval Latin machicolare to furnish with machicolations, from Middle French machicoller, from machicoleis machicolation, from macher to crush + col neck, from Latin collum
1) A projection in the battlements of a wall with openings through which missles can be dropped on besiegers.
(Gies, Joseph and Francis. Life in a Medieval Castle, 226)
2) Opening in […]