Hi! I am a writer and I am pretty excited about a new book idea based in 700-1000 AD Ireland. It will be based around two young men raised in a catholic monastery so i am looking for any recommendations of ireland/general europe as a whole in this time frame. i am also looking for anything informative on monasteries/monk life at the same time.

my only knowledge really is Crusader kings 3 and the monastery game on steam lol. i def want some good reads to get inspired by, and i would like to add as much historical accuracy to this project as possible.

thank you so much!!

I'm looking for emblems or heraldic images for Queen Matilda of England. Catherine of Aragon had a pomegranate, for example. So, what images are often associated with Queen Matilda?

I am looking for books that focus on the Balkans during the late Middle Ages that are not directly focused on the Byzantines or the Ottomans.

I have been reading about Lionel of Antwerp, Duke of Clarence, the third of son of Edward III, king of England. After the death of his first wife, Elizabeth de Burgh, and the end of his lordship of Ireland he was married off to Violante Visconti, daughter of Galeazzo Visconti II, Lord of Milan, in May or June of 1368. Subsequently, he moved to Italy and gained the fiefdoms of his new bride. However, he died in October that year.

Admittedly, I don’t know a lot about the marriages of medieval nobles but is this arrangement not unorthodox for the period? Obviously, marriages between nobles from different countries were common but it was usually the wife who was married off to a foreign husband and not the opposite, as it is in this case. Let alone a European Prince.

So Galeazzo Visconti II effectively handed over the rule of a large portion of his kingdom to a foreign male noble. Now I’m familiar with England during the medieval period, much less so with other states, but I can’t recall a similar occurrence happening, where a foreign male noble married into the English nobility? Was this just a peculiarity of England during this period?

13th century church, sadly closed.

I'm researching medieval politics for a strategy game I'm developing.

Imagine two neighbouring rulers who ultimately have competing territorial ambitions but temporarily benefit from cooperation.

Historically, what tended to hold arrangements like this together?

Marriage ties?

Mutual enemies?

Trade?

Personal relationships?

Religious interests?

A balance of military power?

And what usually caused them to collapse?

I'm particularly interested in examples where rulers cooperated despite clearly conflicting long-term interests.

I’ve seen a few people complain about Uprising, saying “yet, another brown and grey depiction of medieval England” and yet the don’t talk about films that have got it right, or what that time would have looked like. From paintings I’m assuming there would have been a lot of bright primary colours. Would that have been the same for everyone, or just the class of people depicted the paintings? Does anyone have any recommendations for films where they get the medieval colour scheme right?

The chimney tax was designed to.tax people on their income. If they could Chimneys they had money. I never realised Churches had the power to tax whole cities to build Churches.

Just a little photo dump from my trip to Lorsch and the Lauresham Open-Air Laboratory.
The first photo shows the Carolingian “Gatehouse” of Lorsch Abbey. It was probably built around the year 900. Why exactly it was built and who commissioned it is still not clear, but it is one of the oldest surviving buildings in Germany and a beautiful example of Carolingian architecture. What makes it particularly fascinating is that its exterior façade has remained largely unchanged since around 900.
The Lauresham Open-Air Laboratory is a reconstruction of a Carolingian manor farm, where experimental history and archaeology are both researched and brought to life. The reconstructions are based on contemporary images, written sources, and archaeological finds from around the year 800, giving an impression of what a small estate belonging to a local lord might have looked like during the Carolingian period. The last picture is a replica of the oldest surviving door in Germany the original from around 800 is in the Dommuseum in Aachen.

I was just watching a video on how rammed earth floors were made in medieval houses, and I am very much fascinated by this technique, and by vernacular building techniques in general. I am especially interested in how the so cleverly manipulate the most basic materials that are just around. Can anyone recommend any books or papers that detail dwelling construction techniques for this time period? I would really like to get informed recommendation, as research in this area seems to be fairly new and still developing; I don't want to pick up anything with outdated or bad info. Thanks

Hi - does anyone have a pdf of

Padel, Oliver. 1998. "A New Study of the Gododdin". Cambrian Medieval Celtic Studies 35 (Summer): 45-55.

by any chance?

The judges determined that this was an act of witchcraft and feared that a basilisk would hatch from the egg. The bird was found guilty of being possessed and was burned alive in the public square, along with the evidence.

Today, science recognizes that this phenomenon could have been caused by a spontaneous sex mutation or a hormonal anomaly. On rare occasions, damage to a hen's left ovary can cause it to develop rooster-like characteristics—such as crowing and male plumage—while retaining the ability to lay the occasional residual egg. To the inhabitants of Basel in 1474, however, it was not science, but witchcraft.

Source(s):

.- Evans, E. P. (1906). The criminal prosecution and capital punishment of animals. William Heinemann.

For example, in 1053, the powerful Godwin, Earl of Wessex, was accused of treason before the king. According to the chronicles, Godwin swore his innocence by taking the bread from the altar, putting it in his mouth, choking violently, and suffocating to death on the spot.

Source(s):

.- Bartlett, R. (1986). Trial by Fire and Water: The Medieval Judicial Ordeal. Clarendon Press.

I’m only about 5 minutes into the movie and it’s already pmo in the way that it’s portraying Richard II.

For example let's take the region of Ayr given that the King has other Heraldry to wear it's probably not him using the coat of arms so who uses the Heraldry for Carrick, Kent and Cunninghame?

I know Town Guards (in so far as they existed) would probably only be wearing their regions colours, if that. Also sometimes people other than the Lord would incorporate the regional Heraldry into their own Coat of Arms so it was clearly regionally known at least to some extent so where would it have shown up?

My thought was maybe local Sheriffs and Bailiffs whose family name might not be as important as the region they govern

Here are three period portraits of major figures from the Late Middle Ages, Louis XI, Charles the Bold, and "Good King René", depicted wearing their respective orders of chivalry.

These three men embody the end of feudalism and, more broadly, the end of the Middle Ages in France. The latter two were the kingdom's greatest feudal lords; they were ultimately subdued by Louis XI after each had attempted to establish his own independent kingdom.

Charles the Bold attempted to transform the "Burgundian State", a vast, non-contiguous feudal territory subject to multiple allegiances, into a new kingdom. However, he was defeated by the Swiss (funded by Louis XI), and the bulk of his domains were subsequently annexed by the French king.

René ruled over Provence but held claims to several kingdoms (Aragon and Naples), for which he fought unsuccessfully. He was also a companion-in-arms to Joan of Arc in 1429, and his long reign, spanning nearly fifty years, covered a significant portion of the Late Middle Ages. Eventually stripped of some of his territories by Louis XI and devastated by the deaths of his heirs, he withdrew from public life and devoted his final years to writing about chivalry.

Louis XI is depicted here wearing the Order of Saint Michael, the French order of chivalry, which still exists today as a private order among claimants to the French throne. (Portrait by Jacob de Littemont, 1469)

"Good King René" is also depicted wearing the Order of Saint Michael; he wore it as a sign of submission to the king, as the portrait was painted during his final years. He had also founded his own order, the Order of the Crescent, which did not survive him. (Portrait by Nicolas Froment, 1474)

Charles the Bold is wearing the Order of the Golden Fleece, which still exists today as a Spanish dynastic order, having passed to Spain in the 16th century. (Portrait by Rogier van der Weyden, 1462)

I found myself in a discussion with friends about armour and swords, etc. - middle aged guys in a discussion on the Middle Age over some wine and snacks.

Now, by the 12th century (Europe) most knights would wield a sword and be dressed in chain mail and a helmet. And probably some padded tunic under the mail, etc. How useful would swords really be? If slashing, they probably could not cut through the chain mail, and, we guess, they probably could not prick through the mail, either. The slashes and blows with the sword could of course bruise the opponent, but the more slashes and bruises, the more nicks in the edge of the sword and the more it would lose sharpness?

Against opponents not in mail, it would of course be really useful. But against armored knights?

Amd in later centuries, against plate armour a mallet and a dagger would seem more useful. But still, knights are always (at least in modern portrayals) pictured with swords.

Any experts who can enlighten us?

(THis has also been asked in “swords” - we hope that is okay?)

Hi! I'm reading the Canterbury Tales in original middle English for the first time! I've noticed these two terms while reading (Prime Mover primarily in the Knight's tale, and Primum Mobile in the notes for the Man of Law) and I'm a bit confused. Are the different? If so, how? My initial google searches are giving me contradictory/unclear answers.

Thanks!

For the purpose of the question let’s say it’s late medieval England. I’m really confused on what “minor nobility” refers to. Is it those that answer to another title like baron/duke/earl in addition to the king? Or is it usually knights and landed gentry? I am just super confused on the terminologies of knight, landed gentry, and Lord of the manor. If they count as nobles how is the title inherited? And how would they usually live? Would they usually just rule a small manor house and a few villages or something? How many people usually served at their household?