Henry IV had a special guest for Christmas in 1400: the Byzantine emperor Manuel II Palaiologos. United by their Christian faith, they were nonetheless on separate sides of the East-West schism. How did they celebrate?
When paying off the Vikings failed to yield lasting peace, on 13 November 1002 king Æthelred ordered the slaughter of England’s Danes instead.
The ancient stones of churches are portals to the past. Each new generation becomes a custodian.
Poet, Mystic, Widow, Wife: The Extraordinary Lives of Medieval Women and God’s Own Gentlewoman bring the real world of medieval women out of the margins.
Meant to live a life of perfect peacefulness and contemplation, in reality monks were human and fallible. How violent could life in the medieval cloister be?
On 27 September 1130 a Norman usurper gained a crown from a desperate pope and the Kingdom of Sicily was born.
Tyrant and usurper: the last wills of Richard II and Henry IV give rare insight into the medieval monarchs who wore the crown.
The villains of British history, the Normans can be a difficult sell. But going off script has its rewards.
Who were the female blacksmiths of medieval England?
The loss of his treasure on the road to war was said to have brought about King John’s demise. What happened to it?
