Hi, I'm writing a medieval fantasy novel and am hoping someone can help me with medieval defences, as I can't seem to find what I'm looking for on Google.

What were the names given to mobile wooden barricades of the time that could be used to defend positions or city streets? For example, the modern equivalent beinf Cheval de frise or hedgehog tank traps?

If anyone has any good book or website recommendations too, that'd be great! Thanks in advance.

Hello! What do these inscriptions symbolize? It's a portuguese chalice from 1187. Thanks!

How did they coordinate attacks on trade caravans and other valuable travelers and when they weren’t where on earth did they lay their head? Couldn’t be a town right cuz they’d be wanted (ideally) in the region? And is there a difference between a highwayman and a bandit? How do you campaign internally against a smaller force within your borders? Ideally I’m thinking European bandits and maybe Asian ones like medieval China or so?

Correct me if I'm wrong, but it's my understanding that Charlemagne set up the system of counties and counts, and that count was originally an appointed position. When did the title of count start becoming hereditary?

(The Bolingbroke fangirl is back! 😅😆)

Why was english (apparently) the first language of Henry Bolingbroke but not to Richard II?

Richard II was still fluent in english, right?

The two cousins were almost the same age, and they moved in the same social circles, right? Both had english parents.

So why did Richard not have english as his first language, but Henry did?

Was it that future kings were educated diffrently? And french being the first language was something Richard got as the heir, which was diffrent from other nobles boys around his age?

Would that not just create communication problems between the young heir and the other noble sons?

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And do we even know how much/often Richard and Henry spoke english?

Do we know if english was Henry Bolingbroke's prefered language? Something he used the majority of his time and in private?

And same for Richard, but french?

If thats the case, is it not weird that the king of the realm's first and prefered language was french. But his nobles had english has their first language?

Was it really that way?

Sorry for the bad English but I am looking to learn any Sicilian soldiers who had a big impact on history and bettered the Italian country. Preferably I would like to know someone who was part of the crusades. If you do not know any Sicilian soldiers or leaders then please let me know some famous Italian warriors.

From my limited research, there is not alot i can find on the footware of common people in the colder regions of europe, and all the archaeological evidence i have come across is thin leather with no grip for wet mud or waterproofing. My interest is in that of the clothing of a early medieval huntsman/poacher, so having to traverse wet cold muddy land in winter is a given. Does anyone have any resources or knowledge on what the footware would have been like, as well as any other tidbits of info about medieval huntsmen/poachers?

Now I guess Henry VI had some kind of military training, right? His mentors was men that had stood by Henry V side.

And it was part of kingship.

I know that Henry never fought in a battle himself. He was usually in a safe distance away.

But much of kingship was about apperence. So would he not wear armour, to appear strong?

But I cant find anything about Henry VI and armor.

Beacuse if you search up Henry (any number) and armour. Only Henry VIII's armors shows up.

If you look up eye of newt on Google, you will find a plethora of articles saying how the various animal/human body parts used in the witches potion in Shakespeare's "Macbeth" are actually different names for various herbs, with the most notable being eye of newt meaning mustard seed. My problem with this is that no sources for this information are ever linked in these articles where they show where this information actually comes from. Can anyone link me to a source that actually analysis medieval/early modern magical or medical texts to prove this?
What also makes me doubt this claim is that if you look at the nearly contemporary English language magical grimoire, the Cambridge Necromancy manual, it goes into extreme detail about the best way in which to ritually harvest various parts of animals to use in your magical spells. Most medieval necromancy texts I have read call for various animal parts to be used in their spells. In addition, many medieval medical texts, such as Hildegard von Bingen's "Physica", extensively list the medical applications of numerous animals and their body parts in medicine. As well, it seems to me that Shakespeare, a man with no clear connection to the magical or medical spheres of knowledge, seems to just have compromised a list of various shocking and comedic ingredients for his witches to use, such as the nose of a turk. If anyone can provide any academic source that shows that those animal parts are really herbs, I would be extremely greatful.

I read enough online stuff and seen enough Youtube videos and pics on the Image search tab on Google to have discovered sayings attributed to Saints and short prayers asking for protection as well as attached art representations of the Archangel Michael in HEMA info available on the internet.

But strangely I cannot find anything involving the Blessed Queen of Heaven, Mother Mary. Which is so bizarre when you consider her position as the highest authority in the Catholic Church after the Holy Trinity itself and her intercessory prayers are no question the most powerful in Catholic doctrines.

As someone from a Catholic upbringing, I'm really interested in finding any devotions towards Mary thats authentically from the 16th century and earlier esp the proper Middle Ages. Do they exist? Or has my futile attepts at finding info by Googling basically answer this question I fear (practically there are none)?

Hi all,

For those who are members of MAA, was it worth the price? I'm a recently-graduated MA History student, and I was looking into MAA just for fun and to keep tabs on what's happening in the academic-medieval sphere. If it matters, I'm applying for a History PhD, and I haven't really been to any official conferences besides what was offered at my postgrad uni. And, obviously, I'm very interested in medieval history, particularly the crusades.

Do you consider your membership "worth it"? Would you say it's a useful resource? Kind of want second opinions before I shell out money for this -- it's not a lot of money, lol, but I want to make it worth it, if that makes sense.

Thanks!

Hello all, I was wondering if some of you may be able to provide some insight as to what is being depicted here. It seems to be a joust of the Rennen variety, but that’s as far as I’ve gotten. Is this a formal tournament, an exercise in a military encampment, or something else? The armour does not resemble the (later) more specialized harnesses I’ve seen for this variant of joust. Just wondering if someone could give some more context. Thanks!

I read a comment online that described the music as “simple and reflective of the time period”.

Hi all, I cannot seem to find much about this on here or elsewhere online. Can anyone lend a hand? (or a paper lol)

So, all parishioners paid 10% of their income to their local church as a tithe.

Clergy did not just have tax exemption, but kings and lords regularly donated them money and lands.

By the reign of Edward III, the clergy owned 33% of land in England.

So, if they made 1% of the population they should been loaded. But what did they actually do with the money? Besides the construction of churches and cathedrals.

I was having a debate on YouTube with someone and I couldn't find any conclusive evidence. Did the Norman dukes (Rollo to William TC) also hold the title of count of Rouen?

From Saxon to Late Medieval and beyond, all styles are here in this beautiful church lying in a pretty valley wandering down to the sea.

The design and history fascinates, from the Norman tower onwards lots of little and big wonders, and the play of light on wood and stone… The whole is fabulous.

A major Devon church, deservedly so, and my latest online article and gallery here to enjoy, as you will: https://devonchurchland.co.uk/description/branscombe-church-of-st-winifred-description/

I’m much more interested in the daily life sort of things about medieval times and less about the big picture stuff. Like learning about eras and wars kinda bores me, however learning how they made ink from oak galls fascinates me. The only thing I’ve found that really fits what I’m looking for is Modern History TV on YouTube, but I would love to find more in depth things, or even the sources where he gets his info.

I'm curious if any bilingual edition of the Song of Roland exist in physical format, preferably hardcover where the original Old French is paired with an English translation. I can only seem to find Old French paired with Modern French and Modern French paired with English. Maybe there aren't enough non-French speakers interested in Old French despite the fact that nearly half of the English language is based on it?

Was reading about a great tournament in the late 1300s. Held at Saint-Inglevert in France.

That in March and April 1390, three renowned French knights challenged all comers to what was known as a ‘joust of war’. This lasted for 30 days.

The three French knights jousted against over one hundred knights and squires who had travelled from across Europe to challenge them, but above all from England.

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It seems to have been quite a big deal. All cool people was their. A good oppertunity to form friendships with other cool dudes...lol.

But but how common was these kind of really big tournaments? Where people from other countries came? Was it a once in a life time kinda deal?

And when did it really start to decline?

Hi my mediefolks friends! I'm writing a research paper to the conclusion of my university degree in the area of Medieval Childhood, and I bumped into affirmations that the king Richard, the Lionheart was murdered by shoot probably by a child in a siege of a minor castle in France, and even that the child was using a a frying pan to to protect himself from the arrows, and it was a revenge for the death of his relatives.

Although, as I know, the chronicles seem contradicted and I don't know which of them or even if any mention the fact that the shooter was a child or a young boy. Anyone here know what chronicle makes this mention or if there is any reliable historian and scholar that did this research?

Thank you so much always for the help!

Hey y’all,

I know there are many similar posts on this topic, but I thought it would be nice to have some updated answers/consolidate them in one thread.

I completed my undergrad a few months ago and am now working for the man, trying to figure out what the hell to do with myself. Graduated with a history degree with a medieval focus and wrote my comps paper on early medieval mosaics (fascinatingly dynamic medium!). Although I admittedly pissed about in undergrad a bit and kind of fell into medieval history, I’m starting to realize that I really miss a) the process of research (studying something, having complex ideas about it, and expressing those ideas in an article) and b) studying the early medieval period specifically.

So what I’m asking is this: is getting a PhD in medieval studies/history a dead end? What are some of your first/secondhand experiences of the life of a post-doc in this discipline? I totally understand that the market is hyper-competitive and I would in all likelihood be unemployable, but are there any success stories to go along with the doom and gloom, too?

I’m just trying to get a realistic picture of what would be getting myself in to. I feel like I could live and breath this stuff if I could do research, but would I even get the chance to? For context, I’m looking at top programs (Oxford’s Late Antique/Byzantine studies, Princeton, etc) based on my undergrad experience. All answers are appreciated; thanks for the advise.

This is a question I've had for a while but I have always struggled to find good sources. If anyone can recommend reading I'd be very interested.

It's a question that's at the heart of so much history, but it often feels like it gets superficial treatment. How do you build a cohesive state (or "state," whatever you want to call the Carolingian political system) from the ground up? Clearly religion was heavily mixed up with governance, but like how did that work on the ground when new territories were being added to the empire?

Would people really been fine with that?

Or was it more that the winner(non lethal) was the one that told the truth? And then the loser would get punished?

But this kind of trial by combat cant have been very commen, right? Or was it?

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Everyone knew by this time that Richard II was not exactly trustworthy and that he held grudges against the lord appellants.

And these two men happen to have been part of that group.

The two men's families cant have been very happy with the situation, right?

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Now as we all know Richard stopped the dual the last second, and choose to exile them instead.

We may never know how Richard brain worked, and why he choose to do that.

Maybe he did not want one of them to be victories, beacuse then he would have a harder time to get rid of him later?

What frozen treat will you give them from modern day that would make them think you’re a wizard?

I’m going with ice cream cake!

If it was something they did, when did it start? Was it after medieval times?