Right dear and right entirely well-beloved, I greet you heartily well!
If you are interested in medieval history, you’ve come to the right place.
Articles
This blog is all about medieval history, a place where I’ll be sharing articles about fascinating stories from the Middle Ages. Ask two historians to define the Middle Ages and you’d probably get two different answers. So, for the sake of drawing some lines in the sand, I’ll be focusing on the period from 476 (the fall of the Roman Empire) up until 1487 (the end of the Wars of the Roses).
Read all about the key people, places and events that have shaped our past here.
Get in touch
You’ll find articles on pretty much anything from the medieval period on this site. I’m always open to new ideas, so if you have any comments, questions, or suggestions, I’d love to hear from you. I doubt if I’ll be able to accommodate every suggestion, but I’ll certainly take them into account.
About me
I have an avid interest in history and would call myself a ‘keen amateur historian’. I studied history academically with the Open University and for most of my life I have studied history mainly for fun. If you contribute to the History forum called ‘Historum’ you may have come across me posting as SilasMarner.
Featured Stories
Pilgrimage in Medieval Europe
Pilgrimage was a major feature of cultural life in medieval Europe.
Christians had been making pilgrimages ever since the earliest period of Christian history. However, it was between the 11th and 13th countless thousands of pilgrims travelled across Europe, visiting over 10,000 pilgrimage sites.
So, why did so many people embark on pilgrimages in medieval times? And what exactly was it about this period in European history that made pilgrimage such an important cultural movement?
Read on to find out more…
Demons in Medieval Europe
Demons and devils are a constant theme running through both religion and folklore since ancient times. How we regard these entities in the western world has been heavily influenced by our Judaeo-Christian heritage. However, what exactly are demons? Most people in the west would have a clear impression of what a demon is within the context of western Judaeo-Christina cultures. But how did we come to think of demons in that way? Did we always think of demons in that way?
How western cultures perceive demons today actually owes a great deal to medieval thinking. During the Middle Ages in Europe theologians and philosophers spent a good deal of time debated what exactly demons were and what kind of powers they did and did not possess. How we view them today is in fact a synthesis of that thinking.
Read on to find out more
Myths and Legends
No one can deny the enduring power of medieval myths and legends. Tales of King Arthur, Merlin, Robin Hood, Sir Lancelot, magic, dragons, giants, demons, and the Holy Grail are as fascinating for us today as they have ever been.
However, the stories we have inherited from our medieval forebears have often been transformed by the embellishments and additions of later generations. In every century since the Middle Ages, people re-imagined, re-told, and sometimes radically changed stories to suit the audience of the day. My book aims to transport the reader back to the age of the Plantagenets and re-tell these stories as they would have been understood at the time. It looks at what they meant to medieval folk, how they were told and why they were important.
Read on for more details…
Follow our journey through the Middle Ages
I publish two articles a month. Check back and never miss a post from this blog.
Future articles to look out for:
- An ongoing series of articles covering the history of the Plantagenets during the late Middle Ages, from the death of Edward III through to the dawn of the Tudor Age.
- We also feature articles covering folklore, myths, and legends from the medieval period. Past articles include a series on Robin Hood and features on King Arthur and the origins of Halloween.