Gone Medieval

Earlier this month, it was reported that DNA analysis of the skeleton of a 10-year-old girl buried in Kent in the 7th century showed she was of West African descent. Thirty-three per cent of her DNA s...

25 Okt 202230min

On 21 October 1422 - 600 years ago - King Charles VI of France died at the age of 53 after reigning for 42 years. He was known as both Charles le Bien-Aimé (the Beloved) and Charles le Fou (the Mad) -...

22 Okt 202234min

For centuries, the pub has played a central role in our lives and communities. Throughout Britain, there are many pubs saying that they are the oldest - some of them even claim to have Medieval origin...

18 Okt 202237min

Were sub-Saharan Africans present in Medieval Europe? Despite their absence from many histories, they were. Arriving as traders, as explorers, as warriors, or - for those only known from archaeologica...

15 Okt 202230min

Across the world, a wide range of writing systems developed in diverse societies and Medieval Europe was no different. Apart from the Latin alphabet, many will be familiar with the use of runes. But d...

11 Okt 202225min

When the skeletons of six adults and 11 children were found at the bottom of a Medieval well in Norwich in 2004, they were thought perhaps to be the victims of plague or famine or civil unrest. Now sc...

8 Okt 202222min

Charles III recently became King at the age of 73 - the oldest man ever to become a British monarch. That might not seem so odd to us today, but had he been a child it would certainly have raised eyeb...

4 Okt 202237min

The emergence of the Gothic style in twelfth-century France - with its pointed arches, flying buttresses and stained glass windows - triggered an explosion of cathedral-building across western Europe....

1 Okt 202226min