Medieval

The Meaning of Lore

How ‘lore’, a largely neglected medieval word, has found a new lease of life in fandom.

Was Richard III a Bad King?

Child-murderer, arch villain, failed monarch, ‘northern’. Have efforts to redeem Richard III succeeded or is he still one of history’s worst kings?

Crowning Triumph

Westminster Abbey was the focus of the world during the recent coronation. How and why was it built?

We are Family

From alliances, to open warfare; from tense meetings on bridges, to collective mourning at family funerals: French and English royalty were united by marriage and divided by war.

When Did the Medieval Period End?

As conventional wisdom has it, Europe began to see the light at the end of a dark age sometime around 1500. Four experts try to date the birth of modernity.