Medieval

Pope Innocent III declaring the crusade against the Cathars and an attack on the Albigensians, miniature from the Grandes Chroniques de France ou de Saint Denis, 14th century. British Library/Bridgeman Images.

Hunting Heretics: Inside the Medieval Inquisition

More than 5,000 people were interviewed during the Great Inquisition of medieval Toulouse. What did this mean for those ordinary people called to give evidence?

St Matthew writing, the Lindisfarne Gospels, 710-20. British Library/Bridgeman Images.

Artificial Inspiration

Poets across the ages have sought help with their writing – but AI bears no comparison with the divine.

Bonfire Celebrating Midsummer Night, by Nikolai Astrup, 1912-26. Nasjonalmuseet/Børre Høstland. Public Domain.

Gods at the Margins: How European Paganism Survived

By the 14th century Christianity had swept many of Europe’s indigenous religions aside, but not all. At the continent’s peripheries paganism survived and, in some cases, thrived.

‘King Ethelbert’s Bones Discovered in Sherborne Abbey 1925’, glass-plate slide photograph. Sherborne Abbey Library.

A Royal Skeleton in the Chapel

Were the lost bones of medieval King Ethelbert hidden in Sherborne Abbey? A convenient discovery suggested they were.

The Siege of Antioch, from the Chronicle of William of Tyre, 14th century. Heritage Images/TopFoto.

Cannibal Crusaders

Reports from the First Crusade brought tales of victorious Christian soldiers eating dead bodies.

The archbishop of Rheims crowning a queen, from The Coronation Book of Charles V, King of France, c.1365-80.

Medieval Queen by Grace of God

Queenship was transformed in the early Middle Ages, as power came to be derived not just from marriage, but from God.

Condemnation and martyrdom of Saint Lawrence, gilded copper and champlevé enamel from Germany, c. 1180. The Cleveland Museum of Art. Public Domain.

Medieval Fogge: In Defence of the Middle Ages

The medieval era did not wallow in savage, ignorant darkness, despite what some would have us believe.

A monk reading in his bed, from Flores Bernardi, by William of Tournai, 1275-1300. Bibliotheque Mazarine / © Archives Charmet / Bridgeman Images.

Real Monks Cry: Masculinity in the Monastery

How did medieval holy men cope with the strictures their devotion placed upon them?

Fibulae, French, sixth-seventh century. Luisa Ricciarini/Bridgeman Images

The Merovingians: ‘Do-Nothing Kings’?

The Merovingians have a reputation for long hair and barbarity. Instead, the dynasty, born out of the chaos of civil war, was one of peace, diplomacy, and bureaucracy.