Medieval

J.S. Cummins considers the impact of syphilis on the 16th-century world – a tale of rapid spread, guilt, scapegoats and wonder-cures, with an uncomfortable modern resonance.

Judith Herrin considers the Jekyll-and-Hyde output of Justinian's court historian, alternately respectful official chronicler and tabloid-style exposer of imperial scandal.

The grandest African ruins south of the Sahara and the enigmatic discovery of Ming China there.

Tim Tatton-Brown reviews the picture of one of Anglo-Saxon England's best-known saints built up at a major exhibition in Canterbury for the millennium of his death.

by Bronislaw Geremek

J.B. Post builds a rich image of the world of criminality and justice at the end of the Middle Ages.

Pamela Tudor-Craig looks at complex allegories, moral and theological, conveyed in images of considerable beauty which are still being recovered today.

Juliet and Malcolm Vale trace through the web of secular status and religious instincts that made up the codes of conduct of English chivalry.

Christian king or swashbuckling hero? The immense popularity of King Arthur in medieval romance gave considerable scope for a range of images.

Janet Backhouse explores the Illuminated Books of Gothic England.