All articles tagged with #medieval history
An accidental archaeological dig beneath the Tower of London’s Chapel Royal has uncovered four layers of medieval construction, skeletal remains, and rare artifacts, revealing the site’s long history as a place of worship, community, and burial, dating back over 800 years and providing new insights into the lives of ordinary people and historical events like the Black Death.
Archaeologists conducted a rare excavation at the Tower of London, uncovering over 20 skeletal remains, including a Black Death burial and medieval coffins, providing new insights into the site's historical residents and their lives through advanced biomolecular analysis.
The year 536 CE was one of the worst times to be alive due to a massive volcanic eruption that caused a 'volcanic winter,' leading to drastic climate changes, crop failures, famine, and pandemics, significantly impacting the course of history especially in Europe and the Middle East.
The Voynich manuscript, a mysterious late-medieval document covered in illustrations of stars, planets, plants, and naked women, has long puzzled historians. In a recent article, researchers propose that the manuscript contains information about sex and conception, drawing on late-medieval gynaecology and sexology. They suggest that the largest illustration, the Rosettes, represents a late-medieval understanding of sex and conception, resolving many of the manuscript's contradictions. The proposal aligns with the patriarchal culture of the time and sheds light on the manuscript's enigmatic features, offering a new perspective for future research.
New research from the University of Oxford suggests that the Cerne Abbas giant, a large hill figure in Dorset, England, represents Hercules and may have served as a muster station for West Saxon armies during Viking invasions in the 10th century. Historians Helen Gittos and Tom Morcom argue that the figure's location and characteristics align with those of a "hanging promontory" site, ideal for army gatherings. This recontextualizes the giant from a mysterious figure to a significant cultural and historical symbol in the local landscape.