On the fifth installment of Battle Castle we travel to Prussia and visit Malbork Castle, home of the Teutonic Knights. Sprawling over 51 acres (21 hectares) Malbork is truly an impressive castle. Host Dan Snow walks us through the castles design and demonstrates how to create mud bricks in Guedelon. Then Dan teams up with…
This week we travel with host Dan Snow to visit the impressive Dover Castle. Perched high atop the white chalky cliffs, Dover Castle has been a military installation for over 800 years. Dover’s last major military role was during WWII. In this episode of Battle Castle we see the construction set forth by Henry II…
The two armoured knights thundered down the lists, helmets gleaming, lances pointed viciously towards each other, shields held protectively high, horses gaily caparisoned, charging boldly towards a potentially deadly impact. Banners were flying brightly on all sides, finely dressed ladies watched nervously, massed crowds of peasants – myself among them, camera poised eagerly – hoped…
Plundering, pillaging and plenty of sea food — what wasn’t to like about the life of a Viking? How it sometimes ended, suggests an archeological study in the current Oxford Journal of Archeology. In the study led by Mark Pollard of the United Kingdom’s University of Oxford, archeologists thought they had uncovered the victims of…
We are back today with the trifecta for the Rama: Travel App. There was the Medieval Exeter tour and earlier this month I reviewed the Medieval Winchester tour. Last week Crimson Bamboo, the company behind the Rama Travel App released the Medieval Glastonbury tour by Tom Vivian (Twitter: @tomvivan). Medieval Glastonbury is available for $1.99…
The medieval document will go on public display this summer alongside the famous Lubeck letter. A 700-year-old letter believed to have been carried by William Wallace has been returned to Scotland. The medieval document has been archived in England since it was discovered in the Tower of London in the 1830s. The document is now…
A few months ago I reviewed the Medieval Exeter tour for the Rama: Travel App. With over 90 tours available there are plenty of tours for the medievalist. Today we will look at the Medieval Winchester Tour by Kaye Jones (Twitter: @KayeJones). Medieval Winchester is available for $1.99 USD, covers 1.5 miles (2.4km) and takes…
Today we have a guest post by Jonathan Arnold on Medieval Law. Jonathan is a practicing attorney in California. He teaches law and is a legal historian. I would like to thank Jonathan for his contribution. Enjoy the article… ~The Archivist Some More Medieval Law BY Jonathan Arnold, Esq. arnoldandassocs [at] gmail [dot] com The…
Once laid to rest, the remains of many who died in medieval Europe were not left in peace. As much as 40 percent of graves from the mid-fifth to mid-eighth centuries appear to have been disturbed after burial. Grave robbers, searching for wealth buried along with the dead, have frequently born the blame from archaeologists….
Judging from the opulence of his tomb, he was a revered Viking warrior destined to take his place in Valhalla among the honoured dead. Laid to rest in a 17ft boat with his sword, axe and bronze drinking horn, the powerful Norseman’s burial site has been discovered by archaeologists in a remote part of the…
England and Wales are full of beautiful medieval churches. From the famous like Christ Church cathedral to the lesser-known like Dorchester Abbey, they offer breathtaking architecture and decoration, and since many are free, they make good budget travel destinations. Some even preserve fragile paintings from the Middle Ages, like this one photographed by Roger Rosewell,…
Created by Crimson Bamboo, Rama: Travel App for History Lovers is an iPhone (iDevice) app that focuses on historical tours across the globe. The team at Crimson Bamboo have complied over 85 history tours for the Rama app covering five continents. They offer both free and paid tours, the paid tours range in price from…
I reported on the cobblestone streets of Somerset almost a year ago. It looks like the work has finally begun. ~The Archivist Workmen have begun ripping up the cobbled streets of a perfectly preserved medieval village over health and safety fears. The ancient roads and paths were an iconic feature in the historic settlement of…
Using a technique for extracting ancient DNA, researchers have found that the form of Yersinia pestis that caused the Black Death in medieval Europe may be extinct, according to a new study publishing today (August 29) in PNAS. The new approach could help researchers understand why that pandemic was so deadly. “It’s a really interesting…
I have had several questions about the names and locations of the castles in the Castles of Europe Windows 7 theme. Below are the 21 castles included in the theme as well as there names and locations. The original post: Castle of Europe Windows 7 Theme post. Download the Castles of Europe Windows 7 Theme…
