Fan of Tolkien?

We all know and love the famous J.R.R. Tolkien who wrote some of the best stories mankind has ever known. Lord of the Rings, Silmarillion, The Hobbit...

Well, if you didn't know already, Tolkien was a professor of Anglo-Saxon language. He would handle medieval manuscripts a lot for research, and well, his job. He had an interest in them. And if you've ever seen a picture (or one in person) of a medieval manuscript, you'll understand when I say they're beautiful. The artwork sprinkles the pages, making the paper come alive. It must have inspired Tolkien too, because if you compare the drawings of the dragons from his maps in The Hobbit, and other places he's drawn his dragon sketches, with the dragons from medieval manuscripts, you'll see just how similar they are.

Take a look!




Medieval Manuscript:

 Tolkien's work:

Pretty similar, huh? So next time you pick up a copy of The Hobbit, remember what those drawings were inspired by. Or, the next time you hear someone say "history is stupid," remind them that it's not so stupid after all and that it inspired an author to write a book which then turned into their favourite movie.

Medieval Vampire Graves Found!

We all know the legend of Dracula. We've all heard of vampires. They're well-known tales that people know all over the world. Well, the citizens of medieval Europe also knew of the spooky creatures. They believed the stories to be true. In the Middle Ages, people believed that vampires could rise from the grave and plague the living. Over the years, an increasing number of buriels have been discovered featuring brutally treated corpses that match the "vampire folklore." Here are some of them:

1. Prostejov, Slovakia
The body found in Prostejov was discovered in a crypt in a church. The corpse had been buried in a coffin with iron bars on it, which was one of the methods to keep a vampire buried. They believed that vampires could not tolerate the touch of iron. Also, stones had been places on the victim's legs, and the torso was severed from the legs. The scientists believe this body to be from the 1500s.

2. Celakovice, Czech Republic
This "vampire" was found in Celakovice in the 1990s. Along with 14 others, as well. Archaeologists believe this to be the first "vampire cemetery." All of the bodies had metal spikes driven through their bodies or heavy stones placed upon them. The graveyard dates back to the 11th or 12th century. Most of the victims they found were both men and women, and were young adults. It appears as if the victims all died around the same time, as if from some sort of sickness, but it's unknown why the villagers thought that these specific people were at risk of becoming vampires.

3. Venice, Italy
Yes, Italy had its own vampire burials too. The skeleton of a woman who died during the plague in the 16th century was found with a brick placed in her mouth. This way she could not chew her way out of her grave like they used to believe that vampires would do.

4. Southwell, UK
This find was especially old. It dated back to the years 550-700. They had metal spikes jammed through heart, shoulders, and ankles. These skeletons were actually found in 1959, but the archaeological report had gotten lost over time, and was finally re-revealed in 2010.

5. Kilteasheen, Ireland
The bodies of two men laying side by side were found in Ireland with bricks shoved in their mouths. One of them was a middle aged man, and one was a young man, about in his 20s. It is argued whether these are vampire graves or not, since it was dated back to the 8th century, which predates vampire legends in Western Europe, but nevertheless, the name has stuck with the skeletons.

Medieval Assassin's Poison Ring Discovered!

Bulgarian archaeologists have made an amazing discovery! They have found a ring that could be used for poisoning people in the 14th century. It was discovered at Cape Kaliakra near the town of Kavarna. The people who found this poison ring believe that it's the first ever to be discovered in that region. The ring is made of bronze, and has a small cavity that could be filled with poison. They could then easily put the poison in someone's food or drink. The ring was always worn on the right hand intentionally because then they could capture the poison with their finger. Poison jewellery dates back to Ancient Roman times, and were use of them survived all the way up to the 17th century.
At first, the rings were used to commit suicide if the wearer believed that they would be dying a painful, or slow death. Later, though, people started using the rings as weapons. The discoverers of the piece of jewellery think that this ring may have been used during a fight between a medieval ruler (Dobrotitsa) and his son (Ivanko Terter). This assassins ring sure is fascinating, but aren't you glad they're not used today?

Crime in the Middle Ages

The law was extremely harsh in England in the Middle Ages. Those in charge of the law did believe that the people could only learn how to behave if they were afraid of what would happen if they went against the law. Even the “smallest” crimes had severe punishments. The higher-classed people feared the poor because there were a lot more poor people than there were rich people. Any revolt could hurt the nobles. The Peasants Revolt of 1381 proved that much.

The law in England improved because Henry II sent out judges from London to deal with cases throughout England. Each person who’d been accused of a crime had to go through something called an ordeal. There were three of them:

-Ordeal by fire:

The person who had been accused would hold a hot iron bar and would walk three paces. After, their hand was all bandaged up and was to be left alone for exactly three days. If the wound was healing after three days, you were considered innocent. If not, you were “proven” guilty.

-Ordeal by water:

The person would be tied up and thrown into a body of water, like a lake or something. If that person would float you were guilty. If you sank, you were innocent. Sometimes they would tie a rope around the person’s waist so if you were innocent, you could be pulled out if you started to sink.

-Ordeal by combat:

This ordeal was mostly used by nobles that had been accused of a crime. They would fight with the person who accused them of whatever crime they were accused of. Whoever won the fight was the right one. Whoever lost usually died at the end of the fight.

In the year of 1215, the Pope said that priests in England couldn’t help out with ordeals. Ordeals were then replaced by trials by juries. The people didn’t like this because they felt like their neighbours could use a trial to get revenge on them if they had a grudge against them. After the year of 1275, a new law was introduced. It was that people were allowed to be tortured if they said they would not to go to trial that had a jury.

If you were found guilty of the crime you were accused of, you would be facing severe punishment. Thieves would have had their hands cut off for punishment. Women who murdered were strangled, then burnt. People who hunted illegally in royal areas had their ears cut clean off, and treason was punishable by being hung and other forms of execution. There weren’t many prisons because they cost money and local communities would not pay for them to be maintained. It was always cheaper to execute a guilty person for their crimes. It was also cheaper to just mutilate them, and then let them go.

Most towns had place to hang people just outside of them. When people were hung, their bodies were left to rot over the weeks and served as a warning to others to not commit crime. 

By Kerigan Geerts

Music of the Medieval Era

Music was important to the people of the Medieval era, especially in the royal courts. This was the time of the knights. It was important for a knight to be able to fight, play a musical instrument, and to dance. Minstrels and Troubadours also played musical instruments. Of course, not everyone had to know how to play an instrument if they wanted to make music. They could always use their voice if they wanted to! Hymns and secular songs were especially popular because of the spread of Christianity. The first church organ dates back to the 8th century! Many of the Medieval instruments influenced the type of instruments we use today. So, if you play an instrument, remember that it was probably fathered by a medieval instrument!

They had different types of instruments that fell under different categories and fit into different families, just like ours do today! They included:

• Wind Musical Instruments
• Stringed Musical Instruments
• Percussion Musical Instruments

String instruments were played by using a bow or they could be plucked.

• The Harp - The harp was used mostly by the troubadours and minstrels.
• The Fiddle - The fiddle was the most popular street instrument because it was so portable. It was could be played with either a bow, or could be plucked.
• The Rebec - The rebec had a pear shaped body and looked like an early violin.
• The Psaltery - The psaltery looked like a mix between a harp and guitar.
• The Dulcimer - The dulcimer was played by hitting the strings with a small hammer, kind of like a piano does today on its inside!
• The Hurdy-gurdy - Being introduced in the 1100’s, the bow was replaced by strings that were attached to a wheel, which was then cranked by a handle.
• The Viol - The viol was played with a bow and usually sat between the legs or was held on the lap.

Wind instruments which were blown into.

• The Flute - The flute was similar to modern-day flutes.
• The Trumpet - The trumpet was a long instrument and it was made out of metal. It was often in four parts, and often associated with fanfares and pageants.
• The Pipe - The pipe was a very basic instrument. It only had three melody holes.
• The Shawn - The shawn was a reed instrument that had vent holes.
• Recorder - The recorder was another a super basic instrument with melody holes, and is still around today, often used in elementary Music Class.
• The Bagpipe - The Bagpipe was an ancient instrument and was used by the poor. It was usually made of goat or sheep skin, and a reed pipe.
• The Crumhorn - The crumhorm (Curved Horn) was introduced in the 15th century as a double reed instrument.
• The Gemshorn - The gemshorn, made out of an ox horn, was played like a flute-like instrument.
• The Lizard - The lizard was an S-shaped horn.

Percussion instruments were made up of different kinds of drums and bells, much like they are today, of course.

• The Drum - Drums were made of hollow tree trunks, clay, or metal. They were covered by skins of water animals.
• The Cymbal - Cymbals were round, thin, metal plates.
• The Triangle - The triangle was introduced in the 1300’s.
• The Tambourine - The tambourine was usually only used by women.

As you can see, there were many different types of instruments, and music was a huge part of Medieval life.

By Kerigan Geerts

Diets of the Medieval People

People of the Middle Ages, especially nobles, had very bad nutritional dieting habits. Nobles rarely ate fruits and vegetables. Fruit was only eaten in pies or preserved in honey. Vegetables were only eaten in the form of a stew, soup, or pottage, and were mainly eaten by the poor. Only onions, garlic, and leeks (and such as) were eaten by nobles. Dairy products, excluding cheese, were also only consumed by the poor or lower classes.

Nobles/Upper Classes :

Highly spiced foods. Spices included pepper, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, ginger, saffron, cardamon (now cardamom), coriander, cumin, garlic, turmeric, mace, anise, caraway, and mustard.

Diet:

• Manchet bread

• Vast variety of meat and game - venison, beef, pork, goat, lamb, rabbit, hare, mutton, swans, herons, and poultry

• Fish - fresh & salt water. Range of fish (such as) - herring, salmon, eel, whiting, plaice, cod, trout, and pike

• Shell fish - crab, oysters, mussels, etc.

• Spices (above)

• Cheese

• Fruits

• Limited number of vegetables

Poor/Lower Classes:

Very home grown. Only lords and nobles were allowed to hunt deer, boar, hares, and rabbits. The punishment for poaching could be having one's hands cut off or death.

Diet:

• Rye or barley bread

• Pottage ( a type of stew )

• Dairy products such as milk and cheese products

• Meat such as beef, pork, and lamb

• Fish - if there is access to freshwater rivers or the sea

• Homegrown vegetables and herbs

• Fruit from local trees and bushes

• Nuts

• Honey

By Carlie Throndson

Medieval Architecture

Art in the Middle Ages was unseparated from religion. It was made with spiritual symbolism and meaning. The purpose was to awe the spectator with the grandeur of God. It also showed what people believed.

“Painting can do for the illiterate what writing does for those who read.” -Pope Gregory

Church Sculptures

The mission of a sculptor was to educate as well as decorate. He usually put Biblical tales and moral lessons into the stone. Not always religious. Pre-christian as well; animals, everyday life, and the pagan “Green Man” peering from wrought leaves and vines of stone. Sculpture was also glorious in the Romanesque period.

Romanesque Period

Beginning of the Norman era, the style of architecture that was vogue was known as Romanesque, because it copied patterns and proportion of the Roman Empire. Chief characteristics - barrel vaults, round arches, thick piers, and few windows. Easiest thing to spot - the rounded arches, in the tops of doors and windows. Romanesque churches were heavy and solid; the air filled with solemnity and gloom. Not always though. In their heyday, the church walls were hung with tapestries or painted richly. Service books were inlaid with gold, jewels, and ivory.

The Gothic Style

Beginning in 12th century France. At the time, it was simply called “The French Style”, but later Renaissance critics, who thought it was an abandonment of classic lines and proportion, called it “Gothic”. It was a reference to the imagined lack of culture of the barbaric tribes, including the Goths, which had ransacked Rome. Gothic architecture is light, spacious, and graceful. Advances in architecture from the Arab during the Crusades led to innovations such as - the pointed arches, ribbed vault, and the buttress. Heavy Romanesque piers were replaced with rows of slender columns. Window sizes were enlarged greatly. Sculpture became free standing. The windows were filled with stained glass. The easiest thing to spot were the pointed arches, again in the doors and windows. Later Gothic churches had elaborate decor such as “tracery” - stonework supporting the stain glass windows. 

Article by Carlie Throndson

Medieval Clothing

Materials Available For Clothing

Wool, silk, linen, hemp, cotton, leather, and fur.

Others:

Taffeta, velvet, and damask were made from things such as silk, cotton, and linen using specific weaving techniques. These others were more expensive and not as widely available.

Dyes:

Some were more expensive, but even the poor could have moderately colorful clothing.

Plants, roots, lichen, tree bark, nuts, crushed insects, mollusks, and iron oxide were used to dye. Dyed things would generally fade quickly if not mixed with mordant, and brighter and/or bolder shades took longer to dye or more expensive dye. Therefore, the brighter clothes were worn by nobles and upper classes that could afford such clothing. 

Article by Carlie Throndson

Witchcraft in the Middle Ages

During the Middle Ages the wisdom of the witches, also known as "wise women" or "cunning folk" were seen as helpful people in their communities, due to their knowledge of healing herbs. They could help the ones in need. There were White Witches and Black Witches. The White Witches focused on healing and helping, while the Black Witches practiced Black Magic. Black Magic was focused more on harming people than helping people, bringing sicknesses, injury, and death. Black Magic was seen as a work of the devil. The terms White Witches and Black Witches were lost, though, in the hysteria of the Renaissance when the witch hunts began.

The reason those witch hunts began were because of a book. In 1486 Malleus Maleficarum (Latin for The Hammer of Witches) was published and vividly described the satanic and sexual abominations of witches and witchcraft. The medieval era had experienced horrible wars, terrible famines, and extremely deadly diseases. The people were looking for a reason for all of that misfortune, and directed their anger towards the witches, blaming them all.

Then  the church gave permission to be rid of them, starting witch hunts. Witches were blamed when people died from disease (or just in general), when animals died, when there was a bad harvest, when fires were started, or even when food would go bad! The usual people accused of witchcraft were women, since the Medieval era was a time when men were in control. Many of the women accused were also poor and lonely.

 Anyone with knowledge of herbs or healing was defined as a witch. The church included in it's definition of witchcraft that "those who used herbs for cures did so only through a pact with the Devil, either explicit or implicit." In Europe, if anyone had possession of any kind of healing herbs, many of which had a psychedelic effect, it would result in that person burning as execution. Because witches were so looked down upon, and many killed for witchcraft, the majority of medical knowledge was lost. The use of herbs and plants such as mandrake, monkshood, cannabis, belladonna, and hemlock were common ingredients in brews and ointments for medical purposes.

There is no doubt that this hectic time still effects us today, shaping the public's view of witches and witchcraft just like it did so long ago.

Article by Kerigan Geerts