Deciphering the Feudal Landscapes of Crusader Peloponnese

They have been described as castles, castle towns or simply fortified medieval villages. The hilltop settlements of the late-medieval Peloponnese dominate the landscape as relics of its feudal past. Yet, their identity, origin, purpose and chronology remain ambiguous.

Dionysis Kalantzis-Papadopoulos • May 27, 2022

Wine trade from the Holy Land

Palestinian wines were praised and consumed across western Europe. Transport containers found in Jerusalem, likely used to carry these wines, are stored in the depot at the Faculty of Archaeology. What can these amphorae tell us about connectivity across the Mediterranean in the early Middle Ages?

Vera van Heel • May 13, 2022

Flattery and Flans: Imitation in Islamic Numismatics

During the Early Islamic Period, a variety of coins emerged from the dying empires of Rome and Iran that helped the local Central Asian economies supply of silver for the next several hundred years. One of these coins was centred around one city that would rise from conquests and continue to thrive.

Jonathan Ouellet • April 29, 2022

Can we name a corpse? Identifying royalty in the burial record

A number of splendorous and wealthy ‘princely tombs’ from early medieval Europe have been identified with royal figures known from written sources. Can we really be sure who were buried in these tombs?

Jip Barreveld • April 15, 2022

A.E.I.O.U: Riddles in stone

In studying building inscriptions in the Netherlands, I came across some curious initialisms that are difficult to interpret and therefore intriguing. What to make of an inscription that says DOVK and nothing else, or a stone plaque showing a four-poster bed, the date 1591 and the letters IGDFC?

Elizabeth den Hartog • March 17, 2022

A conditioned scribe: The use of multiple interlinear glosses to the Lindisfarne Gospels

What happens when early medieval glossators provide multiple translations for one and the same Latin word and what can this tell us about language history?

Elisa Ramirez Perez • March 03, 2022

Medieval Photoshop

Manipulating and enhancing images may seem something that is particular to the current digital age. The Kattendijke Chronicle, a late fifteenth-century manuscript from the Low Countries, contains fascinating examples of analogue image editing.

Anna Dlabacová • February 18, 2022

Een speurtocht naar metaalvondsten: het levenswerk van Herman Zomerdijk in Kennemerland

Duizenden metaalvondsten die door detectorist wijlen Herman Zomerdijk zijn gedaan in de regio Kennemerland schetsen een uniek beeld van Noord-Holland door de eeuwen heen.

Mink van IJzendoorn and Peter Buis • February 04, 2022

And then Christ turned the children into pigs: A curious miracle in late medieval England

A curious miracle has a young Christ turn Jewish children into pigs. The scene was particularly popular in late medieval England and has a problematic connection to medieval antisemitism.

Thijs Porck • January 21, 2022