News aggregator
Detailed map created of underwater town in England
Archaeologists have created a detailed map of the medieval port city of Dunwich, dubbed "Britain's Atlantis" because it sank into the sea centuries ago. Using both high-tech imaging and historic research, archaeologists have been able to map out the town boundaries, streets, and even identify individual buildings.
Three receive Peerages at Rowany War
In an update to Canon Lore, Sorle, Canon Herald, reports that Their Majesties Felix and Eva of the Kingdom of Lochac offered elevation to the Peerage to three of Their subjects at the recent Rowany Festival AS XLVII.
Scientists find that same bacterium caused Justinianic plague and Black Plague
In 2011, DNA evidence confirmed that the infamous Black Plague that ravaged Europe in the 14th century was, as had been suspected for many years, caused by the Yersinia Pestis bacterium. Now a team of scientists have used skeletal microbiology and DNA testing to show that a 6th through 8th century pandemic was caused by the same bacterium.
The history of smoking
“When they travel, have a kind of herb dried, who, with a cane and an earthen cup in the end, with fire and the dried herbs put together, do suck through the cane and the smoke thereof, which smoke satisfieth their hunger, and therewith they live four or five days without meat or drink,” writes John Sparke about native Floridians' use of tobacco, which was introduced to Europeans in 1564.
Wasaga under Siege and Sails on the St. Mary seek re-enactors
Building on the huge success of past Wasaga under Siege events, the Historic Military Establishment of Upper Canada in partnership with the Town of Wasaga Beach, Ontario Parks, Town of Collingwood and Nancy Island Historic Site look forward to hosting you once again from August 16th to the 18th, 2013.
Exhibit showcases West's debt to Islamic doctors
In a new exhibit, the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) in London will showcase the work of early Islamic physicians. The mirror of health: discovering medicine in the golden age of Islam will be on display at the college's museum from 1 May to 25 October 2013.
Music and pageantry at AEthelmearc Coronation
The recent Coronation of Maynard and Liadain in the Kingdom of AEthelmearc was met with great pageantry and ceremony. Mistress Arianna of Wynthrope, former director of the known World Choir, shares video of choral pieces performed during the cermony.
Lilies War Road Construction Notice
Lilies War Event Steward, Baroness Thyri, reports on road construction affecting travel for the upcoming War.
Pennsic online registration ends June 9, 2013
Online registration for Pennsic War 42 will end Sunday, June 9, 2013 at 11 pm (EDT). All attendees wishing to camp with registered groups are strongly encouraged to register by this time.
Antonio de Luna placed on vigil at AEthelmearc Coronation
In Evening Court at the Coronation of Their Majesties Maynard and Liadain, King and Queen of Aethelmearc, Their Majesties placed Don Antonio de Luna on vigil to contemplate elevation to the Order of the Pelican.
Sir Cellach MacCormach wins Midrealm Crown
Mistress Gwyneth Banfhidhleir reports that Sir Cellach MacCormach was the victor of the May 26, 2013 Crown Tournament in the Kingdom of the Middle. His Highness was inspired in His endeavor by Lady Vukasin of Lozengia.
Grand Council Recruiting New Members
Saito Takauji, m.k.a. Matt Parker, Chairman of the Grand Council to the BoD, reports that the Grand Council is looking to add new members.
Grand Council Recruiting New Members
Saito Takauji, m.k.a. Matt Parker, Chairman of the Grand Council to the BoD, reports that the Grand Council is looking to add new members.
Armoring Richard III
At the March 2, 2013 Conference of the Richard III Society, Dr Toby Capwell discusses how the royal armorer might have coped with Richard's scoliosis. The 30-minute presentation, with slides, is available on YouTube.
Stefan's Florilegium updates for May 2013
THLord Stefan li Rous has published updates to Stefan's Florilegium for May 2013.
New Exhibitions Centre to host Viking ship at British Museum
The British Museum will introduce the world to its new World Conservation and Exhibitions Centre with its premiere exhibit focusing on Vikings, and will include the largest known Viking ship. In addition to exhibit space, the UK£135 million project, scheduled to open in March 2014, will provide research, testing, conservation and storage space. (photo)
Early Medieval Law in India and Europe: A Plea for Comparisons
The records of the customary law that seems to have been practised in early medieval India differ from those that survive from Western Europe, but the law that was followed in the two subcontinents seems rather similar. In both cases it offers insights to the structures and norms of the societies that produced it. It is harder to compare the evidence for the existence and the beginning of professional law since some aspects of the way that it began in Europe seem likely to be peculiar to that subcontinent. Consideration of possible reasons for the origin of European legal professions suggests, however, that it may be worth questioning any assumption there was no professional law in early medieval India.
Forbidden Privileges and History-Writing in Medieval India
This article uses evidence of non-hetero sexual relations in medieval India to examine the art of writing History and the making of Persianate textual archives. It focuses on political and sufi texts, and demonstrates the possibility of recovering a more textured knowledge of history-writing in pre-modern Islamicate India where texts remain the primary source for understanding and recovering histories.
The Last Cakravartin? The Gujarat Sultan as 'Universal King' in Fifteenth Century Sanskrit Poetry
The fifteenth century was a period of significant transitions in South Asian history. This was a period when Delhi ceased to be at the centre of political action as newer regional kingdoms emerged all over the subcontinent. Their courts also became important sites of patronage from where a variety of regional traditions flourished and continued into the following early modern era. This article explores one such transitional process, the gradual shift in the expression of political power through courtly literature in a Sanskrit text about the Muslim sultan of Gujarat entitledRajavinodamahakavyam. It is argued that this was one of the last remaining examples of Sanskrit production in which an Islamicate king could be represented as an Indic cakravartin or ‘universal king’. As the regional vernaculars developed and Brajbhasha emerged as the new cosmopolitan courtly language from the sixteenth century under the Mughals, new ideologies of kingship and corresponding literary idioms were introduced all over the subcontinent. This article suggests that the Rajavinodamahakavyamcan be located at the intersection of two important literary traditions—the older Sanskrit tradition of aestheticised poetry that was established during the early medieval era and that of Brajbhasha, heralding the early modern.
Temperature Reconstruction for North-Eastern Italy over the Last Millennium: Analysis of Documentary Sources from the Historical Perspective
The past climate reconstruction is of major relevance in order to produce the best climate model projections possible. The study of proxy data contained in ancient documents is one of the most valuable tools available to reach this goal. In the regions where written history had an early and widespread diffusion, it provides precious and long series of information, particularly useful for periods prior to the eighteenth–nineteenth century, when instrumental records did not yet exist. The data sources are different in typology, depending on the historical moment and the geographical area, that is, on the surrounding cultural environment; all of them need to be carefully and critically analysed from a historical point of view, in order to obtain both qualitative and quantitative results. Opportunities and problems concerning the use of documentary data in Italy will be discussed in this article. The results of the current historical study on the winter climate evolution in the Po Valley during the last millennium will be also presented as a case study.
