Medieval World Culture & Conflict Magazine

Medieval Warfare picks up where its sister magazine, Ancient Warfare, leaves off. Starting around 500 AD, Medieval Warfare examines the world during the Middle Ages up through the early years of the Renaissance (the magazine generally leaves off in the 16th century). While popular topics such as the Crusades and the Vikings are given regular coverage, Medieval Warfare also tackles more complex and obscure topics, ranging from the Umayyad Caliphate versus the Byzantine Empire to horse trading in 14th-century England.

Medieval World Magazine

Editorial

Swiss hero's graffiti found in Jerusalem

Medieval gold coin discovered in Canada

ON THE COVER

Ancient astronomical text discovered in medieval manuscript

EXPERIENCING A RENOWNED RELIQUARY ENCOUNTERING SAINTE FOY • Upon entering the Romanesque pilgrimage church at Conques, medieval pilgrims proceeded down the building's long, soaring nave toward the rounded apse at its eastern end. There, they encountered the object that was their primary motivation for visiting Conques: the tenth-century reliquary of Sainte Foy (Saint Faith), the miracle-working patron saint of the church.

TACTILE ENGLISH HERALDRY LIVERY BADGES • People in medieval Europe employed a range of emblems and symbols to identify themselves. Known as livery badges, these symbols could be taken from an existing coat of arms, or such a badge could be an entirely new emblem chosen for its allegorical meaning.

EXPLORING THE MEDIEVAL PIPE ROLLS, 1154 - 1216 KEEPING UP YOUR CASTLE • It has often been said that knowledge is power, but what is knowledge? For many years it has been assumed that King Henry II (1154-1189) was a great builder of castle keeps based upon the ‘knowledge’ of his spending at certain castles. Yet in the 1960s, the authors of the History of the King's Works noted: “The tendency in the past has been to attribute nearly all of them [keeps] to Henry II, often for no better reason than an odd payment on the Pipe Roll recording a minor repair, or a hasty refortification in the face of some temporary emergency.” This prompts the question, what is the knowledge that can be gained from the Pipe Rolls?

ONE VIKING WOMAN'S EPIC JOURNEY LIVING ON THE EDGE • The life of Gudrid Thorbjarnardottir still inspires awe more than a thousand years after she lived. How did the descendent of a Gaelic slave, who nearly died traveling from Iceland to Greenland, eventually outlive three husbands to become the most widely travelled woman in the medieval world?

AN URBAN TAKE ON MEDIEVAL ARMIES CITIZENS IN ARMS • Literature suggests that medieval urban authorities heavily relied on their own burgh- ers to defend their town. In the Middle Ages, urban warfare was, indeed, for the most part defensive. Defence was the primary function of the walled structures that multi- plied in Europe from the twelfth century onward. But who were the people guarding the peace and quiet of their town? And what, exactly, did their engagement entail?

NIGHT-TIME QUIET IN THE MEDIEVAL TOWN THE NIGHT WATCH • When night fell over late-medieval Basel, the five city gates closed and the city fell quiet. Through the empty streets only the men of the night watch walked, carrying a halberd on their shoulders while peaceful silence rang out over the roof- tops and church towers. At least, this was how the night-time was supposed to look and sound.

The romance of the night

COMMONERS AGAINST NOBLES THE FRENCH JACQUERIE OF 1358 • The French Jacquerie of 1358 was one of the largest peasant revolts of the Middle Ages. Lasting from late May to mid-July, the Jacquerie began in a village north of Paris and quickly spread across an area extending from Normandy and Picardy to parts of Champagne and the region east of Chartres.

MEMBERS OF THE CLERGY AND MARTIAL ACTIVITIES MARTIAL...