Medieval Ages

Student researchers analyzed this leaf from a Book of Hours (left), a devotional Christian manuscript that dates to the 15th century. The students found traces of French cursive writing beneath the visible text (right). The cursive was likely scraped away to make the parchment reusable for the illuminated Gothic script.

College Sophomores Discover Hidden Text in Medieval Manuscript

Students at Rochester Institute of Technology used a self-developed UV imaging system to assess a 15th-century religious document

Scholars will use A.I. to identify references to specific scents in artwork and texts.

Researchers Are Recreating Europe's Centuries-Old Scents

A team of scientists will curate an "encyclopedia of smell heritage" that spans the 16th through early 20th centuries

This month's book picks include A Demon-Haunted Land, South to Freedom and The Light Ages.

The Heiress Who Stole a Vermeer, Witchcraft in Post-WWII Germany and Other New Books to Read

These five November releases may have been lost in the news cycle

Art historian Jennifer Alexander believes the carving is a self-portrait made by a medieval stonemason.

A 12th-Century Mason Created a Hidden Self-Portrait in Famed Spanish Cathedral

Over the past 900 years, millions of pilgrims walked through Santiago de Compostela Cathedral without spotting the secret carving

Researchers from ADHS, Historic Environment Scotland, Dendrochronicle and Wessex Archaeology examined the remains of the old bridge.

Remnants of Scotland's Oldest Surviving Bridge Found

Both Mary, Queen of Scots, and James V crossed the Old Ancrum Bridge, which was key to travel, commerce and war

A satellite image of the Noordoostpolder, a Dutch municipality where the four settlements were found

Dutch Archaeologist Discovers Traces of Four Submerged Medieval Settlements

A five-year research project yielded the locations of several long-forgotten villages

The Book of Lismore consists of 198 large vellum folios.

Medieval Manuscript Returns to Ireland After Hundreds of Years in British Hands

The 15th-century Book of Lismore features the only surviving Irish translation of Marco Polo's travels, among other historical texts

A Lidl grocery store in Ireland is pictured here in 2019. The German grocery chain's new Dublin location features a surprising archaeological display.

Shoppers at Dublin Grocery Store Glimpse Viking History Beneath Their Feet

A new Lidl boasts plexiglass windows that reveal archaeological wonders, including an 11th-century house and 18th-century staircase

Anne Boleyn was the only Tudor figure beheaded with a sword instead of an ax.

Why Henry VIII Orchestrated Every Detail of Anne Boleyn's Execution

The Tudor king had his disgraced queen killed by beheading rather than burning

17-year-old Reece Pickering found one of just three surviving silver pennies dated to Harold II's reign.

Two British Teens Using Metal Detectors Discovered 1,000-Year-Old Coins

One of the coins is a silver penny dated to Harold II's brief reign in 1066. The other dates to the time of Henry I

Archaeologists unearthed the friary's ruins beneath the site of a demolished parking garage.

Long-Lost Medieval Monastery Discovered Beneath Parking Garage in England

Carmelite friars established Whitefriars in 1270, but the religious site was destroyed during the Protestant Reformation

The second season of "The Spanish Princess" presents a highly dramatized version of the Battle of Flodden. In actuality, the queen (seen here in a c. 1520 portrait) never rode directly into battle.

When Catherine of Aragon Led England's Armies to Victory Over Scotland

In 1513, Henry VIII's first queen—acting as regent in her husband's absence—secured a major triumph at the Battle of Flodden

A 14th-century latrine in Riga, Latvia

Archaeologists Mine Medieval Toilets for Traces of Gut Microbiomes

New techniques could help researchers understand human diets in different times and places

Archaeologists unearthed shards of pottery, wine jugs, floor tiles and traces of crops, among other artifacts.

Sourdough Bread Oven, 'Air Freshener' Found at Medieval Irish Monastery

During the 13th century, French monks created a Cistercian community at Beamore in County Meath

Towers of the Stadtkirsche rise above Wittenberg, Germany. Much of the church was demolished and replaced in 1522, but the “Judensau” has remained despite controversy.

Germany May Have Banished Nazism, but Its Medieval Anti-Semitism Is Still in Plain Sight

In the city where Martin Luther revolutionized Christianity, a vile, 700-year-old sculpture openly denigrates Jews. Why is it still there?

The Knights Templar constructed the Saint Stanislaus chapel in the Polish village of Chwarszczany during the 13th century.

Crypts, Tunnel Discovered Beneath Knights Templar Chapel in Poland

Last fall, an archaeological investigation revealed tantalizing structures hidden below the 13th-century building

New digital reconstruction of Abbot John of Wheathampstead

Facial Reconstruction Reveals Medieval Monk's 'Impish' Features

Researchers digitally revived Abbot John of Wheathampstead 555 years after his death

Archaeologists first spotted the sturgeon's bony plates near a barrel in the Gribshunden shipwreck.

Well-Preserved Atlantic Sturgeon Found in 15th-Century Danish Shipwreck

The fish's remains were stored in a barrel in the royal vessel's pantry

Bishop of Hull Alison White blesses a statue of Aslan, a character from C.S. Lewis' The Chronicles of Narnia, at St. Mary’s Church in Beverley, East Yorkshire.

Stone Sculptures of 'Chronicles of Narnia' Characters to Adorn Medieval Church

Statues of Aslan, the White Witch and other mythical beings will replace weathered carvings at St. Mary's Church in Yorkshire

The helmet has been on view at England's Preston Park Museum since 2012.

Millennia-Old Headgear Is One of Just Two (Almost) Intact Viking Helmets

A new study dates a piece of armor found in Britain in the 1950s to the tenth century A.D.

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