Medieval Mondays: Christian Viking Runestone Uncovered in Medievalist's Yard

It's every medievalist's dream come true--to find a rare artifact from the Middle Ages in their own back yard.

That recently happened to Dr. Sarah Jane Gibbon, a specialist in early church history, when her father found this fragment of a runestone on her farm.

It helps, of course, that she lives in the Orkney Islands, one of the richest areas for archaeological finds in the United Kingdom, and that's saying a lot. These rugged islands off the north coast of Scotland were home to an advanced Neolithic culture that made some amazing tombs and stone circles. Much later in the Middle Ages, it was home to a colony of Vikings.

What's interesting about this runestone is that it's using Viking runes to express Latin words, in this case, “who art in heaven hallowed”, part of the Lord's Prayer. Thus this runestone dates to after the Vikings had converted to Christianity. No similar inscription has ever been uncovered in the Orkneys or the Shetland Islands further north.

I bet Dr. Gibbon and her dad will be looking down a lot more as they walk around the property.

Image courtesy The Orcadian.

Medieval Mondays: Archaeologists Discover Anglo-Saxon Cross

West Face, showing Christ trampling on the beasts and St. John as a falconer.

Last month archaeologists in Weardale, County Durham in northern England, discovered a portion of an Anglo-Saxon cross dating to the 8th century. This isn't a picture of it. This is the Bewcastle Cross, which dates to the same century or a bit earlier. The archaeologists in Weardale found only a worn fragment. Hit the link above to see a picture of this intriguing lump and read about the discovery.

While the Weardale cross is in a lab getting photographed, drawn, and studied, you can actually visit the Bewcastle Cross. It's located at St Cuthbert's church in Bewcastle, Cumbria, northern England. As you can see it's lost its crossbar, either through weathering or during the English Civil War when various hardcore Christian factions destroyed anything that smacked of "Popism".

One side is covered with figures and an inscription in Runic that reads, "This slender pillar Hwætred, Wæthgar, and Alwfwold set up in memory of Alefrid, a king and son of Oswy. Pray for them, their sins, their souls." Another Runic inscription reads, "In the first year (of the reign) of Egfrid, king of this kingdom [Northumbria]."

The other sides have elaborate designs and the earliest sundial in England. Jump the cut to see a picture. This cross, along with the Ruthwell Cross, are considered the two finest Anglo-Saxon crosses in existence.

Photos courtesy Tom Quinn (top) and Doug Sim (bottom).

Norse Gods Blogfest: Naglfar, the Ship made from Dead Men's Nails

Today I'm participating in the Norse Gods blogfest. Wanting to be a bit different, I'm not going to talk about a deity per se, but a magical ship called Naglfar ("Nail Ship").

The Norse envisioned the end of the world as a titanic battle between Gods and the forces of Surtr, which included giants, rival gods, and various other fell beings such as the giant wolf Fenrir.

Sailing against the gods is the ship Naglfar, captained by the trickster god Loki and made entirely from the fingernails and toenails of dead men. It's a vast ship carrying hordes of warriors. In this apocalyptic battle many of the gods are killed, the world is consumed by fire and then flooded, and then rises from the waves fresh and new. Some gods remain to rule over this new land.

Only two humans are going to survive that particular era in human history, a sort of Norse Adam and Eve who will repopulate the land. The Prose Edda warns us to make sure to trim the nails of the dead to keep the enemies of the gods from completing Naglfar, but since it's all fated to happen anyway, I don't see how we can stop it!

Below is a shot of the Tullstorp Runestone from Sweden, showing the wolf Fenrir and the ship Naglfar.

Photo courtesy Wikimedia Commons.

Guest Blogging About Fantasy Fiction Over At Sean Mclachlan's Blog

I'm guest blogging over at Sean McLachlan's blog today about Using Real Cultures in Fantasy Fiction. Hop on over and check out that post, and also the rest of his blog, which focuses on writing, the Civil War, Wild West, and travel.

No Medieval Mondays today, but I'll be back on Wednesday with a post for the Norse Gods blogfest. See you then!

The Maze of Mist out now!!!

Well, it's finally here. The Maze of Mist, my latest fantasy novel, is for sale in the Kindle store! For the first month I've priced it at only $3.99, and it's free for Prime members.

Here's the blurb:

When the heir to the throne is treated as an outcast, he has to prove himself before he can rule.

Prince Metis Itxaron is the son of a human father and a goblin mother. As heir to the Twin Thrones, he will some day bear the responsibility of ruling two peoples while protecting the kingdom from the vicious armies of the Bandit Queen and the Elves of the Great Forest.

Instead he spends his time getting drunk and sleeping with the few women willing to look beyond his mixed heritage.

In a desperate attempt to make a man out of him, his parents send him on a secret diplomatic mission to prepare for an upcoming war. What they don't expect is that he will come upon visitors from an unknown land beyond the Sea of Mist, a strange labyrinth of fog that has baffled navigators for all of recorded history.

Metis sees a visit to these new lands as an opportunity to escape his responsibilities and prove himself on his own terms.

Then he discovers that representatives from his kingdom's enemies are coming along for the voyage. . .

This is the second book in the Chronicles of the House of Itxaron series. The first volume is Roots Run Deep. While set in the same world, each title is a standalone novel.

Thanks for everyone who helped me on the cover and blurb. Much appreciated!

Tweaking the cover and blurb for The Maze of Mist

Hey folks! Here's version 2.0 of the cover and blurb for my next book, The Maze of Mist, which is part of the Chronicles of the House of Itxaron series. It's set in the same world as my novel Roots Run Deep but it's not a sequel. Both are standalone books.

WHich cover do you prefer? Any tweaks? How about the blurb? Any input will be highly appreciated!
When the heir to the throne is treated as an outcast, he has to prove himself before he can rule.

Prince Metis Itxaron is the son of a human father and a goblin mother. As heir to the Twin Thrones, he will some day bear the responsibility of ruling two peoples while protecting the kingdom from the vicious armies of the Bandit Queen and the Elves of the Great Forest.

Instead he spends his time getting drunk and sleeping with the few women willing to look beyond his mixed heritage.

In a desperate attempt to make a man out of him, his parents send him on a secret diplomatic mission to prepare for an upcoming war. What they don't expect is that he will come upon visitors from an unknown land beyond the Sea of Mist, a strange labrynthe of fog that has baffled navigators for all of recorded history. Metis sees a visit to these new lands as an opportunity to escape his responsibilities and prove himself on his own terms.

Then he discovers that representatives from his kingdom's enemies are coming along for the voyage. . .

Guest Post by Jessica Bell: ONLY 99c TO HELP SUPPORT THE INDIE AUTHOR & AN AMAZING CHARITY!

The day I realized I’d been obsessing over my sales figures way too much was the day I closed my eyes and tried to think about the real reason I am an indie author.

Is my primary goal to make money? No. So why do I keep obsessing over my sales stats? I realized it’s because more sales means more people reading my work. What I really really want is to be read. I want to share the one thing in this world I would cut my fingers off for. I know. If I didn’t have any fingers, I wouldn’t be able to physically write, but you know what I mean.

My passion for writing comes with a perpetual replacement button, attached to my side seam, just in case it becomes unraveled, and falls off, after a day gallivanting through the publishing jungle. It can be tough in there, but in the end, being an indie author is OH SO WORTH IT.

This made me wonder …  what’s everybody else’s story? Then Indiestructible was born.

Need motivation and inspiration to self-publish, or sign that contract with an interested small press? Have you done all the research you can, but still feel ambivalent about the idea? Indiestructible: Inspiring Stories from the Publishing Jungle brings you the experiences of 29 indie authors—their passions, their insights, their successes—to help you make the leap into indie publishing.

This is not a how-to guide. This is the best of the indie tradition of experienced authors paying forward what they’ve learned, giving you information to help you on your journey. The personal essays in this book will leave you itching to get your work into the hands of readers and experience, first-hand, all the rewards indie publishing has to offer.

Not only is this anthology packed full of interesting, unique, and genuinely helpful information, and totally worth the 99c (only 99c!!!), 100% of proceeds will be donated to BUILDON.org, a movement which breaks the cycle of poverty, illiteracy, and low expectations through service and education.

Pretty amazing, huh? What are you waiting for? Buy Indiestructible—support the indie author and an amazing charity—TODAY!

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About Jessica Bell
The Australian-native contemporary fiction author, poet, and singer/songwriter/guitarist, Jessica Bell, also makes a living as an editor and writer for global ELT publishers (English Language Teaching), such as Pearson Education, HarperCollins, Macmillan Education, Education First and Cengage Learning. She is the co-publishing editor of Vine Leaves Literary Journal, and the director of the Homeric Writers’ Retreat & Workshop on the Greek island of Ithaca.

Medieval Mondays: Early Irish Ogam

The Great Court at the British Museum is full of interesting objects such as Greek statues and Native American totem poles. Off to one side is a simple slab of rock that many people pass by. From a distance it doesn't look like much but it's perhaps the rarest object in the room.

If you look more closely, you'll see a series of slashes cut into the rock. This is a simple form of writing called Ogam. The Irish developed Ogam in the 4th century AD. The system was simple: letters were made up of one to five slashes, either short or long, on either side of a natural edge of the rock or a carved line. Slanted lines and lines that cut across the dividing line were also used. It was generally read counter-clockwise.

This particular stone dates to the 5th century and was found along with two others, having been reused to build a later medieval fort. The inscription reads, "[stone] of Vedac, [son] of Tob of the Sogain."

Such a short inscription is common with Ogam. Like Viking runestones, most Ogam stones were simple memorials that only recorded the carver and who the stone was dedicated to. Ogam died out after a couple of centuries as it was replaced by Latin.

Seeking input on my cover and blurb

Hey folks! I'm preparing to release my next book, The Maze of Mist, which is part of the Chronicles of the House of Itxaron series. It's set in the same world as my novel Roots Run Deep but it's not a sequel. Both are standalone books.

Anyway, I've whipped this up on Kindle's Cover Creator. I'm not 100% satisfied with it so I could use some input. Too gray? What other colors could I use that go with the picture? I'm new to the cover design game.

Also, here's a draft of the blurb. Any input will be highly appreciated!

When the heir to the throne is treated as an outcast, he has to prove himself before he can rule.

Prince Metis Itxaron is the son of human father and a goblin mother. As heir to the Twin Thrones, he will some day bear the responsibility of ruling two peoples while protecting the kingdom from the vicious armies of the Bandit Queen and the Elves of the Great Forest.

Instead he spends his time getting drunk and sleeping with the few women willing to look beyond his mixed heritage.

In a desperate attempt to make a man out of him, his parents send him on a secret diplomatic mission to prepare for an upcoming war. What they don't expect is that he will come upon visitors from an unknown land beyond the Sea of Mist, a strange labrynthe of fog that has baffled navigators for all of recorded history. Metis sees a visit to these new lands as an opportunity to escape his responsibilities and prove himself on his own terms.

Then he discovers that representatives from his kingdom's enemies are coming along for the voyage. . .

Medieval Mondays: How do you know when you're Middle-Aged?

'Nuff said!

Medieval Mondays: The Byzantine Solidus

In these days of financial crisis, it's important to have your investments in hard currency like the pound or the dollar. This has always been the case.

The later Roman Empire saw serious economic upheavals and a debasement of the coinage. Emperors tried to pay their expenses by minting more coins with less valuable metal, but of course people noticed and this led to inflation.

The Emperor Justinian (ruled 306-337 AD) reversed this trend by creating the solidus, a pure gold coin set at 1/72 of a Roman pound (about 4.5 grams). This helped stabilize the economy, but didn't save the Western Roman Empire from being overrun by Germanic tribes in the following century.

In the east, Rome continued as the Byzantine Empire, and the solidus was the benchmark currency. The solidus was trusted everywhere, and has been found as far away as India and China. It remained unchanged until the 11th century, when Byzantium started having economic problems of its own and the coin was debased. Even so, the old solidi remained in circulation through most of the Middle Ages. We have lots of examples of this coin because, unlike many other coins, it was such a trusted currency nobody wanted to melt it down for its metal.

For more on medieval money, check out my post on small change in the Middle Ages.

Photo of a solidus from the reign of Julian (reigned 361-363 AD) courtesy Wikipedia.

Medieval Mondays: A Poisoner's Ring from Bulgaria

Archaeologists working in Bulgaria have found a 14th century ring that may have been used to slip poison into someone's drink, the Sofia Globe reports.

The ring, which was found at the fortress of Cape Kaliakra on the Black Sea, is small and would have probably been worn on the little finger. It has a box-like decoration that's hollow and has a small hole on the side that would be covered up by the ring finger. All the wearer would have to do is spread his fingers and the contents of the box would spill out, supposedly into someone's drink.

Similar rings have been found elsewhere in Europe, especially Italy and Spain.

It's of a style generally worn by men. The archaeologists theorize that it played a part in the political intrigues of the day, when aristocrats vied for control of Bulgaria and even played a role in Byzantine and Venetian politics.

Last year a vampire skeleton was found in Bulgaria. Sounds like it was quite the place in the good old days!

Medieval Mondays: The Dunstable Swan Jewel

This beautiful little piece of jewelry is called the Dunstable Swan and is one of the overlooked treasures of the British Museum. It was found in a Dominican Priory in Dunstable, England, and probably dates to the 14th or early 15th century.

Knights at that time liked to think they were descended from one of Arthur's Knights of the Round Table, such as the Knight of the Swan. Both the powerful de Bohun family and the House of Lancaster had the swan as their symbol and when King Henry IV (reigned 1399-1413) married Mary de Bohun he took the swan as his personal symbol.

This was probably the personal ornament of a member of the family or one of the knights who swore fealty to them. I love the detail on this little figure, which is only about two centimeters tall!

Medieval Mondays: Byzantine Silver in an Anglo-Saxon Burial

We've all heard of Sutton Hoo, that amazing treasure-filled ship burial of Anglo-Saxon royalty. One interesting aspect of the hoard buried with this man was there was a large amount of silver from the Byzantine Empire. This was the eastern part of the empire centered on Constantinople that survived nearly a thousand years after the last emperor in Rome was overthrown in 476 AD.

The most splendid example is the Anastasius Platter, a large decorated platter that bears the reign stamp of Anastasius I,  who ruled 491-518 AD. This was basically a control stamp guaranteeing the purity of the silver, something you still see on good silver today. Here are some shots of this work of art courtesy the British Museum.

By the time of the Sutton Hoo burial in the early 7th century, this platter was already more than a century old. so it certainly had time to make it all the way to England. The Byzantine Empire was famed for its power and artwork, and even as far away as England, people craved to have something from its workshops.

Central decoration

One of four control stamps of Emperor Anastasius I on the back

Rim decoration

Free fantasy novel on Smashwords

Historical fantasy author and occasional guest poster Sean McLachlan is now offering his latest novel free on Smashwords. The Quintessence of Absence was originally published in the respected fantasy magazine Black Gate. The blurb goes:

Can a drug-addicted sorcerer sober up long enough to save a kidnapped girl and his own Duchy?

In an alternate 18th century Germany where magic is real and paganism never died, Lothar is in the bonds of nepenthe, a powerful drug that gives him ecstatic visions. It has also taken his job, his friends, and his self-respect. Now his old employer has rehired Lothar to find the man's daughter, who is in the grip of her own addiction to nepenthe.

As Lothar digs deeper into the girl's disappearance, he uncovers a plot that threatens the entire Duchy of Anhalt, and finds the only way to stop it is to face his own weakness.

Thanks to Sean for offering some free reading. Do you have a promotion you'd like to spread the word about? Drop me a line and I'd be happy to share.

Medieval Mondays: Saint Lucy with her eyes on a plate

Perhaps it's because I wasn't raised Catholic, but I still do a double take at some of the images of saints. Take Saint Lucy, for instance, who is commonly portrayed holding a pair of eyes on a plate, as you can see in this Spanish painting from the late 15th or early 16th century.

They're actually her eyes, despite the fact that in this picture she has a pair of perfectly good ones in her head. Hey, she's a saint, she can do that sort of thing.

Saint Lucy or Lucia was a Christian martyr who lived from 283-304 and was killed during the great persecution of Christians under the Roman emperor Diocletian. Like many Christian martyrs, she was killed after refusing to make sacrifices to the Imperial cult.

She was said to have been killed by a sword, but a much later tradition grew up that she had her eyes gouged out first. In another story, she took out her own eyes because they were so pretty they were attracting unwanted attention for this woman who taken a vow of chastity. Today Saint Lucy is venerated as the protector of good sight.

Medieval Mondays: Parasites found in Crusader poop

This ugly picture is of a whipworm. It's a common parasite in the human gut along with roundworm. Back in the Middle Ages they were even more common thanks to poor sanitation.

Now Reuters reports that archaeologists working at Saranda Kolones castle, a 12th century Crusader castle in Cyprus, have discovered a medieval latrine. It consists of a stone bench with a half circle cut through it, so the Crusader poop could drop into sewer. We archaeologists have an insatiable curiosity about life in the past so this was a great opportunity to dredge up some 800 year-old sewage and look at it under a microscope.

The team discovered large numbers of whipworm and roundworm eggs, showing the Crusaders had trouble with these little critters. These worms suck out nutrients from food before the body can absorb them and can often kill someone if they are already malnourished, a common problem for medieval soldiers.

Experts estimate that 15-20 percent of medieval troops died from malnourishment or infectious diseases while on campaign.

Medieval Mondays: Gilded Leather

Before there was wallpaper there was gilded leather. Wealthy homeowners would decorate their walls with panels of leather such as these.

Gilded leather has its origins in Libya, where it was first developed around the 6th century. By the 9th century it had made it to Spain. It was slow to spread north of the Pyrenees. Eventually it caught on in the Low Countries and became popular in the 17th and 18th centuries.

Gilded leather is a bit of a misnomer. It's actually leather covered with a silver foil. To keep the silver from oxidizing a varnish was applied that gave it a golden color.

These photos were taken at the Plantin-Moretus Museum in Antwerp, Belgium. This old printing company dates back to the 1550s and is filled with some fascinating old printing presses, antiquarian volumes, and of course walls decorated in gilded leather!

Coming in July: The Maze of Mist!

Last month I finished my latest fantasy novel, The Maze of Mist, a sequel to my fantasy novel Roots Run Deep. The action takes place twenty years later and follows the adventures of Metis Itxaron, son of the human King Roderick and goblin Queen Kip, as he discovers an unknown continent and struggles with accepting his mixed heritage.

I've been busy with edits and beta reads for several weeks now. The book should be ready to go up on Kindle, Smashwords, etc, in late July. I'm still looking for cover art, though. If anyone out there knows of a good Creative Commons or inexpensive image of an old-style sailing ship sailing through the mist, please mention it here.

This sequel is a standalone novel and you don't have to read the first book to understand the second, although I certainly won't complain if you do! I like loosely knit series like that.

Medieval Mondays: Why Did Leprosy Disappear from Europe?

They are one of the enduring images of the Middle Ages. With their horrible open wounds and missing fingers, lepers caused fear and revulsion wherever they went. In some places, they still do. While leprosy is hard to catch, the simple medicine of the time didn't know this and had no cure. A disease so horrible, people thought, must be contagious.

It was also considered a judgement from God. In some areas, lepers were forced to stand in an open grave as a priest declared them dead. They were forbidden from living in towns or cities and had to wear bells in order to warn people of their presence.

Leprosy was widespread, with up to one in 30 people affected in some areas. But by the 16th century it was disappearing. Why?

A recent archaeological research project set out to answer this question. A team of archaeologists and biologists exhumed the bones of medieval lepers and sequenced the DNA of five strains of the leprosy bacteria. They found no significant difference between medieval leprosy and the strains still found today in Asia. The disease hadn't become any less virulent, so why did it die out?

It appears it was the victim of its own success. People have a genetic level of resistance to particular diseases. Those who were most susceptible died from it and didn't pass on their genes. Leprosy was one of the few grounds for divorce in medieval Europe. Only those individuals who had stronger resistance to leprosy remained, and thus the disease all but died out in Europe.

Medieval Mondays: Archaeologists trace Viking voyage in North America

One of the things that has always fascinated me about my field is how you can discover so much from seemingly innocuous remains.

Take this piece of jasper, for example. It was found at the site of L'Anse Aux Meadows, the Viking settlement in Newfoundland, Canada. This is the only Viking settlement so far discovered in the North America, but an analysis of this piece of jasper hints they went further afield.

It was used as a fire starter. If you struck it against a piece of steel it would make sparks. Bits of jasper are common finds in Viking sites. What's interesting about jasper and many other stones is that their chemical composition differs depending on where they come from. Thus you can analyze them and determine their origin.

Archaeologists analyzed this fire starter and found that it came from Notre Dame Bay, 143 miles (230 kilometers) south of the settlement. At that time (c. 1000 AD) the bay was inhabited by the ancestors of the Beothuk people and was rich in timber and wildlife. This would have been a good place to trade, being much more inhabited and rich in resources than the bleak area around L'Anse Aux Meadows.

Perhaps more investigations will reveal more detail about the lives of these rugged explorers from a thousand years ago.

Medieval Mondays: The Curious Weapons of Henry VIII

Henry VIII ruled England from 1509 to 1547 and was famous for overfondness for eating and bumping off wives. It's often forgotten that he was a capable military leader who turned the British navy into something that would be respected the world over for the next 500 years.

As a man of military interests, he collected a large variety of weapons and armor. Many of them are now in the Royal Armouries, including these two strange weapons.

The first is a what's called a Holy Water Sprinkler, basically a heavy spiked club. This one has an extra feature, though. Included in the head are three short pistols. You can see the touch hole for one of them in this photo.

Another example is this metal buckler with a pistol. Firearms were just coming into their own at this time, developing from the medieval handgonne to superior matchlock and wheellock weapons. The shield is richly engraved and like the Holy Water Sprinkler doesn't appear to ever have been used. In fact, there's no record of these combination weapons ever being issued to troops. They do look cool, though, and are tempting to add to a story sometime!

A new historical fantasy novel

Historical fantasy author Sean McLachlan has come out with his latest novel. Called The Quintessence of Absence, it's out now on Amazon, Amazon UK, and Smashwords. The blurb goes:

Can a drug-addicted sorcerer sober up long enough to save a kidnapped girl and his own Duchy?

In an alternate 18th century Germany where magic is real and paganism never died, Lothar is in the bonds of nepenthe, a powerful drug that gives him ecstatic visions. It has also taken his job, his friends, and his self-respect. Now his old employer has rehired Lothar to find the man's daughter, who is in the grip of her own addiction to nepenthe.

As Lothar digs deeper into the girl's disappearance, he uncovers a plot that threatens the entire Duchy of Anhalt, and finds the only way to stop it is to face his own weakness.


Congratulations, Sean!

Medieval Mondays: St Catherine: the saint saved from the wheels

Hello again! As I mentioned before, I've been busy writing The Maze of Mist, my fantasy novel set in the same world as Roots Run Deep. Now that that's in edits, I can get back to blogging.

This fine alabaster carving from London's Victoria & Albert Museum was made in England in the 15th century. It shows angels releasing St Catherine from certain death on the spiked wheel, a particularly nasty form of medieval execution. According to legend the wheel shattered and the flying pieces killed her executioners and the people who had gathered around to watch.

Of course she ends up martyred when another group of executions behead her. This is a common element in saints' stories. The evildoers are punished, but since it's God's will that the saint be martyred, the saint eventually gets killed.

Small alabaster plaques like these were common in churches and private homes during this period. What's unusual with this image is that St. Catherine is shown half naked.

I finished my latest book!

Time to celebrate! This morning I finished The Maze of Mist, a sequel to my fantasy novel Roots Run Deep. The action takes place twenty years later and follows the adventures of Metis Itxaron, son of the human King Roderick and goblin Queen Kip. This sequel is a standalone novel and you don't have to read the first book to understand the second. I like loosely knit series like that.

Since I've been revising as I've been going along, this one is just about ready to send off. In the meantime, I'm dancing like the peasants painted by Pieter Bruegel the Younger!

And now that I'm done, I can get back to Medieval Mondays. Stay tuned!

Busy writing!

Hello everyone! I've been a bit remiss with my Medieval Mondays posts. I'm working on The Maze of Mist, a sequel to my fantasy novel Roots Run Deep. For those of you familiar with the first book, the action takes place twenty years later and follows the adventures of Metis Itxaron, son of the human King Roderick and goblin Queen Kip. Those two, of course, were the protagonists in Roots Run Deep, but now they're aging and busy with affairs of state, so it's their son who gets all the fun!

This sequel is a standalone novel and you don't have to read the first book to understand the second. I like loosely knit series like that.

Anyway, as you can see from the word count meter on the righthand column, and getting close to being done. Once I passed 80% my productivity really picked up and I don't want any interference from other projects. I should be done by the end of the month and back to regular posts.

Estonian armor from the early Middle Ages

Travel writer and novelist Sean McLachlan sent in this interesting photo from his recent trip to Estonia. Sean writes:

"I spotted this reconstructed armor in Kiek in de Kök tower in the capital Tallinn. The city is one of the best-preserved medieval old towns in Europe, and this tower is now a museum. Before the medieval city, there was a hillfort at nearby Iru hill from the 6-11th century. Among the many finds from the excavation was this armor.

"It's what's called scale armor, an improvement on leather armor that added metal scales for extra protection. At this period, plate armor didn't exist, and even in more technologically advanced regions like France soldiers wore leather or chain mail."

Sean is the author of the Civil War novel A Fine Likeness, available in paperback and ebook. The ebook is only $2.99 at the moment.

Do you have any interesting photos to share of medieval or Renaissance subjects? Drop me a line!

Medieval Mondays: Sunstone found in English shipwreck

In a previous post I talked about the Viking sunstone, a legendary crystal that could detect the location of the Sun on cloudy days. This, of course, would be a boon to navigation in the age before GPS.

Sunstones are mentioned in some Viking sagas and historians have theorized they were double-refracting crystals such as cordierite, tourmaline, or calcite, which are common in Scandinavia. These crystals only allow light through them that's polarized in certain directions and thus appear darker or lighter depending on the polarization of the light behind it. While the Sun may be blocked by clouds, it's still sending out a concentration of polarized light that can be detected by the crystal as it's moved around.

But that's only a theory. No sunstone has ever been found. . .until now.

A team of French archaeologists studying artifacts from a British ship that sunk in 1592 found a rectangular block of Iceland spar calcite crystal, a type known for its double-refracting properties. The wreck was near Alderney island in the English Channel.

You can see the sunstone in this picture, next to a pair of dividers that may have been used for navigation. Both items were found close together in the wreck.

It's interesting that the sunstone was found on a ship dating centuries after the Viking era. It looks like these things were more popular than anyone ever suspected.

Photo courtesy Alderney Society.

Writer's website taken by Chinese domain squatter

Author Sean McLachlan over at the Civil War Horror blog has an interesting post about how Chinese domain squatters have taken over his former website. Now his own blog is outranked by a Chinese real estate website using his personal name. Not fun!

He's asked the blogging community to help out by mentioning him on their blogs and hyperlinking his name to his blog like I did in the first line of this post. A writer deserves to be searchable by his own name!

Sean McLachlan is the author of the novel A Fine Likeness and a bunch of other books. He's guest posted a few times here, including one of the most popular posts for this blog on the accuracy of medieval handgonnes.

Medieval Mondays: A Medieval Snowball Fight!

I love it when medieval art humanizes the distant past. This is a fresco on a wall in Buonconsiglio castle, Trento, Italy. It dates to about the year 1400. It's part of a series of paintings done by a Bohemian master called the "Cycle of the Months" showing the activities for each month.

As you can see, this is quite clearly a snowball fight! I wonder when the first snowball fight was? Did the Neanderthals chuck snowballs at each other?

Photo courtesy Terra Italia.

Medieval Mondays: Previous popes who have resigned, part two

Last week, I talked about the early popes who resigned, or at least are said to have resigned. The records are scarce for the early Papacy. In this second of my two-part post, we're on firmer ground in the Middle Ages.

The most colorful pope from the last post was Pope Benedict IX, who turned the Vatican into a giant block party and got bribed to resign in 1045. The guy who bribed him, who then became Pope Gregory VI, soon had to resign himself. While everyone appreciated his getting rid of Benedict, he had committed the sin of simony--paying for holy offices. So in 1046 he had to go.

For a time the Popes managed to keep their office until their death. There wasn't another resignation until Pope Celestine V in 1294. Celestine only spent five months on the throne of St. Peter before he decided the job wasn't for him, issued an edict saying it was OK for popes to resign, and left to live the life of a hermit.

His successor, Pope Boniface VIII, worried that he might change his mind and so he threw Celestine into prison, where the hermit-turned-pope-turned-hermit died ten months later. Celestine was later canonized and Boniface was lampooned by Dante in his Divine Comedy.

The next resignation came when Pope Gregory XII stepped down. This was a time of deep schism in the Church. Two rival popes had set themselves up at Avignon and Pisa. Both had considerable support. Kingdoms lined up to put their weight behind one pope or another. World War One looked like it would break out 500 years early.

The Church Council of Constance met in 1414 to avert disaster. Gregory and the pope from Pisa agreed to step down in 1415. The Avignon pope refused and was excommunicated. The Council then elected Pope Martin V.

From then on no pope has resigned, until this week.


Image of Pope (later Saint) Celestine courtesy Marie-Lan Nguyen.

Medieval Mondays: Previous Popes Who Have Resigned

Last week, Pope Benedict XVI stunned the Catholic world by announcing he would resign. The media were quick to note that this hasn't happened in centuries. Little information was given about other popes who resigned. Who were they, and why did they give up a position that's supposed to be ordained by God and last for life?

It's unclear who the first pope was who resigned. The records for the early popes are sparse and unreliable. It's said the first Pope to resign was Pontian, who served from 230-235. He was exiled and forced to work in a mine during the persecutions of the Roman Emperor Maximinus Thrax and is said to have resigned so a new man could serve as pope in Rome. Pontian died in exile.

Pope Marcellinus (296-304?) may have resigned during the persecutions of Diocletian. Some sources say that under pressure, he offered up sacrifices to the pagan gods and then resigned in disgrace. Other sources deny this. Pope Liberius (352-366) may also have resigned in order to clarify the succession with a rival who claimed the papacy, but this is also disputed. Another dubious claim says that Pope John XVIII (1004-1009) resigned in order to live as a monk.

We're on firmer ground with Pope Benedict IX. He became pope in 1032 and led a dissolute life, conducting orgies in the Vatican and bumping off political rivals. Even the Catholic Encyclopedia calls him a disgrace. He was kicked out of Rome in 1036 but had powerful political allies and soon returned. In 1044 he was kicked out again, but returned the next year. More pressure was put on him and in 1045 he was bribed to resign. Benedict decided he liked the power that came with the Papacy and clawed his way back the next year.

The pressure on him proved too great, however, and he was driven out of the Lateran Palace by irate German troops. In 1049 he was excommunicated. His tomb in Grottaferrata Abbey, Italy, is shown in this Wikimedia Commons image.

Tune in next week to learn about the other Popes who have resigned!

Medieval Mondays: Mons Meg, supergun of the Middle Ages

When we think of the Middle Ages we don't usually think of artillery, yet black powder cannons were around for most of that period. The first European cannon was depicted in a manuscript in 1327. Within a hundred years they were becoming commonplace.

They were a cumbersome and slow to load, so mostly were used for sieges. Soon, though, they began to be used on the battlefield and even on ships. In the 15th century there was an arms race to see who could build the biggest cannon. One of these giant cannons, called bombards, was Mons Meg, which you can see at Edinburgh Castle.

It was made in Burgundy in 1449, one of the centers for artillery production at the time, and was given as a gift to King James II of Scotland in 1457. It weighs more than 15,000 pounds, is 15 feet long, and fired stone balls 20 inches in diameter and weighing 400 pounds. It was supposedly made for James II to knock down castle walls. Records show that it had a range of more than two miles!

Like the typical big guns of the era, it was made from long iron bars fused together and strengthened with iron hoops. This was so much like making a barrel that the term "barrel" began to be used for the long tube of a gun.

Sadly, it no longer works. It was fired for the last time in 1680 by an English gunner. The Scots say it was blown up on purpose because the English were jealous of the Scots having such a huge gun. Ah yes, bombard envy!

This was also the era that saw the development of medieval firearms.

Photo by Phil McIntosh.

Flying penises of the Middle Ages

Yes, this is exactly what it looks like. It's a penis with wings from the British Museum. This little guy is a lead badge that would have been worn by pilgrims to medieval holy sites. They were so common back then that this particular item can't be dated with any precision. The most precise date the curators could come up with was 400-1500 AD.

There were many badges sold as mementos and good luck charms at pilgrimage sites back in the Middle Ages. Some were of eyes or legs to help with ailments to those particular body parts. These are still used in Mexico. The penis, however, was popular for giving luck and, of course, love and fertility.

This pewter phallus badge dates to the 15th century and sold for £190 ($300) at Timeline Auctions.

This one is a reproduction by Medieval Market of a Dutch flying penis dating to around 1375-1425.

Flying penises weren't always beneficial. At a witchcraft museum in Spain I saw a display telling how in Renaissance and Early Modern Europe, women would often go to work as fruit pickers away from home. Sometimes they'd encounter a flying penis and become pregnant. Whether the guys back home really believed this story or not is another question.

Flying phalli have a long history. They were popular with the Romans. This bronze tintinabulum form the first century AD was a common garden wind chime. They were a good luck charm and protected the household from evil. This photo was taken by Darren Foreman in the British Museum.

It seems strange that the Catholic Church would allow such randy items at its holy spots, but the church was a bit strange at times. There were abortionist saints, carvings of naked women in church, and all sorts of other craziness. One researcher even made the controversial claim that the Catholic Church allowed gay marriage.

Did the Battle of Hastings really happen where we're told it did?

The Battle of Hastings is perhaps the most famous fight in medieval history. When King Harold died with an arrow through the eye (the most popular theory, there are others) and William got his new nickname "the Conqueror" on that day in 1066, the history of England and Western Europe changed.

For centuries we've been told that the battle happened on Senlac Hill near the town of Hastings. Indeed, Battle Abbey, commissioned by WIlliam himself, stands atop it.

But now some historians doubt that story, and they have two different candidates for the battle site. One suggests that the battle happened a mile north on Caldbec Hill, while the other says it happened two miles south of town at Crowhurst.

The Caldbec Hill site is the most intriguing. It's a steeper hill than the gently sloping Senlac Hill, and contemporary accounts said the hill atop which Harold and his Saxons stood was as steep one. On the other hand, a thousand years of weathering could have mellowed out Senlac hill. More telling is the fact that no weapons or bones have ever been found on Senlac Hill and that it was cultivated at the time, while accounts of the battle said it happened on unploughed land.

Also, the Normans erected a cairn of stones called a "Mount-joie" on the battlefield to celebrate their victory. The summit of Caldbec Hill is still known as Mountjoy. There's also the account of John of Worcester who that the battle was fought nine miles from Hastings, the same distance as Caldbec Hill.

The Crowhurst site is supported by a historian who has made a close study of medieval documents and looked at the landscape shown on the Bayeaux Tapestry and said that Crowhurst is the best candidate.

The Battlefields Trust, which manages the site, says in a press release says that they still think the traditional place is the correct one. They stated there's insufficient evidence for the Crowhurst site to be considered, and that they're still analyzing the argument for Caldbec Hill.

I'll have more on this as this story develops. Stay tuned!

Top photo by Antonio Borillo. Bottom photo from Wikipedia.

Medieval Mondays: The Globus Cruciger, proof that people knew the world was round before Columbus

There's a popular belief that people didn't know the world was round back in the Renaissance and that it took a brave explorer named Christopher Columbus to prove them wrong. Supposedly everyone warned Columbus not to sail out into the Atlantic because he'd fall off the world's edge.

Of course my readers are smart enough to know this isn't true, but the story has widespread appeal. Anyone who has studied history knows that the Classical Greeks had already proven that the world is round and that knowledge wasn't lost among the educated.

Proof of this can be found on many medieval coins and statues. A traditional mark of Imperial or royal power was the Globus Cruciger, a globe with a cross on top of it to show that the Christian God ruled over the world and that the ruler was his representative on Earth. The globe, of course, symbolized the Earth.

Yep, a globe!

The earliest use of the Globus Cruciger for a ruler is found on the coins of the Byzantine Emperor Theodosius II, who ruled from 408 to 450 AD. You can see one above. The cross-and-globe was a popular symbol throughout the Middle Ages and Renaissance and continues to be used in royal courts to this day. To the right you can see an illustration of Charles II of Hungary made in 1488, four years before Columbus made his first voyage.

So the idea that the world was round was plainly visible in the royal court and on many works of art and currency. Of course a lot of common, uneducated people back then probably did think the world was flat!

Photos from Wikimedia Commons.

A nice review of Down in the Dungeon

Checking out my Amazon rankings yesterday I discovered a new review of my roleplaying-game-inspired short story collection Down in the Dungeon. Reader Jack Badelaire had this to say:

"Although this anthology isn't as straight-from-the-gaming-table as I'd first imagined it would be, that's actually a good thing. These are stories inspired by gaming, but not direct copies of gaming sessions, as so many stories of this type often appear to be. The author has done a great job of giving me that nostalgic feeling while at the same time, nothing that strikes me as "only there because D&D mechanics require it". If you're an old-time gamer like myself, give this a try."

He gave it five stars! Awesome!!!

Medieval Mondays: The Ahlspiess, a curious weapon of the Middle Ages

In this engraving we see two footmen accompanying a knight and carrying one of the lesser-known weapons of the Middle Ages. It's called tan ahlspiess, and was developed in Germany in the 15th century. It consisted of a long steel spike with a quadrangular profile, a bit like a giant leather punch or awl, from which it gets its name.

By the 15th century, armor had reached the peak of its design, and German armorers were some of the best. Thus it's not surprising that a weapon specifically designed to punch through thick metal plate was developed there. Like its namesake, the ahlspiess was a heavy spike with a sharp point, able to deliver the maximum force to a minimum of space. Surviving examples weighed up to 2.5 kilos (6.6 pounds) and wielded by a strong soldier could be formidable indeed.

As you can see, they were equipped with a small roundel between the metal spike and wooden handle in order to protect the hand. It seems to me that the roundel was a bit too small to be very effective, but I suppose a larger one would have made the weapon unwieldy. They were generally about 2.5 meters (7.5 feet) long.

The ahlspiess came almost too late. Medieval handgonnes were already becoming common on the battlefield, marking the beginning of the end of heavy armor. Leather armor had always been common as a cheaper substitute and soon grew in popularity as firearms became more effective. Soon there was no need for the ahlspeiss and it was discarded by the 17th century. 

All in all, an interesting weapon, although the flail remains my favorite medieval weapon!