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The problem with poo: a millennium of manure
4+ mon, 1+ week ago (141+ words) Manure was a valuable product that underpinned the medieval economy, but why do we now see excrement as something to get rid of, rather than to make use of? Richard Jones explains... The problem with poo: a millennium of manure…...
“Check your husband’s dunghill” – here’s why medieval society was obsessed with poo
1+ week, 1+ day ago (1035+ words) In medieval societies, manure became a precious economic commodity. Here's how " and why " it got put to use When you think about the driving forces that contributed to progress in medieval Britain, you might think about the likes of mercantilism,…...
One of medieval history’s biggest mysteries has just been solved – and it rewrites 1066
1+ week, 6+ day ago (1365+ words) A fresh re-reading of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle suggests that King Harold Godwinson didn't race south by land after Stamford Bridge, but instead used a coordinated naval strategy. What does that mean for how we should understand the events of 1066? Alongside…...
The ancient Romans knew the power of entertainment as propaganda – here's the proof
2+ week, 5+ day ago (882+ words) In ancient Rome, putting on theatrical plays was not just a form of entertainment " it became a powerful tool of propaganda Lysistrata by Aristophanes; Antigone by Sophocles; Medea by Euripides. Each is a play from ancient Greece, still performed on…...
From health to wealth, here are the strange secrets medieval toilets reveal about life in the Middle Ages
3+ week, 11+ hour ago (913+ words) From lost silver coins to fossilised faeces, medieval cesspits have become some of the richest archives of everyday life in the Middle Ages A cesspit isn't where most people would choose to look to learn more about the story of…...
Medieval vampire slayers: why did our ancestors dig up and dismember the dead?
3+ week, 5+ day ago (1046+ words) At the turn of the 12th century, two men from a Staffordshire village died suddenly. A few days after they were solemnly laid to rest, they were spotted walking around the village, with their coffins on their backs. John Blair investigates…...
Is the best routine to boost your health? Yes, according to an ancient Roman intellectual
3+ week, 5+ day ago (987+ words) Pliny the Elder was an intellectual powerhouse of ancient Rome. Though not a physician, in describing the ideal daily routine of a Roman gentleman he revealed how the ancient elite believed health could be improved In the first century AD,…...
Were medieval toilets as filthy as you think?
4+ week, 14+ hour ago (1012+ words) Whether in medieval castles or monasteries, toilets in the Middle Ages were more varied than you might expect Walk through a busy European town in the 14th century, and numerous powerful and distinct smells would assail your nostrils. Horses trot along,…...
Designs for life: the lasting impact of Art Deco
1+ mon, 4+ day ago (10+ words) Designs for life: the lasting impact of Art Deco - HistoryExtra'HistoryExtra...
Is the Bayeux Tapestry in "mortal danger"? I think that's the wrong question to ask
1+ mon, 4+ day ago (15+ words) Is the Bayeux Tapestry in "mortal danger"? I think that's the wrong question to ask'HistoryExtra...