Early medieval

King John hunting on horseback, 14th century. (Photo by Fine Art Images/Heritage Images/Getty Images)

Was King John murdered?

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Newark Castle flanked by the river Trent. To say that King John's death here in 1216 was little-lamented is something of an understatement.

King John and the French invasion . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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Pod Judith Herrin WL

The Byzantine empire: everything you wanted to know . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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Edward Brooke-Hitching discusses some of history’s strangest literary curiosities. (Image by Getty Images)

Bizarre books and macabre manuscripts . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

An illustration depicting the deposition of the body of Edward the Confessor in the tomb at Westminster in 1066. (

Was the early medieval period a “golden age” for the elderly?

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King Arthur and a hand holding the sword Excalibur.

The legends of King Arthur: everything you wanted to know . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

An illustration depicting King Arthur fighting the Saxons, from the Rochefoucauld Grail. The absence of a clear and present origin for King Arthur has created a ‘void’ which many are keen to fill, says Miles Russell. (Photo by Fine Art Images/Heritage Images/Getty Images)

The real King Arthur: why are we so obsessed with trying to solve the mystery?

St Swithin (or Swithun). (Image by Alamy)

Q&A Who was St Swithin?

Hamo Thornycroft's 1901 statue of King Alfred the Great in Winchester. (Photo by RDImages/Epics/Getty Images)

Blog Medieval(ish) matters #12: secrets of the famous Anglo-Saxon Chronicles

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Stained glass window of King Alfred the Great

Exclusive podcast The Anglo-Saxon Chronicles . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Queen Emma and her sons, miniature in 'Encomium Emmae reginae', mid 11th century, British Library (Photo by Getty Images)

Are women at the heart of the action in the Norman Conquest?

Newgrange Passage Tombs, Boyne Valley, County Meath, Ireland. (Photo by Hoberman Collection/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

Blog Medieval(ish) matters #9: Do early medieval Irish texts shed light on prehistoric incest?

The ruined monastery walls of Lindisfarne priory on Holy Island, on 27th June 2019, on Lindisfarne Island, Northumberland, England. The monastery of Lindisfarne was founded by Irish monk Saint Aidan, and the priory was founded before the end of 634 and Aidan remained there until his death in 651. The Holy Island of Lindisfarne, also known simply as Holy Island, is an island off the northeast coast of England. Holy Island has a recorded history from the 6th century AD; it was an important centre of Celtic and Anglo-saxon Christianity. After the Viking invasions and the Norman conquest of England, a priory was re-established. (Photo by Richard Baker / In Pictures via Getty Images Images)

Blog Medieval(ish) matters #8: Did medieval people care about the time? And did they get bored?

This is the famous Rhynie Man carved stone, thought to be Pictish in date. (Photo by © Aberdeenshire Council Archaeology Service: www.aberdeenshire.gov.uk/archaeology)

Blog Medieval(ish) matters #4: back to Braveheart, Viking river boats, Picts, and the Crusades

A Pictish stone carving featuring a salmon

Blog Medieval(ish) matters #3: the salmon of knowledge, rolling Roman mosaics, eels, and Crusades