Melissa's Medieval History Blog

Recently three different finds were made (two with those handy metal detectors -- hooray for modern gizmos!) of interest to medieval enthusiasts:

• John Stevens, 42, from Hinckley, found a rare gold ring with a black diamond with his metal detector. The ring may date to the 11th century, and could be worth tens of thousands of pounds. Find out more (and see a nice pic) in the item by Jessica Salter at the Telegraph.
  
  
• Fork lift truck driver Andy Sales, from Deal, used a metal detector to uncover a gold pendant that may date back as far as the 5th century. The piece was made from the visogothic imitation of a Byzantine coin. Check out the photo and find out more in the piece by Gerry Warren at KentOnline.
  
  
• A unique Byzantine seal, four silver rings, and the ruins of a castle were among the items discovered by archaeologists near the Thracian sanctuary of Perperikon in Bulgaria. No photos, but intriguing information in the article by Elitsa Savova at Sophia Echo.

I know -- school's starting in some districts already, and vacation time is just about over. On the other hand, summer isn't officially over for another month. So let's have a look at one more Summer Reading recommendation, and see what the next few weeks bring.

Keeping with recent news, my latest recommendation is a book about the Templars by Sharan Newman. It's chock full of all sorts of information relating to those mysterious warrior monks, and not a bit of it's dry. In fact, it's actually a lot of fun to read. Find out more in this review.

Of course, you would expect to find bodies in a cemetery, but the number of corpses discovered in a medieval graveyard in central Berlin is staggering. Many of them were children, reinforcing the idea of their high mortality rate during the Middle Ages. The remains will be examined to determine gender, age at death, and possible disease before reburial at a different location. I look forward to the results of the examination; I suspect that plague, possibly an episode of the Black Death, could explain the overwhelming number of bodies.

Find out more about the excavation in the article at Spiegel Online.

You probably already know that the Templar Knights were an order of warrior monks established about the time of the First Crusade. And you may also know that the order was brought down in the 14th century by King Philip IV of France, with the reluctant assistance of Pope Clement V. The Templars' extensive lands and wealth were confiscated, and those few knights who were not executed fled to safe havens, some of them joining their rival order of the Hospitallers.

Now the Association of the Sovereign Order of the Temple of Christ, a Spanish group claiming to be 'heirs' of the Templars, are suing Pope Benedict XVI. You read that right. They're suing the pope, seeking more than $150 billion as recompense for the assets seized by Philip and Pope Clement back in the 1300s. They also want to restore the Templars' good name. Their chances of winning a financial settlement, as you might imagine, aren't very good, considering that there's no way to prove any real connection to an order that dissolved 700 years ago (especially not by blood, since the Templars were celibate). The Templars' good name, on the other hand, is already in the process of being restored, not just by scores of historical (and not so historical) authors, but by the recent release of documents by the Vatican revealing that Clement V had declared the Templars were not heretics, but had disbanded the order to preserve the peace with the powerful French king.

Find out more about the lawsuit in the article by Fiona Govan at the Telegraph, and check out the item at NPR, which includes an audio interview.

The Picts -- a Celtic tribe that settled in what is today Scotland -- have long been considered a fierce but somewhat primitive people, resisting Rome's legions and posing a serious threat to the burgeoning British society of the fifth and sixth centuries. But were they really just savages? The recent examination of a monastery at Portmahomack on the Tarbat peninsula suggests otherwise. Already known for their superb stone carvings, the Picts evidently possessed extraordinary architectural skills. And evidence at the monastery indicates they may also have produced books similar to the Book of Kells as well as religious artifacts. For more information on this new view of the Picts, check out the in-depth article by Ian Johnston at The Independent.

If you've ever wondered if a metal detector is worth the price, think of this: A pure gold cross with red cabochon gemstones was found in a field in Nottinghamshire with, yes, a metal detector. The Anglo-Saxon cross may have been fashioned from gold melted down from Merovingian coins and dates to sometime around the 7th century. Experts estimate the cross is worth £25,000 ($50,000). Hm, where do I get me one of them there metal detectors?

Find out more about the cross and its discovery, and see some vivid images, in the item at the Mail Online and the article at the Telegraph.

The replica Viking longship that set sail a year ago for Dublin and points west has returned home to Roskilde, Denmark. Find out more in the article by Lorna Siggins in The Irish Times, and be sure to check out the The Sea Stallion from Glendalough 2008 home page, where you can see some video of the ship from the Viking Ship Museum.

For years English Heritage, the British Government's statutory adviser on the historic environment, has worked to preserve, promote and share England's history. Now it has teamed up with the History Channel to make videos available online -- for free. The Battle of Hastings and How to Arm a 14th-Century Knight are just two of the titles available at its website, and there are more to come. View them online, subscribe for free to their podcast via iTunes or get the RSS feed.

More than 30 years ago I was fortunate enough to visit some New York museums with my high school Western Civ class. My most enjoyable memory remains that of a tour of the Cloisters, a branch of the Metropolitan Museum of Art devoted to the art and architecture of medieval Europe. I remember observing rich tapestries, gazing at stunning miniatures, and strolling through the arcades enclosing one of the gardens. I probably won't get back to New York any time soon, but now I can virtually visit the gardens through a new blog, The Medieval Garden Enclosed, hosted and moderated by the horticulturalists and medievalists on staff at the Cloisters. There is also a website highlighting works of art at the Cloisters, and of course the Metropolitan Museum of Art website, as well. Special thanks go to Irene Hahn for drawing my attention to the Cloisters blog!

Some of the greatest art in history was produced in the Italian Renaissance, and the work that is often considered the greatest art of the Italian Renaissance is the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. If the story of its production intrigues you, if the men who made it happen make you curious, if life and politics in Italy of the day whet your curiosity, you simply must read Michelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling by Ross King. Find out why in this review by your Guide. And don't forget -- if there's a book you'd like to discuss or recommend, stop by our forum to share your thoughts!