EXPLORE THE MIDDLE AGES
Medieval History
From the fall of the Western Roman Empire to the late Middle Ages, explore kingdoms, faith, warfare, trade, migration and everyday life across a changing medieval world.
Explore medieval topics
START HERE
Essential reading
Middle Ages: Timeline, Society and Daily Life
Start here for the Early, High and Late Middle Ages, feudalism, the Church, towns, warfare and everyday life.
Medieval Castles: Built, Defended and Attacked
From motte-and-bailey forts to stone keeps, gatehouses, siege engines and the rise of gunpowder warfare.
Vikings: Daily Life, Warriors, Women and Religion
A broad guide to Viking society, ships, warriors, women, trade, religion, settlement and daily life.
EXPLORE BY TOPIC
Medieval life, power and ideas
Explore connected guides to medieval institutions, everyday life, warfare and learning. Each article introduces the historical evidence and explains where experiences differed across places and centuries.
Power, land & law
What a fief and a vassal were—and why the familiar pyramid is misleading
How manors, tenancies and customary obligations shaped village life
What King John accepted in 1215 and how the charter changed
Harold, William, Hastings and the consequences of conquest
Work, towns & society
Food, fields, household work and the limits of surviving evidence
Markets, charters, trade and connections to the countryside
How skills, membership and urban trades were organised
Warfare, ideas & care
Training, social status, armour and military service
A chronological guide to battles, alliances and the outcome
Physicians, surgery, hospitals and historical remedies
Bologna, Oxford, Paris and the culture of academic learning
Monks, nuns, daily schedules, work and monastic learning
LATEST STORIES
Explore Medieval History
-
Medieval Childhood: School, Play, Work and Growing Up
How did medieval children live? Explore schooling, work, apprenticeships, toys, family relationships and the evidence for childhood in medieval Europe.
-
Crime and Punishment in Medieval England: Courts, Trials and Justice
Explore medieval English crime and punishment: royal courts, manorial law, ordeals, juries, Magna Carta, fines, prison, outlawry and the historical evidence.
-
Medieval Pilgrimage: Routes, Shrines, Badges and Daily Life
How did medieval pilgrimage work? Discover the routes to Canterbury, Rome and Santiago, relics, pilgrim badges, lodging, travel risks and the evidence historians use.
-
Champagne Fairs: Medieval Trade, Merchants and Banking
How did the Champagne Fairs work? Discover the six medieval fairs, Provins and Troyes, international cloth trading, fair courts, credit, banking and decline.
-
Hanseatic League: Trade Routes, Cities and Why It Declined
Explore the Hanseatic League’s trade routes, four kontors, member cities, key dates, goods, political power and reasons for its gradual decline.
-
The First Crusade (1095–1099): Causes, Timeline and Consequences
Why did the First Crusade happen? Follow the 1095–1099 timeline, Urban II at Clermont, Nicaea, Antioch, Jerusalem and the consequences for local communities.
-
Life in a Medieval Monastery: Monks, Nuns, Work and Daily Routine
Explore daily life in a medieval monastery: monks’ and nuns’ routines, hospitality, care for the sick, books, work and what primary sources reveal.
-
Norman Conquest of England (1066): Timeline, Hastings and Consequences
Explore the Norman Conquest of 1066: the succession crisis, Stamford Bridge, the Battle of Hastings, castles, Domesday Book and lasting changes.
-
Medieval Universities: Oxford, Paris and Bologna
How did medieval universities work? Explore Oxford, Paris and Bologna, university origins, student life, teaching methods and degrees.
-
Hundred Years’ War Timeline: Causes, Battles and Outcome
Follow the Hundred Years’ War from 1337 to 1453, including Crécy, Poitiers, Agincourt, Joan of Arc and the conflict’s final outcome.
-
Medieval Medicine: Doctors, Hospitals and Treatments
Explore medieval medicine, from physicians and surgeons to Avicenna’s texts, hospitals, childbirth and responses to epidemics.
-
How Did Someone Become a Medieval Knight?
How did someone become a medieval knight? Explore training, squires, armour, dubbing, chivalry and the realities of medieval warfare.
