From summoning demons to stemming menstrual bleeding – there was a spell for many complaints or whims in the Middle Ages. HistoryExtra.com rounded up seven of the most interesting spells and charms used by our medieval ancestors.
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See Europe’s Ruined Medieval Castles Come Back to Life
Seven virtual reconstructions offer a glimpse at the fortified past.
A team of designers recently looked at the now-ruined castles of Middle Ages Europe, lifting the fortifications up from their dilapidated states and digitally reimagining the structures as they were in their heyday. atlasobscura.com
The Sauce of the Middle Ages
How Worcestershire sauce changed the way we look at medieval manuscripts. Historytoday.com
The Combat of the Thirty
In early 1351, with the war to control the Duchy of Brittany grinding to a stalemate, Jean de Beaumanoir, a leader of the French-supported Blois faction, challenged Robert Bemborough, a senior knight of the English-backed Montfortist faction, to combat. HistoryToday.com
The medieval dance of death
From the 14th to 16th centuries, Europeans were seized by a manic desire to dance – and did so in their hundreds, often until they dropped. But, asks Helen Carr, what caused this bizarre phenomenon – disease, disaster or the devil? HistoryExtra.com
Black Death facts: your guide to “the worst catastrophe in recorded history”
The Black Death of October 1347 to c1352 was one of the worst catastrophes in recorded history – a deadly bubonic plague that ravaged communities across Europe, changing forever their social and economic fabric. But how much do you know about the Black Plague? How many died? Did the epidemic really eradicate a third of Europe’s population? And did it afflict every town and village? HistoryExtra.com
Edward IV: champion of the Wars of the Roses
Edward IV, the first Yorkist king of England, was given short shrift by Shakespeare. Yet, argues author AJ Pollard, Edward was a remarkable military leader who decisively won the bloody, dynastic conflict known as the Wars of the Roses.
Shakespeare did not have much time for Edward IV. None of his history plays are dedicated to England’s first Yorkist king. Instead, the writer split that monarch’s reign between two plays: Henry VI, Part 3 and Richard III – and Edward almost disappears between the two. historyextra.com
Beating the Black Death: did medieval medicine help people to survive?
What did people use for medicine in medieval times? When human understanding of disease was shaped by the movements of the planets in the night sky and everyday infections often proved fatal, how did anyone survive the era at all? Dr Elma Brenner, Wellcome Collection’s medieval specialist, explores the reality of medicine in the Middle Ages. historyextra.com
All Saints Church Ruins
Ridgmont, England
This ancient Bedfordshire church was abandoned when the village’s population slowly began migrating to new towns.
This now derelict church was originally constructed during the 12th century. The church was expanded over the centuries, however, was never fully completed. atlasobscura.com
Monks behaving badly
If contemporary chronicles are to be believed, England’s medieval clergy may have spent as much time drinking, gambling and fornicating with prostitutes as attending to their flocks’ spiritual needs. Emma J Wells reveals why some men of the cloth simply couldn’t resist the pleasures of the flesh… historyextra.com
Richard III Society 