leidenmedievalistsblog — page 25

Manuscript Studies · Book History

Picture Perfect: The Life of a Fifteenth-Century Woodcut

Early printers often re-used their woodcuts. Previously created images could find new homes in a variety of texts. This post traces the life of a particular image that became the ideal image for the title page of a “love letter” from Christ.

Cultural History · Art History · Literature

Proverbial Pigs in the Middle Ages: Ten Medieval Proverbs Featuring Swine

Swine make a frequent appearance in the proverbs of the Middle Ages; this blog post provides a fair sample of medieval piggish wisdom!

Cultural History · Archaeology

Beards and Barbarians: Hair and identity in the Early Medieval West

Bushy beards, drooping moustaches and flowing hair. What does the (facial) hair of Early Medieval monarchs tell us about their identity?

Cultural History

Love Magic and Rape Drugs in Late Medieval Italy

Magical practices such as brewing love potions and performing necromantic rituals can be found in medieval literature as well as in books of medicine and theology. But how did they work? And were they really that innocuous?

Socio-Economic History · Historical linguistics

Meeting the medieval villagers under the old oak tree

A linguistic window on a fourteenth-century Brabantine village

Hoe de middeleeuwse Chinese Keizer Taizong een model werd voor de “vaderlandse jeugd”

Hoe moest een vorst zich gedragen? Inzichten uit vroegmiddeleeuws China verspreidden zich in de 18e eeuw in Europa en zijn ook nu nog actueel.