Author Archives: Ruth

Medieval Christmas games

Posted on December 22, 2013 by Ruth

After a feast, when the food scraps and dishes were cleared away, it was time for games and dancing. Here’s where we have to admit that medieval games were a bit lame. It’s much nicer to explain that while we … Continue reading →

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Christmas in a castle

Posted on December 21, 2013 by Ruth

As you remember from the castle series, there were no true castles in Charlemagne’s time. As soon as you’re in a stone castle with a keep, maybe a round tower, and a gatehouse, the year is at least 1100 and … Continue reading →

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Christmas with Charlemagne

Posted on December 20, 2013 by Ruth

When Pope Gregory first sent Latin missionaries to the outer northern wilds of Europe, he instructed them to make it easy for converts. If they were used to gathering on a hilltop somewhere on a certain day, find a saint’s … Continue reading →

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Roland: the facts

Posted on December 19, 2013 by Ruth

In the “Song of Roland,” the first premise is that Charlemagne has spent seven years campaigning across Spanish Andalusia, taking back territory from the perfidious Saracens. The famous battle in which Roland loses his life takes place in the mountain … Continue reading →

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The Song of Roland

Posted on December 18, 2013 by Ruth

The “Song of Roland” was the most popular epic of its time. Composed by a Frankish minstrel named Turoldus, the poem first appeared in written form around 950. Its subject matter was Charlemagne’s invasion into Muslim Spain in 778. The … Continue reading →

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Balance of power in the north

Posted on December 13, 2013 by Ruth

While Abd al-Rahman was a fugitive in North Africa, power shifted decisively in Europe. The last major Germanic barbarian invasion came from the east and had settled in the Italian Alps with a capital at Pavia. The Langobards, or Lombards, … Continue reading →

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The Half-Berber Prince

Posted on December 13, 2013 by Ruth

We now go back to the overthrow of the Umayyad dynasty in Damascus, to pick up the first thread of the Andalusian Golden Age. There were three main factions united behind the descendants of Abbas, Mohammed’s uncle: Shi’ites who wanted … Continue reading →

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Paper

Posted on December 4, 2013 by Ruth

Around 750, just before the Umayyads were overthrown in Damascus, there was a battle at the far eastern front. It was like any other battle, but it was so close to the Chinese border that the Muslim victors captured craftsmen … Continue reading →

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House of Wisdom: Baghdad

Posted on December 3, 2013 by Ruth

Baghdad’s Round City featured a large building that was called, at first, The Bookstore. It was modeled after the Persian Empire’s library in Ctesiphon, but its chief purpose was to transfer civilization into the Arabic script of the recently-literate nomads. … Continue reading →

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Arabic writing

Posted on November 26, 2013 by Ruth

The Abbasid dynasty hosted a very important reform that made possible a lot of the literary and scientific advances of the next two centuries: they reformed the writing system. The Semitic language family has been around as long as written … Continue reading →

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