Forum: Medieval Period

From the beginning of the 9th century to about AD 1100, the Scandinavians fanned out away from their homelands of Norway, Sweden and Denmark, populating western Russia and Ukraine in the east, and to the west making homes in France, England, Scotland, Ireland, Iceland, and eventually Greenland. Although typically recognized as Vikings invading foreign shores, those who settled these far-flung lands were not the stereotypical Norse pirates or marauders, rather they were outcasts and stressed farmers, and even refugees fleeing lands overwhelmed by self-appointed kings whose idea of reformed government stifled the freeman ideology. Surely lands were stolen by Vikings, though most of the Norse population expanding beyond Scandinavia consisted of simple folk, not warriors. Perhaps the most noteworthy feat made by Norse expansionists was the successful invasion and occupation of Britain (England, Scotland, eastern Ireland, but not Wales). Free access to the British Isles–including her small island...

Archaeologists searching for King Arthur's round table have found a "circular feature" beneath the historic King's Knot in Stirling. bLxNjQpCWek King Arthur's round table may have been found by archaeologists in Scotland. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/8724183/King-Arthurs-round-table-may-have-been-found-by-archaeologists-in-Scotland.html God-Dog (Heelstone)

I have made a few threads associated with Viking history here, but I don't think I have ever attempted to define the Viking Age. In truth, no one can truly define the Viking Age because there exists no historical records or literature written by the Scandinavians during the period, and archaeological evidence, although abundant to some extent, has not provided us with any definitive uniformity. Certainly we have secondhand data, mostly written by Christian monks victimized by Viking raids, but these accounts, probably not contemporary to the events, are biased at best. The early medieval Scandinavians had a distinct and unique culture, one which stood drastically apart from the cultures found in Europe, and one so aggressively potent it almost brought both European Christians and Muslims to their knees. Tribal communities scattered throughout Scandinavia (Denmark, Norway, Sweden) shared a taste for raiding in such a way that nations, even empires, fell victim and attempted to tap and exploit this...

The Piri Re'is Map is an anomalous map drawn in the 15th Century which appear to represent better information about the shape of the continents than should have been known at the time. Furthermore, this information appears to have been obtained at some distant time in the past. It shows the coastline of Antarctica when it was "ice free". The last time it was ice free was 6,000 years ago. Here is a big, super high-res picture of the map: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/70/Piri_reis_world_map_01.jpg The Piri Re'is map is most interesting because of the attribution of the source of its information, and the extraordinary detail of the coastal outlines.

THE GREAT SIEGE OF MALTA The Turkish Threat In 1565 Islam was threatening all of Europe. The Ottoman Turkish Empire had conquered the entire Middle East, sacking the greatest city in the world at that time, Constantinople (now renamed Istanbul), massacring the Christian population. In 1526, the Turks had unsuccessfully besieged Vienna, in the very heart of Europe. Slave Raids on Europe

The periodization known as the "Dark Ages" is a misnomer and is rarely used by today's scholars. This misnomer was typically used to describe the period of history between the fall of Rome and the High Middle Ages (ca. 12th century), during which time the world (primarily Europe) experienced intellectual stagnation and even withdrawal. The concept was first used by the Italian scholar Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch) in the early decades of the 14th century, specifically criticizing the character of Late Latin literature. As an Italian, Petrarch saw the Roman Empire and its language as superior or of greatness, thus he would be particularly annoyed by Classic Latin's bastardization. Although most literature was written in Classical Latin, Vulgar Latin came to widespread use during the Medieval Period. Additionally, in the British Isles and in Iceland, Germanic languages were appearing on the page in favor of Classical Latin. Alfred the Great commissioned the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle in 890, which was written...

I was going to post this in Laz's Vinland-thread, but decided to create a new one, since 'Vinland' isn't mentioned in the lost remnants of the Inventio Fortunata or the Itinerarium... -In which an elaborate hoax was concocted for the King Of England in 1360, for reasons unknown. The author claimed to have visited the North Pole, and discovered a huge whirlpool in the convergence four seas... as well as a giant 'magnet-mountain', which would explain why all compass-needles point north. Cartographers held considerable scholarly 'sway' till the mid 1600's, and exchanged postulations via letters quite frequently... perpetuating myths created by frauds and fabricators as-well-as factual info. http://bigthink.com/ideas/21166 (the North Pole-map is the Septentrionalium Terrarum; the first known 'map' of the Pole... or rather, the 'fake' Pole... depicting the magnet surrounded by the whirlpool)

The Canadian government, with the help of Helge Ingstad and his wife Anne Stine, and Bragitta Wallace, have declared the site of L'Anse aux Meadows in New Foundland the official location of Leifr Eiríksson's Vinland. This site rakes in tons of tourist money annually as a heritage site. But would the Canadian government, with the help of Bragitta Wallace, ignore data that says L'Anse aux Meadows is in fact not the Vinland? Of course they would. Any government would if they were in the same position. But if L'Anse aux Meadows is not Vinland, then where is Vinland? Before I answer that question let's first look at some information that leads the site of Vinland away from L'Anse aux Meadows. You'll have to bear with me, for the points I will be making require a little background information. The first thing we must consider is the climate in the North Atlantic at the beginning of the 11th century, when Vinland was discovered and settled by Leifr Eiríksson. Why does the climate matter? Because the Vinland...

Did they really exist? Were they the military arm of the Priory of Sion? I think so. Many things in history point to them as a rich organization. And a secret society.

Vikings were much more than raiders and pillagers. They developed a trade network just as important as the Arabs (though not as pronounced), and they reached areas of the known world without conventional means, which led to the development of new cultures. The Vikings during the Viking Era (circa A.D. 790-1070) were very diverse. Much of the medieval literature about the Viking Era concentrates on the Icelanders and their exploits. But when we look at the Scandinavians during the period of initial colonization in Iceland--that is at the parts of Scandinavia the Icelandic settlers hailed from--we can see a distinct division in behavior. The western Vikings from Norway set out and raided parts of northern Europe, the British Isles, and colonized Iceland and Greenland. The eastern Vikings, those from Sweden, took a different path just as significant: They penetrated eastern Europe, developed future Russia, and established a trade network with the Arabs. In this thread I will explore the Swedish Vikings and...

I have this sketch that I am very sure is a Hans Holbine Sketch. It is very interesting, but I am not able to find the actual sketch on the net so I wanted to post the pic to see if any of you could point me in the right direction. This sketch belongs to my mother-inlaw and it was given to her by her mother who got it from her mother and so on.