Medieval Histories

A new excavation at Søften, near Lisbjerg, has revealed an extensive production environment that may have supplied Viking Age Aarhus with textiles and other craft products. Read more

The story goes that a Viking learned to keep a stoic face if their ship was lost. However, if the ship sank together with the sails, he cried. New book tells the story of the production system and the economy of the textiles in Viking Age Society Read more

Roskilde 6 is the pitiful wreck, which clothed in stainless steel still amazes. The question is what effort it took to set sail… Read more

A thousand years ago, Lisbjerg, just north of Aarhus, was home to one of the king’s powerful officials, Ketil the Norman. To understand his world, we must first imagine the landscape in which he lived, travelled, and exercised his authority. Read more

The medieval church in Lisbjerg dates to c. AD 1100 – 1150. However, a predecessor in the form of a wooden stave church was built as part of a fenced manor c. 1000 – 1100. Read more

A new excavation at Søften, near Lisbjerg, has revealed an extensive production environment that may have supplied Viking Age Aarhus with textiles and other craft products. Read more

Could the Bamberg Shrine have been a diplomatic gift presented to Otto the Great by the emissaries of the Danish king at Quedlinburg in AD 973? Read more

The village of Vindelev in Eastern Jutland was presumably a gift to a Vendish military commander, who operated east of Vejle in the middle of the 400s. An impressive gold hoard opens up the world, in which he lived. Read more

Travelling to Denmark in 2026? Don’t miss the opportunity to see the magnificent golden treasure from Vindelev, dated to around AD 450–49 Read more

Bracteates were thin golden sheets stamped with North West Germanic motifs. A recent overview shows how they were included in various rituals in Northwestern Europe ca. 400-600. Read more

Fourteenth-century Barcelona was home to a number of flamboyant artistic workshops producing cartoon-like altarpieces for a wider market. Read more

Since 2012, archaeologists and scientists have been poking through 1300 bones, the remains of kings, queens and bishops laid to rest in the mortuary chests in Winchester Cathedral.  Read more

Pollen studies from the area around Lake Constance in southern Germany show that biodiversity increased dramatically after around AD 500, before reaching a maximum around the year 1000. The question is why. Read more

When Greenland was settled by Norse immigrants in AD 997, it was uninhabited. From the outset it became part of the Danish–Scandinavian world Read more

Altenberg Madonna Enters the Städel Museum: A Landmark Acquisition This morning, the Städel Museum announced what can rightly be described as a watershed moment for the study and appreciation of medieval art in Germany: the acquisition of the Madonna and Child Enthroned, known as the Altenberg Madonna. Dating from around… Read more

While England is renowned for its Opus Angelicum embroideries, Germany is known for its tradition of Opus Teutonicum, worked with white or coloured linen or silk on bleached linen and used for altar cloths. New book tells the story of the textiles from Altenberg. Read more

The Convent in Altenberg may not in itself possess the treasures, which were amassed by the nuns in the High Middle Ages. But it is still worth a visit Read more