150
votes
Accepted
Did medieval scholars believe the Earth was round?
Lyon's theory is rather flawed.
First of all, the Etymologiae was written in the 7th century. Just because one paragraph from one chapter in the book might possibly be construed as implying a flat ...
- 97.2k
75
votes
Did medieval scholars believe the Earth was round?
Thomas Aquinas wrote a number of works in the 13th century, some of which were introductory (at least to medieval students - less so to today's students, who are not familiar with scholastic ...
- 1,283
55
votes
Accepted
How did people put down a drinking horn?
In short, either when it was empty or it had a stand.
Drinking horns were used by many different cultures on different continents (Africa, Asia, the Americas, Europe e.t.c.) and in different time ...
- 108k
47
votes
Did medieval scholars believe the Earth was round?
Well, it isn't exactly true that medieval scholars understood the world to be round. They were much, much more subtle in their thinking that that. You see, it was quite clear that the world couldn't ...
- 1,788
29
votes
Why didn't pre-Norman English kings build stone town walls?
They did.
The Anglo-Saxons still used fortified areas and cities or towns, re-used old ones and build them anew.
It just takes a bit of time, effort and money to develop those walls and fortifications,...
- 80.6k
27
votes
Did medieval scholars believe the Earth was round?
You can see De sphaera mundi by the astronomer Johannes de Sacrobosco (c. 1195 – c. 1256) :
"it was one of the most influential works of pre-Copernican astronomy in Europe. Though principally ...
- 860
27
votes
Are there any medieval manuals relating to castle building?
You might be interested in Guedelon Castle, which is a project to rebuild a 13th Century castle from scratch using original methods. It's not exactly a manual, but it's probably as close as you are ...
- 1,400
23
votes
Accepted
Why did Latin disappear so completely in Britain after the Romans left?
The short answer is, of course, that Latin didn't completely disappear from Britain at the end of the Romano-British period. However, the use of Latin did decline much more than in Britain than it did ...
- 77.2k
23
votes
Did medieval scholars believe the Earth was round?
Medieval Scholars were much more sophisticated than they are usually given credit for.
Knowledge of the shape of the Earth were never really "lost". Apart from their own observations, there were ...
- 5,671
21
votes
Accepted
Why was there an Anglo-Saxon law banning sheepskin covered shields?
Because King Athelstan was concerned about the quality of soldiers' shields. Sheepskin was a cheap but poor quality option for covering shields.
A key theme of Athelstan's Grately Codes is dealing ...
- 108k
18
votes
Accepted
Why didn't pre-Norman English kings build stone town walls?
Pre-Norman English (or Anglo-Saxons) didn't build primarily in stone for their town defenses because a) it would have been prohibitively expensive; b) it would have required much more time than they ...
- 10.8k
13
votes
Size of Viking armies and raiding parties in 9th-10th centuries?
The numbers involved in Viking raids on 9th and 10th century England are not easy to gauge, but it is possible to come up with some estimates. First though, it is useful to get a clearer overall ...
- 108k
13
votes
Accepted
Why are Vikings singled out for raids in Britain and Ireland when records may indicate most raids were by local rulers?
The situation in early medieval Ireland was rather unique, as I explained in an answer to another question. The situation there was largely a legacy of the fact that the early monasteries had been ...
- 77.2k
13
votes
Did Anglo-Saxons make use of large-scale, non-military Roman ruins?
There are several cases of Roman era ruins being repurposed by Anglo-Saxons, though I'm not certain if you'll call them "large scale". As the other answers noted, the Anglo-Saxons generally ...
- 97.2k
13
votes
Why is there no Islamic architecture with glass in windows before the 18th century?
The Blue Mosque may have had stained glass windows since 1617.
Nonetheless, consider the tradition of ventilated buildings in Islamic architecture. Buildings for hot, dry climates often have thick ...
- 27.6k
13
votes
How often would monks leave their monasteries in the Middle Ages?
Typically, a significant minority of the monks were priests. But each order would have its own rules about the movement of its members.
The more strict orders would not accept that one of his ...
- 4,090
13
votes
What are the precursors of the Bayeux Tapestry?
The issue with finding other similar works is that barely any of it survived to this day except as references in documents:
Little physical evidence survives to reconstruct the early development of ...
- 23.2k
12
votes
Did medieval scholars believe the Earth was round?
I have a tiny bit of evidence of another type to add about medieval belief in a spherical Earth.
A globus cruciger is a globe or orb topped by a cross, and part of the regalia of Christian monarchs.
...
- 18.6k
11
votes
Accepted
What crops were part of the medieval spring harvest?
Well, I found a fairly good description of the Medieval Farming Year, and it does not support a 'spring harvest' as you suspected.
From the above source, Concerning winter crops specifically in ...
- 38.5k
11
votes
Did the early Christian community on Iceland require the import of wine for liturgy?
Short answer
Wine was imported but was often scarce and always expensive. It was a liturgical requirement, but it was not one that was always (or even often) met without bending the rules a little.
...
- 108k
10
votes
What would a 9th-century German count do if he wanted to spend some time with his wife?
A count in the 9th century? Well, then we are speaking not just about a very rich person, we are speaking about a head of his own state. He is not subject to any other state authority except loose ...
- 32.4k
9
votes
Accepted
What did Vikings wear in cold wet conditions at sea?
This is an interesting and difficult question. Unfortunately, not much is known of Viking equipment, including clothing, because such military goods were relatively expensive and rare. For example, in ...
- 37.7k
9
votes
How did marrying off one's daughter help secure an alliance, in early medieval Europe?
Such marriages were usually part of wider treaties, including a dowry, non-aggression and/or mutual support agreements. The king didn't just get a queen, he got a chunk of land, possible inheritance ...
- 7,901
9
votes
Was the date skip of the Gregorian calender reform understood to skip weekdays accordingly?
The change over to the Gregorian Calendar happened over a period of over 300 years across the western world. Consequently the number of skipped days varied by country depending on when they changed ...
- 18.8k
9
votes
Why did Latin disappear so completely in Britain after the Romans left?
(This answer is intended as a complement to Sempaiscuba's.)
The British experience is not as unique as you may think, as there were many other places where Vulgar Latin died out after the collapse of ...
- 656
9
votes
Accepted
Why did Danish people not "connect" with neighbor nations until Viking Age?
Note: I'm taking "Danish people" to mean people that lived in Denmark.
they could have attacked what is now Germany, Poland, Belgium, Holland and even Lithuania and France, traveling near the coast,...
- 97.2k
8
votes
What did Vikings wear in cold wet conditions at sea?
Jesse Byock in "Viking Age Iceland" reports "a type of rough woolen cloak (vararfeldr) that provided protection from the rain". A higher grade of the same wool was impregnated with animal fat and used ...
- 27.6k
8
votes
What was housing like in early Medieval Scotland?
If we take the Early Medieval period to be from about 500 to 1000 CE, there were various types of housing in Scotland. There was an abundance of loose stone in Scotland resulting from glacier action ...
- 89
7
votes
How tight were shield walls in Saxon England?
according to bayeaux, pretty tight:
The shield wall tactics are not entitled only to roman origins, almost any culture that develops heavy shields will develop a close formation to take advantage of ...
- 1,489
7
votes
Did medieval scholars believe the Earth was round?
In God's Philosophers: How the Medieval World Laid the Foundations of Modern Science, James Hannam states that:
The myth that a flat earth was part of Christian doctrine in the
Middle Ages ...
- 108k
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