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Category Archives: Uncategorized
Baldwin II’s daughter Hodierna of Tripoli, 1137
Note: this one should have been posted before the Second Crusade entries. Hodierna, Baldwin’s third daughter, didn’t marry until she was about 25 (in 1137). It’s not clear why she stayed home so long when her sister Alice was married … Continue reading
Posted in Crusades, Uncategorized, Women
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death of King Baldwin I, 1118
In 1115, King Baldwin I sent a general invitation to Syrian Christians to come resettle in Jerusalem. The city’s economy was very thin, since the Crusaders had killed so many of the residents in their original assault. The ensuing years … Continue reading
Posted in Crusades, Muslim Empire (old series), Uncategorized
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Bohemund in Glory and Shame, 1104-1111
Bohemund, son of the Norman who conquered Sicily, was described as a tiger by Anna Comnena, Alexios’s daughter. His ferocious assault on Albania in past years had advertised Norman strength, and when he set out as a leader in 1097, … Continue reading
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Mt. Pilgrim and the Legacy of Raymond, 1101-5
Raymond of Toulouse had taken a vow not to return home. He had missed out on the prizes of Antioch and Jerusalem, but his army had taken some towns and forts in the vicinity of Tripoli. Among these early captures … Continue reading
Posted in Crusades, Muslim Empire (old series), Uncategorized
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Egyptian Days: magical science
Anything handed down from the distant past had extra authority, and when it came from the East, even more so. Until well into the early modern period, one of the firmest universal beliefs was in the unlucky Egyptian Days. The … Continue reading
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Medieval merchants and regional fairs
Medieval traveling salesmen, 2 of 3: The middle range of traveling salesmen were merchants who worked within one region or nation, moving things farther than ordinary people could easily travel. They were not as limited by roads, since they could … Continue reading
Posted in Medieval cycle of life, Uncategorized
Tagged fair, merchant
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Measuring weight in the market
During the Middle Ages, European measurement standards went from diverse, local and confusing, to something like “national though still confusing.” Originally, each trade in each city policed measurements, so not only did the sizes vary from place to place, but … Continue reading
Posted in Containers, Uncategorized
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Cooking containers
Containing liquids presents a set of problems; but when the liquids are heated to cooking temperatures, often to boiling, there’s another set of problems. Wooden buckets and barrels don’t work for cooking, even if a Girl Scout can boil an … Continue reading
Posted in Containers, Food, Uncategorized
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Arabic numerals
Our digital numeral system came first from India, but spent a long time as the dominant system in the Arabic kingdoms before entering Latin and Europe. The numbers aren’t really Arabic in the way a keffiyeh is; but they became … Continue reading
Pottery in Spain
If you traveled in 10th or 11th century Spain, you’d see a sharp contrast in its regional pottery. During this high-water point in Muslim Andalusia’s power, the map had stabilized into a large southern Muslim nation and a strip of … Continue reading
Posted in Muslim Empire (old series), Uncategorized
Tagged Andalusia, pottery, Spain
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