Petrarch – Late medieval Italy
A portrait of Petrarch Petrarch (Francesco Petrarca in Italian) was born in 1304 AD in Arezzo, in northern Italy. His father was a lawyer, and when Petrarch was a teenager his father made [...]
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King Arthur and Morgaine – Medieval England
King Arthur and the Lady of the Lake Morgaine, or Morgan, first appears in written stories about 1150 AD. There are different stories about her, but most of them agree that [...]
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08, 2017
King Arthur and Mordred – Medieval England
King Arthur (Flores Historiarum, 1200s AD) Mordred first shows up in writing as early as 960 AD. His name's in the Annales Cambriae, in the entry for the year 537 AD. He [...]
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Miller’s Tale – Chaucer – Canterbury Tales
A medieval carpenter works in his shop. A carpenter's story Once there was a carpenter, who lived with his wife Alison and a student, Nicholas, who rented a room in [...]
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Lawyer’s Tale – Chaucer – Canterbury Tales
The Lawyer's Tale: This is probably a picture of either the real Constantina or her mother Helena (Santa Costanza church, Rome) The Lawyer's Tale In the time of the Roman Empire, [...]
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Lancelot and Guinevere – Medieval Romance
Guinevere and Arthur Queen Guinevere first appears in written stories about 1325 AD in the Welsh story Culhwch ac Olwen, as Arthur's queen. In later medieval stories, she's the daughter of King Leodegrance, and [...]
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The Knight’s Tale – Chaucer – Canterbury Tales
Chaucer's Knight's Tale: Medieval knights in the Metropolitan Museum of Art A story about Theseus Chaucer set his Knight's Tale in ancient Greece, and it's about Theseus, the king of Athens in Greek mythology. (So [...]
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Medieval literature – Europe
Medieval Book (Cluny Museum, Paris) In the Early Middle Ages, as the Roman Empire was collapsing, the new power of Christianity inspired Augustine, in North Africa, and Pope Gregory the Great in Italy. They [...]
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Gregory of Tours – Medieval historian
Gregory of Tours: This reading desk belonged to a nun, St. Radegund, who was Gregory's friend. Do you see the chi-rho symbol near the top? Who was Gregory of Tours? [...]
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Dante Alighieri – Inferno – Middle Ages
Dante Alighieri, painted by Giotto about 1320 AD Dante wrote in Italian, not Latin Since the time of the Romans, writers who lived in Italy had always written in Latin. Virgil wrote in Latin, Ovid wrote in Latin, [...]
