Medieval excommunication ceremony What is excommunication? Excommunication was a Christian idea. It meant you could not take Communion anymore. Beginning in the Roman period, bishops or groups of bishops excommunicated people who were doing [...]
Henry II of England: Matilda's son Queen Matilda of England When William the Conqueror died in 1087 AD, he left the throne of England to his sons William II and then Henry, [...]
Eleanor of Aquitaine (Cloisters Museum, New York City) Eleanor of Aquitaine was fifteen years old in 1137 AD, and not yet married, when her father, the Duke of Aquitaine, died suddenly. [...]
Monogram of Hugh Capet (980s AD) Who was Hugh Capet? When the Carolingians died out in 987 AD, the lords of France met to choose a new king. They chose a man named Hugh [...]
Holy Roman Empire: Otto the Great (on a seal) What happened after Charlemagne? After the death of Charlemagne, the Holy Roman Emperors got weaker and weaker. By 924 AD, a hundred years later, nobody [...]
