Sep 25, 2023 | Fun Historical Facts
I still remember my visit to Florence, where the missus and I went to a lovely Medieval palazzo, smack in the middle of the city. The massive doors could be bolted from the inside. The staircase leading to the bedrooms was overlooked by an interior balcony that...
May 17, 2021 | Fun Historical Facts, Quora
I’m back with an attempt to dispel two common myths about sleeping conditions in the Middle Ages. Some people think that everyone slept on straw on the floor, as you may do in a stable. Others imagine everyone sleeping on mattresses, albeit of a more, ahem,...
Mar 21, 2021 | Fun Historical Facts, Quora
Vitmor Gomes recently shared on Quora one of the most fascinating Medieval stories I’ve heard: the dancing plague of 1518. In July 1518, in the town of Strasbourg, Alsace (now France), something unexpected happened. A housewife, called Frau Troffea, came out of...
Feb 14, 2021 | Fun Historical Facts
It’s Valentine’s Day today and we celebrate love. But why, exactly, do we do that? What are the origins of Valentine’s Day? History.com has some interesting theories to offer. One theory is that Valentine was a priest who served during the third...
Oct 5, 2020 | Fun Historical Facts
Continuing with my last post’s theme on bathing through history, this one deals specifically with bathing in the Middle Ages. While the Crusades are generally blamed for a number of things, they triggered significant advances in the West. Indeed, some scholars...
Sep 3, 2020 | Fun Historical Facts
Largely thanks to Tolkien, the fantasy genre consists basically of how we imagine the Medieval times. Readers of this blog will know of my many articles on the Middle Ages and my keen interest in historical accuracy. In the interest of improving our (fantasy) writing,...
Jul 25, 2020 | Fun Historical Facts, Quora
If you watch any fantasy movies or any fiction taking place in the Middle Ages, you will probably think that travelers camped outside in the open with nobody around for miles. As Joanna Arman explains in Quora, this is not the case. So, if you’re a fantasy or...
Jun 17, 2020 | Fun Historical Facts, Quora
In my last post, I explained how a Medieval army could assault a castle. But who built the castle in the first place, and how expensive were they, anyway? Luckily, Helena Schrader and Quora have the answer. Before we move on, though, let’s answer a different...
Jun 15, 2020 | Fun Historical Facts, Quora
I came across some great answers by Jon Bourgetti, Patrick Ashby, Alexander Taylor, and Steve Blanchard on Quora on the subject of assaults on Medieval castles. Whether you write fantasy, historical fiction, or just love history as much as I do, I think you will enjoy...
Jun 1, 2020 | Fun Historical Facts
For many, the Stark family’s direwolves brought a welcome layer of realism to the show, reminding readers and viewers of the close relationship between man and dog. The direwolves were, in fact, not really wolves at all, though they certainly look wolf-like....
