Medieval Europe
From the Archives: Quilting–Protection against More than Just the Cold
Another post from the archives, this one from 2013 *** When we think about quilting, we tend to think about hand-crafted patchwork coverlets and puffy down coats. We don’t think about armor. But in fact, quilted armor played an important role in European warfare from the time of the Crusades through the sixteenth century. The…
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Talking About Women’s History: Six Questions and Two Answers with K.S. Barton and Johanna Wittenberg
K.S. Barton and Johanna Wittenberg cohost the podcast Shieldmaidens: Women of the Norse World. Both have done extensive research in the period, and use it as the background for their novels. K.S. Barton writes historical fiction and fantasy stories of love and adventure set in the Viking age. The author of several novels, she explores…
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Queen Margrethe I and the Kalmar Union
At this point our trip to Norway back in June seems like a distant memory, and some of the stories I planned to share with you seem equally vague. But one story resonated with me too strongly to ignore: Queen Margrethe (1353-1412), the first great ruling queen in European history. Like many ruling queens in…
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