MEDIEVAL STUDIES MAGAZINE FROM MEDIEVALISTS.NET

MedievalVolume 2 Number 7 March 14, 2016

Executions in the MiddleAges

Women in the Viking Age The Global Side of theMiddle Ages at the Getty

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The

Stary Olsa: Where Rock 'n' Roll Meets Medieval Music

Magazine

Getting Highin the Middle Ages

The Medieval Magazine March 14, 2016

Medival village unearthed inScotland

Daniele Cybulskie explores one of themore girsly aspects of the medievalperiod.

Executions in the Middle Ages

Hashish: Getting High in MedievalEgypt

Using cannabis to get high is not just amodern issue. Here is how it was dealt within medieval Egypt.

Read an excerpt from this new book byPenny Lawne.

Joan of Kent: The First Princessof Wales

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Thousands of motorists each day travelalong the M74 motorway, to the south ofGlasgow, unaware of the fascinating 1000-year history emerging from the edge of thehard shoulder.

THE MEDIEVAL MAGAZINE

Edited by: Peter Konieczny Website: www.medievalists.net This digital magazine is published eachMonday. Cover Photo: 12th century depiction of aCannabis plant - from British Library MSSloane 1975 f. 44v

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Medival village unearthed in Scotland Virtual Florence: religious art is ‘restored’ to its original setting York's Medieval Attractions Commemorate the Battle of Towton When a Castle Restoration Goes Wrong Roberta Gilchrist wins Archaeologist of the Year award for 2016 How You Can Join the Hunt for Holy Island's Lost Monastery The View from the Scaffold: Executions in the Middle Ages Hashish: Getting High in Medieval Egypt Woman's Work and Family in the Viking Age The Global Side of Medieval at the Getty Centre Stary Olsa: Where Rock 'n' Roll Meets Medieval Music Book Excerpt: Joan of Kent: The First Princess of Wales Tales from Sacchetti: Gambling and Murder

Table of Contents

Medievalvillage

unearthed inScotland

Medieval News

Thousands of motorists each day travel along the M74 motorway,to the south of Glasgow, unaware of the fascinating 1000-yearhistory emerging from the edge of the hard shoulder.

Just opposite the Hamilton Services on theM74 in South Lanarkshire, GUARDarchaeologists have discovered what couldbe the remains of the lost village of Cadzow.Cadzow was the name given to thecommunity which lived on the edge of theRiver Clyde here in medieval times. In 1445,King James II gave his permission for the placeto be renamed Hamilton and the residentswere forced to move a mile or so south to thetown’s current location. The discovery was made by a GUARDArchaeology team led by GUARD ProjectOfficer Kevin Mooney, as part of the M8 M73M74 Motorway Improvements Project. Thework was undertaken for the Scottish RoadsPartnership (SRP), the company responsiblefor the improvements on the Central Scotlandmotorway network, with a construction jointventure of Ferrovial Agroman and LaganConstruction Group. To safeguard anythingof historical interest unearthed during the£500 million roads project, SRP, under the

advice of GUARD Archaeology, committed tonotifying them when construction work thatcould impact on areas of archaeologicalpotential would take place. GUARD Archaeology were immediatelycontacted when the Netherton works beganand while monitoring the preparation of theground for a new lane of the M74 southbound,Kevin Mooney noticed old stone work just afew inches below the surface. Work stoppedin this area to allow GUARD Archaeology toreveal the remains of two medieval buildingslinked to the nearby spot where the 1000-year-old Netherton Cross once stood. This wasa major religious monument, erected in thetenth or eleventh centuries. In 1925, HamiltonTown Councillors decided to preserve it byrelocating it to the grounds of Hamilton ParishChurch, where it is still considered to be themost important Christian relic of the area.

Six of the medieval coins and one of the gaming counters recovered fromNetherton Cross © GUARD Archaeology Ltd

Previous Page: GUARD Archaeologists excavating the remains of a medievalbuilding at Netherton Cross © GUARD Archaeology Ltd

Warren Bailie, who managed the project forGUARD Archaeology, said: 'We are not sureof the age of the structures yet but as theNetherton Cross was tenth or eleventhcentury, the surrounding buildings coulddate from the same period. So we could belooking at something that’s 1,000 years old.No-one thought anything like this could havesurvived right on the edge of the motorway.' The memorial stone, which marks the formerposition of the Netherton Cross, lying in thebushes next to the discovery site may providea clue as to why the immediate area hassurvived being disturbed before.

The GUARD Archaeology team also foundnine medieval coins, fragments of animalbone and over 200 sherds of glazed medievalpottery that could date to the 1400’s orearlier. 'We’ve also discovered two gamingpieces, one carved of stone and the other acircle of green-glazed medieval pottery,which could have been used in a medievalgame of some sort,' said Kevin Mooney. 'Thisprovides us with an all too rare glimpse intothe past, shedding light on the medievalbeginnings of Hamilton.'

Reconstruction by Jennifer Colquhoun of medieval Netherton Cross and CadzowVillage © GUARD Archaeology Ltd

Virtual Florence: religious art is 'restored'

to its original setting

An exhibition at the National Gallery tells thestory behind some of the most remarkableexamples of religious art in its collections.Two large-scale paintings from the 14th and15th centuries, which show scenes of theAssumption and Coronation of the Virgin,originated as altarpieces in the church inFlorence called San Pier Maggiore (or SaintPeter Major, so named to distinguish it fromother churches dedicated to the Apostle

Peter in the city). Until recently little has been know about SanPier Maggiore as the setting for thesemasterpieces. Once one of the city’s oldestand most important churches, it wasdemolished in the 1780s to make way for amarket place. Now detective work hasenabled a team of academics and curators toproduce a virtual reconstruction of the

A team of experts has pieced together the architectural contextof two treasures of Renaissance art in the National Gallerycollection. The research behind the 3D-visualisation combinestraditional and digital methods – and benefits from invaluableinput from the local community.

San Pier Maggiore revisualised in 3D with the pointcloud outline nestling withintoday's buildings. Image Credit: Donal Cooper/Francois Penz, University of

Cambridge

church complete with its bell tower whichwould have been a prominent landmark. As an important church, San Pier Maggiore hadbeen endowed with splendid altarpieces,commissioned by rich patrons. Today thesepaintings are dispersed around the world. TheNational Gallery in London holds TheAssumption of the Virgin, painted byFrancesco Botticini in the 1470s and TheCoronation of the Virgin, painted by Jacopodi Cione a century earlier. The exhibition at the National Gallery isaccompanied by a short film which explainssome of the challenges that faced the smallteam who undertook the virtualreconstruction. Combining their skills were Dr Donal Cooper(Department of History of Art) and ProfessorFrancois Penz (Department of Architecture)from Cambridge University, Dr JenniferSliwka, assistant curator in Renaissancepainting at the National Gallery, and Dr MiguelSanta Clara, a film-maker and graduate ofCambridge’s Department of Architecture. As an art historian of Renaissance Italy, Cooperknows Florence well. But when he arrived inthe city in the hot summer of 2015 to beginthe research, he felt disheartened. Walkingaround the area where the church once stood,he could see the arches of the elegant porticothat was added to the church in the 17thcentury and a number of piers enveloped bylater buildings. But there seemed to be fewobvious clues to help create a clear picture. “All I had to guide me were historic plans andmaps which show more or less where thechurch stood. Today the area is a mix of smallbusinesses and apartments with scooterswhizzing through the portico arches,” he says.“Although street names indicated the formerexistence of the church, it was a real puzzleto imagine its ground plan and its structure –or to perceive where the paintings would havebeen situated.”Cooper was joined in Florence by Penz, Santa

Clara and Sliwka. The team’s fortunes beganto change when they met café owner, RicardoCamporesi, whose premises act as a hub forthe local community. A flyer was distributedin the neighbourhood. It asked people to getin touch if they were willing to open theirhouses to the team. The response wasoverwhelmingly positive and the team wasinvited into several apartments andbusinesses. “It was a mixture of archaeology andanthropology as we began to explore theelements of the church that exist within thepresent structures which had been wrappedaround some of the remaining features of thechurch,” says Penz. “In a kitchen we found achapel arch and in a bathroom a finely carvedRenaissance column. One of the most excitingmoments was when the owner of an apartmentopened the door of an airing cupboard to showus some stone steps inside.” The spiral steps in the cupboard led upwardsto a small roof terrace with a view over the cityrooftops. The 40 steps that remain today arepart of a stairway that was originally inside a14th-century bell tower or campanile. Using a combination of site surveys and thelatest photogrammetric techniques, theresearchers have been able to create avisualisation of the church with the laterbuildings ‘wrapped’ around it. “We hope the3D visualisation we’ve produced will helpexperts and the public to understand thecontext within which these paintings wereexperienced by Renaissance viewers,” saysCooper. “In museums they are removed fromtheir intended architectural settings, whichoften informed their design and iconography.” The people of Florence were hugelyenthusiastic about the project and theFlorence edition of Il Corriere della seracarried a three-page article about it. But the

team is keen to avoid the temptation of fillingin the gaps in their visualisation. “One of the key research aims was to visualisedegrees of uncertainty in the 3D virtualrepresentation of the church, reflecting avariety of hypotheses invariably present inart historical research of this nature. And thiswhy we used the point cloud modellingtechnique that allows room for theimagination,” says Penz.

“Moreover, we see 3D visualisation as muchmore than the representation of researchdata. The process itself was a potent meansfor generating new findings that would nothave emerged from conventional empiricalresearch. But it is only the beginning and thispilot project has paved the way to moreambitious research projects in the future.” The project was funded by a CambridgeHumanities Research Grants SchemeResearch grant together with a KressFoundation grant to the National Gallery.

Campanile staircase photogrammetric reconstruction. - Image Credit: DonalCooper/Francois Penz, University of Cambridge

Detail of Jacopo diCione St Peter - image

coourtesy University ofCambridge

The altarpieces of San Pier Maggiore Jacopo di Cione’s polyptych, originally morethan 5 m tall, was one of the largestaltarpieces ever painted for a Florentinechurch. The central scene depicts the Virginbeing crowned as Queen of Heaven by Christ.The so-called ‘Coronation of the Virgin’ wasbelieved to have occurred at the Virgin’sdeath and Assumption into Heaven. TheVirgin and Christ are surrounded by saintsand angels, with pride of place given to StPeter, as the titular saint of the church. Jacopopainted the apostle holding not only histraditional attribute of the keys of heaven,but also a miniature representation of thechurch of San Pier Maggiore.

Botticini’s altarpiece also depicts the Virginbeing crowned in heaven, albeit in a verydifferent fashion, set amidst ascendingcircles of angels and with an expansivelandscape showing Florence and thesurrounding countryside filling the base ofthe picture. In Cambridge, the FitzwilliamMuseum owns another painting from San PierMaggiore. Tommaso Mazzuoli’s Visitation(1560) is on permanent loan to Trinity Hallwhere it serves as an altarpiece in the collegechapel. Others paintings from the sameFlorence church are in Russia and the USA.

Our thanks to the University ofCambridge for this article.

York's MedievalAttractions

Commemorate theBattle of Towton

History is full of stories of warfare; sieges and strikes, invasionsand withdrawals and English history is no exception to this. So,the team at The JORVIK Group, the operators of JORVIK VikingCentre, are looking to shine a light on a fascinating, if not sometimesconfusing period of our nation’s history; the Wars of the Roses, atime that shaped the monarchy for centuries to come, with a seriesof special events commemorating the 555th anniversary of theBattle of Towton.

Danielle Daglan, Head of Festivals and Eventsfor York Archaeological Trust, the owners ofThe JORVIK Group, explained, “the Battle ofTowton is seen not only as the bloodiestbattle on English soil but also a definingmoment in the Wars of the Roses, when thenewly crowned Edward IV, a Yorkist andbrother of the future Richard III, defeated thearmy of the mad Lancastrian king, Henry VI.It sets up the events that lead to the TudorAge, so it is truly an exciting time in our historyand something that should be explored.” The Battle of Towton took place on 29thMarch 1461, Palm Sunday, a day of hugereligious significance, especially in theMiddle Ages. Yet both sides agreed to fightin order to solve the continued problem inEnglish politics at the time, namely havingtwo kings vying for the throne of England.

Over 50,000 soldiers fought at Towton, withcasualties reported at 28,000 just days afterthe battle. With so much to cover The JORVIK Group haveenlisted all three of their medievalattractions to play host to a series of excitingand informative events on Saturday 19thMarch. First up, the historic medieval townhouse,Barley Hall, will be the place to discover thefunction and fashion of warfare in the MiddleAges, with costumed guides on hand to takeyou through how a knight put his armour onto what the civilians of the period would havebeen wearing. Then it is onto the city wallsand Monk Bar where visitors can learn aboutthe tough lives of the soldiers who

took part in the Wars of Roses. Finally, atMicklegate Bar visitors can meet a PlagueDoctor and discover some truly horrendousmedieval ‘cures’. “With so much to cover, on this the 555thanniversary of the Battle of Towton, it seemedright to focus on specific aspects of the Warsof the Roses across our medieval attractions.You can uncover the harsh lives and grislyinjuries they suffered at our two attractionsin the city’s gatehouses and then discover thechanging fashions of the period, truly anunique medieval experience in York for thiscommemorative weeken,” Danielle added. The Battle of Towton was fought during theEnglish Wars of the Roses on 29th March1461, near the village of Towton in Yorkshire.It brought about a change of monarchs inEngland, with the victor, the Yorkist Edward,Duke of York—who became King Edward IV(1461–1483) displacing the Lancastrian King

Henry VI (1422–1461) as king, and thus drovethe head of the Lancastrians and his keysupporters out of the country. Between 25,000 to 30,000 soldiers fought oneach side, with approx 28,000 casualties onthe day, making Towton one of the bloodiestbattles ever fought on English soil. The Battle of Towton Commemorative Eventstake place at Barley Hall, off Stonegate, theRichard III Experience at Monk Bar and theHenry VII Experience at Micklegate Barbetween 10am and 3pm on Saturday 19thMarch. Check www.barleyhall.co.uk forspecific event times. Normal admission pricesapply at each attraction or purchase TheJORVIK Group’s Medieval Pass to gain entryto all three for one price.

Paul Toy, from the Richard III Experience, Monk Bar, prepares to welcome guestsand commemorate the 555th - photo courtesy The Jorvik Group

When a CastleRestoration Goes

Wrong

A botched restoration attempt in Spain hasgarnered international attention andcondemnation from locals, historians andconservationists. Located in Villamartin, acity in the province of Cádiz Spain, thecrumbling Moorish castle has been wreckedin an bungled attempt to save it from furtherdestruction. The castle was built in the ninth century byChristian convert, Omar Ben Hasfun(850-917 AD), and was last officially used fivecenturies ago to defend against Moorishincursions. The 1100 year old ruin wasalready in a delicate state after heavy rains

caused its final vault to crumble three yearsago. Recent complaints over inaction toprotect heritage sites in Cádiz promptedconservationists and city officials toundertake a restoration project to salvagewhat was left of the ancient structure. The result which added in a shiny, new,modern looking wall, outraged locals andhistorians while provoking a storm of angerand mockery around the globe

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2-lJfG80_4

Professor RobertaGilchrist wins

Archaeologist of theYear award for 2016

Top honours for Archaeologist of the Year atthe prestigious Current Archaeology Awardswent to Professor Roberta Gilchrist. Apioneer in social approaches to medievalarchaeology, she has addressed newquestions on gender, age, and belief, and haspublished numerous major studies onmedieval nunneries, hospitals, castles andburials. Her recently published monographGlastonbury Abbey: archaeologicalexcavations 1904-1979 brings together theresults of 36 seasons of excavations for thefirst time. Over 14,000 votes were cast for this prize.Accepting the award, Roberta Gilchrist said:

‘I am truly honoured to have been votedCurrent Archaeology’s Archaeologist of theYear 2016 and I would like to thank the CAreaders and wider public who voted for me.I’m delighted that my work on GlastonburyAbbey has captured the public imagination,and I would like to pay tribute to my co-nominees Vince Gaffney and Philip Crummy,whose work I have long admired. I amparticularly proud to be the first woman votedArchaeologist of the Year and to see thatwomen dominated all categories of theCurrent Archaeology Awards 2016.’

Roberta Gilchrist,winner of the 2016Archaeologist ofthe Year award,with JulianRichards (Meet theAncestors) whopresented theawards at theCurrentArchaeology Live!2016 conferenceon 26 February.(Photo: CurrentArchaeology/Aerial-Cam)

How you can jointhe hunt for Holy

Island’s lostmonastery

As part of an exciting new project, DurhamUniversity and DigVentures, an innovativearchaeological social enterprise, areplanning a new investigation of thisimportant site to find out more about thismysterious early monastery. We know little about the prehistory of theisland, although the flint tools of Mesolithichunters and gatherers have been found closeto its rocky northern shoreline. It’s only in theseventh century AD that it suddenly emergesinto historic view. The early years of the seventh century hadbeen tumultuous for the rapidly expandingkingdom of Northumbria. Under King

Aethelfrith, the kingdom had been forgedfrom two competing dynasties, and underKing Edwin, the Northumbrian rulers beganto adopt Christianity, having been convertedfrom the worship of their pagan gods bymissionaries from Kent. In the inevitableinter-dynastic scuffles typical of earlymedieval kingdoms, Edwin’s rival andsuccessor Oswald had been exiled toScotland, where he too converted. Crucially though, Oswald adopted a differentstrand of Christianity from the monks of theScottish isle of Iona, where it is thought hefirst encountered the church. When he arrivedback in the heartlands of Northumbria hewanted to make a religious

The distinctive outline of Lindisfarne Castle perched on top ofa rugged crag of basalt is one of the best-recognised imagesof north-east England and is a potent reminder of the importantpart the island played in the early history of Northumbria. Thistidal island – only accessible at certain times of the day – liesclose to the modern border between England and Scotland.Standing on its south-east corner was once one of the mostimportant centres of Christianity in early medieval Britain.

By David Petts

Lindisfarne with its castle in the background - photo by xlibber / Flickr

statement that set him apart from Edwin andhis legacy. Working with monks from Iona, heestablished a new monastery on Holy Island. This was not some remote island fastness,where ascetic monks could escape toconfront god in the wilderness. Instead, itstraddled major sea and land routes and wasjust across the water from the greatNorthumbrian palace at Bamburgh. Themonastery rapidly achieved prominence,helped by its royal patrons. Miraculously, the monastery survived thefall-out of the Synod of Whitby in 664, whenthe Scottish-influenced Christianity broughtto the north by Oswald gave way to the pushyRoman and Kentish traditions initiallypromoted by Edwin. In the following years, Lindisfarne achieveda new prominence under its abbot, Cuthbert,a monk torn between his desire for the lifeof a hermit and the demands of high religiousoffice. Soon after his death he was created a

saint and his cult was promoted by the monkson the island. The creation of the greatilluminated manuscript known as theLindisfarne Gospels, one of the greatmonuments of Western art, was probably partof the campaign to promote Cuthbert carriedout by the religious community. Ousted by Vikings The monastery became increasingly wealthy,but in the late eighth century suffered one ofthe first Viking raids on Britain. The tempo ofthese attacks increased and according to themonastic historians, the monks left the islandin 875. After a century-long exile, they set upa new home in Durham. Yet, despite the high profile of the monasteryin Northumbrian history, remarkably little isknown about the monastery itself, beyondpassing observations in the works of Bedeand other early writers. A fine collection ofAnglo-Saxon sculpture has survived, but

little is known about precisely where it wasfound. The ruins of a later Norman priory nowdominate the village, and may stand over partof the earlier monastery. Early medievalmonastic centres were large, dispersed andsprawling settlements, and it is likely thatCuthbert’s monastery may have extendedbeyond much of the area covered by themodern village. In recent years archaeologists are starting toget a better understanding of thearchaeology of the island. Looking at the findsdiscovered – but never analysed – byVictorian gentleman archaeologists whocrudely cleared out the later priory, a numberof Anglo-Saxon objects have beenrecognised. These have been supplementedby the occasional appearance of similar itemsin small-scale archaeological investigationsthat have taken place in advance ofconstruction. A major new geophysical survey around thevillage has also been carried out. This hasidentified a number of areas where possibletraces of the monastery have been identified,although of course, until we excavate, wewon’t know for sure. Play a part This project is one of the first archaeologicalprojects to use crowdfunding. The project hasbeen launched on the DigVentures website,allowing anyone interested in discoveringthe past to pledge support. In return forbacking the project, supporters become partof the dig team.By using DigVenture’s crowdfunding and

crowdsourcing model, we are hoping to getpeople who subscribe into the field, wherethey will be using an entirely paperlessrecording system. By using a bespoke app,every object and discovery will be logged livefrom the trenches via iPads, tablets andsmartphones, making it instantly accessiblefrom anywhere in the world. As the site isrecorded, all the data will be uploaded online,allowing subscribers to follow the progressof the excavation as it happens. It will alsogive the excavation team a chance to solicitinformation and advice from theinternational research community. Thesenew approaches set to providearchaeologists with a model for carrying outfieldwork. The centrality of the first Lindisfarnemonastery in the history of the Anglo-SaxonBritain and its – until now – elusive naturegives this dig the potential to be one of themost important archaeological sites in the UKto be worked in recent years. Thiscollaborative and open process of researchand scientific excavation is the future ofdiscovering the past.

David Petts is a Lecturer inArchaeology at the Durham

University

This article was first published in The Conversation

Learn more at http://digventures.com/lindisfarne/

Dr. David Petts speaking about his archaeological project: An investigation of theMonastery and people of Lindisfarne (Holy Island) off the Northumbrian Coast.

Videos

A video from DigVentures, about the work they are doing in supportingarchaeological research.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GS4PvPzVTMchttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=neL-ztaPgXU

It’s definitely true that medieval people usedcapital punishment far more frequently thanwe do today, and that the methods ofexecution could be pretty gruesome. Todismiss medieval executions out of hand asacts of simple bloodlust for the amusementof a crowd, though, is to misunderstand theirpurpose and their impact. Like the legalsystem that evolved over hundreds of years,medieval capital punishment was extremelycomplex and considered. Let’s take a brieflook at what judicial execution was really likein the Middle Ages. The acts for which a medieval person couldbe executed were various and ranged fromcrimes against property, to those againstpeople, to those against cultural beliefs.Mitchell B. Merback sums it up succinctly inhis book The Thief, the Cross and the Wheel:Pain and the Spectacle of Punishment inMedieval and Renaissance Europe: Throughout most of Europe and across thebetter part of a millennium, hanging was thepunishment of thieves; breaking with thewheel was inflicted on murderers, rapists and

those who committed aggravated theft;arsonists, like heretics, witches and sodomiteswere burned; women charged with offencesagainst religions or morality, such as adulteryor infanticide, were drowned; and decapitationwas used for a wide range of offenses, includingmanslaughter, robbery, incest, infanticide ormajor fraud. (p.140) Merback rightly points out that the mostgruesome executions were for “archcriminals” (p.140), like traitors and assassins,who might be hung, drawn, and quartered.While some of the acts listed are notconsidered criminal in the West anymore(thankfully), it’s important to note that thesemedieval crimes were considered seriousbecause they were thought to be threatsagainst the pillars on which society was built –people were not hanged for jaywalking. It’salso important to remember that to becharged with these offences was nottantamount to being sentenced to death:judges could still find people not guilty, ornegotiate terms, or the sovereign couldpardon the offender.

The View fromthe Scaffold:

Executions inthe Middle Ages

By Danièle Cybulskie

14th century depiction execution scene from the Chroniques de France ou de StDenis - British Library Royal 20 C VII f. 203v

Medieval European culture, and therefore itslegal system, was firmly rooted in Christiantheology. Because of this, executions werenot just about revenge, but they were alsofundamentally about atonement for thecrimes committed. As with other sins, aChristian could ask forgiveness, makereparation, and be acceptable to God. So itwas with convicted criminals: they weremeant to show remorse, make reparationthrough the pain of their execution, andbecome once again acceptable to God (and

therefore the community). For this reason, asMerbeck mentions, medieval people were notas nervous as modern people are aboutexecuting an innocent person: an innocentperson would simply be made more perfectthrough Christ-like suffering, and then enterthe kingdom of heaven (p.156). We modernsthink of execution as depriving a person oflife; they thought of it as speeding a personto the afterlife, and the method with whichcriminals met their deaths would decidewhether heaven or hell. As Merbeck

emphasizes, execution was considered anopportunity for a criminal to confess andrepent, and to earn himself a “good death”(p.144) – something that, perhaps, he haddenied another person. The classic medieval mob scene is of peoplejeering and throwing things at the poorunfortunate on his way to the scaffold, but itseems that medieval people took theprocession to the site of execution prettyseriously. While there were certain instancesin which ridicule was an essential andacceptable part of a punishment, like time inthe stocks, a prisoner who did not aggravatethe crowd on the way to his execution did notnecessarily have to expect to be mobbed. Noteveryone’s journey to the scaffold wasdignified – sometimes criminals were tied ordragged, depending on their crimes orreputations – but it was the stoicism thatcriminals showed in the face of this whichwas essential to their good deaths. In somemedieval traditions, the procession to the siteof execution even involved revisiting the

scene of the crime in order for the convictedperson to remember before their publicatonement (Merback, p.138). Once the criminal had reached the scaffold,they often had the opportunity to speak, toask the crowd to pray for them, and/or toforgive the executioner. This was a publicspectacle of repentance, which would thenbe followed by the punishment being carriedout. While the body might suffer, the soul wasgiven the opportunity to achieve perfection:no one was permitted to be executed withoutthe chance to be shriven after the fourteenthcentury (p.148). For the crowd watching, thiswas an opportunity to satisfy a certaincuriosity about how someone who has doneawful things might act when faced witheternity, and a time to reflect on what he mightdo himself when faced with death. Whilethere were some sadists in the crowd, nodoubt, there were also devout peoplestruggling with their own sins and askingthemselves if they had the courage to meettheir own deaths with fortitude.

15th cetnury depiction of the execution of Amerigot Marcel - British LibraryHarley 4379 f. 64

The ideal death involved accepting thepunishment, and willingly submitting to itwith courage and humility. Anne Boleyn,although executed in the sixteenth century,reportedly had what medieval people wouldhave considered as the best kind of death:she repented of her sins, praised the king,laid her own head on the block, and lost itwith one stroke of a sword, like a warrior. Thecrowd watching would have seen someoneso confident in her faith and forgiveness thatshe could accept death without fear ofhellfire. Although Anne’s death wasrelatively private, this was a huge part of thepurpose of public executions in the MiddleAges: to instruct other members of societyto have faith in justice and in God. People have always been interested in thecrimes and punishments of their fellowcitizens, as borne out by the legions of true

crime books, television shows, and moviesmodern society keeps churning out. Whileour interest has remained the same, though,our views on the meaning and purpose ofcapital punishment are different. When welook at medieval executions, it is importantto keep their purpose in the context of thetime before deciding how much more savageour forebears were. There are many great books on medievalcrime and punishment, but I recommendMitchell B. Merback’s The Thief, the Cross andthe Wheel for a good overview of the rationalebehind medieval justice and its penalties.

Danièle Cybulskie is a weeklycolumnist for Medievalists.net.You can follow her on Twitter

@5minmedievalist

The execution ofAnne Boleyn,German engravingcirca 1630

Hashish:Getting High inMedieval Egypt

It had nicknames names like “shrub of emotion”, “shrub ofunderstanding”, “peace of mind”, “branches of bliss” and “thoughtmorsel” However, in the medieval Arabic world, cannabis wasusually known as “the Herb”, and not just because of its use inmedicine. It was used to produce the hallucinogenic drug hashish,which could be found in wide use in places such as late medievalEgypt. Like today, medieval Egyptians debated much about theuse of cannabis - whether or not it should be legal, and how harmfulwas it for the people.

Few historians have examined illicit drug use in the Middle Ages, but one of the mostimportant works is Franz Rosenthal’s book The Herb: Hashish versus Medieval MuslimSociety. Published in 1971, the book focuses on Egypt from the 13th and 15thcenturies, where it examines how the drug was written about it, both positively andnegatively. It had been long known that cannabis could be turned into a hallucinogenic drug,with ancient sources throughout Eurasia noting its mind-altering effects. Somemedieval chroniclers believed that it was introduced to the Arab world by the NizariIsmailis, an Islamic sect, who would go by the name Hashishin, other stories said thatSufi mystics were responsible for bringing it to the masses. Regardless of its source,cannabis was being cultivated around Egypt and sold openly in markets by the 13thcentury. The plant could be turned into hashish by a couple of methods - the leavescould be baked and turned into a paste, which was then sold in a pill form. Anotherway was to have the leaves dried, toasted and husked, to which sugar and sesamewas added to make a food that could be chewed.

Sixth-century depcition of the Cannabis plant. Illustration from the ViennaDioscurides.

Like those in our own day who use marijuana, the medieval Egyptians who consumedhashish commented on how the drug made them high, as well as hungry and a littlelethargic. Some even reported that music sounded better when on the drug. Al-Ukbari,a seemingly pro-Hashish writer from the 13th century, described its effects like this:“Only intelligent and well-to-do people use hashish. When taking it, a person

should consume only the lightest of foods and the noblest of sweets. He should sitin the most pleasant of places and bring around the most distinguished of friends.In the end, he will go on and be concerned with thinking about sweet and food andassume all this is reality whereas in fact, he is asleep.” One can find many positive references to hashish among the poets and writers ofthat day. For example, this account noted:

By its subtlety, it clothes the dull person with frivolous wit so that he becomessmart and a good companion, in contrast to wine which is nasty in its effects andcauses fear of being unexpectedly caught by authorities.

At the same time, one could find many others who condemned its use, like this poem:

Say to those who eat hashish in ignorance:You live the worst life imaginable when you eat it.The worth of a man is a jewel. Why then,You fools, do you sell it for a bit of grass.

While medieval physicians knew about the health benefits of cannabis - it was usedas diuretic for instance - they often also warned people about the bad effects ofhashish. A 14th-century Egyptian, az-Zarkashi, gives a complete list of all the problemsthe drug caused:

It destroys the mind, cuts short the reproductive capacity, produces elephantiasis,passes on leprosy, attracts disease, produces tremulousness, makes the mouthsmell foul, dries up the semen, causes the hair of the eyebrows to fall out, burnsthe blood, causes cavities in the teeth, brings forth the hidden disease, harms theintestines, makes the limbs inactive, causes a shortage of breath, generates strongillusions, diminishes the powers of the soul, reduces modesty, makes thecomplexion yellow, blackens the teeth, riddles the liver with holes, inflames thestomach, and leaves in its wake a bad odor in the mouth as well as a film anddiminished vision in the eye and increased pensiveness in the imagination. Itbelongs to blameworthy characteristics of hashish that it generates in those whoeat it laziness and sluggishness. It turns a lion into a beetle and makes a proudman humble and a healthy man sick. If he eats, he cannot get enough. If he isspoken to, he does not listen. It makes the well-spoken person dumb, and thesound person stupid. It takes away every manly virtue and puts an end to youthfulprowess. Furthermore, it destroys the mind, stunts all natural talent, and bluntsthe sharpness of the mental endowment.

Throughout this period there was much debate among Muslim scholars on whetheror not hashish was forbidden, and the viewpoints differed sharply. Some believedthat because it was intoxicating like wine, it should not be allowed, while otherspointed out that since the Qur’an and the early sayings of the Prophet Muhammad

never mention its use, it should not be considered illegal. The debate over its legalitywould even involve topics such as whether a man could ask his wife for a divorcewhile high (yes) and was it permitted to give it to animals (no, unless you were doingit to make them eat so you could fatten them up). The Mamluk sultans of Egypt, as well as local officials, seemed to have changing viewson whether or not the use of hashish should be allowed. Some took a hard line, witha few sultans called for the death penalty for those convicted, while another orderedthat anyone caught have their molars removed. On the other hand, during an outbreakof plague in 1419, the local market inspector decided that the only restriction againsthashish use was to prevent it from being sold in the open - presumably he was fineif it got sold in private buildings. For those who wanted restrictions on hashish, they seem to have been fighting alosing battle. By the 15th century the drug was being sold more and more openly,and was being used by many. You could find it consumed at public baths or duringparties in private houses. This also led to addicts as well, often described as membersof the lower classes, who would congregate at certain sites to get their fix. The historian al-Maqrizi, noting how widely hashish was being used in the early partof the 15th century, complained that this was ruining society: “Character and moralsbecame overwhelmingly vile, the veil of bashfulness and shame was lifted, peopleused foul language, boasted of faults, lost all nobility and virtue, and adopted everypossible ugly character quality and vice. Were it not for their human shape, nobodywould think them human. Were it not for their sense perception, nobody wouldadjudge them living beings.” On the other hand, here were the words of another medieval poet on the issue,perhaps indicative what the ordinary person thought about the drug:

I said to the man occupied with hashish:Woe unto you! Do you not fear this grain?People are dying of a plague that has appeared.He replied: Let me live eating this lump.

Further Reading: Robert C. Clarke and Mark D. Merlin, Cannabis: Evolution andEthnobotany (University of California Press, 2013) Franz Rosenthal, The Herb: Hashish verus Medieval Muslim Society (Brill, 1971)

Women's Workand Family in

the Viking AgeWomen played many fundamental roles in Scandinavia during theViking Age (eighth to eleventh century). Their positions rangedfrom slave to farmer to landholder and their tasks varied from thespinning and weaving of cloth, manufacturing garments andhangings, preserving, producing and cooking food and drink,tending livestock, working in the fields, cleaning and laundry towarming beds. There is little known about women in urban areasbut if they were married to craftsmen or merchants, presumablythey helped with their husband’s business. The main sources ofinformation on Viking Age women are archaeology along with thewritten sagas, poetry and runes and depictions of women in art. Preparing and Serving Food Women during this historical era managedall of the affairs related to inside the housewhile men were in charge of everythingoutside the house although women didventure outside for tasks related to theirduties inside. The most telling evidence ofwomen’s work comes from thepreponderance of goods found in graves.Women were buried with the tools ofhousekeeping and weaving while men wereburied with items related to warring andfighting. Women would maintain and runfarms while the men were away.

Women were in charge of the dairyoperations. During the summer months, theVikings made their home in the mountains ina shieling, a small house. The milch cows andewes would be together near the shielingwith a herdsman but the other animals wouldbe free to roam. The women would performthe milking and create the dairy productswhich were an important part of theScandinavian diet. This included fresh butterand a long-lasting butter made from sourcream and highly salted. They also made asoft cheese from sour fermented milk and aform of cheese curds called skyr. They wouldusually drink plain or boiled whey instead of

By Susan Abernethy

the whole milk and would turn the whey intobuttermilk. Women would help with the harvest and thehaymaking as the presence of sickles ingraves indicates. In poor families, womenwould work in the fields during the harvest.In wealthier families, servants or slaves didsome of the harder outdoor work. Womenwould collect berries, mosses, herbs,seaweed, wild fruit and bird’s eggs. Womenwashed clothes, usually in streams and theywere also responsible for drawing and

fetching water for drinking, cooking andbathing. Women were responsible for the preparationand serving of meals. There were usually twomeals a day; one in the morning about eightor nine and one in the evening after the men’swork was over about seven or eight. Mealswere eaten in the main room of the house.The food was served in wooden bowls anddishes carried by women servants. They alsofilled the tankards and drinking horns. If therewere guests, the mistress of the

From the Laxdæla Saga:Guðrún and Halldor -

illustration by AndreasBloch in 1898

household and her daughters may havehelped serve. Foods that required no cooking includedcheeses and skyr, salted meat or dried rawfish. Cooked meat and fish, porridge, grueland bread were staples. Evidence exists thatmeat was roasted on a spit or baked in a pitfilled with embers and covered with earth.This system was also used to bake bread andoat cakes and to make stews. The main drinkwas ale. Wine and mead were imported fromcountries further south. Cloth and Weaving A task women performed year round was themaking of cloth which would be forhousehold needs and also for export toNorway and England. Linen was made but themost common cloth was wool. This involvedthe shearing of sheep or goats and thencleaning and grading the wool. The wool wasdegreased and then carded with fingers or acomb to straighten it and separate the fibers.Next it would be spun on a distaff and spindle.The wool would be drawn out into a threadand then wound up, repeating the processuntil they had enough for a large ball of yarn.The thread may or may not have been dyed.The spinning process could be done in thearms, allowing the women to sit or walkaround while performing the task. Weaving was done on an upright loom againsta wall in the house and the pattern wasworked from the top downwards. The threadwas passed back and forth and then beatenup with a wooden or whalebone “sword”. Thestandard width of the cloth was probablyabout two ells (roughly three feet). Morevaluable cloth was made from dyed wooloften in stripes or a pattern. The most popularcolor was red from the rose madder or Rubiatinctorum which grows freely in Iceland.Other colors were reddish-browns andviolets from certain lichens and black frombog-mud permeated with iron. Some mineraldyes were also known.

Even more decorative weaving could be doneon smaller looms. Narrower bands of clothwere sometimes woven which were used totrim the edges of garments and forheadbands. These were created by a methodcalled “tablet-weaving”. The warp threadswere passed through the corners of a smallsquare board or bone plaque. Examples ofthis type of weaving have been found ingraves and have silver and gold threadswoven into them. Some sagas mention thesedecorative weavings and ribbons. Objects found in Norse women’s gravesrelated to textile work include distaffs,spindles, and small looms, weaving “swords”,wool-combs and large bone needles. Needlescases have also been found along withtweezers and different sizes of scissors. Thisindicates women practiced needlework andembroidery. They used wool, imported silkand silver threads. Narrative art in needlework was a skillful practice for women too. Women’s Clothing There is a surprising consistency in the basiccostume Viking women wore. They alwayswore a large pair of oval brooches, about fourto five inches long that are known as “tortoisebrooches” due to their appearance. Thesewere worn in the area of the collar bone andheld together with links of silver chain orbeads. Dangling from the right hand broochhung chains with other items such as keys, aknife, a comb, scissors, needles and maybe apurse. There may have been an additionalbrooch in the middle of the chest. Its shapevaried from square or three-lobed, long orround. Women wore a linen shift next to the skinwhich may or may not have had sleeves. Italso may or may not have had pleats. Overthe linen shift was a twofold garment whichhung from two loops, held in place by thetortoise brooches. It appears this twofoldgarment was wrapped under the arms, one

from right to left, and the other from left toright. The material of these garments wassometimes wool and sometimes linen withthe outer material always of better qualitymaterial than the inner. Over all thesegarments was a fine woolen cloak or shawlwhich the third brooch held in place. Thesedresses hung loose or were tied up with anapron or a knotted girdle. Viking women loved jewelry judging fromthe archaeological evidence. They wore therequisite brooches along with arm and fingerrings, neck rings, and even toe rings. Theserings were made from silver, gold andsometimes jet. Necklaces were made ofdomestic glass, bronze or amber beads andsome were made with imported semi-precious stones such as crystal, cornelian orobsidian. Pendants were also popular. Women and Family It is most likely girls during the Viking Age inScandinavian society did not receive much

in the way of education. They were expectedto marry, have children and manage thehousehold which she could learn from hermother. The “Sagas of Icelanders” notes aconsiderable number of cases where girlsmarried at the age of twelve or in their earlyteens. Women didn’t live as long as men dueto the vagaries of childbirth so they had tomarry early. The distinguishing factor for a man betweena wife and his concubines was the bride-pricehe paid for the wife. It was normal practicefor the bride to receive a dowry from herfather and a gift from her husband the dayafter her wedding. A portion of these giftswere retained as her own property. A validwedding ceremony included drinking “bridalale” before witnesses and the witnessesleading the man to the wife’s bed. The wifekept her name and patronymic and her tieswith her kinsmen were never broken. A woman’s main duty was to provide childrenand preferably male children. The upkeep of

Modern day depcition of a Viking woman - photo by Hans Splinter / Flickr

of small children would have taken up thebulk of a woman’s time. Children were breastfed for a long time. Women also wereresponsible for tending to and nursing theelderly and the sick. Rich Viking men hadconcubines and relations with slave womenand many illegitimate children. The status ofthese children never suffered. All thechildren, legitimate and illegitimate, wereusually brought up at home although somemale children could be sent to another homeas foster-sons. Adultery by a wife was a crime. According tosome provincial Danish and Swedish law, awife’s adultery gave the husband the right tokill her and her lover if they were caught inthe act. Men generally had more leeway incommitting adultery. The evidence points topolygamy being practiced by manyScandinavian earls and kings. Divorce was easy and had no stigma for eitherparty. Either the husband or the wife coulddeclare before witnesses their complaint andtheir intention to divorce. The woman wouldusually return to her family with her personalbelongings and her dowry. It is clear thewoman kept her dowry so she would notbecome destitute after divorce. Rune stones from the Viking Age show thatthe system of kinship was bilateral, meaningwomen could inherit property as well as men.Sons were usually given a stronger claim thantheir sisters but daughters had precedenceover their uncles and grandfathers. Mostimportantly, women could inherit land fromtheir sons and daughters who died withoutissue. The significance of securing familyproperty was more important thanmaintaining the system of patriarchy. There were unmarried women during theViking Age. Those who were not needed athome could hire themselves out to do worksuch as cloth making and washing, cleaning,baking and brewing. Widows enjoyed acertain amount of freedom. She was no

longer beholden to her father or her husbandand may have inherited considerableproperty giving her economic security. Themost notorious Viking women held powerthrough their children and could maintainconsiderable respect if they had lucrativedowries and landholdings. There are some accounts of women who hadpersonal power and wealth. There’s the storyof Aud the Deep-Minded who led her familyto Iceland and meted out land among themas if she were a chieftain. There areinscriptions on rune stones attesting tobereaved women who paid for and erectedthe commemorative stones or builtcauseways and bridges in memory of theirloved ones. A few of these stones were raisedin honor of women. Some of the richest gravesare those of women, indicating great respect,especially of older women. Grave goodsburied with women could include pairs ofscales representing good housekeeping orwith keys to food or treasure chests indicatingtheir authority in the home. Women, on occasion, would participate in theproceedings to make laws called “things” butmostly as companions to men. They played aprimary role in practicing medicine, usingherbs and meting out advice handed downthrough generations. Women were alsopractitioners of magical medicine, usingcharms and incantations. In summary, grave goods signify the type ofwork related to women during the Viking Age.These objects indicate women’s tasks wererelated to the preparation of food andclothing. Women were responsible forbringing up children and caring for theelderly. They did have the ability to becomemerchants, work outdoors on the farm andperform carpentry and leatherwork as well aspractice medicine. Burials indicate womencould achieve a high social standing in ruralcommunities. The sumptuous burial ofOseberg especially shows women attained

Further Reading: Jonathan Clements, Everyday Life in the Viking Age (Running Press, 2005) Judith Jesch, Women in the Viking Age (Boydell, 1991) Jacqueline Simpson, Everyday Life in the Viking Age (Hippocrene Books, 2007) Kirsten Wolf, Viking Age: Everyday Life During the Extraordinary Era of the Norsemen (Sterling, 2013)

power, influence and wealth. But thesewomen were the exception. The introduction of Christianity inScandinavia opened up the opportunity forwomen to travel on pilgrimages to the farreaches of the known world. It is clear fromthe rune stones and saga evidence thatwomen did travel and helped colonizeIceland, Greenland, Scotland and the FaroeIslands and even North America. There is clearevidence women also accompanied men ontrading and raiding voyages, especially inEngland. Burials in the trading centers ofBirka, Hedeby and others suggest women didengage in trade and manufacturing and craftseither alone or with their husbands. It is clearwomen played an integral role during theViking Age.

Susan Abernethy is the writer of The Freelance HistoryWriter and a contributor to Saints, Sisters, and Sluts.You can also follow Susan on Twitter@SusanAbernethy2

The Global Sideof Medieval at

the Getty CenterBy Danielle Trynoski

You know that you’re going to experience some of the best,the brightest, and the shiniest when you visit the Getty. Thecurrent manuscript exhibit delivers some pretty shinymanuscripts, plus a hefty load of big bright ideas. I wasfortunate to receive a tour of the exhibit from curatorialassistant Rheagan Martin and curatorial intern AlexandraKaczenski, who provided abundant insight into the themes ofthe exhibit and pointed out exquisite details of the selectedart pieces. Traversing the Globe through IlluminatedManuscripts will be open from January 26-June 26, 2016,and examines the concept of a Global Middle Ages throughgeography, religion, trade, and art. Bryan C. Keene, assistantcurator of Manuscripts at the Getty and primary curator ofthe exhibit, focuses on medieval narratives aside from conflict,Christianity, and monarchs. When considering East versusWest, the Crusades are a popular topic yet there are amultitude of components to consider as Keene illustrates inhis thoughtful pairings and comparative displays of materialcreated in the 9th-17th centuries.

Traversing the Globe will be open for six months, longer than most of the manuscriptexhibits at the Getty. On April 12, 2016, many of the manuscripts on display will(ahem) turn over new leaves. This minimizes potential damage to the text andillustrations. The turn-over in April presents a distinctive challenge to the curatorialstaff. It made the original selection of manuscripts more difficult, to ensure thatmultiple leaves would fit the exhibit’s themes, but it does require certain displays tohave new labels produced. The additional planning pays off in extending the life ofthe overall exhibit by increasing the amount of time the manuscripts are exposed tolight and exhibit conditions. The longer exhibit life also allows visitors the opportunityto view some special pieces on loan from multiple organizations, including the LosAngeles County Museum of Art, the Norton Simon Museum, the Huntington Library,private collections, and the Charles E. Young Research Library at UCLA.

Dani and Getty Staff - all photos by Danielle Trynoski

This exhibit is all about telling alternative narratives and expanding the averagevisitor’s understanding of the Middle Ages and early Renaissance. Keene is aiming toboth broaden and deepen awareness using geography, comparison, and related artisticmotifs as his tools. The exhibit is in two galleries connected by a central atrium. Thecentral space houses a large platform with a map graphic (get the graphic here: http://www.getty.edu/art/exhibitions/globe/globe_gallery_text.pdf). This platformprovides an overview of the exhibit’s central themes, and uses spotlight pieces toillustrate the geographic spread of the artworks’ origins. It really is a globalrepresentation, with art in multiple media from modern-day India, China, Armenia,Italy, Ethiopia, Mexico, and more. The inclusion of this display in the central atriumreally connects the two galleries; without it I think many visitors would gloss overthe related themes in the two rooms. It is also one of the few manuscript exhibits toextend into two galleries, so thank you to the Getty for supporting medievalism!

Atrium Map

One gallery was organized geographically, while the second gallery was organizedby themes of religion, trade, and transmission. While a multi-faceted exhibit can reacha diverse audience, this seemed to be ever-so-slightly overreaching in its attempt toinclude multiple narratives. I applaud Keene’s ambition to show the true diversity ofthe Middle Ages but the average visitor may be overwhelmed or need multiple visitsto really grasp the scope of the exhibit (or need some prior knowledge of medievalhistory!). He touches on the transmission of materials, symbols, and religion; heillustrates the misconceptions and comical depictions of far-away cultures andcreatures, shows diplomatic relations, provides examples of historic theories ofgeography and cartography, and encompasses evidence of trade and peacefulexchange, plus more. Traversing the Globe contains a lot of information; there are somany sub-themes illustrated that the average visitor may lose track of the mainconcept. You can be overwhelmed by too much good stuff in this exhibit; it’s like agiant burrito: everything in it is really tasty but it’s a LOT of good stuff! Perhaps I’mwrong, and visitors are delighted by the rich context. I hope that most visitors arecharmed by many of the wonderful and unique pieces in this exhibit, regardless oftheir intellectual take-away. I know I definitely enjoyed the diversity and the attentionpaid to less-common narratives.

Gallery View

Trade and exchange is an importantfacet of the exhibit content andselected pieces provide evidence ofpolitical, economic, and artisticexchanges. Manuscripts wereextremely expensive to produce, yetthey were a relatively portablecommodity. This made them idealtools for use in diplomatic relationsand communicated academic,religious, and artistic principles. Thetransmission of the çintamani, anartistic element, was glaringlyobvious in the comparison of amanuscript from Istanbul and achausable front from Venice bothfrom the early 16th century. Theçintamani, originating in a Hindu orBuddhist context, is used in multiplemedia and only becomes prevalentin Europe during the Middle Ages.Nearby, illuminated parchmentmedallions with text from the Qur’anand the Shah Abbas Bible with Arabicmarginalia are further evidence ofcross-continental exchange.

Above: Ethiopian Manuscript. Below: Chausable front

While many objects and materials were successfully exchanged in the Global MiddleAges, some ideas, concepts, and descriptions of foreign wonders didn’t always makethe trip with a high level of integrity. Several manuscripts from various locations andcenturies offer very diverse interpretations of elephants, including one closer to adog than a large pachyderm! An early print published in Germany in 1486 providesa helpful Arabic alphabet, along with a somewhat fanciful illustration of “Saracen”costume. The ambiguously draped tunics and turbans have somewhat of a fantasyelement to them, and the viewer can’t help but think that the artist used his imaginationrather than an accurate description.

Arabic Alphabet print

A few other pieces are particular highlights for me. An illustrated 15th century biblefrom the Gunda Gunde Monastery in Ethiopia (above) blended local traditions ofroyal portraiture with Christian figures and symbology. The leaves displayed wereinstantly recognizable as Christian yet the style, shapes, and color palette was verydistinctively non-European. Nearby, wooden staves with painted scenes from the lifeof the Buddha were remnants of an Indian manuscript binding system from1075-1100. Leaves from Indian manuscripts were displayed in both galleries, andfeatured three red dots along the center horizontal axis of the rectangular page,through which cord would run and attach to the top and bottom boards. One of theleaves displayed still had a silk screen covering a gold-leaf illumination, in similarfashion to many European manuscripts.

Indian Manuscript Boards

The online media support is fantastic and includes the illustratedexhibit checklist and Medieval Manuscripts Live, an audio guide whichprovides opportunities to hear the text of manuscripts read aloud inoriginal languages. You can access Medieval Manuscripts Live fromyour home or your phone, which means you can bring it right into thegallery and hear Old French or Medieval Arabic as you’re looking atthe 9th century Qur’an with gold-leaf lettering! (http://blogs.getty.edu/iris/tags/medieval-manuscripts-alive/) You can explore theexhibit and related materials online at this website (http://www.getty.edu/art/exhibitions/globe/) or visit in person at the Getty throughJune 26, 2016. Plan your visit using this information (http://www.getty.edu/visit/).

Above: Ninth-century Qu'ran

Below: Getty Center Orientation Film

Danielle Trynoski earned herMA in Medieval Archaeologyat the University of York inEngland. When she's notvisiting museums andhistorical sites, she's ridinghorses or reading aboutVikings. She currently lives insouthern California andmanages the website

CuratoryStory.com

Stary Olsa: WhereRock 'n' Roll

Meets Medieval Music

Not many medieval musicians become viral hits on Youtube, butthat is what happened in the fall of 2014 when a video by theBelarus band Stary Olsa garnered hundreds of thousands of views.It was their cover of Metallica’s famous song “One”, performedwith medieval instruments. Now, to capitalize on this success andthe attention they received, the band is set to release an entirealbum of rock hits as if they came out of the Middle Ages.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NT9Dxb5cfOE

Last month the band launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise funds to create an CD thatwould feature recreating songs such as "Another Brick in the Wall", by Pink Floyd and "SmellsLike Teen Spirit" by Nirvana with medieval instruments. They had hoped to raise $7000 (US)but the response was huge - they have raised double that amount with another two weeksto go before the campaign ends. They will use the extra funds to increase the number ofsongs on their album, while most of those donating will be getting CDs or digital downloadsof the music, which is expected to be released later this summer. Stary Olsa, which now consists of Źmicier Sasnoŭski, Illia Kublicki, Aleś Čumakoŭ, MaryjaŠaryj, Siarhiej Tapčeŭski, and Aliaksiej Vojciech, was formed in 1999 and has already releasedeleven albums that feature medieval and early modern music from eastern Europe. Thisnew album will represent an opportunity to mix their love of medieval music with modernrock music.

We interviewed the band by email to learn more about them and their project: Your group has been performing since 1999 and has released nearly a dozen albums. Howhas Stary Olsa evolved over this period? Źmicier Sasnoŭski: At the beginning of our career we were barely familiar with the enormousheritage of the Middle Ages, that’s why we’re stylizing a lot and composing “in style”. Butwith time (after 10 years of diving in Medieval!) manuscripts and notes and tabs fromdifferent countries started flowing into our hands from everywhere. We have got and arestill getting lots of help especially from Belarusian and Polish historians, who work inarchives and libraries. And now we get a genuine pleasure from the process of reading,recognition and interpretation of the ancient note scripts. In addition to the repertoire the number of our instruments is constantly enlarging! Thegroup membership has changed a bit too. Although the main members still remained, somereally “infected” (in a good meaning) with the Medieval music people have joined us.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKPzDrPn1ho

How did you come up with the idea of covering modern songs? Maryja Šaryj: We love the old music, the history of our country and the sound of the oldinstruments. You know, at our rehearsals we used to make fun playing our favorite rockmelodies on our instruments, as it sounded unusual. And one of our friends once said: «Why don’t you play in my new show on TV!» So we tried. “One” became our first experiment;we wanted to draw people’s attention to the actual content of this song by refreshing itwith a different sound. Then we decided to keep going with the great classic – Deep Purple“Child in Time”. This is actually our favorite cover) No, please, don’t consider us as a coverband! This is just the way of drawing the attention of those, who are not familiar with thewonderful medieval music and the history of our ancestors and the rich cultural heritage,through the voices of our medieval instruments. How challenging is it to play modern rock songs on medieval instruments? Illia Kublicki: Modern instruments are undoubtedly superior to the ancient instrument involume, range and technical capabilities. That’s why in some covers we had to improviseinstead of exactly repeating the melody or harmony. But this is the sense of a cover – toshow your own vision, your interpretation of the song. At the same time due to the greatpossibilities of the lute, and namely its possibility to perform polyphonic music, the luteperformed simultaneously the bass guitar part and the solo guitar part in Red Hot ChilliPeppers “Californication” cover. Working on the covers we got convinced once again thatthe old instruments are much richer than any other contemporary instrument in patch. Your cover of Metallica's "One" became quite a viral hit on social media. What was yourreaction to all this new found attention? Maryja Šaryj: Yes, it was unexpected! Because it was just an experiment. Lots of feedbacks,comments, emails. Our website just burst from the visitors. We were very glad that havingseen this video people got interested in the major work of the band, the instruments, thehistory and learnt a bit more about Belarus! And for ourselves it became the turning pointin the further evolution of the band. Thanks to Metallica!)

I've read in another interview that you like to have your live shows recreate the feel ofperforming as if in a medieval tavern. Why is it important for you to bring that kind of styleand authenticity to your music? Źmicier Sasnoŭski: It’s not enough to listen to the music, one really wants to feel, touchand even drink/eat this amazing époque – The Middle Ages. Thus it is important to organizesuch concerts, where there are many features of the true medieval life such as dances,clothes, lights, music, etiquette and surely food, beer and wine. We are deeply convincedthat our passion for the Middle Ages is not just a desire for naturality in everything fromfood to music, it is also a protest against plastic-asphalt-concrete world, that we got intoby God’s will.

To support their project, please visit their Kickstarter page at:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/staryolsa/stary-olsa-album-medieval-classic-rock

To learn more about the band, please visit

their website at http://staryolsa.com/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26j5rBe79mY

Joan of KentThe First Princess

of Wales

Book Excerpt

By Penny Lawne Amberley Publishing, 2015ISBN: 9781445644653

Immortalised by the chronicler Froissart as the most beautiful womanin England and the most loved, Joan was the wife of the Black Princeand the mother of Richard II, the first Princess of Wales and the onlywoman ever to be Princess of Aquitaine. The contemporary consensuswas that she admirably fulfilled their expectations for a royal consortand king’s mother. Who was this ‘perfect princess’? In this first major biography, Joan’s background and career areexamined to reveal a remarkable story. Brought up at court followingher father’s shocking execution, Joan defied convention by marryingsecretly aged just twelve, and refused to deny her first love despitecoercion, imprisonment and a forced bigamous marriage. Wooed bythe Black Prince when she was widowed, theirs was a love match, yetthe questionable legality of their marriage threatened their son’ssuccession to the throne. Intelligent and independent, Joanconstructed her role as Princess of Wales. Deliberately self-effacing,she created and managed her reputation, using her considerableintercessory skills to protect and support Richard. A loyal wife anddevoted mother, Joan was much more than just a famous beauty.

Jean Froissart, probably the most famous of the fourteenth-century chroniclers,described Joan as ‘in her time the most beautiful woman in all the realm of Englandand the most loved’ (‘en son temps la plus belle dame de tout le roiaulme d’Engleterreet la plus amoureuse’). His description has proved remarkably enduring, and it is byher posthumously bestowed sobriquet of ‘Fair Maid of Kent’ that Joan is best known.Successive chroniclers in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries were fascinated bythe legend of her beauty and desirability, and by the seventeenth century Joan had

Read an Excerpt: Introduction

identified as the blushing beauty rescued from embarrassment at the ball by EdwardIII in Vergil’s account of the founding of the Order of the Garter. Although historianshave rejected the Garter story, it is the view of Joan that generally remains. Yet thisdescription is misleading, and belies the significance of Joan’s life. Joan was Princessof Wales for twenty-four years, and one of the most important and influential womenof her age. A granddaughter of Edward I, in 1361 she married Edward III’s eldest son,Prince Edward (after his death better known as the Black Prince), and became Princessof Wales, the first member of the English royal family to have that title. Until theprince’s death in 1376, Joan was expected to succeed her mother-in-law, QueenPhilippa, as the next queen. For seven years she helped Prince Edward preside overthe principality of Aquitaine, and bore him two sons. When Edward III died, a yearafter the prince’s death, Joan’s son Richard became king at the age of ten. As Richard’smother, Joan was in a position of considerable power and authority up to her deathin 1385. Despite her distinction, there has been no full-length biography of her life,and her story remains largely untold. This book is an attempt to tell her story andexamine the real woman behind the legend. There are obvious difficulties in looking at Joan’s life. There is no surviving collectionof private correspondence by or to Joan, and there are no family or personal papers.None of the records kept for her, such as household accounts, administrative records,wardrobe accounts, livery rolls and estate accounts, have survived. Without suchaccounts, much that could be known about Joan is lost. The dearth of archive materialrelating to Joan is a serious handicap for a biographer, and partly explains whyhistorical writing on her is lamentably limited. In addition, histories of the fourteenthcentury have traditionally been male dominated. The contemporary chroniclers andlater historians concentrated their attention on war, politics and government, allareas from which women were largely excluded as they could not hold office, or goto war, and although they were allowed to own land they had no independent legalstanding unless widowed. The law, reinforced by the Church’s attitude, stressed thesubordination of women. Inevitably the official records contain far more about themen in Joan’s life (in particular the prince and Richard II) than they do about her,despite her rank and status. A biographer therefore also has to draw on the lives ofthose closest to Joan to help provide some of the missing details of her life. Edward III’s claim to the French throne initiated the start of the Hundred Years War,and the conduct of the war, the deliberate fostering of the chivalric culture by theking and the resulting upheavals in domestic politics, with the escalating tensionsthat culminated in the Peasants’ Revolt in 1381, have fascinated writers for centuries.The fourteenth century is rich in tales of chivalry, expounded by contemporary writerssuch as Froissart and Jean le Bel. Men carry out brave deeds in accordance with aknightly code of conduct, often with the aim of winning the hearts of their fair ladies,as in Froissart’s tale of the English knights at Valenciennes who vowed to weareyepatches on one eye until they had performed feats worthy of their lady. EdwardIII consciously promoted the chivalric ethos of his court, with his creation of the Orderof the Garter as its most visible symbol, to foster unity among his nobility and to

ensure support for his war with France. His eldest son, Prince Edward, was consideredby his contemporaries to be the exemplar of chivalric knighthood. The Church assistedin the glamorisation of war, calling knights to the aid of fellow Christians on crusade.Tales of knight errantry and worthy deeds of arms were encouraged. Romanticliterature with the tales of heroes like Arthur, Charlemagne, Roland and Oliver werepopular reading among the aristocracy. Chivalry was an elitist culture, restricted tothe nobility, in which women were portrayed as supportive adornments, and thedividing line between reality and fairy tale sometimes deliberately blurred, as in thedepiction of Joan as one of the objects of gallantry at Valenciennes, and herrepresentation by Chandos Herald as the perfect knight’s lady. Much that is known about Joan derives from the accounts of the contemporarychroniclers, who present her as a popular figure in her lifetime. Although there areno contemporary portraits, her beauty was undoubtedly a real attribute, firmlyestablished by Froissart, and her depiction by the prince’s panegyrist, Chandos Herald,as beautiful, pleasant and wise (‘que bele fu plesant et sage’). The Chronique desquatre premiers Valois described her as ‘une des belle dames du monde et moultnoble’. Froissart and Chandos Herald had first-hand knowledge; Froissart was amember of Queen Philippa’s household at the time of Joan’s marriage to the princeand stayed at their home at Berkhamsted after the marriage, and he was later a guestin their house in Aquitaine when Joan gave birth to Richard in 1367, while ChandosHerald served Sir John Chandos, one of the closest of Prince Edward’s friends andknights. The prince’s marriage is recorded by most of the chroniclers, and these reciteJoan’s royal lineage and her marital history. Joan’s desirability is evident from hercolourful marital history; she was Thomas Holand’s widow when she married theprince, but was known to have gone through a form of marriage with William Montaguewhich had been set aside. The births of her two sons by the prince are recorded, andduring Richard’s reign there are more frequent references to Joan, particularly of herintercessions on behalf of John of Gaunt during the Peasants’ Revolt, and her deathin 1385 is attributed to her distress at her failure to reconcile Richard with his half-brother John Holand.

You can learn more about Joan of Kent: The FirstPrincess of Wales, from Amberley Publishing,

by visitng their website at:

www.amberley-books.com/joan-of-kent.html

Tales from Sacchetti

Gambling andMurder

We bring you another tale from a work called Novelle by FrancoSacchetti. Sacchetti was a 14th-century Italian novelist and poet,who spent most of his life in Florence. He wrote various works, butis most remembered for the about 300 short stories he made. Itis difficult to know which tales are real and which parts are fictitious,but often they are very funny and offer a look at the daily lives ofmedieval people that we rarely see. This story involves a gamblinggame called zara, which involved using three dice.

Messer Giovanni of Negroponte, having lost at zara all he possessed, goesto revenge himself and kills a maker of dice. Messer Giovanni of Negroponte, a very great and clever jester and singer, having oneday lost all that he possessed at zara, in the heat of his anger and under the impulseof the game, took a knife and went to seek a maker of dice, and killed him. And beingtaken and led before the lord of that land, who was a despot, but who had a greataffection for him, the lord asked him: "How now, Messer Giovanni, what had moved you to kill a wretched man and exposeyourself to death?" He replied: " My lord, it was only the affection I bear unto your person, and the thoughtof the love you bear unto me; and this is the reason. I had lost at play all that I had,and was very near killing myself; but as I prepared to do homicide, I reflected uponthe love which you bear unto me, and how that you could not live without me, andin order that you might not lose me, nor I lose you, I went to spend my wrath uponthe man who made the dice, thinking that would be a most worthy revenge. Manylords and rulers like yourself often inflict a punishment on those who play; but,considering how many evils come from gaming, I believe that it would be far betterto destroy ail the makers of games all over the worlds as I have destroyed this one,rather than leave them alive. And if you do but reflect upon how many evils come

my reasoning may not displease you." The lord, who was of perfect understanding, considered the excellent reasoning ofMesser Giovanni of Negroponte, and made a law that in all his territory whosoevermade dice should forfeit both his person and his possessions; and moreover, thatwhosoever made dice might be killed without any punishment falling upon themurderer and that whosoever should be found carrying dice should pay a penaltyof a thousand lire or lose his hand; and whosoever was found playing where therewere dice should forfeit his person and his possessions. And thus was extinguishedthroughout his territory this worst of sources, this most malignant root of evil, whencespring the cursing of God, the wasting of riches, the union of pride and anger, thievingand stealing through avarice, murder and gluttony, and, through this, the giving wayto unbridled luxury and all the evils that nature can commit. And Messer Giovanniof Negroponte was pardoned, and he who made the dice and was killed paid thepenalty.

16th century image by Wilhelm Werner von Zimmern - from WürttembergischeLandesbibliothek, Cod. Don. A III 54, fol. 125v,

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