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Melissa Snell

Medieval History

By , About.com Guide

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Alboin, King of the Lombards

Thursday May 16, 2013
He was a savvy political leader and a shrewd military commander, allying with neighbors of his longtime enemies, the Gepidae, to take them down, and launching a highly successful invasion of Italy. But he was a really, really bad husband. Find out what lost Alboin a shot at Best Husband of the Year for 567 in his Who's Who Profile.

6th-Century pandemic confirmed as "Plague"

Wednesday May 15, 2013

For some time now scholars have been fairly certain that the plague that struck the Eastern Roman Empire in the 6th century, known to some as Justinian's Plague, was the same disease that struck Europe in the 14th-century Black Death. Now this theory has been confirmed by DNA analysis of the remains of 6th-century plague victims, which revealed the presence of Yersinia pestis, the bacterium that manifests itself as bubonic, pneumonic, and septicemic plague.

The dreadful epidemic of the 6th century had far-reaching repercussions for Eastern Rome, although the theory that it heralded the end of the empire is not universally shared.

Find out more in the article by Mark Prigg at the Daily Mail.

Byzantine mosaics discovered in Israel

Wednesday May 15, 2013

While surveying the area in order to extend a highway, workers in southern Israel uncovered the remains of a village dating to the early Byzantine era. It soon became apparent that it was located on what had been an important travel route. And then the mosaics were uncovered. Described as "spectacular" and "stunning," the mosaics are a combination of birds, fruit, and intricate geometric patterns.

Find out more about the discovery in these articles:

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Ethelbert

Thursday May 9, 2013

He is perhaps best known for the role he played in ushering Christianity into Anglo-Saxon England, thanks in large part to his very Catholic wife. But he also wrote the earliest extant English law code. He was King Ethelbert I of Kent.

News Roundup

Wednesday May 8, 2013

Recently, there have been quite a few news items about medieval and Renaissance art -- among other treasures.

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Knight's family believed to be found in crypt

Thursday May 2, 2013

About six weeks ago, the grave of a knight was discovered under a parking lot in Edinburgh. Now archaeologists believe they may have found the knight's family buried in a crypt nearby. A female skull and the skeleton of an infant were found very close to the slab that marked the knight's grave. Other skeletons have been found, as well.

Find out more in these news items:

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Chlotar I

Wednesday May 1, 2013

As the youngest son of King Clovis, Chlotar received his portion of the divided kingdom when his father died. He joined forces with his brothers to conquer Burgundy and Thuringia, and as his brothers and their children died, he acquired their portions of the kingdom. But he did not always wait for natural causes.

Find out what misdeeds allowed Chlotar to build his kingdom in his Who's Who Profile.

More News

Thursday April 25, 2013

Here are just a few stray bits of news you might find interesting.

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Could it have been . . . murder??

Thursday April 25, 2013

A ten-month-long excavation of a settlement in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland, has yielded a remarkable number of artifacts, from combs and bits of jewelry to a board game to the remains of houses, some dating as far back as the 10th century. And one especially interesting find is a "suspiciously buried skeleton." The body of a teenaged girl has a damaged skull, and it is believed that the place where she was found was not her original burial site.

Could she have been murdered? Check out the article by Meredith Bennett-Smith at the Huffington Post to find out more.

Romantic skeletons

Thursday April 25, 2013

In an unmarked grave in the courtyard of what was once a Dominican monastery, archaeologists have uncovered the skeletons of a man and a woman holding hands and facing each other. The man has a broken hip, the result of a blow from a blunt object, and probably the cause of his death. The cause of the woman's death is uncertain; one theory is she died of a broken heart upon hearing news of the man's demise. More prosaically, perhaps it was a heart attack that struck her down. In any case, one must have died not long after the other for them to have been buried together.

Find out more in these news items:

While it's rare for two people to be buried together, it isn't unheard of. In fact, a similar case was uncovered less than two years ago in Italy. See Eternally together, October, 2011.

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