The Dering Roll is the oldest extant English roll of arms, a painted register of heraldic devices dating to about 1270. After a successful fundraising campaign, the British Library acquired the Dering Roll, and it is now on display in the Sir John Ritblat Gallery: Treasures of the British Library. Find out more in the article at the 24 Hour Museum, and find out more about Heraldry in these resources, compiled by your Guide.

As autumn looms, harvesting begins, as in this scene of peasants harvesting grapes at the Château de Saumur. The portion revealed in this detail was actually painted by Jean Colombe, about 70 years after the Limbourg brothers painted the upper two-thirds of the miniature. There is a notable difference in style, which reflected the tastes of the day just as much as the preference of the artists. You can examine these differences by visiting the page for September in the Les Très Riches Heures Image Gallery.

Recently three different finds were made (two with those handy metal detectors -- hooray for modern gizmos!) of interest to medieval enthusiasts:

• John Stevens, 42, from Hinckley, found a rare gold ring with a black diamond with his metal detector. The ring may date to the 11th century, and could be worth tens of thousands of pounds. Find out more (and see a nice pic) in the item by Jessica Salter at the Telegraph.
  
  
• Fork lift truck driver Andy Sales, from Deal, used a metal detector to uncover a gold pendant that may date back as far as the 5th century. The piece was made from the visogothic imitation of a Byzantine coin. Check out the photo and find out more in the piece by Gerry Warren at KentOnline.
  
  
• A unique Byzantine seal, four silver rings, and the ruins of a castle were among the items discovered by archaeologists near the Thracian sanctuary of Perperikon in Bulgaria. No photos, but intriguing information in the article by Elitsa Savova at Sophia Echo.

I know -- school's starting in some districts already, and vacation time is just about over. On the other hand, summer isn't officially over for another month. So let's have a look at one more Summer Reading recommendation, and see what the next few weeks bring.

Keeping with recent news, my latest recommendation is a book about the Templars by Sharan Newman. It's chock full of all sorts of information relating to those mysterious warrior monks, and not a bit of it's dry. In fact, it's actually a lot of fun to read. Find out more in this review.