r/medieval

An article about Sigismund Korybut, the envoy of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Vytautas to Hussite Bohemia, who later attempted to become King of Bohemia: https://www.e-stredovek.cz/en/post/sigismund-korybut/

I know this is a modernized spelling and abridged version, but I think it’s been a good way for me to ease into the archaic language. I’ve been looking things up every few sentences to make sure I understand the words and the meaning.

Edit: this is not abridged

It’s been very fun and rewarding. I just watched the movie Excalibur last night (John Boorman) and that was a great movie.

Just downloaded the Naxos audiobook read by Bill Homewood too.

I’m definitely going down a rabbit hole lol!

Hello everyone!

I am an undergraduate History student conducting this survey as part of my final dissertation. The aim of this research is to explore how people perceive the Middle Ages today and compare these perceptions with current historical scholarship.

The survey is completely anonymous and takes approximately 10 minutes to complete.

This is not a test. There are no right or wrong answers. I am interested in your own knowledge and personal perceptions of the Middle Ages. Please answer without searching for information online, in books, or by using AI tools such as ChatGPT.

I would be very grateful if you could take part. Your responses will make a valuable contribution to my research.

Thank you very much for your time!

Survey: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSea_Qpq919Nkx0UsnZ1szpMFqyMjEnjOE2mT5Q2sdnEkoY9EA/viewform?usp=header

I’m working on handmade medieval-inspired leather boots, and one thing I keep thinking about is comfort.

A lot of costume boots look good in photos, but after a few hours at a Ren Faire, LARP event, or festival, comfort becomes everything.

So I’m trying to improve these with better leather, stronger construction, and possibly rubber soles for more grip and durability.

For people who wear boots at events: what matters most to you?

Comfort for walking all day, historical style, custom sizing, leather quality, rubber soles, or the overall fantasy look?

I’d love honest feedback before I make the next batch.

I'd like to share the work of this French painter and illustrator beyond our borders.These pages are from "The Sword of Justice", a medieval graphic novel created in collaboration with writer David Haziot. What do you think of this traditional painting style? The entire graphic novel is hand-drawn in pencil and painted in gouache.

This is my first ever DIY project, so it’s not that impressive, functional or necessarily accurate. Made from a lot of paper, masking tape, old fabrics from clothes and curtains, and a lot of hot glue. I can technically wear it but it’s not very stable without a lot of pins and is also only a small version.
But as a first attempt and most likely decorative piece, I’m quite proud😌

They were worn by noblewomen around the mid to late 15th century, the styles and sizes often represented different levels of wealth and status.

I’m planning the next batch of handmade cowhide leather boots for Ren Faire, LARP, Viking-inspired outfits, and medieval costumes.

I’m deciding between:

Dark brown

Natural brown

Black

Forest green

Deep red / burgundy

For your outfit, which color would you actually wear?

btw the red sash says "Graduation 2026"

by came I mean arrived, lewd mfs

I'm working on a game called JoustVille, and I'm pleased with how the joust itself is working. It's still very much a work in progress, but I have built the mechanics and gameplay systems, and I'm curious if people would be interested in a game like this.

The joust is just one part of the game; there is an entire Arthurian inspired open world where you make friends and enemies, hire allies, enter tournaments, and make your name known. There are different types of horses, quests, storylines, and more. I'm not trying to make a historically accurate simulation of anything. This is much closer to A Knight's Game, it's not trying to be a documentary.

In this video, you can see a couple of things working. First, you can train your horses to do different emotes based off historical dressage. The only animation that works right now is "rear" which you can see the computer controlled opponent knight, on the right hand side, do. The idea is, you train your horse to do different emotes, you assign them, and then you can show off during the tournament.

There are different horses and styles of jousting. The grey horse the player is riding is a Percheron, a heavy horse. The player has to match the hoof-beat pattern (which is unique to each horse). After that, the "couch" mechanic lets you choose your target; helm is harder to hit but more points, shield is easy to hit but not worth as much. Then, you see the "live duel" where both parties can adjust their aim and their block.

Heavy lances don't like to change targets; they are slow and hit heavy. Light lances can change targets at the last second. Feinting and tricking your opponent are important strategies, just like choosing your horse, armor, and lance.

Finally, at the end, you see what happens when you get a devastating hit. I'm still working on the art and animations, but you get the idea.

Normally, a Joust is 3 passes, with 0 to 5 points possible per pass, but an unhorsing is an instant victory for the match. So, you can be down two passes and way behind in points, but still turn it around and get a win if you do everything right.

I wanted to make the joust interesting, with different strategies and ways to win. I'm curious to hear what others think!

Actual chemise and tunic with hand stitches around the collar. Was actually really surprised to see that in a movie. It's Eggers though, he's the one you'd expect it from

P.s. Smug looking William Dafoe is a bonus

I've been visiting towns I'd never normally go to for my channel and the gap between what I expected and what's actually there is massive. Went to Berkhamsted last week (a town I've passed through on the train probably 20 times without stopping). Turns out it has a free Norman castle right next to the station. And that's not even the most surprising thing I found there. Feel like we're all guilty of writing off places because of vibes rather than actually going.

Anyone else found a place that completely flipped their assumptions?

Channel if you want to see what I mean (sub if you want to come on the journey with me too)

The fortress was built in the mid-14th century. At that time, there were only two gateways into East Frisia: Stickhausen Castle in the west and Friedeburg Castle in the east. Stickhausen Castle controlled trade routes stretching from Hamburg to the Netherlands, as it was situated at the confluence of two rivers and along the main road to Leer and Emden. Furthermore, it protected East Frisia against the County (and later Duchy) of Oldenburg. The castle held a key strategic position during the Thirty Years' War.

It was not until the Napoleonic era that the castle suffered irreparable damage; it was subsequently demolished by the Prussians. Today, only the main building and the keep remain.

Nederluleå church in Gammelstad, Sweden, medieval, inaugurated in 1492 though there's been a church in that same spot more than a century before that. This sword stand is located by the entrance, in Swedish called "vapenhuset"; "the weapon room/house", because you weren't allowed to carry swords inside the church and had to leave them at the entrance.

Edit: I'm going to paste one of my comments here:

When I was a guide in this church (many, many years ago, as a teen) I was taught that you'd stick the swords down into the little slots. They're wide enough to fit a sword blade each. I agree it's a weird way to store swords, but that's what they told me. Back in the day far from everyone would own a sword so not everyone needed a space in the church's weapon house. There's no telling if there was originally more than one such sword stand, maybe this is the only surviving one. Or the information is wrong and the truth has been lost to time.

Edit 2: I googled some more and came across information that new research suggests that the vapenhus might have been used for storage of weapons in case of war.

Fellow medieval travellers,

I just wanted to shamelessly plug the conversation I had for my little history podcast with one of my favourite historians, Prof. Nicholas Morton from Nottingham Trent University.

As we talked about the pretty batshit history of The Crusades before (from the Crusaders' perspective), this time I wanted to get his take on what did the invasions look like from "the other side..."

Anyway, genuinely thought some of you might be interested in the topic:

https://youtu.be/Gp3vMWmAnYs

Thanks!