r/MedievalHistory

I currently have a personal project where I'm writing tabletop RPG adventures (for Ars Magica, Mythras, DnD) based on the stories told by medieval writers. If we have a medieval game world, then why not use medieval stories! So, it's a process of taking stories, and making them work for a modern audience while trying to retain their essential medieval character.

Problem: I don't know what I don't know. The works that I'm basing the adventures on are very... English! Generally British-based writers, whose works are available in English, which get studied at British universities... because that's what I know. So I've got Gervase of Tilbury, Gerald of Wales, William of Malmesbury (beause the Witch of Berkeley is a must!), the Burton Abbey revenant story... you see the pattern? Very British! Sure I'm working with a few texts from further afield - Burchard of Worms (eating human hearts and then doing what?!), Giovanni Boccaccio, the Cóir Anmann... but very few, compared with the British sources. So what don't I know?

Thus, I am seeking the widsom of Reddit! Can anyone recommend (available in English, or in a text format that I can legally machine-translate) other medieval European writers or stories that I should be looking at? Every country in Europe must have stories that are as cool and RPG-worthy as The Witch of Berkley or Walter Map's crazy stories. But I don't know them... yet!

Any recommendations?

In a lot of medieval artwork, you can see people in armor in non-war/combat situations. Since armor was a symbol of status, would it be worn by a knight essentially whenever they go out? Or was it just for courtly stuff and fighting?

Hi so I'm working on an academic project (I won't get into too many details) but basically I need to know if the Empire of the Franks is considered to have continued with either the Kingdom of France or the HRE. Ik that it was split into 3 parts and then Middle and East Francia combined into the HRE, but the title of Emperor stayed with middle Francia which then went to the Holy Roman Emperor so I thought that must've been the continuation, but I keep running into sources saying that the Kingdom of France is considered the continuation of the Franks, and now I'm a little confused as to which is it. If anyone could help that would be really nice!

I have a background in Science, so I guess I struggle with the lack of "concreteness" of the evidence and facts surrounding this period, Anglo-Saxon England especially. In my degree, there was an "air of possibility", but the nature of it was pretty much yes or no.

I have a fascination with Anglo-Saxon history, and "Dark Age" Europe in general, but it doesn't help that this period is difficult for both the sources and the lack of accessibility to sources; I have books, but different authors have differing opinions on the same subject matter.
Which, for someone who isn't confident in my own opinion, doesn't help me, as I tend just to write down the stuff that isn't argued on.

I need help structuring my notes. Right now, I have an Obsidian wiki set up, specifically for Early Medieval Britain, but as my research takes me further down the rabbit hole, I've found myself adding notes for the late antique little ice age, fall of the Western Empire... etc., and I'm enjoying it, but now my once concise notes are sprawling.

So if anyone who studied this period wants to share how they organised their notes, I would very much appreciate it, and in particular, if anyone is feeling extra helpful, to share their (undergraduate, I'm not quite there yet) papers with me, or point me towards some entry-level papers on this period so I can see how to approach my amatuer research with an acedemic's view.

P.S. for the academic papers, anyone who did the ASNC course at Cambridge, if you could be so kind as to send me any past assignments, that would be a MAJOR help. I've been trying to find some online, but can't find any.

Thanks all :)

Hi there! I'm currently doing some research for a book that includes a group of medieval-esc traveling knights and it's been surprisingly difficult to find info about the day-to-day of knights and their companies while in travel. Thought I'd post here and see if anyone has any good info or resources!

The questions/areas I'm wondering about include:

What would a small group of traveling knights be called? A company? I find mixed answers. Let's say it's a group of one to three knights plus their squires, personal guards, etc traveling in search of a holy relic or location. Is this a realistic scenario or am I off the mark?

Who would normally accompany a group of knights like this? I'm aware that each knight would probably have a squire or two to help them change, eat, take care of horses, etc. And I'm sure there'd be someone in charge of cooking food, maybe hunters as well to keep a consistent supply. Is this accurate? Who else might travel with them?

Did women ever travel with knights? Maybe to repair clothing, cook food, tend to wounds. What would a woman's role with a group of knights be like? Would they ever bring women along for "comfort" or would that be a bad look for a knight?

What did the average day look like to a squire? I've read they would help their knight change, serve them dinner, look for food for the horses. Did squires stay in tents with their knights or were there separate sleeping quarters?

How would a squire find a knight to serve under and what would a squire call his knight? I've read that a squire would often serve a Lord as a young boy before becoming a squire. Would he continue to serve under the same lord? And, when responding to or addressing his knight, would he call him "sir?" or "my lord?" Or something else?

Did "impromptu" knightings ever happen while on the road? Would a knight have the authority to knight his squire? Is there a step between squire and knight like honorary knight? Is there a step above knighthood (other than royalty) in the military hierarchy?

Would a knight ever choose to head/fund his own missions, or would he always be acting under orders from someone else? And if so, where did funds for such an excursion come from? The king? The knight himself?

What are the nitty-gritty details? I've read that knights would often soil themselves while in battle or when unable to remove their gear which would leave the squire with the unpleasant task of washing it away. And that this could rust the armor and give the knight a rash or infection. What are other details like this (unpleasant or otherwise) that would affect a knight/squire's day-to-day.

Lastly, did knights ever engage in sexual activity with each other? [TW] Was there ever a culture of SA toward the young boys (squires) they traveled with? I'm aware of the christian, puritanical culture, but if anything I think the culture breeds disgusting behavior like SA. And we all know what the Catholic Church historically likes to do to young boys (don't come at me, I'm Catholic lol). So I'm wondering if this wouldn't be somewhat rampant behavior amongst a traveling group of boys and men out in the middle of nowhere. Especially within the knight-squire mentor relationship.

Any thoughts/details/expertise/points in the right direction are appreciated! I love learning about Medieval history, so give me all you've got! I find the intimate details of the day-to-day life endlessly festinating. Thanks!

Kristin Lavransdatter is set in the 1300s and this girl is just making bad choice after bad choice in men. She abandoned her perfectly fine betrothed for a classic fuckboy, who fuckboyed so hard he was excommunicated over it. For heaven's sake Kristin, what kind of husband do you think he'll make?

So I was telling my husband about the plot and how scandalized I am by all the premarital sex and he teased me saying "right, our generation invented sex." To which I responded "no, we invented premarital sex! We're the first generation to have birth control and social welfare!"

Thus my question. None of these higher born women were chaste! Before seducing Kristin, Erlend seduced a married woman that he then lived with and had two children out of wedlock. Then that still married woman went and had a third baby with yet another man. And then come to find out, Kristin's mother also slept with a fuckboy before and after marrying Lavrans.

This book was published on the 1920s and it seems pretty well researched, but are these sexual politics accurate for medieval Norway? No doubt fuckboys always existed, but were women of higher classes as easily seduced as modern women? They had so much more to lose.

i understand that Einhard is trying to portray Charlemagne as someone who is perfect, and that of a roman emporer, i guess i just want to know what else there is that disputes some claims in the book.

is there another book that points out inaccuracies with evidence? or is there anything you all might know? i’m just very interested and want to understand from all perspectives.

edit: also there is a lot of names mentioned and i’m just curious if there is a good reference of like a chart or tree of who everyone is, because it does get a bit confusing but i guess that’s just me. i just need more visual assistance i guess if that makes sense.

thanks

recently I was reading about how knights in the 15th century would paint their plate armor with bright colors and patterns. I really loved the examples I saw and it inspired me to do some painting of my own. I've started a project where I'm doing similar paintings but on old metal tools rather than canvases and I'm looking for more examples as inspiration. I'm not really looking for the high-quality religious types of painting we typically see from the medieval era but hopefully the less refined sort of thing that I'm certain there are less examples of.