IB DP History - Medieval Option

"There is perhaps no better medieval example of the phase 'Truth is in the eye of the beholder' than these two versions of the death of Simon de Montfort, the leader of the crusaders during the Albigensian Crusade. "

"The remains of a noblewoman buried at the Convent of the Jacobins in the northwestern French city of Rennes in 1656 have been found in exceptional condition. Discovered in March of 2014, the remains have been quietly studied by a multidisciplinary team who are now revealing the results of their investigations."

"Browse the Medieval era within the "In Our Time" archive."

"In 1187, thirty-three years after al-Idrisi drew his World Map, and forty-two years after the Second Crusaders returned, a Third Crusade set off for the Holy Land. By that time the soldiers from the Second Crusade were sixty-year-old men or older."

"The deadly assault on Jacob's Ford was launched at dawn, on Thursday 29 August 1179. The leader of the attack was the the Muslim warrior Saladin, b.1137?-d.1193 (known as Salah ad-Din in Arabic), the Sultan of Egypt and history's great opponent of the Crusaders."

"Abstract: The Bayeux Tapestry is a complex visual history of the Norman Conquest of England. Its creation and the story it weaves were defined by its dichotomous authorship, its physical form as textile art and its analogous narrative imagery. An examination of each these aspects of the Tapestry allows us to move closer to identifying the purpose of the unknown author in creating a textile narrative of the Norman Conquest of England. It is argued that the Tapestry was created on the commission of Odo of Bayeux, however authorship resided with his designer and artisans, who wove a story that befitted their patron. In form and narrative, the Tapestry served the purpose of advancing the position Odo of Bayeux, and the Norman claims to England. Though the narrative is not without ambiguity, the message of the moral and political victory of the Norman elite over a perjurious usurper is a constant refrain throughout the Tapestry."

"Wish to go travelling medieval style? Here is a list of books, which will tell you all about how people in the Middle Ages went about it What time of the year should you venture out? Which mounts should you choose? Or should you go by the sea? Where to cross rivers? What inns were safe? Where to find food? Anyone living in the Middle Ages had to have a good working knowledge of what was both reasonable and feasible. At a time when people had to move around in order to trade, to learn, to fight - or just to connect, practical knowledge about landscapes, food, hostile strangers and friendly hospices might often mean the difference between life and dead. Here is a list of books, which will introduce you to the field in general. Further literature may be found in the generous bibliographies, they are all fitted with."

"The Northern Italian cities achieved wide autonomy by the end of 10th century and chosen their sovereigns or elected their own chief of state - the doge. Besides Venice that elected doges since 762, doges also ruled Genoa and Amalfi. German Kings who were weakened by the Investiture Controversy were unable to subdue the Northern Italian cities which gained great wealth during the economic progress in the 11th century and the period of Crusades."

"The Battle for Antioch in the First Crusade (1097-98) according to Peter Tudebode by DRM_PETER posted on NOVEMBER 21, 2013 Peter Tudebode was a Poitevin priest who was part of the First Crusade, perhaps with forces of the count of Toulouse. He wrote his account, the Historia de Hieroslymitano Itinere, by at least 1111, which was after many of the other important accounts of the First Crusade were written. Tudebode offers some new insights into the First Crusade, including a description of the death of one of his brother's during the siege of Antioch. The following section begins with the Crusader army approaching the city of Antioch."

"The Presentation of the Franks in Selected Muslim Sources from the Crusades of the 12th Century  By Niall G. F. Christie Submitted for the Degree of M.Litt. in the University of St. Andrews (September, 1996)"

"We're delighted to announce that our dedicated Magna Carta website is now live. It features a whole wealth of Magna Carta-related material, including: articles by distinguished contributors such as Shami Chakrabarti, Dan Jones, Geoffrey Robertson, and Joshua Rozenberg illustrated descriptions of the items on display in Magna Carta: Law, Liberty, Legacy a range of teaching resources for use in primary and secondary schools a series of videos, including talking heads such as William Hague and two animations narrated by Terry Jones"

"Introduction: Between the mid-11th and late-15th centuries, an historically specific configuration of material and ideational factors gave rise to a constellation of religious wars that have come to be known as "the crusades". This constellation included Church-organized wars in the Holy Land, Iberia and along the Baltic frontier as well as within Latin Christendom itself.[1] The Crusades to the Holy Land were "wars of liberation" initially launched by the Church to restore Jerusalem to Christian rule. Following the First Crusade and the establishment of the crusader principalities (the County of Edessa, the Principality of Antioch, the County of Tripoli, and the Kingdom of Jerusalem - collectively known as Outremer), these expeditions were conducted primarily to defend the Holy Places against Muslim attempts at reconquest or, following its loss in 1187 and again in 1244, to recover Jerusalem for Latin Christendom. While authorized by, and fought on behalf of, the Church these wars were prosecuted by princes, nobles and knights from every corner of Latin Christendom as well as by so-called "para-crusaders" (milites ad terminum), and members of military orders such as the Templars, Hospitallers and Teutonic Knights.[2] They were fought primarily against a range of Muslim powers, although the Fourth Crusade ended up being waged largely against adherents to the Greek Orthodox rite. Although the idea of launching additional expeditions to liberate Jerusalem persisted for a considerable time, the Crusades to the Holy Land effectively came to an end with the fall of the last Christian stronghold in Palestine - Acre - in 1291.[3]"

"Our list of the best medieval maps - ten maps created between the sixth and sixteenth centuries, which offer unique views into how medieval people saw their world. These maps are arranged chronologically, which helps to reveal some of the changes that took place during the Middle Ages in how people created maps."

"Introduction: Here on our first slide, we have John reluctantly ratifying the Magna Carta. He is surrounded by his barons and senior clergymen, and they are all gathered at Runnymede meadow, neutral ground between Windsor Castle and the lands of his barons. But on this image, which dates from centuries after the Magna Carta there is a small historical inaccuracy…King John is holding a quill signing the Magna Carta in this image, when in fact he engrossed the Magna Carta with his seal…Little thing like that may not seem particularly important, but its indicative of how the Magna Carta passed into mythology."

"In the summer of 1797 a group of workmen in Worcester Cathedral caused a sensation, locally if not nationally, by discovering the body of King John."

"This text is part of the Internet Medieval Source Book. The Sourcebook is a collection of public domain and copy-permitted texts related to medieval and Byzantine history."

"We got a kick out of this recent io9 post fact-checking 10 misconceptions about the Middle Ages. Drawing on a particularly awesome r/AskHistorians thread, the post untangles popular myths about the "Dark Ages," including that peasants were all the same (NOT), and that women never pursued a trade (FAKE). As manuscripts curators who spend our days studying the visual evidence of the Middle Ages (and our nights watching fantasy shows), we'd like to offer yet more visual ammo to debunk four of our favorite myths."

links to text of English Common Law documents

"It's too hot! I'm hungry! : The Challenges of Going on Crusade The journey to the Holy Land by crusaders was often a perilous trip. However, the biggest fear for many crusaders was that the climate would be dangerously hot for them."