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"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."

"One of the questions we're most frequently asked at the British Library is: why is there more than one manuscript of Magna Carta? The simple answer is that, when the Great Charter was first granted by King John in 1215, numerous copies were made so that its terms could be distributed more easily throughout the kingdom of England. Four of those 1215 manuscripts survive to the present day, one of which is owned by Lincoln Cathedral, another by Salisbury Cathedral and the other two being held at the British Library in London."

"There is a Middle English aphorism that says, 'Winter all eats / That summer begets'. Living alongside 24-hour supermarkets, it is easy to forget the once vital preoccupation with preserving the autumn harvest and stocking our larders to the brim. As we approach the sign of Aquarius, long nights and short days will persist until mid-March when the sun enters Aries, and we spare a thought for our medieval forebears in the most barren and cold of seasons. Depictions of wintry concerns and activities from the medieval era are frequently featured in the calendars which preface many Books of Hours and Psalters"

"Almost exactly 750 years ago, an extraordinary parliament opened in Westminster. For the very first time, elected representatives from every county and major town in England were invited to parliament on behalf of their local communities."

"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."

" tools were sometimes attached to manuscripts, such as a disk, dial or knob, or even a complete scientific instrument. Such 'add-ons' were usually mounted onto the page, extending the book's primary function as an object that one reads, turning it into a piece of hardware."

"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."

"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."

"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]"

"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"

"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. "