The information used here comes from this post by Dr Ian Mortimer on Edward's death. It's worth noting that I'm not totally convinced by the argument, and that the debate over Edward II's death is still unsettled, with Edward II scholars coming to vastly different conclusions on the same evidence. But the argument is one… Continue reading The Two Deaths of Edward II
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The 1805 Cookbook That Changed The World
Cookbooks have been published since at least the 1600s. Most of those early ones, though, are nigh-unusable by modern standards. Not only were the instructions vague, they hardly ever mentioned measurements of ingredients, and most lacked structure and organisation. They changed in 1805, when Maria Rundell submitted a manuscript, "A New System of Domestic Cookery,"… Continue reading The 1805 Cookbook That Changed The World
The Magic of Pots and Pans
Towards the start of 2020, COVID-19 swept across Europe. Within a few weeks, the continent was declared the epicentre of the disease. In many countries, people were confined to their homes - with exceptions for essential journeys - for months. In countries like France and Spain, where just under half of all properties are flats,… Continue reading The Magic of Pots and Pans
I Made Medieval Pottage!*
*Okay, so, not really. It contains potato, which was only brought to Britain in the 1580s. But pottage was still being eaten by that point, so I'm sure somebody made something similar, at some point? I did it because I wanted to cheat. See, traditional pottage (so-called because it was cooked in a pot) was… Continue reading I Made Medieval Pottage!*
The City Whose Coat of Arms is 800 Years Old
There are a lot of misconceptions about heraldry. For instance, the idea that every family name has a coat of arms. That's not true, and those sites which tell you your family has a coat of arms are lying. That coat of arms might have belonged to someone who shared your name (though sometimes they… Continue reading The City Whose Coat of Arms is 800 Years Old
The Parliament of September 1313
I've always enjoyed those 'what was happening on this day xxx years ago?' kinds of posts. I think they give us some insight, because it helps us to imagine those events happening in real time. So I'm talking about Edward II's parliament of September 1313 - 707 years ago exactly, down to the month. (source:… Continue reading The Parliament of September 1313
The Bread Law That Lasted 800 Years
Imagine for a moment you're a common Medieval peasant. You need to eat, just like we do. But you most likely don't have an oven. After all, ovens are these great, hulking metal things - they're large, expensive, and hard to use. If you're cooking at home, you're cooking in a pot over the fire.… Continue reading The Bread Law That Lasted 800 Years
What Medieval Peasants Ate (With Recipes)
We often think of Medieval peasants as living utterly terrible lives - and for the most part, they did. From what we know if their diets, however, they probably didn't eat as badly as we tend to think. When peasants are shown in modern media, they're often shown living off of a really meagre diet… Continue reading What Medieval Peasants Ate (With Recipes)
I Have A PA!
Yes, I thought you should be the first to know. I have a personal assistant*. After all, this writer life is very difficult. There are too many things to keep track of - and after I kept agreeing to new projects, I knew I needed to become more organised, because otherwise, I was going to… Continue reading I Have A PA!
The History of Kissing (In Europe)
Kissing's a strange thing. We tend to think it's innate, that it's natural for humans to do it - but it's not. There are still cultures today where kissing is not done at all. I know very little about non-Western kissing, other than that it appears in early Indian texts and seems to have been… Continue reading The History of Kissing (In Europe)
Dewi Hargreaves 