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Few things say “medieval” like gruesome torture devices. Where does the idea that the Middle Ages were a time of torture come from? Was it an age of torture or has it been exaggerated?
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Alboin, a 6th-century Lombard king, successfully expanded his kingdom in Italy but became infamous for his brutal marriage to Rosamund, who ultimately plotted his assassination, leading to her tragic end and the kingdom’s instability.
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Hildegard von Bingen was a nun and abbess. She was a polymath who worked on and published material on philosophy, mysticism, natural science, theology, botany, medicine, and many other subjects. She was also an important composer, dramatist, poet, preacher, prophetess and seer.
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Peter Stumpp was a very ordinary German farmer in Bedburg in the 16th century. He was popular and well-liked. Stumpp was later accused of being a mass murderer who practised witchcraft, cannibalism and sorcery. Said to have made a deal with The Devil where he gained the ability to turn into a werewolf.
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A chastity belt is a delightfully crazy idea. The idea is that the husband locks his wife in a chastity belt while away from home on a crusade, pilgrimage, or battle. But sometimes funny and entertaining ideas are just that: funny ideas. There is no evidence that chastity belts existed in the Middle Ages.
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Was jus primae noctis a real law? Did medieval nobles really have the right to sleep with the bride of their subject on their wedding night?
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Hasan Sabbah, a significant Middle Ages theologian, founded the Nizari Ismaili state and established the infamous Order of Assassins. His life blended religious devotion and militant strategies, effectively creating a unique autonomous kingdom amidst adversity.
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Few are as interesting as Eleanor of Aquitaine. Queen of France when married to Louis VII and later Queen of England in her second marriage to Henry II. One of the wealthiest and most powerful women during the High Middle Ages as the Duchess of Aquitaine and one of the leaders of the Second Crusade.
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Schools teach that medieval people never bathed. Is this actually true?
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By many, Gilles de Rais is considered the first serial killer in history. His story has long attracted people’s attention. He was a wealthy nobleman, a national hero in France after fighting alongside Joan of Arc, and then later, he was convicted of mass murder of children, torture, sex crimes and heresy.
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