Matilda, Lady of the English. Eleanor of Aquitaine. Queen Isabella. These are some of the most important figures of Medieval England, united by their rejection of the expectations of misogynist Medieval society. Often, we know only in detail of those high-status women who – brought into the light of history by their relationships with powerful men – are then scorned by contemporary writers and piled with stereotypes and tropes: the ‘jealous lover’, the ‘scheming stepmother’, the ‘she-wolf’. Sifting the historical record, handling the biased original sources with a degree of skepticism, and bri ..read more

The Viking Great Heathen Army had devastated the Anglo-Saxon world. Four Anglo-Saxon Kings were dead or exiled, and the Vikings were masters of the Danelaw, which spanned vast swathes of East and North England. The land of Mercia was partitioned down the middle, with fractious Viking jarls ruling the from the fortresses of the Five Boroughs. And the Lord of the Mercians, Æthelred, was incapacitated: struck down by some terrible illness, whilst his shattered lands were in the hands of the invaders. Enter Aethelflaed, Lady of Mercia – an educated and shrewd political operator, Æthelred’s wife ab ..read more

The invasion of the Great Heathen Army in 865 CE upended the Anglo-Saxon world. Thousands of Scandinavian warriors, led by the semi-legendary sons of Ragnarr Loðbrók flooded into England – and the deposed all but one of the major Anglo-Saxon Kings: Mercia, Northumbria and East Anglia’s kings had all been knocked from their thrones, the latter two met a terrible end on the battlefield. But King Alfred of Wessex fought the Great Heathen Army to a bloody stalemate, signing a truce with their leader Guthrum: with it, the Viking leader would accept a symbolic baptism into Christianity and would tak ..read more

In the aftermath of the January 6th 2021 attack on the United States Capitol in Washington D.C., the word ‘LARPer’ was thrown around with regularity in the online mediasphere. The participants in the riot were seen as poorly-prepared for what they were doing, often wearing store-bought tactical equipment or bizarre homemade costumes, and showing poor situational awareness and discipline. As demonstrated by the subsequent trials of some of those arrested, their motivating influences were diverse: from far-right conspiracy theories, to the Doomsday-preparedness ‘prepper’ movement, these individu ..read more

So – we’ve seen how bladesmithing is an ancient craft, with roots which stretch back into the medieval era and beyond. We’ve looked at the tools of blacksmiths and bladesmiths from the past, which continue to be the mainstay of modern metalworkers. And we’ve even charted some routes for you to get a taste of bladesmithing for yourself – with courses, apprenticeships, taster sessions and DIY forges! Books are another fantastic way of getting into the world of bladesmithing. Here we’ll have a look at some of the best bladesmithing books, which detail the techniques, equipment and history of the ..read more

In the spring of 1017 CE, Knútr Sveinsson – known to the English as Canute – was crowned King of England by the Archbishop of Canterbury. King Canute’s rise was made possible by the chaotic breakdown of royal order in Late Anglo-Saxon England: King Ethelred ‘the Unready’ had squandered the vast wealth and martial spirit of the fledgling country, lavishing Viking invaders with huge bribes known as the ‘Danegeld’ – causing a feeding frenzy from across the Scandinavian world. King Canute’s father Sweyn Forkbeard had been onesuch Viking warlord, attracted by the scent of blood in the water, but Sw ..read more

At first, the Vikings were just traders, bearing rare luxuries from the frozen north. Then, they began raiding the fat, vulnerable monasteries and coastal communities of Northern Europe. Then, they began to overwinter in these new, warmer lands, and began dreaming of never leaving. Finally, they launched all-out invasions to conquer the crowns of the settled kingdoms, to make them anew under the glory of their icy pantheon. Knútr Sveinsson was one such warrior: descended from a heroic line of warrior-kings, he would honour the memory of his father by seizing the throne of England, being crowne ..read more

Anglo-Saxon England died a slow and torturous death. The date of 1066 CE is an easy date for historians: when William of Normandy smashed the Anglo-Saxon armies and took the throne of England for himself, it marked a very clear break with the past. But morbid symptoms had begun to appear in Anglo-Saxon society almost a century earlier. We could choose 991 CE as a turning point: when King Ethelred ‘the Unready’ instituted the Danegeld as a system of paying off the Vikings. His disastrous reign saw the total collapse of the bonds which tied Anglo-Saxon society together. Inheriting a wealthy and ..read more

The ancient craft of bladesmithing is far from a lost art – it’s undergoing a huge renaissance (no pun intended). Now, there are blacksmiths and bladesmiths in every major city in the world, with many working to produce fine knives and sword blades for collectors, survivalists and Medieval enthusiasts. If you have a read of our guide on how to become a bladesmith, you can learn about the routes into blacksmithing and bladesmithing – from simple taster days, to artisan blacksmith college degrees! But next – you’ll need to learn about the essential bladesmithing tools required to start work. Her ..read more

LARP is over. So declare several online articles, decrying the end of the LARP phenomenon. Their general argument is thus: LARP was a flash in the pan, which achieved some success and popular recognition in the 2010s, as a result of the general upswing of ‘nerd culture’ from uncool fringe to mainstream geek chic. Then, the COVID-19 nixed the vast majority of in-person events, and LARP was an unfortunate casualty. In the post-COVID world, in-person events of all sorts are reserved only for has-beens and old people, the argument runs: the future for culture is online, in digital spaces and the e ..read more