The Geese Book – medieval manuscript now available online

<br />One of the most interesting manuscripts of the late Middle Ages is now available online – The Geese Book, a lavishly and whimsically illuminated, two-volume liturgical book, can now be accessed through a project from the Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies.<br /><br />The Geese Book was produced in Nuremberg, Germany between 1503 and 1510, and gives the complete liturgy compiled for the parish of St. Lorenz, which was used until the Reformation was introduced in the city in 1525.<br /><br />The volumes are renowned for their high quality decorative illumination including fanciful pictures, provocative and satirical imagery of animals, dragons, and wild people. The work takes its name from an enigmatic illustration showing a choir of geese singing from a large chant manuscript with a wolf as their choirmaster. A fox, who has joined the choir, extends his paw menacingly in the direction of one of the geese.<br /><br /><b><a href="http://www.medievalists.net/2012/11/28/the-geese-book-medieval-manuscript-now-available-online/" target="_blank">Click here to read this article from Medievalists.net</a></b><br />

The Geese Book – medieval manuscript now available online

One of the most interesting manuscripts of the late Middle Ages is now available online – The Geese Book, a lavishly and whimsically illumin...

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Lost Viking Military Town Unearthed in Germany?

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1URc4S-xgqZW80YtWh4qI_rXVA3tVQwVRq_ECkYMS0Kfh-r3VEeHnxSjFrEzEW4GrxvbpIlhO70UKc2Q6C-VphcYrf9MUqQp1D5WZ-N17kgupvEDV7acpNTbZ1S6P0uxHcMGY1eHDyLQ/s1600/archaeologists%2520digging.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1URc4S-xgqZW80YtWh4qI_rXVA3tVQwVRq_ECkYMS0Kfh-r3VEeHnxSjFrEzEW4GrxvbpIlhO70UKc2Q6C-VphcYrf9MUqQp1D5WZ-N17kgupvEDV7acpNTbZ1S6P0uxHcMGY1eHDyLQ/s1600/archaeologists%2520digging.jpeg" /></a></div>A battle-scarred, eighth-century town unearthed in northern Germany may be the earliest Viking settlement in the historical record, archaeologists announced recently.<br /><br /> Ongoing excavations at Füsing (map), near the Danish border, link the site to the "lost" Viking town of Sliasthorp—first recorded in A.D. 804 by royal scribes of the powerful Frankish ruler Charlemagne. Used as a military base by the earliest Scandinavian kings, Sliasthorp's location was unknown until now, said dig leader Andres Dobat, of Aarhus University in Denmark.<br /><br /> Whether it proves to be the historic town or not, the site offers valuable insights into military organization and town planning in the early Viking era, according to the study team. Some 30 buildings have been uncovered since excavations began in 2010.<br /><br />Aerial photographs and geomagnetic surveys indicate about 200 buildings in total. Chief among them is a Viking longhouse measuring more than a hundred feet (30 meters) long and 30 feet (9 meters) wide.  <br /><br />The longhouse's burnt-out remains seemingly bear witness to a violent attack: Arrowheads found embedded in its charred wall posts suggest the communal building was at some point set on fire and shot at, Dobat said.<br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="338" mozallowfullscreen="mozallowfullscreen" src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/28606027?title=0&byline=0&portrait=0" webkitallowfullscreen="webkitallowfullscreen" width="600"></iframe> <br /><a href="http://vimeo.com/28606027">A Viking Saga</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/fremtidensau">Aarhus Universitet</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.<br /><br /><b><a href="http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/07/120711-lost-viking-town-germany-archaeology-science/" target="_blank">Click here to read this article from National Geographic</a></b><br /><b><br /></b><a href="http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2012-07/12/fabled-viking-town-unearthed" target="_blank"><b>See also Ancient town unearthed could explain Viking urban planning</b> </a><br /><br /><b><a href="http://sciencenordic.com/legendary-viking-town-unearthed" target="_blank">See also Legendary Viking town unearthed</a></b>

Lost Viking Military Town Unearthed in Germany?

A battle-scarred, eighth-century town unearthed in northern Germany may be the earliest Viking settlement in the historical record, archaeol...

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Inscription reveals ancient Jewish toilet in Cologne

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3mg-R4HKuH7CBn4juYAAQEmL0PF8_Fv6aChyCqOQIzo4R6WbhfTfgF0I4Gr2TPVReQzpSMm5QTmHM5e1gCfh5Of4YB4ocGpugpQCUiNTG6dAN-Av4afU-KPGWsiwc4CPQEAqfjblCC6E/s1600/2933897599.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="185" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3mg-R4HKuH7CBn4juYAAQEmL0PF8_Fv6aChyCqOQIzo4R6WbhfTfgF0I4Gr2TPVReQzpSMm5QTmHM5e1gCfh5Of4YB4ocGpugpQCUiNTG6dAN-Av4afU-KPGWsiwc4CPQEAqfjblCC6E/s320/2933897599.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div>Archaeologists in Cologne, Germany have uncovered a fascinating 13th-century Hebrew inscription on a lintel stone in the basement of a home near the city’s ancient synagogue. The Hebrew inscription reads “This is the window through which the feces are to be taken out.”<br /><br /> The inscription was discovered in December 2011 on the lintel above a walled-up window in the cellar of Lyvermann House, which was built in about 1266 and belonged to a wealthy Jewish family that lived right near the synagogue. Behind the wall was a cesspool, six meters deep.<br /><br /> According to Prof. David Assaf of Tel Aviv University’s Jewish History Department, “Such a serious-amusing inscription has never been found anywhere, not before and not since.”<br /><br /><b><a href="http://www.haaretz.com/jewish-world/jewish-world-news/inscription-reveals-ancient-jewish-toilet-in-cologne.premium-1.456380" target="_blank">Click here to read this article from Haaretz</a></b>

Inscription reveals ancient Jewish toilet in Cologne

Archaeologists in Cologne, Germany have uncovered a fascinating 13th-century Hebrew inscription on a lintel stone in the basement of a home ...

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Is Snow White Real? A Look Back Into The Life Story Of Countess Margarete Von Waldeck

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF2IVgqcFElFqEsb_RFxruyj4bk-6-wSA4iZzmI3MaIOzF_vfZjOU5XbzJDcqrer586x__C-qiPamQW_QGWbaML1ezqmGNJk-c7WEPxqKBvu3-MzNJceBIjPR7BFGg7xuV61k5bF_oddo/s1600/thumb_4575855f69.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF2IVgqcFElFqEsb_RFxruyj4bk-6-wSA4iZzmI3MaIOzF_vfZjOU5XbzJDcqrer586x__C-qiPamQW_QGWbaML1ezqmGNJk-c7WEPxqKBvu3-MzNJceBIjPR7BFGg7xuV61k5bF_oddo/s1600/thumb_4575855f69.jpeg" /></a></div>With the premiere of Rupert Sanders' "Snow White and the Huntsman," which hit theaters on Friday starring Kristen Stewart, Chris Hemsworth and Charlize Theron, many are wondering if the folk tale popularized by the Brothers Grimm and Walt Disney of the girl with hair as black as ebony and skin as white as snow is based on a real person.<br /><br /> Jakob and Wilhelm Grimm, the authors of the original "Schneewittchen und die sieben Zwerge" or the story "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs," were German scholars who collected, researched and wrote stories based on folklore in the early 1800's.Treating the stories spread by word of mouth as scholarly research, the Grimm brothers eventually compiled more than 200 stories, one being Snow White, based on accounts from various people from peasants to aristocrats, which drew some criticism based on the factual nature during the transcription process.<br /><br /> However, in 1994, a German scholar named Eckhard Sander wrote "Schneewittchen: Marchen oder Wahrheit?" which translates to" Snow White: Is It a Fairy Tale?" in an effort to debunk claims that the protagonist in Snow White was never a real person or not based in historical fact. According to Sander, the account from the Grimm Brothers' fairy tale Snow White was based on the life of Margarete von Waldeck, a German countess who was the mistress of a Spanish prince during the 1500's.<br /><br /><b><a href="http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/347815/20120601/snow-white-real-story-huntsman-waldeck-margarete.htm" target="_blank">Click here to read this article from the International Business Times</a></b><br /><br /><b><a href="http://www.medievalists.net/2012/06/01/snow-white-and-the-huntsman/" target="_blank">Click here to see our page on Snow White and the Huntsman</a></b>

Is Snow White Real? A Look Back Into The Life Story Of Countess Margarete Von Waldeck

With the premiere of Rupert Sanders' "Snow White and the Huntsman," which hit theaters on Friday starring Kristen Stewart, Chr...

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Medieval Monastic Library of Lorsch recreated online

The unique holdings of the medieval monastic library of Lorsch, currently scattered over 68 libraries worldwide, are being re-compiled into a virtual library. Heidelberg University Library and local government officials in Germany have been working since March of 2010 to publish the 330 surviving Lorsch manuscripts and manuscript fragments online. The project by the name of “Bibliotheca Laureshamensis – digital” is being funded by the State of Hesse with 450.000 euros and will continue through 2013.<br /><br />“The virtual reconstruction of the former library of Lorsch Abbey, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, gives us the chance to study the abbey’s intellectual foundation, and the Carolingian world view in general, in depth for the first time”, said Eva Kühne-Hörmann, the Hessian Minister of Higher Education, Research and the Arts, during the presentation of the project. “This outstanding endeavour, which is of great interest to the State of Hesse, has united experts from Hesse and Baden-Württemberg in an exemplary, cross-border cooperative effort that reflects the historic significance and geographical location of the monastic library of Lorsch between the palatinate and the diocese of Mainz.”<br /><br />The Bibliotheca Laureshamensis – digital project will see the digitisation of the abbey’s codices. In addition, scientific descriptions detailing the origin, owners, appearance, handwriting and content of the library’s manuscripts will be compiled in a project database. For the first time, researchers will have comprehensive and systematic access to the Lorsch manuscripts, a fact that opens up entirely new possibilities of research.<br /><br /><b><a href="http://www.medievalists.net/2012/04/10/medieval-monastic-library-of-lorsch-recreated-online/" target="_blank">Click here to read this article from Medievalists.net</a></b>

Medieval Monastic Library of Lorsch recreated online

The unique holdings of the medieval monastic library of Lorsch, currently scattered over 68 libraries worldwide, are being re-compiled into ...

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