Did medieval people drink water? Explore the myth that people in the Middle Ages avoided water, and discover what medieval texts, city records, and religious writings reveal about drinking habits.

Spring has arrived, and so has our biggest Medieval Studies Online Courses sale of the season! For a limited time, get 15% off any course — live or self-paced!

Discover how ambassadors were chosen, tested, and trained in the medieval Islamic world through the writings of Ibn al-Farrāʾ, whose rare treatise reveals the art of diplomacy shaped by Iranian and Byzantine traditions.

On the shores of a lake in Guatemala, the Itzá people defied the Spanish for nearly 200 years

A 12,000-year-old figurine tells one of the earliest known narratives. What does it mean?

Saving an ancestral Haida village after a devastating storm

How the legend of King Arthur has changed from the Middle Ages to today, adapting to new audiences while remaining one of the most enduring figures in Western storytelling.

Thomas Becket’s murder inside Canterbury Cathedral in 1170 shocked medieval England and quickly turned him into a saint. But what actually happened in…

David Bachrach examines how medieval German cities formed military alliances with nobles, revealing how urban communities managed war, trade, and political power in the thirteenth century.

How did Viking raiders become imperial bodyguards? Zoe Tsiami tells the story of the Varangian Guard in medieval Constantinople.

First dates on sale today My new book, Castles, comes out this autumn. Preorders are already open in the UK and the US.

While Niccolò Machiavelli is often associated with ruthless or disreputable tactics, a closer reading of his works reveals a far more nuanced thinker with substantial insights into politics and government. This book explores his ideas on the relationship between rulers and the people they govern.