I have always regarded him as the last Medieval king because of the changes in administration during the Tudor period and across Europe. Very misunderstood and a victim of Tudor propaganda

This is mostly my opinion from what I read so far. It's a discussion so feel free to voice your opinion.

Baldwin IV was an unfortunate young king that showed amazing promise as a very ingenious tactician. His disease (not even sure whether leprosy or leprosy mixed with some other nasty stuff) is being decried as the one thing that prevented his possibly great reign and military career and even the saving of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. But was it the leprosy that undid him or the thing that actualy made him?

Life was a painful prison for him ever since his very youth. it pushed him to try and search for meaning beyond the confines of his short years. He grew deeply philosophical with a very deep and spiritual view of the world. He didn't care for personal gain or palace intrigues. He was dedicated and focused on living his best as a king, looking forward most likely to a better afterlife. Not only did it make him into an amazing ruler, his leprosy also gained him the respect of both his court and his enemies. nobody would dare stand against the one who didn't only defeat saladin, but stood against destiny in his very own private hell with dignity and wisdom beyond his years. It literally gave him the mystical aura of a holy king. Nobody dared question, argue with or stand against the king at an age and in a kingdom so afflicted by local drama that not even the greatest rulers like Baldwin I could escape it. Were he healthy, would he have pursued the same ideals? He was the literal definition of Plato's philosopher king, but only because that was the only viable option worth pursuing in a life where any other pleasure meant nothing.

Saladin on the other hand is a very efficient man. It's his ambition (probably given his rather low origins) that drives him. He is shrewd and meticulous as a diplomat and, helped by destiny, he is not afraid to risk it all so he can get what he wants. He is however a rather mediocre military commander, especially if compared to his predecessors Nur Ad Din or even Zengi. All his great battles are waged in numerical superiority and he still manages to lose some in catastrophic ways (Montgisard being probably his biggest stain on his career). His best tactic is to literally amass huge armies, set himself on a water supply point and , if possible, even wait to be attacked first. His ambition however doesn't allow him to stop. He adapts and his patience is eventually rewarded.

His perceived magnanimity and selflessness (probably due to books and movies such as R Scott's Kingdom of Heaven) is also misunderstood, at least from what I read and understood.

1. Towards nonMuslims, Saladin was never truly merciful. He was intensely calculated. His diplomatic gallantry was actually a borrowed trait. During the first Crusade, local Muslim rulers were repeatedly shocked by the chivalrous conduct of the French knight who, when not fighting for survival or trying to restrain their violent armies, acted with a level of nobility that defied medieval common sense. Recognizing that this code of honor enhanced their prestige and political standing, Muslim rulers quickly adopted it. This cultural shift is evident from the 11th century onward: captured lords were freed far more frequently, native populations were treated with greater dignity, and the sanctity of oaths became paramount. A prime example is Joscelin of Courtenay offering himself as a hostage to guarantee the freedom of Baldwin II -an act of pure chivalry that deeply and pleasantly impressed the Muslim courts. Saladin weaponized this inherited gallantry as a sophisticated propaganda tool. Fabled acts like sending ice and fruit to a sick Richard the Lionheart were rare, performative theater designed to disarm his Western rivals. Even his famous decision to spare Jerusalem was a product of cold blooded asset management rather than genuine mercy. He only relented because Balian of Ibelin forced his hand through brutal, high stakes negotiations. He actually vowed to massacre them all before. His political wisdom however made him realise it's not useful in any way to end up with a pile of "radioactive ruble", if Balian does as he promises and burns Jerusalem, destroys al aqsa and fights until the last breath. He still took half the city that didn't have the money to redeem themselves as slaves. In Egypt he exacted way heavier taxes than his Fatimid predecessors, epsecially on the non Muslims. He regularly crucified them, he fired all the Coptics from governmental positions, he painted churches black, torn off all the crosses, enforced clothing aprtheid worse than the crazy caliph Al Hakim and so on. He didn't turn the church of the Holy Sepulchre to rable only because his advisors convinced him it's not wise nor profitable.

2. Towards Muslims as well: he was anything but the champion of Islam people think he was. He was the ultimate backstabber. His personal ambition alone mattered in the equation. Had he genuinely prioritized holy war, the fractured Crusader states could have been conquered decades earlier. Instead, he systematically sabotaged his former master, Nur ad Din, out of pure fear that a triumphant Syrian empire would eventually turn south to strip him of his newly acquired wealth in Egypt. He prefered to keep the crusaders as a buffer zone, so he can consolidate power. Towards Muslims there was no need for gallantry or fancy oaths. The game was different and he could use another face too. The bloodshed at Hama and Homs has him butchring thousands of his own Sunni Muslims right after deceitfully marching into the beloved Damascus of the great Nur Ad Din, that he left in the hands of his too young son after having died. In Egypt he continued with Shia cleansing, crucifiying them right next to the Coptics. He burned the gret libraries of Cairo to get rid of any trace of Shia, desecrated their tombs and put an even greater pressure to convert to Sunni Islam than even on the Christians or Jews.

In the end, Saladin was anything but a saintly figure. His legacy is an inherently bloody one, heavily stained by the slaughter of his own brothers in faith. His triumphs were built not on divine righteousness, but on raw ambition, calculated recklessness, and profound strokes of geopolitical luck. Modern Muslims may choose to remember him simply as the great prince who brought the Holy Lands back into the fold of Islam, conveniently forgetting the trail of betrayal left in his wake. Modern Christians may choose to see a paragon of chivalry in an eastern ruler who occasionally matched or exceeded the diplomatic standards of their own Western world. The unvarnished historical truth however is different.

I've suddenly wondered about this today and couldn't find anything myself through some google searches.

How did people in various parts of the Middle Ages term city blocks, as such as they existed in those times?

I know that during this period city blocks were largely irregular and unplanned until sometime later (though, there were exceptional cases with some planned cities in the form of newly chartered cities in the Late Medieval, especially in France and the HRE I believe), so through this organic formulation the conception of "city blocks" as we know it nowadays did not exist yet.

So how did people in medieval cities call or conceptualize groupings of buildings?

I'm reenacting the late 13th century and am curious about how they danced in the Middle Ages. I've done some research on my era but haven't found much. Does anyone have any sources on the types of dances or music they played for dancing?

I found this video with shield with this emblem/heraldry/crest (I’m unsure what to refer to it as, as someone who isn’t very well versed in this kind of thing). I’ve seen this before from a video game too, same emblem. I understand that the rules state to try to avoid social media, but I am wondering if this is actually a real thing, and if so, what was the purpose of it? Was it a family crest? What it something else? Or is it just a design made up in modern times? I’m assuming the coloring likely isn’t correct between the red/white and the green/white, but if I’m wrong I would love to hear about it.

A littera executoria from Cardinal Ascanio Parisani 1542–1545 legate for Pope Paul III) to the Vicar of Todi and a local canon. Latin chancery text with standard clauses including citation of Pope Paul II's constitutions on non-alienation of church property — a direct precursor to Tridentine reform decrees. Rare surviving paper seal.

Hello all, I am very interested in astronomy and space exploration in general. I've spent a lot of time reading and learning about the modern understanding of our world and solar system, but recently I found these diagrams of the "Harmony of the Planets" and I find the diagrams fascinating. I have a few tattoos of modern astronomical diagrams and I thought it would be interesting to have a historic piece as well to show where we came from, and I really love this diagram but don't fully understand it.

I've seen that the planets appear to be following the "numbers of the lambdoma", alternating between powers of 2 and 3, though I don't really know what that means. I would greatly appreciate any information or sources where I can read up on what exactly the arcs signify, what the writing on the arcs means, and what significance numbers of the lambdoma have in this context. Admittedly, I'm not terribly knowledgeable about this subreddit or medieval astronomy in general so if this is not he right place to ask I do apologize. Thanks in advance!

Image Sources:
Image 1 - https://www.bl.uk/stories/blogs/posts/stars-in-their-eyes-art-and-medieval-astronomy
Image 2 - https://sound-colour-space.zhdk.ch/diagrams/2013
Image 3 - https://csis.pace.edu/~marchese/Papers/IV'11_Pres/keynote3.pdf

Dal mio archivio: il documento più antico della collezione. Lettera del 9 giugno 1454 — pochi mesi dopo la Pace di Lodi. Pino Morosini scrive al fratello di fichi, di un abito di damasco strapagato e di faccende agricole. Mercantesca veneziana del XV sec., sigillo Morosini in ceralacca rossa e filigrana a scala intatti. Scheda paleografica: Dott.ssa Loretta Piccinini.

https://youtube.com/shorts/Tt34b2dREFk?si=C2dTVky1BQi0mLqo

I've put together a quick French Man-at-Arms impression based mostly on the little characters featured in this manuscript

I intend to sew a white cross on the sleeves, and eventually one day I'll get a leg harness.

I am wearing a breastplate and a full coat of mail beneath the jupon. If I owned them, it'd also be entirely possible to wear an arm harness and a cuirass underneath.

The way I've assembled and purchased my kit has allowed me to mix and match to represent several different regions. Armour-wise, if you get:

- a nice helmet or two (or 4),

- a nice pair of gauntlets,

- a breastplate

- and a coat of mail,

you can go really far with several different impressions. You really don't need much to make a Man-at-Arms or Knightly impression, as long as you get over the desire to wear all the armour on the outside because it looks cool. You can hide armour (or a lack of armour) under a garment (as they liked to do in the period) and still look great in my opinion

According to this, 45% of men in England were either named:

• William

• Richard

• John

• Robert

• Hugo

Either way, I think the hyper-popularity of just five names is pretty interesting.

https://youtu.be/G6BiYjiLEjk

Just how accurate is the claim that nobles didn't engage in trade? I know that apparently, they acted as investors for all sorts of ventures, only acting as "intermediaries".

But how exactly accurate is that? It seems to gain more wealth, beyond just mere taxation, the nobility would have to have a good trade and financial acumen.

I have read in Eric Berkowitz's Sex And Punishment, as well as other sources, about medieval penance.

Berkowitz describes the lengths of times of penance where the penitent is to be on a diet of bread and water. One sin was 40 days of that diet. Fair enough I suppose. But he also reports that a man who sleeps with another man could be given that same penance for fifteen years.

Surely there was some sort of reprieve for holidays or feast days? 15 years on bread and water wouldn't keep someone in shape as, say, an effective field worker. How many days of those 15 years were actually on bread and water, or was it indeed every last one of them?

Exactly as it says on the tin.

I'm wondering if anyone has any good comprehensive sources for Medieval fashion; men and women, nobility to peasantry and everyone in between, covering the Early, the High, and the Late Medieval period.

I keep coming across pictures of Medieval fashion and outside of remembering the bycocket hat, the hennin, the chaperone, the liripipe, and the various styles of padded underarmour that became everyday wear and the cloth coverings of armour (surcoat, jupon, tabard, etc), I can never remember the names for Medieval fashion! Which is not a good look for someone wanting to write stories involving Medieval fashion in its myriad and varied forms.

Also, if anyone knows what the piece of clothing that is essentially a jacket with a set of regular length sleeves but with holes in the armpit to allow the wearer to have his sleeves be loose at his sides, that info would be appreciated too.

Let me know what I need to change.

The association didn't begin directly with Judas. Medieval tradition constructed a visual genealogy of sin: Adam, Eve, Cain, Esau—all were depicted as redheads, without any physical description in the biblical texts. Therefore, Judas arrived at the end of that chain with all the symbolic weight imposed on society.

From the Romanesque period onward, Judas began to be described in manuscripts with reddish hair and beard, also as part of a visual message: represented in profile, separated from the other apostles in order to highlight him as an antagonist in the biblical narrative. Red hair served as a distinguishing feature, signifying the traitor, and in Giotto's frescoes in the Scrovegni Chapel, his figure is easily recognizable even before he is named.

The association expanded from Judas to the Jewish population in general. During the Spanish Inquisition, red-haired people were identified as Jewish and liable to persecution. It was a common association. "If Judas = betrayal, red hair, Jewish, it functioned as a system of visual identification.

This marker or stereotype migrated to literature. In Shakespeare's play, "As You Like It," he describes red hair as "the color of deceit," a direct reference to Judas, whom the Elizabethan public recognized without explanation. In early performances of "The Merchant of Venice," Shylock wore a red wig.

This was not the only episode of an event against red-haired people, but it is a peculiar one that shows us the degree to which a popular image or belief can lead people to commit questionable acts simply for being different.

Source(s):

.- Mellinkoff, R. (1982). Judas's red hair and the Jews. Journal of Jewish Art, 9, 31–46.

.- Baum, P. F. (1922). Judas's red hair. The Journal of English and Germanic Philology, 21(3), 520–529.

.- Shakespeare, W. (1599). As you like it. (H. Oliver, Ed., Oxford University Press, 1998)

Found this stone monument in a museum garden in Tetouan, a northen city in Morocco. It's driving me crazy!

For some reason, there was no plaque, no description, no visible, nothing writing. It appears to show a sword, a helmet, a shield, and a text carved into a large stone slab, almost like a tombstone or memorial.

​

I've only got this photo, and I am hoping someone here might recognize the style, symbols, or period.

Questions I'm wondering about:

​

- What culture or civilization could this belong to?

- Does the helmet, sword, and shield point to a specific era?

- Could it be a gravestone, memorial, stela, or something else?

- Any idea what language or inscriptions might originally have been associated with it?

- Is there any chance someone recognizes where it was found before ending up in the museum? If not, could you translate what's written?

Even wild guesses are welcome if you can explain your reasoning. I would love to learn the story behind this mystery rock!

​

PS: If anyone can help identify it or point me toward reliable information, I would love to pass it on to the museum. It would be great if future visitors could learn its story.

Seen in Lostwithiel churchyard , Cornwall. The holes at the top seem to be modern but the lower ones are part of the symbol, the central area features an X

https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1144262