Life in the Middle Ages

The Shroud of Turin is a remarkable object, a piece of linen with an image of a dead man depicted with dark red stains that might (maybe) be...

The Middle Ages is often characterized as an Age of Faith.  It's not entirely clear what this term is supposed to mean, but the assumpti...

One of the loveliest medieval villages in France is Conques.  It was a major stop on the pilgrimage route from Vézelay to Santiago.  Effort...

The monastery of Cadouin, founded in the twelfth century in southwestern France, had and still has the Holy Hanky.  (Its official name is th...

It's November, time to talk about Saint Martin.  Between the election and Veterans' Day it's easy to lose track, but his feast d...

A martyr is someone who dies for their faith.  Originally in the early Christian church, only a martyr could be a saint .  Once Christianity...

As I discussed in an earlier post , saints acted as mediators between humans and the divine in medieval Christianity--as indeed they still d...