Blood oaths (and related stuff)

 This isn't really much a post yet, but I figured this was too interesting a thing to leave out:

If I ever have to do a blood oath, where’s the best place on the palm to drag the knife?

Multiple helpful answers on reddit. 

Other interesting observation -- first search result is about getting help for self-harm. Obviously these are very different, but the different attitudes toward such a gesture are also manifest in the post's comments.

Now, how would this figure into a story about some impulsive characters...

13th Century France- Maps

Basic names of territories, right time

So, the English intertwining territory is pretty clear in this one.

But this is a little more detailed...

https://pages.uoregon.edu/mapplace/EU/EU20_France/Maps/EU20_70StLouisIX.jpg

More maps from the same site, by period: https://pages.uoregon.edu/mapplace/EU/EU20_France/France13Jan2011.html

This site also has more maps of France from different periods, but none quite when I wanted them: https://sites.pitt.edu/~medart/menufrance/mapsmain.html

 

What did Louis IX look like?

Only representation of Saint Louis known to be true to life - Early 14th century statue from the church of Mainneville, Eure, France

http://www.1066.co.nz/Mosaic%20DVD/whoswho/text/Louis_IX_of_France[1].htm

This has been trickier than I would have thought, and no one else is making such a definitive claim about their portraits of him. Beardless seems more popular in his depictions as king than not, but then, maybe that's because one of the most definitive contemporary images of him is this illumination, from around 1230, when he would have been 16.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_IX_of_France#/media/File:Saintlouis_(cropped).jpg

taken originally from this manuscript from:

https://www.themorgan.org/manuscript/77422?id=81

a little nicer image, but no, I am not paying $490 to take off the getty images sign--but if you really want it, you can find it here.

 

Medieval Swords

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Detail of a sword being drawn from its scabbard, Morgan Bible fol. 28v, c. 1250.

So, it turns out not only are rapiers not options for my early 13th century characters, but so are longswords--but that's good news, as the knightly arming sword that was in use at the time, is just what the story needs:

 "a straight, double-edged weapon with a single-handed, cruciform (i.e., cross-shaped) hilt and a blade length of about 70 to 80 centimetres (28 to 31 in)." (C.f. above link to straightforward wikipedia page).

And Renaissance and following ages' innovations notwithstanding, apparently people are still interested in this kind of weapon, and have provided interesting feedback on how it works as a wepaon (or at least how a modern replica feels to a swordsman). 

Medieval Music

 

Miniature (illuminated manuscript) from: Liber choralis parvus continens missas vesperas et alia officia par S. Leonardi confes

 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:A_as_an_initial_in_illuminated_manuscripts#/media/File:Liber_choralis_S.Leonardi_(MCM),_XLIII_Assumpta_est.JPG

 

 

Interesting Composer who would be fun to have cameo in first half of 13th century setting (i.e. wip):

Julian of Speyer

 

Medeival music with Manuscripts 

 

Farya Faraji -- not just medieval, but over all fascinating discussions of historically accurate performance, (though the following is close enough for current wip:)

Chevalier Mult Estes Guariz - French Crusader Song

Palais de la Cite, Paris

 

http://projects.mcah.columbia.edu/medieval-architecture/htm/related/ma_paris_palais_cite_01.htm

France, Paris, Palais de la Cite, plan (after Mesqui): rebuilt c. 1295-1314.

Since this is the historical site for my setting, nice to have a handy reference; I don't have to design the castle myself!

Also, found a cool one in an old French book, page 6: Le Palais de la Cité à Paris, des origines à 1417. Essai topographique et archaelogique. Jean Gerout

(Which was referenced in this JSTOR article: The Doors of the Chapel and the Keys to the Palace of Louis IX

this is nice and plain and simple, from Wikipedia:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palais_de_la_Cit%C3%A9#/media/File:Palais.des.rois.Paris.2.png 

Floor plan of the palace as it looked following the construction of Sainte-Chapelle, by Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, with Saint-Chapelle (labeled "A") near the center and the site of the later Conciergerie below it

You know what else is really cool, though? A Reconstitution 3D de la Sainte-Chapelle et du palais royal de la Cité au XIVème siècle.! 

Also, these 3d explorations of medieval Paris: 

Paris au Moyen Age en 3D à vol d'oiseau - Suivez les hirondelles

and this one, at the 5:30-mark... (mostly cool to see the development of Paris as a whole over the centuries, though. Nascimento de Paris medieval 3D

Dragons in Ancient and Medieval literature

244:3, Leaf from choir-book with initial S in red pen-work on green and blue ground depicting a dragon. Netherland. late 12th century, © V&A Museum

https://www.vam.ac.uk/blog/museum-life/here-be-dragons-2 

So, I have a character in 13th century France, who, like his contemporaries, thought dragons were all very well in illuminations and such, (like the above), and for making moral and allegorical points--but as living creatures, they might be considered as exotic, remote, and belonging principally to the past.

Until one shows up in his life. Then he turns to old books for answers. 

 But what would he have found historically? Some interesting stuff, actually, in ancient bestiaries: https://bestiary.ca/beasts/beast262.htm

While the ancient sources included many fanciful details, even as they sought to be factual and comprehensive, their medieval successors had different aims, viewing the genre as an opportunity for making moral observations. Hence the solid association of the dragon with the devil, combining biblical sources with the ancient descriptions in these bestiary entries (such as those found in the Aberdeen Bestiary and many others).
 

For more information, and a fascinating overview article on dragons in the minds of Western peoples across the centuries: 

https://anunexpectedjournal.com/dragons-snakes-and-demons-a-medieval-and-biblical-bestiary-for-modern-minds/

 

Also, I skimmed through this article, which got me tracking in the right direction about bestiaries:

Witty, Francis J. “Medieval Encyclopedias: A Librarian’s View.” The Journal of Library History (1974-1987) 14, no. 3 (1979): 274–96. http://www.jstor.org/stable/25540985.