The Anglo-Saxons primarily used the bow for hunting. It is less frequently mentioned as being employed during battle, though according to one source, the Anglo-Saxons used bows at the Battle of Stamford Bridge.  It seems odd, however, that the Anglo-Saxons would use bows at Stamford Bridge but not at Hastings only two weeks later.  There are no literary accounts that mention the Anglo-Saxons using bows at Hastings, but we cannot state absolutely that they did not use them, for there is one solitary Anglo-Saxon archer depicted at Hastings on the Bayeux Tapestry. We know for a fact that the Norman army did use the bow heavily at Hastings. After all, it was an arrow that struck King Harold Godwinson in the eye.

Among the Vikings, the bow was used more frequently in battle than among the Anglo-Saxons, but still, it was not one of their primary weapons. The Vikings preferred the spear to the bow.

Bows during that period ranged in length from 66″ to 76″. They were constructed primarily of yew, elm or ash. The bow tapered toward the tips of the bow, and along the D-shaped section of the weapon, the grip was left bare. No leather or cloth or anything.  Also, the “knocking point” of the arrow had nothing to protect the bowstave, such as a piece of horn as found on later period bows. The bowstring was often made from hemp. Demonstrations of replica bows prove the weapon had a draw weight of 50lbs to 70lbs.

While these types of bows were very effective against an unarmored man, they had more difficulty punching through armor or shields in battle. Based on demonstrations, mail armor will protect its wearer from a broadhead arrow, and while a bodkin arrow can break through the mail rings, a shield made of lime or linden wood 1cm thick would stop all arrows.

Arrow heads were typically made of iron, and the arrow shafts were made from ash, willow, aspen or pine. The feathers were goose or swan feathers, with four or three flights per shaft.

Main sources:

“Bows and Arrows.” Regia Anglorum. http://www.regia.org/warfare/bow.htm (retrieved March 11, 2010).

Bradbury, Jim. The Medieval Arhcer.  The Boydell Press, Woodbridge. 1985.

Frescoes painted by Giotto, the 14th Century Italian master, have been brought to life with the use of ultraviolet technology.

Restorers discovered that under ultraviolet light, long-lost colour and detail was revealed.

The frescoes date from 1320 and decorate the walls of the Peruzzi Chapel in Florence’s Santa Croce church.

Read more …

I would say I’m more of a free-writer. Though I may switch to outlining the next time I start a novel. I could have saved myself a lot of time, I believe, because I ended up basically throwing the entire first two drafts in the trash.

1) A measurement of land, equal to a hide (used in Danelaw) (MEDIEV-L. Medieval Terms)

2) Danish equivalent of a hide. The land ploughed by eight oxen; actual area varied locally and like the hide could be reassessed. (Wood, Michael. Domesday: A Search for the Roots of England, 213)

3) A “plough-land”; a measurement of land, notionally as much land as could be kept under the plough in one years by a plough-team of eight oxen. The amount of land so described varied in different parts of the country between 60 and 120 acres. (Warren, W.L. Henry II, 633)

Extract from the Domesday Survey of the Count of Norfolk:

The land of Robert Malet.

Fredrebruge Hundred and half Glorestorp. Godwin, a freeman, held it. Two carucates of land in the time of king Edward. Then and afterwards 8 villains; now 3. Then and afterwards 3 bordars; now 5. At all times 3 serfs, and 30 acres of meadow. At all times 2 carucates in demesne. Then half a carucate of the men, and now. Woods for 8 swine, and 2 mills. Here are located 13 socmen, of 40 acres of land. When it was received there were 2 r.,’ now 1. At all times 8 swine, then 20 sheep, and it is worth 60 shillings.

*term definitions retrieved from Netserf’s Medieval Glossary (http://www.netserf.org/Glossary)

• 1152 -  Frederick I Barbarossa is elected King of Germany
• 1193 - Saladin dies
• 1394 - The birth of Prince Henry the Navigator
• 1461 - Edward IV ascends to the English throne

What is believed to be the first ever example of English in a British church has been discovered.

It was written half a millennia ago and its message was serious enough to be painted carefully on the wall of England’s finest cathedral.

But now it seems no one can quite decipher exactly what the inscription on the wall of Salisbury Cathedral in Wiltshire actually says.

Read more …

Paperback: 400 pages
Publisher: Corgi (February 1, 2010)
ISBN-10: 0552157899

Description:

A Viking adventure packed with battles, blood and gore, Raven is historical fiction at its very best, and marks the debut of an outstanding new talent.

When Norsemen from across the sea burn his village, Osric, a carpenter’s apprentice, is taken prisoner by these warriors. Their chief, Sigurd the Lucky, believes the Norns have woven this strange boy’s fate with his own, and Osric begins to sense glorious purpose among this fellowship of warriors.

Immersed in the Norsemen’s world, Osric proves a natural warrior and forges a blood bond with Sigurd, who renames him Raven. But the Norsemen’s world is savage and a young man must become a killer in order to survive. Raven chooses a bloody and dangerous path, accepting the mission of raiding deep into hostile lands to steal a holy book from Coenwolf, King of Mercia.

There he will find more than the Holy Gospels of St. Jerome. He will find Cynethryth, an English girl with a soul to match his own.

1) The grades or steps of the Christian ministry; the so-called minor orders were acolyte, lector, exorcist, and doorkeeper; the so-called major orders, which bound their holders to celibacy, were bishop, priest, deacon and subdeacon.
(Lynch, Joseph H. The Medieval Church: A Brief History, 363)

2) Referring either to the grades of clerkship (holy or minor orders) or to the different associations of religious.
(Heath, Peter. Church and Realm, 1272-1461, 365)

*definitions retreived from NetSERF’s Medieval Glossary (http://www.netserf.org/Glossary/)

Also, if you can think of one, list an author who uses a pen name to mask his/her true identity. I’ll go first. Robin Hobb’s real name is Margaret Astrid Lindholm Ogden. From 1983 to 1992, she actually wrote under the pseudonym Megan Lindholm. In 1995, she began using Robin Hobb for her epic fantasy novels.

All of the questions may not apply to the story you’re writing, but they should give you a good place to start brainstorming.