London’s Spitalfields Market was the location of one of the city’s largest archaeological excavations, carried out by MOLA between 1991 and 2007. This book presents the archaeological and documentary evidence for medieval activity here, on the north-eastern fringe of the historic city, and the site of the Augustinian priory and hospital of St Mary without Bishopsgate, later known as St Mary Spital. Large areas of the medieval precinct have been explored, making this by far the most intensively investigated medieval hospital, and one of the most extensively investigated monastic establishments, in Britain. Founded in 1197, rebuilt on a larger scale and refounded in 1235, the hospital catered primarily for London’s sick poor. A pre-existing extramural and extraparochial cemetery became the priory’s principal cemetery. As the priory continued to attract patrons and wealth, it expanded its precinct and carried out major building programmes. By the 15th century the small hospital had become one of the largest Augustinian priories in southern England. Medical treatment in the 14th century is illustrated by remarkable evidence from the canons’ infirmary with its attached pharmacy; a trend towards secularisation in the 14th and 15th centuries is shown by the hamlet of timber houses and workshops that grew around the cemetery. An exceptional survival was the charnel crypt of the 14th-century cemetery chapel, which is preserved today under Bishops Square.

"For the will desires not to be dark, and this very desire causes the darkness” (Jacob Boehme). Moving through the fundamental question of this paradox, this book offers a constellation of theoretical and critical essays that shed light on the darkness of the will: its obscurity to itself. Through in-depth analysis of medieval and modern sources - Augustine, Pseudo-Dionysius, Eriugena, Dante, Meister Eckhart, Chaucer, Nietzsche, Cioran, Meher Baba - this volume interrogates the nature and meaning of the will, along seven modes: spontaneity, potentiality, sorrow, matter, vision, eros, and sacrifice. These multiple lines of inquiry are finally presented to coalesce around one fundamental point of agreement: the will says yes, yet only a will that knows how to say no to itself, entering the silence of its own darkness, will ever be free.

A selection of papers on the Anglo-Saxon period, including papers on non-ferrous dress-accessories from early medieval Lincoln; The Anglo-Saxon settlement at Catholme, Staffordshire; transformation and use of insular mounts from Viking-Age burials in TrØndelag central Norway, and evidence from two rural Anglo-Saxon sites in Suffolk.

In this volume of papers, deriving from two conferences held in Rome and Leicester in 2016, nineteen leading European archaeologists discuss and interpret the complex evolution of landscapes – both urban and rural – across Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages (c. AD 300–700). The geographical coverage extends from Italy to the Mediterranean West through to the Rhine frontier and onto Hadrian’s Wall. Core are questions of impacts due to the socio-political, religious, military and economic transformations affecting provinces, territories and kingdoms across these often turbulent centuries: how did townscapes change and at what rate? What were the fates of villas? When do post-classical landscapes emerge and in what form? To what degree did Europe become an insecure, defended landscape? In what ways did people – cityfolk, farmers, nobility, churchmen, merchants – adapt? Do the elite remain visible and how prominent is the Church? Where and how do we see culture change through the arrival of new groups or new ideas? Do burials form a clear guide to the changing world? And how did the environment change in this period of stress – was the classical period landscape much altered through the attested depopulation and economic deterioration? And underlying much of the discussion is a consideration of the nature and quality of our source material: how good is the archaeology of these periods and how good is our current reading of the materials available? Combined, these expert studies offer valuable new analyses of people and places in a complex, challenging and crucial period in European history.

Cille Pheadair is one of more than 20 Viking Age and Late Norse settlements discovered on the island of South Uist in the Outer Hebrides (Western Isles), off the west coast of Scotland. Its unusually well-preserved stratigraphic sequence of nine phases of occupation, including five longhouses and many smaller buildings, provides a remarkable insight into daily life on a Norse farmstead during two centuries of near-continuous occupation c. AD 1000 –1200. Although the excavation at Cille Pheadair was a rescue project undertaken before the site was destroyed by coastal erosion, it provided an opportunity to address important research questions about the domestic use of space, agricultural economy, and relationships with the wider world beyond the Outer Hebrides. Careful and ground-breaking analysis of preserved house floors provided profound insights into the changing use of space within a Norse longhouse and its surrounding outbuildings. The rich assemblage of pottery, ironwork, gold and silver reveals that the inhabitants of Cille Pheadair had long-distance connections across the Viking world. A battery of scientific studies, including faunal and floral analyses, isotopic and lipid residue analyses, and soil chemistry, have revealed much about the social and economic dimensions of life on a Norse farm. Detailed survey and excavation in South Uist, reveals a remarkable picture of Norse-period settlement across this island which was part of the insular Viking world between Ireland and Norway, becoming part of the Kingdom of Man and later the Kingdom of the Isles. Cille Pheadair’s status as an ordinary, if wealthy, farmstead can be contrasted with the much larger and longer-lived high-status settlement at Bornais to the north. The two sites together provide a fascinating insight into similarities and differences within the settlement hierarchy of the time that makes a significant contribution to our understanding of the Viking world.

This book is the culmination of the author’s lifelong interest in the Roman to medieval transition in England and in the analysis of the historic landscape of Wessex. It begins with a focused, referenced, and critical exploration of the thorny, but crucial, issues of post-Roman personal and group identity, employing linguistic, historical, archaeological and toponymical evidence. A series of integrated studies seek to elucidate changes in the territorial organisation of the Wessex landscape, from Somerset to Hampshire, from the Roman period to the emergence of the historic counties. It is shown that the defined limits of the self-governed Roman civitates had a significant impact upon subsequent historical developments, not least on the early English settlements. In eastern Wessex - Berkshire, Hampshire and Wiltshire – the Roman boundaries broke down piecemeal, but continued to influence political developments and patterns of settlement into the seventh century. It is argued that those three counties acquired their medieval and later form only at the time of the Viking wars. In western Wessex, Dorset and Somerset, by contrast, the core of the territories of both the southern and northern Durotriges in the Roman period has persisted until the present day. The book also includes a re-examination of the formation and extent of the kingdom of the Jutes in southern Hampshire and on the Isle of Wight. The chronology, history and archaeology of the fifth century, set alongside the many changes of the later fourth century, and vital to our understanding of the momentous events of that time as Saxon control took hold in the east , are here the subject of a separate, detailed study. Place-names across Wessex with a bearing on the presence of the Britons, and the changing nature and distribution of archaeological sites in the fifth, sixth and seventh centuries, are discussed in their historical context.

This volume brings together an interesting range of papers discussing medieval buildings across Europe. They provide interesting insights to life in the medieval world in several understudied areas of Europe. The papers range from Croatia and Transylvania in the east, Scandinavia in the north and Britain in the west, providing insights into areas that are rarely discussed by books published in western Europe. There is comprehensive range in size and status of buildings, from the smallest, single-roomed house in Byzantine Serbia and rural homes in central Europe to churches in Sweden and monastic hospitals in England. Buildings of high status and low status are discussed, as well as those of a secular and ecclesiastic nature. Materials and craftspeople are considered through a study of brick makers and their identifying marks. This volume aims to open discussions about medieval buildings beyond simply architectural features and typologies, and furthers the discipline through this process. Buildings can reveal details of the lives of their occupants and therefore enrich our knowledge of life in medieval Europe.

Well known for its later gunpowder industry and the famous Shepherd Neame brewery, Faversham’s earlier medieval history also reveals it to have been an important religious and administrative centre. The town archives possess an unusually complete set of medieval-onwards town charters and other documents including a Magna Carta. Using archaeological and historical evidence set in an ever-changing physical and social context, the authors argue that there is a great deal more to this small town on the north Kent coast than is obvious at first glance. There is a wealth of evidence for prehistoric settlement with the Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age being particularly well represented archaeologically and Roman remains indicate a very prosperous phase up to around the AD 270s, followed by drastic changes. Abundant evidence for ironworking is described. The book charts the rise of the town from Pagan Jutish origins through the medieval period, centred originally around the establishment of an Abbey and other religious houses but developing as a trading port and wealthy market town. Supporting evidence is drawn from a variety of archaeological sources (Victorian antiquarians, modern excavations, various voluntary and community archaeology groups) and historical documents. The authors present the story of Faversham in a vivid and accessible narrative that reveals a new history of this ancient Kentish market town.

Modern Liverpool Street was once on the margins of London: the story of its development – from the medieval marsh of Moorfields to municipal, non-parochial, burial ground and later suburb – is illustrated by archaeological investigations undertaken as part of the Crossrail Central development. Excavation also recovered a wealth of well-preserved artefactual evidence for the local inhabitants, from the 16th century to the 19th-century households of Brokers Row. The New Churchyard, or 'Bethlem' as it was later known, was established after the severe plague of 1563 and was in use from 1569 to 1739; archaeological evidence suggests c 25,000 people in total were buried here. Contemporary accounts and parish registers, combined with tombstones and detailed osteological analysis of one quarter of the 3354 burials excavated, enable the reconstruction of some of their lives, and their deaths. They included migrants, many of the city's poor and those on the fringes ofsociety. Some were the victims of recurrent epidemics and outbreaks of plague – confirmed by the identification of the plague pathogen in five skeletons – when mass, but orderly, graves were dug

For 7,000 years seals have functioned as signs of authority. This publication deals specifically with aspects of status in the history of seals, exploring this theme across a diverse range of cultural contexts—from the 9th century up to the Early Modern period, and, across the world, looking at Byzantine, European, Islamic and Chinese examples. These objects are united by the significant role they play in social status hierarchies, in the status of institutions, indications of power and finally in notions of relative status among objects themselves. In addition to their chronological and geographical diversity, these studies concentrate on many different phases of seal use. Therefore, together they highlight the importance of studying the full life cycle of seals, from the way in which they were made and used through to their cancellation, loss and sometimes destruction. The volume will look at seals used by all members of society, from kings to fishmongers, and will examine the history of objects, with examples ranging from the medieval matrix with a classical gem showing the Roman Emperor Antoninus Pius to the 17th-century Providence Island matrix from America. This publication complements the British Museum’s ongoing programme of the digitisation of the Museum’s collection of medieval seal matrices which will widen access to this fascinating body of material.

The aim of this book is to promote the thesis that myth may illuminate archaeology and that on occasion archaeology may shed light on myth. Medieval Irish literature is rich in mythic themes and some of these are used as a starting point. Some myths are of great antiquity and some were invented by contemporary authors. It is a challenging source, first explored in the author's earlier work Archaeology and Celtic Myth and this work will elaborate on some of the themes pursued there and introduce some new ones. Combining literary and archaeological evidence chapters deal with the construction of the past, illustrating how the Irish medieval world invented aspects of the past; the abuses of myth presented in later literature; the evidence for the survival of pagan beliefs and practices well into medieval times in Ireland; evidence to illustrate the key elements of the institution of sacral kingship, a consideration of sacred trees; mythology of the underworld and its archaeological expressions and the equine aspects of the myths attached to the Irish goddess Macha (linked to Navan Fort) and her Welsh counterpart Rhiannon. John Waddell brings a lifetimes experience of studying Irish history, Bronze Age archaeology and Celtic mythology in this personal and lively exploration of mythology and its archaeological expression.

The wool trade was undoubtedly one of the most important elements of the British economy throughout the medieval period - even the seat occupied by the speaker of the House of lords rests on a woolsack. In The Wealth of England Susan Rose brings together the social, economic and political strands in the development of the wool trade and show how and why it became so important. The author looks at the lives of prominent wool-men; gentry who based their wealth on producing this commodity like the Stonors in the Chilterns, canny middlemen who rose to prominence in the City of London like Nicholas Brembre and Richard (Dick) Whittington, and men who acquired wealth and influence like William de la Pole of Hull. She examines how the wealth made by these and other wool-men transformed the appearance of the leading centres of the trade with magnificent churches and other buildings. The export of wool also gave England links with Italian trading cities at the very time that the Renaissance was transforming cultural life. The complex operation of the trade is also explained with the role of the Staple at Calais to the fore leading to a discussion on the way the policy of English kings, especially in the fourteenth century, was heavily influenced by trade in this one commodity. No other book has treated this subject holistically with its influence on the course of English history made plain.

Het is een wijdverbreid idee dat (post-)middeleeuwse steden een sterfteoverschot hadden en zij slechts in leven konden blijven door de toestroom van migranten; een fenomeen dat bekend staat als het ‘urban graveyard’-effect. Over details valt te twisten, maar duidelijk is dat de stad en de dood dichter bij elkaar stonden dan tegenwoordig. Met de dood als belangrijk element in de stedelijke samenleving vormen grafvelden een belangrijke bron van kennis over het leven in de post-middeleeuwen. Sinds de jaren 80 van de vorige eeuw is systematisch archeologisch onderzoek van (post)middeleeuwse grafvelden in Nederland op gang gekomen. Veel van het onderzoek is nog niet of slechts beperkt gepubliceerd. Ook ontbreken synthetiserende publicaties waarin vergelijkingen tussen de resultaten van lokaal grafveldonderzoek in steden centraal staan. De stad en de dood presenteert enkele overzichtsartikelen waarin de resultaten van oud archeologisch onderzoek worden vergeleken met resultaten van jongere opgravingen binnen verschillende Nederlandse steden. Naast bio-archeologische aspecten is er tevens aandacht voor grafrituelen. Deze rijk geïllustreerde bundel vormt een belangrijke bouwsteen voor thematische verdieping en is een inspiratiebron voor (inter)nationaal vergelijkend onderzoek. In de tweede – Engelstalige – bundel van Urban Graveyard Proceedings komt een reeks andere geselecteerde Nederlandse en Vlaamse grafvelden aan de orde. English translation:It is commonly believed that in medieval and post-medieval towns and cities death outnumbered births and that these urban centres could only survive through the influx of migrants; a concept which has come to be known as the urban graveyard effect. Whether this was indeed the case for all cities and towns is still debated, but it is certain that urban citizens were more used to death that we are today. The medieval graveyards in which the deceased were interred, then still located within town limits, are an invaluable source of knowledge for reconstructing past lives. Systematic archaeological and osteoarchaeological research of urban graveyards has become the norm in the Netherlands and Belgium since the 1980s. However, many of the studies remain unpublished and larger, overarching publications in which comparisons are made between different studies are still lacking. The urban graveyard presents several studies in which the results of older archaeological and osteoarchaeological research are compared to more recent excavation data from several Dutch cities and towns. Both the archaeological data concerning burial position, orientation, and grave goods as well as osteoarchaeological data such as demographic information and pathological observations are discussed. This well-illustrated volume is a starting point and source of inspiration for more (inter)national comparative research.

It is commonly believed that in medieval and post-medieval towns and cities death outnumbered births and that these urban centres could only survive through the influx of migrants; a concept which has come to be known as the urban graveyard effect. Whether this was indeed the case for all cities and towns is still debated, but it is certain that urban citizens were more used to death that we are today. The medieval graveyards in which the deceased were interred, then still located within town limits, are an invaluable source of knowledge for reconstructing past lives. Systematic archaeological and osteoarchaeological research of urban graveyards has become the norm in the Netherlands and Belgium since the 1980s. However, many of the studies remain unpublished and larger, overarching publications in which comparisons are made between different studies are still lacking. The urban graveyard presents several studies in which the results of older archaeological and osteoarchaeological research are compared to more recent excavation data from several Dutch, Belgian and Danish cities and towns. Both the archaeological data concerning burial position, orientation, and grave goods as well as osteoarchaeological data such as demographic information and pathological observations are discussed. This well-illustrated volume is a starting point and source of inspiration for more (inter)national comparative research.

Anglo-Saxon farming has traditionally been seen as the wellspring of English agriculture, setting the pattern for 1000 years to come – but it was more important than that. A rich harvest of archaeological data is now revealing the untold story of agricultural innovation, the beginnings of a revolution, in the age of Bede. Armed with a powerful new dataset, Farming Transformed explores fundamental questions about the minutiae of early medieval farming and its wider relevance. How old were sheep left to grow, for example, and what pathologies did cattle sustain? What does wheat chaff have to do with lordship and the market economy? What connects ovens in Roman Germany with barley maltings in early medieval Northamptonshire? And just how interested were Saxon nuns in cultivating the opium poppy? Farming Transformed is the first book to draw together the variegated evidence of pollen, sediments, charred seeds, animal bones, watermills, corn-drying ovens, granaries and stockyards on an extensive, regional scale. The result is an inter-disciplinary dataset of unprecedented scope and size, which reveals how cereal cultivation boomed, and new watermills, granaries and ovens were erected to cope with – and flaunt – the fat of the land. As arable farming grew at the expense of pasture, sheep and cattle came under closer management and lived longer lives, yielding more wool, dairy goods, and traction power for ploughing. These and other innovations are found to be concentrated at royal, aristocratic and monastic centres, placing lordship at the forefront of agricultural innovation, and farming as the force behind kingdom-formation and economic resurgence in the seventh and eighth centuries.

Caves and rockshelters in Europe have traditionally been associated with prehistory, and in some regions cave archaeology has become synonymous with the Palaeolithic. However, there is abundant evidence that caves and rockshelters were important foci for activities in historic times. During the medieval period (here taken as AD 500–1500) caves were used for short-term shelter, habitation, specialised craft activities, storage, as hideaways and for tending animals. Caves were also used for religious purposes. Caves and ritual in medieval Europe, AD 500–1500 focuses on this neglected field of research – the ritual and religious use of caves. It draws together interdisciplinary studies by leading specialists from across Europe: from Iberia to Crimea, and from Malta to northern Norway. The different religions and rituals in this vast area are unified by the use of caves and rockshelters, indicating that the beliefs in these natural places – and in the power of the underworld – were deeply embedded in many different religious practices. Christianity was widespread and firmly established in most of Europe at this time, and many of the contributions deal with different types of Christian practices, such as the use of rock-cut churches, unmodified caves for spiritual retreat, caves reputedly visited by saints, and caves as places for burials. But parallel to this, some caves were associated with localised popular religious practices, which sometimes had pre-Christian origins. Muslims in Iberia used caves for spiritual retreat, and outside the Christian domain in northern Europe, caves and rockshelters were places for carving symbols among Pictish groups, places for human burial, for bear burials amongst the Sámi, and places for crafting and votive deposition for Norse populations.