From the fall of Rome to the dawn of the Renaissance, the Middle Ages was an era of history that encompassed massive social change. A time of international warfare, national rebellion, devastating ...

Today, the Middle Ages are a sort of paradox; the myth of the “Dark Ages,” which survives quite ably in popular culture, allows space for it to be whatever the popular imagination wants. When people ...

When COVID-19 swept the globe in 2020, epidemiologists weren’t the only ones thinking they’d seen it all before. So did medieval historians. Diseases — especially the bubonic plague — ravaged many ...

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In some ways, the subject of the Getty Center’s exhibition “Play and Pastimes in the Middle Ages” might seem a bit peculiar. Play and pastimes in the world of the Black Death? In towns where sewage ...

Madeleine S. Killacky does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations ...

The Middle Ages weren’t as dreary and desperate as you’d think, and peasants often had weeks of idle time during the holidays ...

Detail of medieval roll showing England's Henry VIII tilting at a joust in front of his first wife, Katherine of Aragon. In the West, chariot racing died out rather quickly, but beginning in the ...

This article was featured in One Story to Read Today, a newsletter in which our editors recommend a single must-read from The Atlantic, Monday through Friday. Sign up for it here. In the foreword to ...

Cats had a bad reputation in the middle ages. Their presumed links with paganism and witchcraft meant they were often treated with suspicion. But despite their association with the supernatural, ...