Tastes Of History
Dispelling Some Myths: the “two finger salute”
Dispelling the myth of the two-finger salute or V-sign originated in the Medieval period.
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Tastes Of History
Oct 2
Dispelling Some Myths: Rotten teeth
Despite the best efforts of historians, the internet is still awash with misconceptions about the Middle Ages. Many of these ideas were...
Tastes Of History
Sep 25
About History: “By hook or by crook”
In the September edition of BBC History magazine Anatoly Liberman, professor at the University of Minnesota and author of An Analytic...
Tastes Of History
Mar 29
The Recipes: a Mediæval Joust
After several years of wishing we could be involved a chance encounter while “pirating” in Scarborough has led to Tastes Of History’s...
Tastes Of History
Oct 5, 2023
Dispelling Some Myths: Robin Hood
The legend Robin Hood is a legendary heroic outlaw [1] originally depicted in English folklore and subsequently featuring in popular...
Tastes Of History
Jul 19, 2023
Dispelling Some Myths: Divorce by combat
It is highly unlikely that Mediæval divorce was ever settled by combat. Yet a handful of sources do mention judicial duels fought between...
Tastes Of History
Oct 31, 2022
A Brief History of Food: The Mediæval Kitchen
Possibly the most significant year in English history, 1066, saw the end of Anglo-Saxon England and start of the reigns of first the...
Tastes Of History
Oct 17, 2022
About History: Spectacles
One of the most curious objects in the Royal Armouries collection is the ‘horned helmet’, a bizarre headpiece commissioned in AD 1511 by...
Tastes Of History
Aug 23, 2022
Bosworth Field: a King's Recipes
This year (2022) Tastes Of History was delighted to return to the Bosworth Medieval Festival at the brilliant Bosworth Battlefield...
Tastes Of History
Aug 20, 2022
The Forme of Cury
The Forme of Cury (‘The Method of Cooking’ [1]) is an extensive 14th-century collection of medieval English recipes. Although the...
Tastes Of History
Dec 7, 2021
Dispelling Some Myths: Would Mediaeval archers really shoot 12 arrows a minute?
‘Welsh & English longbowman used a single-piece longbow to deliver arrows that could penetrate contemporary plate armour and mail. The...
Tastes Of History
May 17, 2021
Dispelling Some Myths: "Blood Grooves"
There is a persistent myth about the function of a sword's fuller that it 'releases the vacuum' when the blade is thrust into a person....
Tastes Of History
Apr 29, 2021
Dispelling Some Myths: Dirty water? Drink beer!
For some reason it is often stated on popular television programmes that Mediæval Europeans drank lots of wine, ale or beer all day,...
Tastes Of History
Apr 23, 2021
Celebrating St George's Day
Today marks the 457th birthday of William Shakespeare (1564-1616). As he is famously thought to have been born and died on the same date,...
Tastes Of History
Apr 15, 2021
Dispelling Some Myths: Mediæval Peasants ate Bland Food
The first thing to note is that what people ate was heavily dependent on where they lived and at what time. For example, Europe covers a...
Tastes Of History
Aug 22, 2020
Bosworth Medieval Festival: The Recipes
Like us you were probably as disappointed as we were when Bosworth Medieval Festival had to be cancelled because of the coronavirus...
Tastes Of History
Jun 20, 2020
Dispelling Some Myths: Spiral Staircases
In an effort to continually improve our knowledge we came across 'History…The Interesting Bits!', a blog by Sharon Bennett Connolly. In...
Tastes Of History
Jun 20, 2020
Dispelling Some Myths: Mediæval Murder Holes
Look up whilst you are visiting castles and you will often see voids in the overhead masonry associated with the defence of the...
Tastes Of History
Jun 18, 2020
A Mediæval Feast
Hosting your own medieval feast may require some effort but can be great fun. Creating the right atmosphere and dressing the table need...
Tastes Of History
Jun 10, 2020
First Rabbits in Britain
In April 2005 David Sapsted, writing for The Telegraph newspaper, reported that: 'Years of division among academics over whether the...
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