I got some stuff on Jewish ethical wills (interesting, but not my bag) at Fordham.

kashchej:

Guillaume Machaut - “Rose, liz, printemps, verdure”

Rose, liz, printemps, verdure,

Fleur, baume et tres douce odour,

Belle, passes en doucour,

Et tous les biens de Nature,

Aves dont je vous aour.

Rose, liz, printemps, verdure,

Fleur, baume et tres douce odour.

Et quant toute creature

Seurmonte vostre valour.

Bien puis dire et par honour:

Rose, liz, printemps, verdure,

Fleur, baume et tres douce odour,

Belle, passes en doucour.

Rose, lily, spring, greenery,

flower, balm, and the sweetest fragrance,

beautiful lady, you surpass in sweetness.

And all the gifts of nature

you possess, for which I adore you.

Rose, lily, spring, greenery,

flower, balm, and the sweetest fragrance.

And, since beyond any creature’s

your virtue excels,

I can honestly say:

Rose, lily, spring, greenery,

flower, balm, and the sweetest fragrance,

beautiful lady, you surpass in sweetness.

(via kashchej-deactivated20120716)

medievallove:

Gate to the medieval walled town of Rodhes, Greece.

Caption: On 1309 AD the Knights of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem came to Rhodes and remained there for 200 years. During that time period the magnificent walled town was built by the Knights and the City walls were 4 km long. 

by sanguedolces on Flickr.

wtfarthistory:

Book of Kells, Detail of folio 183r from Mark’s Gospel, late 8th century, tempera colors and gold leaf on parchment.  Trinity College Library, Dublin

The Book of Kells is a Gospel Book (i.e. it contains the New Testament books Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) housed today at Trinity College Library in Dublin (@TCDublin).  It’s name derives from the Abbey of Kells in Kells, County Meath where the book was housed for centuries.  While browsing through a commentary on the manuscript, I noticed that two particular folios (pages) contain a symbol remarkably similar to the one () that represents the Human Rights Campaign (@HRC).  WTF right?!? 

Of course, I should put a disclaimer.  We are not certain what beliefs were held by the monk(s) who made this manuscript nor am I claiming that the Trinity College Library actually supports the HRC.  But fyi, Ireland is moving closer and closer to marriage equality, which you can read about here.

Read More

medievallove:

Monastery of Hosios Lukas, near Dismoto, Greece.

10th c.

by avorym on Flickr.

onceandfuturething:

A 7th century Anglo-Saxon disc brooch made with gold plate, garnets, and shell. I always love this technique with garnets, called cloisonne. This piece was found at the same grave site as the gold pendant with intertwining snakes I posted earlier.

Horror vacui can be a good thing!

onceandfuturething:

Another capital for all you capital lovers! This one’s a double capital with vine designs, made between 1170 and 1180 in Gascony.

samuelfink:

600 year old italian manuscript

“In apparitione sancti michaelus archangeli. Ad tertiam. (I think the rest is “Bem. brcuc?”)”

freyatlast:

Uncovered, partly restored medieval wall paintings (St Georg Dorfkirche, Obermenzing, Germany)

Wow.

secomiomitarea:

150 free vitage vector medieval heraldry graphics

Heraldry is always fun.