It is with great pleasure that I would hereby like to announce that Knights Crossing will be hosting a workshop on medieval pharmaceuticals and herbs on the weekend of May 30-June 1. Simona Valentini di Piero will be teaching how to make basic salves, essential oils and creams from primary source recipes; enjoy a walk through the fields and forest in which we will learn to identify various useful plants in their natural habitat. Learn about the equipment used and the primary sources that we have on this subject. There will be a small fee for materials and for food for the weekend, but dinner will be Potluck.
Pennsic attendees are reminded not to bring firewood to or take it home from the event, due to a government-mandated quarantine of firewood transportation into and out of Butler County, where Cooper's Lake Campground is located.
Archaeologists working in the Tronçais forest of France have discovered over 100 Roman settlements, the legacy of which continue to affect the ecology of the area.
A firewood quarantine imposed by Pennsylvania government officials will affect, among other areas, Butler County, which includes Cooper's Lake Campground where Pennsic War is held.
Scientists at the John Innes Centre and the University of Calgary asked "Why are there no unicorns?" To answer the question, they are studying the evolutionary biology of flower branching displays.
Boverton Castle in Llantwit Major, Vale of Glamorgan, Wales, is being auctioned starting at a mere UK£55,000. architects advise, however, that necessary renovation of the site could cost at least six figures.
On March 10, 2007, Mary Moskoff, Ph.D., LCSW will present a talk A Walk Through a Medieval Herb Garden at the Spring Symposium presented by the Herb Society of America - Wisconsin Unit. The lecture will take place at the Woman's Club of Wisconsin, 813 Kilbourn Avenue, Milwaukee, WI 53202.
Cassandra Boell von Bayer has been part of the SCA for about 29 years and has gained repute for her skill in costuming and small animal husbandry. A recent article in The Bolton Common profiles her SCA life.
Come join us for a wonderful day of heraldry and scribal arts taught by Northshield's finest! Bring your personal and group's heraldic banner, books, illuminations, and any heraldic/scribal crafts (tablet woven belts, blackwork, etc...) to display and share in a “show and tell” session! There will also be a full day of children's activities.
Please contact the Class Coordinator if you are interested in teaching a class (or if you have a class you would like to see taught). Deadline is February 26th for submitting a class.
The recent discovery of some 400-year-old seeds in a well at the Colonial Jamestown archaeological site has given researchers much to ponder about the life and survival skills of the early Jamestown settlers.
The Baarmy Sheep of the Lake District in Cumbria, England have garnered so many hits on the Cumbria Tourism's website with last year's Christmas songs that the organization was forced to offer a free download.
At the recent SCA Board of Directors meeting, it was suggested that the SCA become a member of the Association for Living History, Farm and Agricultural Museums. ALHFAM is an organization "that serves those involved in living historical farms, agricultural museums and outdoor museums of history and folklore."
A British website offers an historic view of the breeds of animals which shared their lives with Iron Age people. These included sheep, goats, cattle, pigs, horses and fowl. The article includes photos of these breeds' ancestors.
Scholars and writers researching currency exchange and commodities prices will want to take a look at Rutgers University's Medieval and Early Modern Data Bank which has compiled commercial data primarily from northern Europe and Venice.
Alberta, Canada beekeepers are hoping the province's move to allow a cottage wine industry to develop for an ancient beverage will create a buzz among liquor connoisseurs.
Over 1,000 horses and their owners have gathered in Reykjavik, Iceland to take part in the largest-ever Landsmót, or Icelandair Horse Festival, itself the largest gathering of Icelandair horses in the world.
Ponies from an endangered breed, descended from the original British "hill ponies," are being brought into a nature preserve on the Solway Plain in England, to graze away grasses that threaten one of the area's few remaining peat bogs.
Nathan Santamaria, a reporter for National Public Radio, reports on his search for rare natural dyes in a Kabul, Afghanistan market. Listen to the All Things Considered report and view photos online.
Monasteries were a stronghold of medieval gardening in Europe. The manual labor of gardening taught humility and thus benefited the monks' souls, while the herbs and vegetables they grew aided their health.
The site of a new town in Grafenwöhr, Germany, for U.S. soldiers and their families, was once a medieval village and later boasted a guest house where tourists came to watch the Bavarian army train on a nearby range.
On its website, Trivium Publishing offers suggestions for enjoying the medieval experience by using your sense of smell through an article entitled Smell of the Middle Ages by Jacquelyn Hodson.
A new study suggests that the devastating Black Death may have done more than wipe out 1/3 of the population. It may have triggered Europe's "Little Ice Age" in the 14th century.
On June 17, 2006, the Department of Horticulture and the Center for Medieval Studies at Penn State University will host an Open House. The public is invited to attend from 2:00-4:30 pm.
Are bananas period? Apparently so, according to the recent discovery of a 500-year-old banana skin in London. The development shatters previously-held beliefs that the banana first came to Britain in 1633.
The discovery of cheese and yogurt in 8,000-year-old pots proves to researchers that neolithic Europeans practiced dairy farming. The pots were found during separate studies in Romania, Hungary and Switzerland.
Dame Aoife has been a busy lady with holidays and her modern-world job, but this week she's back with a pre-springtime Links edition devoted to medieval gardens.
As Britain celebrates the 30th anniversary of National Tree Week, one Cumbrian farmer is making a valuable contribution to the regeneration of the county's woodland - and uncovering some fascinating facts about the region's industrial heritage into the process, as well as pits dating back to 1350 A.D.
