Free Republic

When archaeologists were called to investigate a sinkhole that opened up in the city of York, they were surprised to find traces of a medieval hospital, according to a report by The Independent. The team encountered walls hidden just beneath the city streets that they believe once belonged to the twelfth- or thirteenth-century St. Leonard's Hospital. The institution was built just after the Norman conquest and replaced the earlier St. Peter's Hospital, which was founded by the Anglo-Saxon King Aethelstan. Stretching from what is now York's Museum Gardens to the Theatre Royal, St. Leonard's was one of the largest hospitals...

A stunning gold ring lost at a medieval castle in Slovakia over 700 years ago has been rediscovered. The jewelry was likely worn by a bishop and includes an unusual Sri Lankan reddish-purple sapphire set in a band flanked by lions...Beljak Pažinová led a team of researchers in studying the ring, which was discovered at Zvolen Castle in central Slovakia. A treasure hunter found the ring in 2001, but archaeologists didn't receive it until March 2023...Although rings were common accessories for both men and women in medieval Europe, the discovery of a gold ring with a valuable gemstone is extremely...

Scholars have long debated the origins of the House of Piast, Poland's first royal dynasty, who ruled the nation from the tenth through the fourteenth century. Some believe they were Slavic nobles, others Moravian exiles, and still others say they were Viking warriors. The Conversation reports on new DNA analysis that has revealed shocking new information concerning the Piasts' genetic background that might potentially rewrite history. Researchers led by molecular biologist Marek Figlerowicz of Poznań University of Technology extracted DNA from 33 individuals, 30 men and three women, belonging to the Piast dynasty. Most of the deceased, who lived between...

The Dubrovnik Times reports that an archaeological team from the Dubrovnik Museums recently uncovered 4,000 years of human occupation in the Crno Jezero ("Black Lake") Cave. The 780-foot-long cavern snakes its way 300 feet underground near the village of Ponikve on the Pelješac peninsula. The excavations highlighted the different ways that local peoples used the cave from the Bronze Age to the Middle Ages. During the second millennium b.c., the cave was mostly used for temporary or seasonal housing, especially during periods of conflict or inclement weather. From the ninth to the sixth century b.c., the space was transformed into...

Last year, excavations in Chichester's Priory Park revealed a masonry causeway and bridge that would have once led to the city's Norman-era motte and bailey castle. According to a statement released by the Chichester District Council (CDC), renewed archaeological work at the site has continued to illuminate this period in the city's history. A team recently uncovered the foundations of a stone tower, or barbican, that was built to help defend the Norman castle. It was previously thought that the castle was built solely from timber. The recent discoveries have shown that it was actually a much more substantial structure...

BBC News reports that a metal detectorist recently retrieved a rare and unique gold coin from a field in Norwich. The artifact was analyzed by numismatist Adrian Marsden of the Norfolk Historic Environment Service, who believes it dates to between a.d. 640 and 660 and may be the oldest Anglo-Saxon coin ever found in East Anglia. It was minted at a transitional time in English history when Christianity was beginning eclipse pagan beliefs, which is reflected in the coin's iconography. One side of the thrymsa, a type of early Anglo-Saxon shilling, features a dancing man who seems to be holding...

Archaeologists have cracked the code of 255 mysterious symbols carved into a rock in Canada more than 200 years ago. The writing was discovered in 2018 after a fallen tree revealed the square-shaped inscription near the town of Wawa, located about 155 miles from the nearest US border crossing in Michigan. Ryan Primrose, an archaeologist from the Ontario Center for Archaeological Education, has now revealed that the symbols form the Lord’s Prayer — a well-known Christian prayer — written in Swedish. He identified the characters as Nordic runes, part of an old alphabet once used in Sweden and other parts...

The Arab slave trade lasted over 1,300 years — yet most people know little about it. This video exposes the atrocities committed against Black Africans during the Arab slave era, including mass castration, forced conversions, and cultural erasure. It's time to uncover a hidden chapter of history that shaped the continent and its people.

The Bayuda Desert in central Sudan is one of the least explored regions of the country. Over the past six years, however, a team of Polish archaeologists has conducted a comprehensive investigation of the area and identified over 1,200 archaeological sites dating from the Paleolithic period through the Middle Ages. According to Science in Poland, the researchers then excavated 33 cemeteries and 55 settlements. The oldest sites examined were associated with the Oldowan culture, the earliest known producers of stone tools, but perhaps the most significant discovery was the presence of a dried-up salt lake bed near Jebel El-Muwelha. The...

A recent study published last year in the journal Cell has identified the ancient origins of a genetic mutation that confers resistance to HIV, and how it first appeared in an individual who lived near the Black Sea between 6,700 and 9,000 years ago. Named CCR5 delta 32, the uncommon genetic variant disables a key immune protein used by a large majority of strains of the HIV virus to enter human cells and therefore "locks out" the virus in individuals who carry two copies of the mutation.HIV is a relatively new disease. It was only identified in the last century,...

Thousands of workers spent years clearing the hillside and carving the stone from the mountain. According to a legend, workers who failed to produce the daily quota of crushed rock of at least 33 sheng were executed on the spot. In memory of all those who died at the construction site, including those who died from overwork and disease, a nearby village became known as Fentou, or "Grave Mound".After huge expense and unimaginable labor, the three parts were chiseled almost entirely free from the mountain. Then the engineers realized their emperor’s folly -- there was no way they could move...

A stunning gold Saxon sword pommel that was unearthed in a field in Leicestershire, England by an 81-year-old woman has sold at auction for $22,000 (£16k).The rare 7th-century artifact was found in 2021 while the long-time metal detector enthusiast was searching a field during a local gathering of detectives.They told her that there was nothing to be found in the field where she was searching, but she persevered and found the gold pommel seven inches beneath the ground...Weighing 20.5 grams, the pommel -- which the Leicester Museum declined to purchase -- would have been fixed to the end of the...

Reshaping the economy in Imperial China.For 4,000 years, from 2070 BC to 1911 AD, one imperial family after another ruled China. The longest period in which a single family exercised power was 790 years, while the average tenure was 228 years. Most Westerners are familiar with the Tudors, Stuarts, and Windsors of England, or the Romanovs of Russia, but few are aware of the names of Chinese dynasties such as the Zhou, Han, or Ming, let alone the notable figures associated with them.In this essay, I acquaint the reader with a man named Wang Anshi 王安石. He lived from 1021...

The Shatt al-Arab floodplain outside of Basra is marked with thousands of manmade earthen ridges and canals. Archaeologists have long suspected that these may have been part of an ancient agricultural system, but they did not know when or by whom it was built. New research has demonstrated that not only is this theory true, but that the massive infrastructure was dug by a huge labor force of enslaved Africans. The Associated Press reports that researchers identified more than 7,000 features spread across 300 square miles that formed an extensive farming network. Using radiocarbon dating and a technique called optically...

This time we explore the magnificent Penshurst Place, one of England's most iconic Historic Houses. This stunning estate boasts centuries of history, from its Tudor origins to its role as a beloved retreat for King Henry VIII and a love nest with Anne Boleyn. Penshurst Place: One of England's Greatest Historic Houses and Gardens | 33:50 MemorySeekers | 191K subscribers | 114,231 views | July 13, 2024

In the olden days, the world was run on a feudal system. There were a handful of mostly inter-related nobles who lived in palaces, wore fancy clothes, and ate sumptuous food. They were served by a large class of serfs who did the unpleasant things like digging latrines, plowing fields, slaughtering animals, tanning leather, and all of the other work needed for the nobles to live in luxury. In return, the nobles kept the serfs from starving but generally oppressed them and sometimes did so gratuitously for their own amusement. Serfs had no rights and very little money and were...

Delve into the story of the Peasants Revolt of 1381, a bloody uprising of the common people. In this Patreon voted video Kevin Hicks looks at the reasons behind the Peasants Revolt and reveals the dramatic events that shaped this pivotal moment in the fight for social justice.

The 13th June marks the anniversary of the day Wat Tyler led the Peasant’s Revolt of 1381 into London. The English capital descended into chaos as the peasants burnt and looted the city, cementing the revolt as the most significant peasant uprising in the feudal period of English history. Originating in the South-East of England, it was when the revolt reached London that its significance became apparent. The peasants went on to capture the Tower of London, a feat which had never been done before. Two powerful figures, the Archbishop of Canterbury, and the King’s Treasurer, were killed by the...

In the long catalog of uprisings against tyranny, one chapter often overlooked — but no less instructive — is the English Peasants’ Revolt of 1381. Though distant in time, the cause and character of that revolt echo loudly in our present condition: oppressive taxation, ruinous foreign wars, and a government grown unaccountable to the people it purports to serve. We would do well to remember that the flames of rebellion are not kindled in a day. They are fanned over time by injustice, arrogance, and a persistent disregard for the natural rights of man. The uprising of 1381 was no...

How did the Vikings rise from isolated Scandinavians to dominate the seas across Europe and beyond? Historian Dan Snow investigates the cutting edge shipbuilding technology that powered the Vikings' legendary longships and how their mastery of oak and ocean reshaped history. This clip is from The Vikings Uncovered (2016) The 'Cutting Edge' Viking Technology That Changed History | 5:34 BBC Timestamp | 835K subscribers | 27,385 views | May 29, 2025