Medieval Artists – Painting and art in the Middle Ages One of the things I definitely wanted to incorporate in my book was the rich artistic heritage that Florence is most well known for. Considered by many as the birthplace of Renaissance art, there is a history of artistry that is almost the beating heart […]
A brief introduction to herbs and plants used for medieval medicine in monasteries Recently, I spent the morning wandering around a local Abbey ruins. The original structure, immense as it would have been, was unfortunately pulled down in the sixteenth century at the behest of Henry VIII, and what remains is effectively a beautiful garden,
A brief history of the Festa di San Giovanni (Festival of St John) celebrated in Florence on the 24th June each year In The Power of the Wouivre: Fiorenza Guidaloste attends the Festa di San Giovanni. Every year on the 24th June, the Florentines celebrate their patron saint, San Giovanni, or St John the Baptist
Medieval clothing worn in Guidaloste’s Fiorenza Florence often has historical processions or fayres that make it easy to imagine how people dressed in the past (I’ll discuss one particular one – the Festa di San Giovanni – in my next blog. However, for the most part, these costumes are from a later medieval/ renaissance period,
Medieval Clothing and Fashion in the Thirteenth Century Read More »
Wool – a booming economy in medieval cloth and clothing In chapter 8 of The Power of the Wouivre: Fiorenza, Guidaloste, the medieval main character, sees the Arno River for the first time as he came down the hill from nearby San Miniato al Monte (you can read/ hear this description in my instagram post
Sleeping and eating habits in daily medieval life Despite the Italians being pioneers for mechanical time keeping, there would have been no clocks, as you know it, in the Fiorenza of Guidaloste’s time (The Power of the Wouivre: Fiorenza). Clocks did exist – sundials, water clocks, candle clocks – but these would have been limited
The River Arno and its bridges in Fiorenza (medieval Florence) The Ponte Vecchio (pictured above) is the most famous bridge in Florence. Its name translates to The Old Bridge. However, did you know that in its current state it is not in fact the oldest bridge in the city! In the Middle Ages, the bridges
A brief history of the game of chess as played by Guidaloste and Antonio In The Power of the Wouivre: Fiorenza, Guidaloste and his best friend Antonio like to play dice and chess – both popular games in the 1200s, despite being condemned by the Church for encouraging gambling. Remarkably, chess has remained popular to
Research on the medieval town of Florence (Fiorenza) To give some idea of the architecture of Guidaloste’s Fiorenza in The Power of the Wouivre, I have chosen to show a photo of the Palazzo Vecchio. Anyone who has visited Florence or seen photos online will have seen this magnificent building, situated in the Piazza della