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