I have been reading The Scourging Angel by Benedict Gummer, which is an account of the Black Death in Britain. The books is well worth a look if you are interested in this period of history during the Middle Ages. One thing I came across that I didn’t know is what happened to Jewish populations [...]

And you thought it was all over? Well it is now. Seems to be loads of news at the moment about research into the plague/Black Death that caused mortality of up to 50% during the mid-Fourteenth century. It seems to be all unrelated items, but its a bit weird to be seeing so much in [...]

I came across this fascinating piece of news this morning in the TheSpec.com about work being done to track down the genetic pattern of the virus that caused the Black Death in the fourteenth century. Here’s a bit more information from the full article: ‘The principal investigator at McMaster University’s ancient DNA centre says his [...]

According to a report on a new study in the Guardian the Black Death was not spread by rats, and there’s even some debate about whether it was plague at all. The evidence against rats (in London at least) is the lack of rate skeletons found. Barney Sloane says that you’d expect to see lots [...]

Here’s a bit more information about Season of the Witch, although there’s not much available apart from the synopsis and cast list at the moment. Apparently some screenings happened in December 2009, but no reviews yet. The film is due out in March 2010. Synopsis: Nicolas Cage stars as a 14th century Crusader who returns [...]

This looks quite interesting, and the plot is definitely up my street: “14th century crusaders take a woman accused of witchcraft to an abbey where the monks will examine her and determine if her sorcery is the cause of the Black Plague which has decimated Europe.” Video Trailer for Season of the Witch And here: [...]