superstition
-
Mandrake (Mandragora officinarum) is a fascinating and infamous medieval herb! You may have heard of it through Harry Potter these days, but it is real and had some strange tales attached to it. Here are some interesting facts about mandrake: Magical and Superstitious Uses Protection and good fortune: Mandrake was believed to offer protection and…
-
My devotion to watching TV documentaries often turns up odd bits and pieces. This time the culprit is “Curse of the Vampire” from Mythical Beasts, series 1, episode 3, shown on Sky History 2. As you might expect, the theme was the strong medieval belief that the dead could return to torment the living as…
-
Above are the Venerable Bede and King Cnut, who are concerned in the following extract from Medieval Man by Frederick Harrison:- “…Only Bede wrote about such subjects as astronomy and geography; and his knowledge of these was conditioned by the teaching of the Church. As time went on, as much reliance was placed on charms as…
The New Murrey and Blue blog 