The Vatican has announced that Pope Benedict XVI will appoint Hildegard of Bingen as a Doctor of the Church in October of 2012. The 12th century German Benedictine nun is also expected to be canonized in 2012. (video)

A medieval byway between two Welsh Cistercian abbeys, and walked by monks in the 12th century, has been damaged by modern traffic. The city councils of Powys and Ceredigion have banned all access, even walkers, from the path to preserve the ancient track.

The people of Stavanger, Norway are on a quest to discover the exact year their town was founded. A good starting place may be with the huge collection of human bones dating to the Middle Ages found beneath their cathedral.

A paper by Patricia L. Crown, of the Department of Anthropology, University of New Mexico, and W. Jeffrey Hurst, of The Hershey Center for Health and Nutrition, published on the PNAS website, explores the evidence of the use of cacao in the 11th and 12th centuries in the American Southwest.

The history and art of Great Britain can be traced by the paintings on its church walls. Now interested parties may not have to travel to review the country's glorious wallpaintings, but can study them online thanks to the efforts of the Churches Conservation Trust.

"There are only two known crypts in Devon and Cornwall and the other one's a Saxon crypt," said archaeologist Stewart Brown about a Norman crypt excavated in summer 2011. Two intricately-carved columns from the crypt have been reburied for preservation purposes.

In the mid12th century, English and Welsh crusaders took part in the siege and capture of the Spanish city of Tortosa. Some apparently liked the climate and decided to stay. In an article for the Journal of Medieval History, Antoni Virgili tells their story.

Fifteen miles from modern Kilkenny, Ireland, a secret has been buried for centuries. That secret is the lost early Norman town of Newtown, now being decribed as "Kilkenny's Pompeii." LIDAR technology has disclosed the "streets, towns and dwellings" of the settlement.

One of the most important manuscripts in the Bodleian Library's Hebrew collection is the 12th century Mishneh Torah, a guide to Jewish law handwritten and signed by Hebrew scholar Maimonides. The manuscript has now been digitized and is available online.

Archaeologists excavating at Nevern Castle in Pembrokeshire, Wales have uncovered several slates dating to the 12th century scratched with images of stars and other symbols designed to ward off evil spirits. The slates were found in the castle's entranceway.

The harbor at Yavneh-Yam in Israel has been an important port since the Roman era, but now researchers think it was also "one of the final strongholds of Early Islamic power in the region."

In his 2007 dissertation for the University of Nottingham, Norman and Anglo-Norman Participation in the Iberian Reconquista c.1018 – c.1248, Lucas Villegas-Aristizabal considers the contribution of the Normans, especially Crusaders, in the Christianizing of the Iberian Peninsula.

In 1171, Pucellina, a Jewish moneylender with ties to Count Thibaut of Blois, France, was arrested, along with 40 other Jews, for the killing of a Christian child. Her execution by burning is now attributed to a witness' aversion to an "arrogant Jewish woman with the gall to consider Count Thibaut her patron."

For the past ten years, the Friends of Cardigan Castle in Wales have been hoping to raise money for restoration of the 12th Century building, the first stone castle built by the Welsh princes and the stronghold of Rhys ap Gruffydd. Now they have received an award of UK£4.5m European money.

In 12th century Scotland, the "tolbooth or praetorium was the office from which the provost and baillies organised the running of the newly-created burgh." Now archaeologists believe they have found the remains of the tolbooth in St. Andrews.

Archaeologists have discovered a rare incised slate while digging at Nevern Castle in England. The slate dates to between 1170 and 1190.

For ten years, archaeologists have been excavating the Islamic convent/fortress near Aljezur, Portugal. recent discoveries include "a mosque, 21 burials and a funerary head stone with an Arabic inscription," all of which have added to the impressive site.

Hundreds of narrow tunnels called "Erdstalls" can be found throughout the Bavarian region of Germany and Austria. While most experts agree that they are medieval, no one knows why they were built or how they were used. This has led to the Erstalls being called "Central Europe's last great mystery."

A 12th or 13th century chess piece has been found in Iceland. The piece is carved from herringbone and looks  similar to the Lewis Chessmen.

The Arthur M. Sackler Gallery in Washington D.C. has announced that it has received a collection of Tibetan Buddhist art from collector Alice S. Kandell. Objects in the collection date from the 12th through 20th centuries CE.

A new study of 12th century monastic and castle sites in southern Scotland shows that the country's pottery industry was larger than previosuly believed, and it was much less dependent on foreign imports. (photo)

Cadw, the Welsh government's historic environment service, is looking for a caretaker for Newcastle, a 12th century castle near Bridgend.

The beautiful Cathedral of Monreale in Sicily was the inspiration for a reconstructed set of 12th century armor and military equipment by Patryk Nieczarowski. The armor is that of a Siculo-Norman miles. (photos).

Pilgrims to the cathedral Santiago de Compostela in northern Spain might have been guided there by the Codex Calixtinus, a 12th century guidebook which has mysteriously disappeared from the church.

In the 12th century, Bury Mound, in Northamptonshire, England, held a castle. Now the vacant mound has become the country's best renovation project for 2011.

Seventeen skeletons found in a well in Norwich, England are the suspected victims of an anti-Jewish massacre. DNA and other analysis has shown that the six adults and eleven children were part of the same family and date to the 12th or 13th century.

A rare unicorn idol from the 12th or 13th century was found in Udupi, India. While the animal appears horse-like overall, it is actually a chimera of several different types of animals. The idol may be associated with Naga Bermar, a local fertility god.

Medievalists, Mongols and fans of writer Douglas Adams will be delighted to discover the short story The Private Life of Genghis Khan, which is available on Adams' website. PG-13 (language)

Researchers have added "climate change" to the list of possible reasons that the Vikings suddenly abandoned Greenland around 1400. Analysis of  lake sediment cores has revealed that there was a sharp cooling trend from about 1100 onwards.

Delighted by the royal wedding and dazzled by the venue? If so, you may want to visit the BBC's 360 degree virtual tour of Westminster Abbey.