In an article for the History Today, Patrick Wormald, Lecturer in History at Christ Church, Oxford, looks at the myth of a unified Anglo-Saxon England.

Battle Abbey and its surrounds, the traditional site of the Battle of Hastings between King Harold and William the Conqueror, may not be the actual site of the battle, according to a new book by Nick Austin, Secrets Of The Norman Invasion.

According to Hrafns Saga in the 13th century, the mighty king used a sunstone to navigate in cloudy weather. This is one of several texts that list such artifacts as among the legendary Norse seafaring abilities. New research suggests that the sunstone may be a real navigational tool.

"Venice has become a museum city, no longer a residential one," said a Unesco director recently about the city threatened by rising sea levels. Jack Watkins of The Independent discusses the fate of the city.

In the latest in a series of Google-driven international incidents, Google Maps gave the German port city of Emden to the Netherlands. The exact location of the border has been disputed since the 15th century.

In a recent story for NPR's All Things Considered, Madeleine Brand discusses new theories about the Dark Ages, the medieval spice trade, and the Black Plague with Chana Joffe-Walt and Adam Davidson.

For the past ten years, Norse scholars have debated whether the breakdown in trade of walrus ivory brought down the Norse settlements in Greenland during the 15th century. In a new article, scholar Kirsten Seaver disputes the theory and offers her own: English cod fishing.

A silver coin dated 1597 has been found on North Stradbroke Island, Queensland, Australia, possibly predating Captain Cook's discovery of the continent.

Medievalists.net features an interview with Dr. Natalie Zemon Davis, Professor Emeritus of History at Princeton University, who currently teaches at the University of Toronto. Davis is the author of nine books and more than 80 articles, "many of which focus on the social and cultural history of 16th century France.

The "Swiss-Army-knife" of its time, a gunpowder flask/sundial compass watch is featured in a watch enthusiasts' blog complete with a large, detailed photo. The object was created in Germany around 1590.

Nicholas Howe, one of the world's leading scholars of Anglo-Saxon studies, died of complications arising from leukemia September 27, 2006 in Oakland, California. R. M. Liuzza of the University of Tennessee has posted an obituary on the Old English Newsletter website.

On October 2, during his second voyage to North America, Jacques Cartier came to a town which he renamed "Montreal."

According to the official SCA geography page, "parts of Antarctica" are now officially part of the Kingdom of Lochac.

Dame Aoife brings us a veritable galaxy of links this week, concerning astronomy not only as a natural science but also as a medieval navigation and timekeeping aid.

Smithsonian Magazine looks at the popularity of using aerial photography to do archaeological surveys, not only to make new discoveries, but to preserve sites threatened by time and circumstance.

Dr. Godfrey Wettinger, Professor Emeritus at the University of Malta, recently spoke on place-names and surnames in Malta’s medieval history.

British amateur archaeologist Robert Bittlestone believes he has found the location of Odysseus' fabled Ithaca as part of the Greek island of Cephalonia.

Three 16th and 17th century maps have recently been stolen from bound volumes in the British Library. The theft is just the latest in a rash of crimes targeting libraries and museums.

History met science recently when an Italian computer programmer discovered what he believes is the ruins of a Roman villa by studying a map found on "Google Earth."

Several countries in the Middle East have recently requested copies of 15th century Ottoman maps to help determine modern border disputes.

Ordnance Survey of Southampton, England, is set to release a new historical map of ancient Britain, complete with place names, roads and landmarks.

In what may well be one of the most ambitious scientific projects ever, the National Geographic Society has teamed with IBM to use DNA to map the spread of humanity across the globe.

In his blog, teacher and Asianist Jonathan Dresner discusses the myth of Marco Polo, whether or not he really made it to China, and where to go to get the facts.

The Committee for Medieval Studies of the University of British Columbia invites paper proposals for their upcoming conference Cartography in Antiquity and the Middle Ages: Fresh Perspectives, New Methods.

This Israeli web site has high-resolution scans of many historical maps of cities throughout the world. Many are late-period (1500s and beyond), but some are earlier than that.

In 1391, Geoffrey Chaucer wrote a treatise on how to use an astrolabe. A transcription of the work is now available online, which sparked a discussion of navigational instruments on the Lochac list.