Canadian Baba Brinkman is a performer - and a scholar of medieval literature. He combined both in a recent one-man show, The Canterbury Tales Remixed, which set the Chaucer’s 14th-century work to original hip-hop songs. Catherine Rampell of the New York Times, has a review.

A medieval German traveler once described Granada, in Moorish Spain, as the “Ornament of the World.” A video posted on the Moroccan Design website showcases the beauty and enlightment of the region.

With the help of grant money, the York Cause Papers, records from the Church Courts of York from the 1300 to 1858, are now available online.

In the 1970s, children playing in the shed of a Queensland, Australia cattle station happened upon a brass quadrant marked with the badge of King Richard II. Now the instrument is scheduled to be auctioned with an estimated price tag of US$233,000-$311,000. (photo)

Bulgarian archaeologist Nikolay Ovcharov has discovered 18 gold coins minted during the reign of 14th century Bulgarian Tsar Ivan Alexander. The coins were found during the excavation of the medieval fortress Urvich near Sofia.

A brass quadrant bearing the arms of Richard II is going up for auction in England. The late 14th century piece is similar to one housed in the British Museum.

In a 9-minute video, members of the Springfield Arsenal, LLC go "medieval" by demonstrating a 14th century 3-Barrel Rapid-Fire Pole Cannon, a black powder device fired by striking against a surface.

An international team of researchers has reconstructed the genetic code of the Black Death using DNA extracted from the teeth of medieval corpses buried in a graveyard in London's East Smithfield. Their research has been published in the science journal Nature.

On the blog Puremedievalry, Sirthopas, a graduate student at Trinity College in Dublin, has posted a 14th century ghost story - in Middle English. Fortunately, he also includes his translation.

In a September 2011 article on the Fabric-Store.com website, Nicole Novembrino discusses the history and structure of the Gothic fitted dress, featured prominently in images from the mid-1300s until the mid-1400s.

Discoveries continue to be unearthed at the Perperikon archaeological site in Bulgaria. The latest is the tomb of a 14th century Ottoman conqueror.

Long a New York favorite and portable feast choice of SCA college students everywhere (hint: they can be easily smuggled out of dining halls), finding solid documentation for the bagel as a medieval foodstuff has been a challenge.

Dr. Emily Lethbridge of Cambridge University is seeking to understand the significance of the Icelandic Sagas, why they were created during the 13th and 14th centuries, and why they still resonate with the people of Iceland today.

14th century England was a dark time, and a time of change in Britain. In a hour-long, online documentary, historian Michael Wood investigates changes in medieval life by following the family of peasant Christina Cok.

Experts have reconstructed the face of Simon of Sudbury, the Archbishop of Canterbury who was beheaded in a peasant revolt in 1381.

Lisa Maloney of the Anchorage Press joins David Teague and company for a class in the art and science of German longsword. The techniques are dervived from manuscripts and writing from the 14th and 15th century.

Metal detectorist James Goldswain found treasure in a farmer's field when he uncovered medieval silver gilt ring, known as a fede, or faith ring, near Bishopsbourne, England. (photo)

 The type of bacteria which caused the European "Black Death" plague in the mid-1300s has been identified as Yersina pestis, according to a news report on CNN.com.  That particular strain of bacteria no longer seems to exist, although a different form still affects people in a number of countries.

Excavation of one of Henry VIII's palaces has revealed that the site was an affluent home long before Henry VIII moved in. Elsyng Palace is located in Enfield, England.

Bulgarian archaeologist Nikolay Ovcharov has discovered two archbishop's seals during excavations of the city of Perperikon, a crucial urban center during the Middle Ages and the Byzantine and Bulgarian Empires. The two lead seals belonged to Constantine, Archbishop of Archidos.

A lack of "great heaps of dead rats in all the waterfront sites" has led The Black Death in London author Barney Sloane to conclude that the rodents were not the cause of plague in 14th century England. "The evidence just isn't there to support it," he said.

A collaborative project by Queen's University Belfast, King’s College London, and the Bodleian Libraries offers an innovative approach that explores the ‘linguistic geographies’ of the Gough Map, the earliest surviving geographically recognizable map of Great Britain.

Archaeologists have discovered five marble Byzantine tombs dating to the 14th century in the city of Tyre in southern Lebanon. (video)

Stirling, Scotland is gearing up to commemorate the 700th anniversary of the Battle of Bannockburn, which saw Robert the Bruce's victory over the English on 24 June 1314.

For the first time in over a hundred years, visitors are welcome to visit Oystermouth Castle in Swansea, Wales. The castle received a UK£1M facelift including a 30ft (10m) high glass bridge. (photo)

An archaeological team from Cotswold Archaeology is leading a dig at Cowl Lane in Winchcombe, England, revealing "more than 40 rubbish pits containing medieval pottery, animal bone and metalworking evidence."

A new book by an Italian art historian claims that the Shoud of Turin is neither a biblical relic nor a medieval hoax, but a creation of the famous Rennaissance artist Giotto.

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.

Take a 16-room "mini-castle" near Austria. Fill it with interesting and unusual contemporary decor, and you have the Hammerhaus. Photographer Andreas Meichsner of The New York Times has a slideshow.

Dr Reuben Davies, from Glasgow University recently made a "startling" discovery in the Exchequer rolls for 1304-1305 of King Edward I: Scotland's Protector, William Wallace, "falsely sought to call himself King of Scotland".