As the Christmas season draws near, the colors red and green can be found everywhere, but who decided that these two colors should be associated with Christmas? Cambridge research scientist Dr Spike Bucklow believes he knows.

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.

Students of music in the Middle Ages would have learned their notes in a different manner than their modern counterparts. They would have learned the Guidonian Hand, a mthod in which "a map of notes  was arranged on the hand."

Last year, fifteen skeletons dating to Angelo Saxon times were discovered during a construction project at the Church of the Immaculate Conception in Bicester, England. Recently the remains were re-interred in a church memorial garden. (video)

A large medieval seal dating to the 13th or 14th century has been discovered in a field in Surrey, England. The mystery of the seal is that it is believed to have originated at Stone Priory in north Staffordshire. (photo)

A series of well-preserved medieval churches in central Sudan are giving researchers new information into the world of medieval pilgrimages and veneration. Inscriptions at one site show that pilgrims came from as far away as Catalonia.

A pre-Viking burial site dating to the 600s has been found near Dublin, Ireland. The site was discovered during construction for a power company project.

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.

Saint John Chrysostom Byzantine Catholic Church (Houston, Texas) is sponsoring an Icon-Writing (painting) Studio at any level of experience, for adults and accompanied children over 10, on Friday, November 4, 2011 through Sunday, November 6, 2011.

A metal detectorist has discovered the pommel of a 13th century sword in a farmer's field in Selkirkshire, Scotland. Experts believe the bronze pommel belonged to a Norman noble involved in the Last Crusade.

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

Rome Reports has released a sort video on YouTube showcasing the newly renovated left Colonnade at St. Peter's Basilica in Rome.

Archaeologist Nikolay Ovcharov recently discovered a 5th century bronze reliquary containg a cross which held two fibers, either hair or textile, believed to have belonged to a saint.

Elizabeth Lapina of Durham University in Great Britain reports that she is seeking papers and proposals for the upcoming publication, The Crusades and Visual Culture. The submission deadline is December 1, 2011.

You find yourself looking through an art anthology or wandering through a museum. Here is wonderful documentation for your new purse, a gorgeous picture of a gentleman making shoes and... a guy on a grill? Who is he? And why is there a cute dragon at that lady's feet? And.. oh my, why does that man have his head under his arm? We will answer these questions and more at Stairway to Heaven.

In an article for the Jerusalem Post, professor of Jewish history and dean at the Schechter Institute, Renee Levine Melamme tells the story of a family of 15th century "crypto-Jews" tried by the Spanish Inquisition in Ciudad Real.

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.

The new Pilgrim's Way walking path in Wales was christened recently when 80 walkers began the 127-mile (204km), 12-day trek from Basingwerk Abbey in Holywell, Flintshire to Bardsey Island in Gwynedd. (slideshow)

Archaeologists working in Pamukkale, Turkey believe they have found the tomb of St. Philip the Apostle. Pamukkale is the modern name of the ancient city of Hierapolis where Philip was killed.

Walking to Compostella is so 1482! Today, pilgrims reach Santiago de Compostela by bicycle, bus, and even airplane. This is one of many ways that the famed Pilgrim route has adapted to the modern world.

A 6th century fresco of St. Paul has been discovered in the Catacombs of San Gennaro in Naples during restoration work according to L'Osservatore, the official Vatican newspaper. (photo)

On April 20-21, 2012, Plymouth State University in central New Hampshire, will host the 33rd Annual Medieval and Renaissance Forum. The Forum is now accepting abstracts for papers to be presented at the conference.

A large selection of documents held by the Vatican have been released online at the Documenta Catholica Omnia. All material is in Latin.

Tradition says that a 16th century mechanical monk, now owned by the Smithsonian Institution, was created by Juanelo Turriano for Spanish Emperor Charles V. The monk walks, prays, and kisses a wooden cross. (photo and video)

A metal dectorist in Lancashire, England has unearthed a 500-year old pilgrim badge of St. Ursula. The badge came from her shrine in Cologne, Germany and is unique in Britain.

For the first time, many residents of the United States will be able to view Ukrainian treasures spanning 6,000 years. The exhibition will be hosted by the Houston (Texas) Museum of Natural Science from May 27 to Sept 5, 2011.

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.

As she walked to the scaffold to be executed, Mary Queen of Scots carried an ornate crucifix and a Book of Hours. Now both artifacts, thought to have been carried by Mary, were reunited for a day at Loretto School in Musselburgh, East Lothian. (photo)

Grimmund of the Kingdom of Northshield reports that Amazon.com is offering a sampler of Gregorian chant for free download. The download works with any MP3 player.

The (alleged) severed head of St. Vitalis of Assisi, a 14th century Italian monk, is being put up for auction in Ireland. The relic has been owned by a prominent Irish family since the 18th century.