Hacker News with Generative AI: Medieval History

The Lost Towers of the Guelph-Ghibelline Wars (exurbe.com)
Looks fake, doesn’t it?  This implausible Medieval forest of towers, as dense as Manhattan skyscrapers, is our best reconstruction of the town of Bologna at its height, toward the end of the Medieval Guelph-Ghibelline wars.
Legacy of the Angels (aeon.co)
When medieval scholars sought to understand the nature of angels, they unwittingly laid the foundations of modern physics
14th century Spanish Food before tomatoes and chili (theguardian.com)
Forget gazpacho, patatas bravas or the tang of paprika in your chorizo. Such dishes may be considered staples of the Mediterranean diet but a new exhibition celebrating Spain’s oldest surviving cookbook suggests medieval Spanish cuisine was nothing like its modern successor.
A tale of demonic possession predicted the decline of an early medieval empire (smithsonianmag.com)
A new book examines the rise and fall of the Carolingian dynasty, discussing how people across social classes understood the momentous history of their day
Colour in the Middle Ages (medievalists.net)
Every society harbours unique and intriguing perspectives on colours—what they symbolize, which ones are deemed more aesthetically pleasing, and which should be avoided.
D&D is Anti-Medieval (blogofholding.com)
You can be forgiven for thinking that OD&D is a medieval European fantasy game. After all, Gary Gygax himself says so. He describes the original D&D books as “Rules for Fantastic Medieval War Games” (on the cover) and “rules [for] designing your own fantastic-medieval campaign” (in the introduction). However, in the game itself, there’s precious little to suggest feudalism, Europe, chivalry, a post-imperial dark age, or even the existence of a monarchy at all.
Reassessing William the Conqueror (2016) (historytoday.com)
In the popular imagination, William the Conqueror is, without doubt, the villain, yet the sources we have for his life are ambivalent.
Remembering a Medieval Polymath Who Paved the Way for the Renaissance (worldsensorium.com)
Apprentice, Journeyman, and Master: The Medieval Guild (2018) (philosophicalsociety.org)
The medieval 'New England' on the north-eastern Black Sea coast (2015) (caitlingreen.org)
Giving Life to Æthelstan (historytoday.com)
Medieval wine tasting fills in gaps about Europe's climate (science.org)
Portcullis (medievalbritain.com)
A new map of medieval London (londonist.substack.com)
Medieval Bologna was full of tall towers (openculture.com)
Medieval Icelanders were likely hunting blue whales before industrial technology (hakaimagazine.com)
A knight's tale (blogs.bl.uk)