Hello friends, and welcome back to our Medieval Advent Calendar. The Christmas feast is upon us, so it’s about time we start preparing some delicacies for the festive table. One of the defining dishes of the Middle Ages is the…
Medieval Advent Calendar Day 22 Hello, dear friends, and welcome to the twenty-second day of Advent here at The Ritual of Reading. Today’s episode features an unexpected guest: a subject that not long ago held little interest for me whatsoever—the…
Medieval Advent Calendar Day 21 Hello, dear friends, and welcome to this year’s celebration of the winter solstice. The longest night of the year has summoned ceremony since ancient times, and in the Middle Ages, many pre-Christian rituals remained vividly…
Medieval Advent Calendar Day 20 Hello, dear friends, and welcome back to Fontevraud Abbey for the second part of our exploration. Yesterday we situated ourselves within this exceptional site and spoke of its glorious past—the powerful abbesses, the royal tombs,…
Hello everyone, and welcome to another stroll through medieval sites. For this 19th day of Advent, I’m revealing one of my sanctuaries, a place where I truly feel at home in an inexplicable way : the royal abbey of Fontevraud.…
Medieval Advent Calendar Day 18 Hello, dear friends, and welcome back to our Medieval Advent Calendar. Today we’re teleporting ourselves to Christmas 1183, to the fortress town of Chinon in the Loire Valley—not with a book for once, but with…
Hello friends, and welcome back to our Medieval Advent Calendar. Today we’re heading back into the kitchen to make something of a simple dish for the XIIth century, that could make a very chic starter in the XXIst. All of…
Hello everyone, and Merry Advent ! If I haven’t lost you yet, through the maze of Kings and knights, palaces and cups of sage wine, then today might be the day. But hang tight, we’ll get through this together. When…
Hello friends, and welcome to the 15th day of Advent. We’re heading back to Poitiers today, to visit two exceptional cathedrals connected to Aliénor of Aquitaine. The child in me is fascinated with this small, insignificant thing : since Aliénor…
Hello friends, and welcome back to our Medieval adventure. Today I’m recommending two books for the French speaking readers, though I hope some day you’ll find them in translation, since they are a beautiful tribute to Aliénor of Aquitaine’s life.…
