Notes on a Fifteenth Century Spoon

This paper results from a routine inspection by the authors during the course of English Heritage's Monuments Protection Programme (cf. e.g. Wainwright 1993, 25–31 Discoveries of new information and new interpretations of known sites are frequent outcomes of MPP research, and consideration is currently being given to publicising such discoveries systematically. The discovery of the church at Taplow, however, is perhaps one of the more significant recent finds and, as such, merits more immediate public discussion.     

Ottoman Merchants in Constantinople During the First Half of the Fifteenth Century

Abstract

Despite growing interest among both Byzantinists and Ottoman scholars in the respective long-distance commercial ventures of Byzantine Greek and Ottoman Muslim merchants, studies focusing on the trade relations between these two groups have not yet been undertaken. This article, which examines some sources that document the presence and economic activities of Ottoman Turks in Constantinople during the first half of the fifteenth century, is intended to serve as a contribution to this neglected field of study. Moreover, by means of an examination of commercial relations, the article aims to shed further light on the daily, informal contacts between the Byzantines and the Ottomans which remains a relatively unexplored aspect of Byzantine-Ottoman relations.     

Original DocumentsDivination in the Fifteenth Century by Aid of a Magical Crystal

It is rare to find infant or neo-natal burials in the cemeteries of Roman Britain before the fourth century. There is evidence to suggest that it was as a result of the influence of Christianity that these small bodies came to be buried informal or designated cemeteries, rather than merely being disposed of in convenient pits or ditches, or under the floors or just outside the houses in settlements and towns. It would seem that the presence of neo-natal burials given the same burial rites as adults in a west—east cemetery carefully laid out to avoid intersection of graves or disturbance of other burials is a pointer to identification of the cemetery as Christian.