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Hilda of Whitby
Hilda of Whitby (also known as Saint Hilda of Whitby, l. 614-680 CE) was the founder and abbess of the monastery at Whitby, Kingdom of Northumbria, Britain. She was a Northumbrian princess who converted to Christianity with the rest of the...
Article
Twelve Famous Women of the Middle Ages
Women in the Middle Ages were frequently characterized as second-class citizens by the Church and the patriarchal aristocracy. Women's status was somewhat elevated in the High and Late Middle Ages by the cult of the Virgin Mary and courtly...
Article
Ancient Christianity’s Effect on Society & Gender Roles
Christianity began as a sect of Judaism in Judea in the 1st century CE and spread to the cities of the Eastern Roman Empire and beyond. In these cities, non-Jews, Gentiles, wanted to join the movement, and these Gentile-Christians soon outnumbered...
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St. Hilda monument, Whitby
Detail from a monument to St. Hilda (614 - 680 CE) in Whitby, England. The coiled ammonite shells at St. Hilda's feet are a reference to a legend in which she turned snakes which plagued Whitby to stone. This legend helped to explain the...
Image
Hilda of Whitby, Grace Cathedral
A depiction of St. Hilda of Whitby (614 - 680 CE) from one of the stained glass windows in Grace Cathedral, San Francisco, US.
Definition
Idunn
Idunn (pronounced Ih-dune) is a fertility goddess in Norse mythology who holds the apples of eternal youth the gods rely on to remain young and healthy. The Norse gods were not immortal – they just lived very long lives – and the apples of...
Definition
Thor
Thor (Old Norse: Þórr) is the Norse god of thunder, the sky, and agriculture. He is the son of Odin, chief of the gods, and Odin's consort Jord (Earth) and husband of the fertility goddess Sif, who is the mother of his son Modi and daughter...
Article
Norse-Viking Symbols & Meanings
A symbol is an image or object which represents an abstract concept, often having to do with one's religious beliefs. Every civilization, from the most ancient to the present, has made use of symbols to make the abstract concrete and visible...
Definition
Northern Crusades
The Northern or Baltic Crusades were military campaigns organised by popes and western rulers to convert pagans to Christianity in the 12th to 15th century. Unlike in the Holy Land, where military campaigns were aimed at liberating former...
Definition
Great Northern War
The Great Northern War took place from 1700 to 1721 and was fought between Russia and Sweden during the reign of Peter I of Russia (Peter the Great). One of the key causes of the war was Peter the Great’s desire to have territory on the Baltic...