This Week in History

January 3, 2026

Celebrating Tolkien’s Birthday: The Medieval Scholar Who Created Middle-earth

January 3, 1892 – September 2, 1973 Today marks the birthday of John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, born on January 3, 1892, in Bloemfontein, South Africa. While millions know him as the author of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, fewer appreciate that Tolkien was first and foremost a medieval scholar—a Professor of Anglo-Saxon Continue reading

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Anglo-Saxon, books, fantasy, J.R.R Tolkien, Literature, Lord of the Rings, Medieval Literature, Non Fiction, tolkien, Tolkien Birthday, writing
December 28, 2025

This Week in Medieval History: The Murder of Thomas Becket

December 25-29, 1170 This week marks the anniversary of one of the most shocking events in medieval English history: the brutal murder of Archbishop Thomas Becket in Canterbury Cathedral on December 29, 1170. But the story truly begins four days earlier, on Christmas Day, when Becket made a fateful decision that would seal his doom. Continue reading

This Week in History, Topical Article

Angevins, Canterbury, Henry II, Medieval, This Week in Medieval History, Thomas Becket