The checkerboard was a key design feature in early heraldry or coats of arms. Heraldry first appeared in the second half of the 12th Century, when crusaders introduced symbols on their shields ...

UK’s Medieval Graffiti Full of Subversive Pagan Symbols The straw king, a medieval graffiti drawing that could be a pagan fertility symbol. Photo: Lincolnshire Medieval Graffiti Project.

The eyes have it. | Valerie Everett, Flickr // CC BY-SA 2.0 If you feel someone may be looking at you in the cemetery, you might be near a tombstone engraving with an eye. Often surrounded in a ...

Heraldry was once used to tell armies apart on the battlefield. Today's modern re-enactments of medieval battles follow a rich European tradition — with a twist.

The sword's hilt is made up of a six-and-a-half-inch guard, once-leather grip and nut-shaped pommel. Ruben de Heer. In March 2024, construction workers were digging in a river on a Dutch estate ...