Ancient FM

01/14/2026

“His big idea was that the highest experience of God was an experience of song,” Glover added. “And his prose writing strains towards poetry to express that.” https://www.zmescience.com/science/archaeology/scholars-found-a-lost-medieval-masterpiece-sitting-on-a-shelf-in-a-british-school-library/

I love old books and manuscripts, so this piece of news interests me: A remarkable 14th century manuscript has just been identified in the library and archives of Shrewsbury School. It’s been confirmed as the only complete surviving copy of Emendatio vitae (The Emending of Life), an original work by the medieval writer Richard Rolle.

Richard Rolle was an eccentric Yorkshire hermit and mystic. As scribes copied his work, they trimmed passages and replaced his unusual turns of phrase with safer, more conventional language. For instance, the line, “Make my mind drunk on the boiling wine of your honeysounding sweetness,” survives intact only in the Shrewsbury manuscript.

Headmaster of Shrewsbury School, Leo Winkley, said: “This manuscript reveals the text as it was actually written by one of the most influential English authors of the medieval period. It is also a powerful reminder of the depth and continuity of our Ancient ‘Taylor’ Library, founded in 1606 as a place of universal learning for the pupils of Shrewsbury School.”

Photo is of the Taylor Library, courtesy of Shrewsbury School
Source articles: ZME Science and My Shrewsbury

12/19/2025

A new medieval fantasy novel from our curator!

This evocative pic of Chetham’s Library’s at night reminds me of Taur’s nighttime escape from a medical college in my new novel, The Vessel. Chetham’s was founded in 1653, making it the oldest surviving public library in Britain. It was established under the will of Humphrey Chetham (1580-1653), a prosperous Manchester textile merchant, banker, and landowner. The building that houses the library was built in 1421 and is considered one of the most complete medieval complexes to survive in the north west of England.

More about The Vessel: wkgreyling.com

Photo is by S.M. Harrison

12/03/2025

Did the Medieval Church Believe that the Tritone Could Summon the Devil?

From terrifying medieval depictions of Satan to the enduring myth of the “Devil’s interval,” this article uncovers what people really believed about the tritone and its place in medieval music.

11/22/2025

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11/19/2025

Photo: 15th century St Agnes in Cawston by Paul Harley

11/01/2025

“This is an incredibly early witness to our modern use of musical notations at its very dawn”

A newly identified 9th-century manuscript leaf may contain some of the earliest known examples of written music in Western Europe — what experts are calling a rare witness to the very dawn of musical notation. The manuscript leaf is being offered on the public market for $80,000 US.

10/22/2025

Fantasy books contain a variety of real and made up swear words and phrases. I’ve created some for my Aure series. Which have you heard?
Here’s a list of medieval swear words: https://www.medievalists.net/2023/05/medieval-swear-words/

10/15/2025

Ancient FM thanks Ensemble Les Sonadori for donating songs from their Renaissance album, Les Violons et les Valois. Songs from this wonderful album have now been added to the playlist.
Check out the ensemble here: https://sonadori.org/

10/08/2025

Ancient FM thanks Ensemble Benedictus for donating songs from their fabulous new album, Music for the Canterbury Tales. Songs from this album have now been added to the playlist.
Sample them here! https://ensemblebenedictus.bandcamp.com/album/music-for-the-canterbury-tales

10/06/2025

From our curator…

Available now for preorder—the next Aure book. Links are in the comments.

Synopsis: There’s a secret in Abernay Forest, one that allows Doctor Taur to create miraculous cures. When his talents reach the king’s ears, he is called to the castle where he meets Prince Oswin and is asked to perform an impossible procedure. As he struggles to decide what to do, the castle is attacked and the king slaughtered. The prince, now in danger, sneaks Taur out and they flee.

Meanwhile, an orphaned girl named Luna spies interlopers in Abernay Forest excavating an ancient entombed creature—the source for Taur’s cures. Aware that the creature harbors a dangerous otherworlder, Luna tries to halt the excavation. But it’s too late. The wraithlike otherworlder goes free…and enters Luna, taking over her body.

Fugitives Taur and Oswin must find her before she releases a deadly plague from another world.

10/02/2025

09/24/2025

A six-week course exploring medieval music and the intertwined powers of politics and religion.