The early years of Geoffrey de Bouillon - on the job training for the First Crusade

Geoffrey (Godefroi, Godfrey ) de Bouillon, born around 1060, was a member of a prominent noble family in Bouillon, in the Ardennes region (now Belgium, province of Luxembourg), a part of the Duchy of Lower Lorraine (Lotharingia). What do we know about his origins, childhood and early years?

Forests to Farmland - The Age of Clearance in Medieval Europe

Between about 1050 and 1150, Europe underwent one of its most dramatic environmental and social transformations. Vast forests, wetlands, and marginal lands were cleared to make way for farmland, villages, and monastic estates, reshaping both the landscape and the structures of medieval society. What combination of forces, from climate and technology to institutions and population growth, drove this sweeping “Age of Clearance”?