The Medieval Things

03/09/2026

Watch your back!

02/09/2026

Perched on the southern shore of the Strait of Gibraltar, Ceuta has occupied one of the most contested pieces of real estate in Mediterranean history. Its position (a natural gateway between Africa and Europe) has made it a prize for Phoenicians, Romans, Byzantines, and successive Muslim powers over the course of two millennia. But it was a single conquest in the fifteenth century that set Ceuta on the path toward its present-day status: a Spanish city on African soil, and one of only two such cities in the world. This is the story of how Ceuta passed from Muslim rule to Portugal, and then, through the accident of dynastic union, to Spain.

Ceuta Before 1415
By the late Middle Ages, Ceuta had passed through the hands of the Umayyad Caliphate of Córdoba, the taifa kingdoms, the Almoravids, the Almohads, and finally the Marinid sultanate of Fez. It was a wealthy trading port, prized for its role in trans-Saharan commerce and its command of the strait.

The Portuguese Conquest (1415)
On 21 August 1415, Ceuta fell to a Portuguese expedition led by King John I of Portugal playing a leading role in the campaign. The city's capture is widely regarded by historians as the opening act of Portugal's overseas expansion, and by extension, of the broader European Age of Discovery. Ceuta became the first territory outside Europe to be conquered by a European power in the modern era, and it remained under Portuguese rule for well over a century and a half.

The Iberian Union and the Passage to Spain (1580)
Ceuta's transfer to Spanish sovereignty did not come by conquest, but by dynastic accident. The Portuguese succession crisis triggered by the death of King Sebastian I at the Battle of Alcácer Quibir (1578), followed by the death of the elderly Cardinal-King Henry, left the Portuguese throne without a clear heir. Philip II of Spain, who held a strong hereditary claim, pressed it successfully and was crowned king of Portugal in 1580, inaugurating the Iberian Union, the union of the Spanish and Portuguese crowns that would last until 1640. Ceuta, along with the rest of Portugal's territories and overseas possessions, was absorbed into this combined dynastic framework.

1640 a

31/08/2026

It's not about a powerful push, but a constant pressure.

Collaboration inside the list

30/08/2026

Some people still don't believe me when I talk about all this medieval things.

The best way to make them see it is.... Making them see it! You know where, with your phone or your 4k tv

29/08/2026

Maybe you think that it's not usual to receive hits on the feet, you are wrong.

Even when forbidden, feet receive sometimes halberdiers and two handed axes attention in buhurt and may receive a falchion or an axe in profight duels, please, maintain your sabaton in good condition

Take care!

28/08/2026

And this is how you take down a rival, step by step edition.

Tavastia Armigeri | buhurt | medieval combat sport
Medieval Combat Sport Finland

26/08/2026

El 12 de diciembre en Madrid se presenta como el evento de combate medieval en el que exploraremos las distintas categorías individuales de este deporte:

Profight, una aproximación a las artes marciales mixtas con armadura con distintas categorías de peso.

Duelos de mano y media, la esgrima histórica se mezcla con la armadura completa para presentar esta categoría.

Duelos de espada y broquel, en los que la velocidad y la técnica priman sobre la fuerza bruta.

Duelos de armas de asta, alabardas y lanzas en una mezcla de técnica y golpes contundentes

La cita tendrá lugar en

26/08/2026

Everything is about attitude

You may fall but you may fall smiling

Keep fighting, keep training

24/08/2026

24/08/2026

Over 400 pics, over 4 hours of video footage, highlights, released, available for you to share, just remember to mention the author The Medieval Things

The last batch of 111 pics is being updated right now, woh 2026 comes to an end, I would love to say that now I will rest, but its time for GOAT

I will miss you all, hope to see some of you at Belmonte's Challenge at CastillodeBelmonte-oficial

Enjoy full WOH 2026 through my lens

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