As the days of quarantine add up, many of us have expressed a strange sense of time becoming blurred — the hours we used to divide with our old routines have been upended, and our unchanging surroundings can sometimes make the feeling of time feel less progressive. In fact, of course, the external physical world […]
Wells Cathedral Clock in England Read More »
This beautiful site is the rocky island of Skellig Michael off the coast of western Ireland. It is a lonely and barren place now, as it was in the Early Middle Ages, when sometime between 500-700 CE hermits built a monastery there. These Christian monks wanted to spend their lives with as much solitude as
Rocky Skellig Michael in Western Ireland Read More »
This image of the famous ancient Chinese philosopher Laozi (aka Lao Tzu) dates to the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), and shows the semi-legendary Lao Tzu as an old man, peacefully riding atop a bull. It is a fitting image for one of the most famous figures in the history of Doaism/Taoism, which emphasizes cultivating an ability
Chinese Philosopher Laozi Read More »
This plague doctor mask from the Deutsches Historisches Museum was developed in the 17th century, and the prototype is usually attributed to the French physician Charles de Lorne. It was not worn during the infamous Black Death pandemic of the 14th century, but rather a couple centuries afterward: for instance, during an outbreak in 1656
Plague Doctor Mask Read More »
The object featured here – a box carved out of whale’s bone – comes from Britain in the early 700s, which was an age of fragmented states and political destabilization. The scene shown is a rendering of the sack of Jerusalem by the Romans, but to the onlooker the most obvious activity is that of
British Carved Whale Bone Box Read More »
This is the only depiction of Joan of Arc created in her own lifetime, and is a doodle out of the imagination of the illustrator made in 1429. In many ways — especially in her religious fervor and because she thought most women ought to behave conventionally — I find Joan’s personality grating. But the
Era Accurate Depiction of Joan of Arc Read More »
One of the most entertaining saints in the biz, Sainte Foy was known as the trickster saint (a reliquary holding some of her remains is on the second slide). She had all the usual chops to star in a holy cult centered around her: allegedly killed by Romans when she refused to do pagan sacrifices,
Sainte Foy and the Heist by the Monks of Conques Read More »
You are looking at the most famous labyrinth in Medieval history: that of the Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Chartres. In eleven concentric circles, the path wanders towards the center rosette. This labyrinth dates to about 1200, and is the most complete and largest of its type. The meaning of this maze has been debated —
The Cathedral of Notre Dame’s Labyrinth Read More »
“The Thunder, Perfect Mind” is a mesmerizing poem dating perhaps to the second century CE. It reflects the mingling of many different belief systems in the Roman Empire, such as those ideas popular with the Cult of the Egyptian Goddess Isis, shown here in a Roman-styled rendition.It takes the voice of a female divine being,
Isis in the Cult of the Egyptian Read More »
The Darlington Hiking Trail in south-central Pennsylvania runs over a seven-mile trajectory going east-west from the Susquehanna River to the Appalachian Trail, where the path turns into the Tuscarora Trail. The Darlington path actually predates the Appalachian Trail, having its origins from 1908, when people who began the Pennsylvania Alpine Club (such as the famed
South-Central Pennsylvania’s Darlington Hiking Trail Read More »
You are looking at a highly sophisticated mnemonic devise representing ideas about the nature of reality crafted by one of the most famous thinkers killed by the Catholic Church for heresy. Giordano Bruno (1548-1600) is well-known for refusing to recant his ideas in the face of the Inquisition. Many notions he favored ultimately found support
Mnemonic Devices on the Nature of Reality Read More »
Lots of fancy outfits featured here in this Late Medieval illumination of a feast — but take a look at the dudes, especially. Being an aristocratic male meant that you had to juggle the attributes of a military knight skilled in the art of appropriate murderous violence with the finesse of a metosexual able to
“The Book of Curtesye” and Being a Young Male in Medieval Times Read More »
Doesn’t this coquettish figure just tempt you all over the place? The beauty of the noblewoman’s features here contrasts with the beast she is riding — as well it should, because this a 15th-century rendition of the Whore of Babylon from Christian mythology, as featured in _The Book of Revelations_. The sad thing about this
The Whore of Babylon and Women’s Problematic Sexuality Read More »
The area comprising Pine Grove Furnace, near where this photo was taken, was practically clearcut in the 19th century as the lucrative iron works industry increased its influence. Many of the waterways were also harnessed in service to the area’s iron forges. In 1912 and 1913, the South Mountain Mining & Iron Company sold thousands
The Reforestation of Pine Grove Furnace Read More »
This might be a photo that repells at first glance — the hospital ward has long rows of undifferentiated beds, and they are surrounded by brick dehumanizing walls. In the final years of the Second World War, this ward in the hospital of Fatebenefratelli contained men, women, and children who were diagnosed with a disease
World War II and Syndrome K Read More »
Get ready to geek out here, because I am going to sing praises for the ways molecular chemical analysis is helping historians understand more clearly how people saw and created art in Medieval Europe. This first slide here is part of a cover page for a new paper published in _Scientific Advances_ which shows fabric
Scientific Explanations for Medieval European Colored Artwork Read More »
In this time of necessary lockdown, we pine for our horizons to be wider than they are now. Well might we receive the tale of Jeanne Baret (1740-1807), a woman with more chutzpah, curiosity, and mad resourcefulness than most of us can ever possess.Born a poor peasant in southern France, Jeanne finagled her way onto
The Tale of Jeanne Baret Read More »
This little beauty is an artist’s rendition of a Placoderm – an extinct fish from close to 500 million years ago which had a significant feature that has played out into the lives of all humans today. Early fishes from this geological period had jaws, and evolutionary scientists have recognized jawed vertebrate fish as the
The Extinct Placoderm and Adaptive Immune Systems Read More »
Unfortunately, the history of rape has a long legacy, in Medieval Europe as well as other places. (tw) This illuminated manuscript illustrates the pillaging of a city and the mass violence against women that frequently overlapped such occasions. Then and now, to rape women meant to take control and show power.In the Late Middle Ages,
The Rapes of Southern French Dijon Read More »
This funky-faced individual was Oswald von Wolkenstein, a poet, musical composer, and diplomat in the Late Middle Ages (1376/7-1445). Von Wolkenstein’s adventurous life included episodes of warfare, daring military ventures, and captivity, but what I find most intriguing is the conflation of his Christian world-view with his open admission of enjoying appetites that he considered
Oswald von Wolkenstein and his Sinful Appetites Read More »
