Many cultures have produced mythologies of the frightening undead. But in the modern American imagination, our ideas about Vampires can largely be traced to the early 1700’s. In Eastern Europe, tales of the deceased who somehow caused the deaths of their living neighbors began to arise.The first documented episode came out of the Serbian village
Undead Mythologies of Vampires from Eastern Europe Read More »
What was it about Eastern Europe in the 1700s that brought about so many stories of Vampires? Some scholars note that Western European countries like Britain might have enjoyed these legends because they could make people feel civilized — those “eastern places” were rural, Catholic, superstitious, and backward in the minds of nationalist Brits.However, there
The Blood Disorder Porphyria and Vampirism Read More »
And what would a week’s worth of Eastern European Vampire posts be without a story on Vlad “the Impaler” Dracula? I should especially include Vlad because Boston College, where I got my Ph.D., had not one but *two* Dracula specialists when I was studying there.In American pop culture, the Vampire repertoire takes its cue from
Vald “The Impaler” Tepes and His Minor Inspiration of Dracula Read More »
I don’t know why the central character in this Ancient Greek image is smiling: she is getting stabbed. Maybe because the artist was taking sides with the playwright Aeschylus, who thought Clytemestra deserved to die? Athens in the 5th c BCE was a civilization whose male citizens prided themselves on having a democracy with a
The Ancient Greek Story of Clytemestra Read More »
This is a satirical comic from the magazine _Life_ from 1888. In it, the moral crusader Anthony Comstock is shown accosting an artist painting a woman bathing. “Don’t you suppose I can imagine what is under the water?”, proclaims Comstock.It is a fitting caption for the man who gave his name to the indecency law
The Comstock Act of 1872 Read More »
“There never was a greater crime against humanity,” wrote the famed Byzantine scholar Sir Steven Runciman, “than the Fourth Crusade.” And although unfortunately untold numbers of atrocities could easily compete for this claim, certainly the sack of the glorious city of Constantinople marks a horrifyingly violent chapter in the history of Christianity.The city had been
The Horrific Tale of the Fourth Crusade Read More »
In the early 20th century, science was trendy. Unfortunately, so was bigotry, and the eugenics movement took advantage of the scientific-sounding language of genetics to promote the idea that certain types of people (pretty much white, native-born, able-bodied, and Protestant) needed to propagate for the greater good of humanity. Enter the “Fitter Family Contests” held
“Fitter Family Contests” of the Early 20th-Century Read More »
The global situation right now is dominated by discussion of COVID-19, as well as the Herculean attempts to create a vaccine for the disease. And as reports of the Phase III trials start to come in, we can look at this photo — a scientist’s laboratory from the early 20th century, cluttered and filthy. Rotting
Thomas Morgan and Gene Studies Read More »
“The good thing about science,” writes astronomy popularizer Neil deGrasse Tyson, “is that it’s true whether you believe in it or not.” One could also state that the opposite can be the case — merely wishful thinking will not alter the rules of the material world. Or the biological one. But this is not what
Soviet Scientist Trofim Lysenko and Agriculture Read More »
Medieval violent bunnies onstage for this post, which makes me laugh no matter what.We do not expect these furry (mostly) vegetarian creatures to be shown inciting bloodshed, or picking on poor unarmored monks (slide two), or mauling naked men when they are sleeping (slide three), or viciously destroying King Arthur’s entourage (the Rabbit of Caerbannog,
Medieval Violent Bunnies and Knighthood Read More »
Medieval warfare less often squared equivalent armies on the ground against each other, and more often entailed raiding and sieges. In a pre-gunpowder arena, a castle’s walls and well armed keep could withstand months of an invader’s armies. The offensive side used a variety of tactics to get their opponents to surrender, including throwing stones
The Medieval Siege of Rochester Castle Read More »
The two pictures shown here accompanied two of the most important “aha!” moments in history. The first is “Photo 51,” taken under the laboratory research of Rosalind Franklin. It shows an X-ray diffraction pattern of DNA, and Franklin, Watson, and Crick used it to figure out the molecular structure of life itself.The second is a
Famous Images From Science Read More »
I am going to do a magic trick for you — take a look at the two photos here: one is a 15th century painting of a Locust, and the other is Ernie Chambers, the longest-serving state senator of Nebraska (46 years and counting). And my hocus pocus will be to show how these two
The Similarities of a Locust and Senator Ernie Chambers Read More »
The Scientific Revolution that developed in Europe did not always lead to the embracing of rationality. This engraving by William Hogarth from 1751 is a case in point. You see in this image a grand display of the dissection of a corpse at the hands of professional anatomists. Yet even though the endeavour might have
Europe’s Murder Act of 1751 Read More »
My theme for the next while will be. . . . “ancient and Medieval rulers who died horribly according to their gleeful enemies who ended up recording history.” This is a fun theme, because writers of Days of Yore liked to tart up their death narratives, and if they could finesse a good sense of
The Death of Earl Godwin of Kent of Southern England Read More »
Next up on the docket in my series of “rulers who died horribly and the authors who recorded their deaths with delight” is the Ancient Roman Emperor Galerius (d. 311). Galerius lived in a particularly turbulent era of the Roman Empire, when both civil and foreign wars had become an endemic part of life. But
The Maladies of Ancient Roman Emperor Galerius Read More »
Third in my series of chroniclers who regaled their readers with narratives of the horrific deaths of rulers is the story of the demise of King Edward II of England. Edward, who had earned the enmity of powerful aristocrats as well as his wife, had been forced to abdicate his throne and was imprisoned when
The Rumored Gruesome Death of King Edward II of England Read More »
Still developing my posts “on the horrendous deaths of leaders gleefully described by the historians and chroniclers who hated them,” I bring you the grizzly tale of the Byzantine Emperor Nikephoros I. You can see him here in this painting — not the one with the crown on the left, though. Rather, Nikephoros — or
Emperor Nikephoros and His Enemies Read More »
Here are some of the soldiers of the famed terracotta army, constructed on the demand of the first emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang, as part of a grand mausoleum dedicated to himself.Qin Shi Huang was known for many achievements — standardizing weights across his lands, unifying China, beginning new construction of the Great Wall,
Qin Shi Huang’s Terracotta Army Read More »
This is John R. Baylor, a politician and military leader for the Confederate forces during the American Civil War. In 1861 he brought his troops from Texas into New Mexico to threaten Union forces near Las Cruces. Although they were outnumbered 500 Union soldiers to 200 Confederates, Baylor’s men were victorious.The path towards the Union
Baylor Canyon and John R. Baylor Read More »
