You are looking at a detail of contemporary artist Peter Booth’s painting, “Apocolyptic Landscape” (1983) — the shapes are jagged and random; the red, black, and brown coloring evokes filth; and the black and white streaks appear flattened next to some penetrating rondels in red and yellow. It is a fitting accompaniment to discuss another […]
The Apocalypses by Apostle Peter and Peter Booth Read More »
This disgusting, but hardly pornographic, illustration of a monk with open lesions on his penis is illustrative of the horrific pandemic of Syphilis that emerged in Europe in the late 15th century. Causing sores on genitalia in its first phase, the disease eventually results in ulcers, hair loss, and physical dismemberment among other things before
Epidemic of Syphilis in the 15th-Century Read More »
Harry Potter fans might recognize this plant from a seveth-century Italian herbal: it is a mandrake, or in Latin, “mandragora.” So named because Ancient and Medieval Europeans thought the way that its root resembles a man (or a woman, see illustration three) was just so extra, the mandrake gained a reputation for producing effects far
The Mandrake Root in European History Read More »
Just how important is a single book? In the case of the one featured here, _De materia medica_, the answer is 1500 years: that’s how long this text dominated the genre of applied medical textbooks. The most important description of plants and their uses for over a millennia and a half, it wasn’t rediscovered in
Medicinally Used Plants in “De Materia Medica” Read More »
The Byzantine Empire had a good run, from the move of the Roman capital from Rome to Constantinople in 330 CE to the takeover of the illustrious city in 1453. The individual emperors, however, frequently were not as lucky in their reigns. Here you see an 11th-century manuscript showing the murder of Emperor Romanos III
Mutilations of Byzantine Emperors Read More »
If you wanted to get ahold of the most important book of magic in the Middle Ages — I mean, inspire-the-most-fantasy-Buffy-the-Vampiresque sorts of spells magic, replete with demons, charms, incantations, arcane use of astrology, etc., then you would have to look no further than the _Picatrix_.It sounds like the name of a Pokemon, but Picatrix
“Picatrix” the Middle Ages Book of Magic Read More »
Today begins the Chinese New Year for 2021, when many rituals and celebrations welcome in the future in hopes that it will bring happiness, health, and prosperity. One of the traditions is shown in the image here: the drinking of a sort of wine called “Tusu.” Of course, it was specially important for the Emperor
Chinese New Year and Drinking “Tusu” Read More »
Is it always the case that women who disguise their female sex are transgender? When we study the past, we need to think about how people doing the same actions in days of yore might have thought about their identities differently than us moderns. The transgendered monks of Byzantium are a case in point.There are
Transgendered Monks of Byzantium Read More »
Chinese folklore has many accounts of female ghosts — the one featured here is the Nü gui, a terrifying vengeful spirit of a woman who committed suicide because of a crime against her, often rape. Such spirits might appear as beautiful ladies who sexually seduce their male prey and drain their “Yang” life-force essence.This type
Chinese Folklore the Nu Gui Ghost Read More »
“Are you not entertained?” chides the gladiator Maximus to the crowds watching him in the 2000 film by Ridley Scott. The question teases all of us humans, because of our penchant for being attracted to drama — sports, scandal, and story.In Byzantine history this penchant for the dishy reached an acme with the author Procopius,
Author Procopius and the Chariot Sports Team Blues Read More »
The myth of Prometheus is one of the oldest in Ancient Greek mythology. In the _Theogany_, dating from around 700 BCE, the author Hesiod tells the story of how the God Zeus took vengeance on his Titan rival for giving humans the knowledge of fire — he had Prometheus chained to a rock, and each
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My four-year old nephew has learned about swear words. Coaching her son about the importance of context, she tells him “words have power, don’t they?” (My sister is very smart).Some words, of course, have more combustibility than others, but readers here no doubt can agree that their power lies in the mind of the person
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Why I had never heard of Paschal Beverly Randolph (1825-1875) before this week seems crazy to me: he is one of the most fascinating people in American history. So that you, dear readers, also cease to abide in similar ignorance, might I introduce this man?.Randolph was descended on his father’s side from the white Virginia
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Here you see an image from around 1800 of one Chloe Russell, the purported author of _The Complete Fortune Teller and Dream Book_. Only a handful of copies exist today, but they provide a tantalizing glimpse into the tastes of some Americans for the occult, and an association of black Americans having access to magical
Purported Author Chloe Russell Read More »
This painting by Caspar David Friedrich called _Two Men Contemplating the Moon( (1819-20) was an inspiration for playwrite Samuel Beckett’s _Waiting for Godot_, often cited as a top contender for the most important play from the 20th century. Although it was written in French in 1948/9, Beckett himself translated the play into English, where it
Caspar David Friedrich’s “Two Men Contemplating the Moon” Read More »
April Fools’ day is a centuries-old custom, but its current popularity stems back to 18th-century Britain, when it became popular to prank people. Often the jokes centered around sending someone off to do a fake errand or putting a teasing sign on someone’s behind (thus a synonym was “Tailie [tail] Day”).The image here showcases a
April Fools’ Day in Early Britain Read More »
This marble plaque from the Ancient Roman port city Ostia Antiqua shows a birthing scene, and you will no doubt notice that no men are present. Although the medical profession in Ancient Greece and Rome required extensive training and usually eliminated women from being doctors, enormous exceptions were made when it came to the treatment
Ancient Roman Women in Medicine Read More »
I have a good story for this Mother’s Day in the U.S.. It comes from a Hindu myth found in a sacred text called _The Bhagavata Purana_ (8th-10th c), which tells the story of the maternal love of Yasoda for her foster son, the God Krishna.Yasoda had no idea that she was raising a divine
Yasoda and Her Foster Son God Krishna Read More »
There is a stereotype about how vikings loved their beer and mead, and it wasn’t invented by Marvel Comics. Here, you see a stone carved with a scene of Scandinavians from the Early Middle Ages and they are enjoying their alcohol. In the Old Norse poem _Grímnismál_, some of the deceased warriors await the final
Traditional Norse Beer Drinking Read More »
Why do the same themes repeat in folklore — are they accidental? Do they reflect transmission of ideas? Or do they emerge out of a common social pattern? The tale of Bluebeard, first famously inscribed by Charles Perrault in 1697, tells a story featuring the trope of “young beautiful women whose curiosity results in bad
Charles Perrault’s “The Tale of Bluebeard” Read More »
