In 1353, the Italian author Giovanni Boccaccio completed one of the most important works of fiction in history, _The Decameron_. The book tells the story of ten young aristocrats – seven women and three men – who spend ten days together, passing the time by taking turns telling different stories. The occasion for their gathering […]
“The Decameron” and Escaping the Bubonic Plague Read More »
We humans are innately social creatures, and even the introverts among us long to feel included in a community we consider our own. Feelings of isolation cause grief and sadness, both now and in ages across time. The Old English poem known as “The Wanderer” evokes these emotions, telling the story of a man far
The Desire for Human Company Read More »
In the Medieval and Early Modern periods, natural science blended with occult studies, and this is why the modern subject of chemistry arose out of the ancient practice of alchemy. This intermixing of the mysterious and the concrete can be illustrated by the concept of a Diana’s Tree.Diana was the Ancient Roman Goddess of the
Blending of Natural Sciences and Occult Studies Read More »
This Medieval map shows the northern and southern hemispheres, with the constellations drawn to represent the stars’ positions. Although it is likely ordinary Europeans could point out different patterns in the sky, you had to have elite training to be able to pass yourself off as a real star-gazer: it was totally normal for people
Medieval Map of the Hemispheres Read More »
What better way to divert our attention from present maladies than an article about Medieval farts? Passing gas had medical and social components, but the documentation on this subject turns out to be ripe in all directions.Holding farts in was considered unhealthy. For instance, the _Regimen Sanitatis Salernitanum_ is a 12th-century Latin poem that warns
Social and Medical Needs of Medieval Farting Read More »
In the centuries before China was unified as an empire, petty kingdoms and warlords struggled for influence in a centuries-long diplomatic chess game. The bells shown here from the Late Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 BCE) might have been owned by wealthy aristocrats engaged in such manuvers, and used for ceremonial importance, which would have
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Here you see the image of Mary holding her infant son . . . The first of its kind in Western Europe, it appears in the_Book of Kells_, the most famous manuscript of Medieval Ireland, and it dates to about 800 CE. The centuries that proceeded its composition were chaotic ones indeed, with warlords in
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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
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“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 »
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 »
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 »
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 »
The Ancient Romans often anthropomorphasized abstract ideas, and the notion of “Rumor” was one of the most concrete examples of this. In the Late Republic, when politicians jockied amongst themselves to win the votes of citizen men of the assemblies, knowlegde about basic political ongoings was dependent upon oral transmission. Patrons worked to have their
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In the Central Middle Ages, before the witch-hunt craze of the 16th century, more men than women were accused of sorcery. However, the association of women resorting to unscrupulous and un-Christian ways to fly had become well entrenched by 1500 CE.In a manuscript called the _canon Episcopi_, which might have been written in the late
The Waldensians – Flying Witches Read More »
Pesky flies torment this poor dog in a Medieval manuscript from the early 1300s. Then and now, we have seen these insect vermin as an annoyance. In the Middle Ages, however, flies were associated with something far more sinister — demons.So it was that in the fourteenth century, a poor woman called Ermine de Reims
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There is a common misconception that Native American Indians had no exposure to alcohol before contact with the Europeans. This idea extends to imagining that AmerIndians were genetically less able to metabolize alcohol than the explorers from the Old World. In fact, neither of these ideas are true, as the laws and traditions of the
Indigenous Aztec’s and Their Alcohol Consumption Read More »
This painting by Francois Fleury-Richard shows a scene from the children’s fairy-tale “Little Red Riding Hood.” The illustration dates to about 1820, which is centuries after the original story developed. However, some features of this piece render the original spirit of the tale better than later versions. We see the smallness of the girl, who
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This fresco from the first-century ruins of Pompeii show that Ancient Roman physicians knew how to practice surgery. In a world without the scientific method, knowledge of germ theory, or antibiotics, doctors could get a lot wrong. However, they got enough right to establish some medical practices that endured for ages, and have influenced medicine
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When I think of Matthew Hopkins, self-styled “Witchfinder General,” I think about episodes in human history where we really went wrong. This image is from Hopkins’ 1647 book, _The Discovery of Witches_, and shows him overseeing the confessions of women naming their demonic familiars. Under Matthew Hopkins’ short career of three years, about 300 women
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