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Catholicism

Painting of the 1680 auto de fé, at Plaza Mayor in Madrid.		Source: Public Domain

The Horrors of the Spanish Inquisition Explained (Video)

The Spanish Inquisition's enduring impact is evident in modern Spain, where regions affected by it still exhibit socioeconomic indicators reflective of its historical legacy. Originating from Pope...
Representational image of Saint Thomas Aquinas. Source: ckybe / Adobe Stock

Who Was Thomas Aquinas and Why Is He Mentioned So Often?

Thomas Aquinas, who lived from 1225 to 1274 AD, played a crucial role in medieval Catholic theology and philosophy. Thanks to his profound insights and masterful integration of faith and reason,...
Fresco of a priest sporting a coronal tonsure hairstyle. Source: Public domain

Roman Catholic Priests Rocked Seriously Quirky ‘Tonsure’ Hairdos

In the annals of religious history, the Roman Catholic tonsure hairstyle stands out as a peculiar and enduring tradition. From the early centuries of Christianity to its eventual abolition by the...
Representational image of the pious Saint Drogo. Source: nsit0108 / Adobe Stock

Saint Drogo was the Bilocating Patron of the Unattractive

Sometimes it really does seem that there is a saint for everything. For among the vast pantheon of saints stands Saint Drogo, a 12th-century Flemish nobleman who, after experiencing an inexplicable...
Battle of Rocroi was a turning point in the Thirty Years War.	Source: Augusto Ferrer-Dalmau/CC BY-SA 3.0

Thirty Years’ War: The Horror Of Europe’s Bloodiest Conflict (Video)

In the 16th century, Europe witnessed a seismic shift as Latin Christianity fractured into Catholics and Protestants, sparking the bloodiest conflict in its history—the Thirty Years' War . Fueled by...
Fontanelle Cemetery, Naples. Source: Massimo Santi / Adobe Stock.

Fontanelle Cemetery and Naples’s Cult of the Souls of Purgatory (Video)

The Naples's Cult of the Souls of Purgatory centers around a unique belief system related to the souls in purgatory . The Fontanelle Cemetery, a symbolic location for this cult, evokes an eerie...
Luther burning the papal bull, 10 December 1520; Karl Ludwig Bernard Christian Buckhorn, after Franz Ludwig Catel (from Spamers Illustrierte Weltgeschichte, 1894, 5[1], 216/217). Source: Juulijs / Adobe Stock.

Religious Revolution: Unveiling the Protestant Reformation (Video)

The Protestant Reformation of the 16th century shook Europe's cultural identity to its core. It was a revolution that emerged from centuries of political and social grievances against the Christian...
Did Pope Gregory IV really start a war on cats in the 13th century? Source: SlothAstronaut / Adobe Stock

The Cat-Quisition: Pope Gregory IX Started a War on— Wait for It—Cats

Anyone with a thing against cats may get some satisfaction from a weird history “fact” circulating on the internet. Used as widespread clickbait, a frequently repeated story claims that in the 13th...
Vatican City

Vatican City: The Tiniest Country with the Biggest Influence

Vatican City, known officially as the Vatican City State, is the smallest and one of the most remarkable countries in the world. It is enclaved within Rome , the capital of Italy . There are only...
Representation of genocides with photo of stacked human skulls.      Source: papi8888 / Adobe stock.

Suffering the Conquerors: 5 Worst Genocides in Ancient History

The history of our world has always been a bloody and difficult affair, full of struggles, wars and conquests. And in the centuries before our own, tribes and chieftains, kingdoms and empires, all...
La Papesse Jeanne’ (Pope Joan), the purported female Pope (Bibliotheque Nationale de France.)

Researchers Find Physical Evidence for the Existence of a Female Pope

Researchers from an Australian University have announced in a press release a major discovery in relation to the existence of a female Pope in the early Middle Ages. For a long while, experts,...
The Abyss of Hell, Sandro Botticelli, 1480s

What is hell?

The recent dispute over whether Pope Francis denied the existence of hell in an interview attracted wide attention . This isn’t surprising, since the belief in an afterlife, where the virtuous are...