The Queens of England (as in the consorts of Kings) during the early Medieval periods of English history rarely receive any coverage in the history books. Hands up anyone who can name the wife of...
Historians in Georgia made a surprise discovery during restoration work, when they happened upon the location of the tomb of a renowned king from the 11 th century. Workers uncovered the gravestone...
At the edge of the world lies the last trace of Viking Christianity. Urnes Stave Church (c. 1130 AD) stands tall in Sognefjord in the west of Norway, yet it represents as much of an end as it does a...
Archaeologists were surprised to discover that “weird ruins” in a Turkish lake are actually a nearly 1,600-year-old basilica. Moreover, the city associated with the submerged church has been a key...
Dan Brown wrote The Da Vinci Code, inspired by Henry Lincoln and his two co-authors’ The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail . The Norwegian researcher Harald Boehlke was inspired by the same book. Lincoln...
For over 900 years, people have been telling stories of wicked witches who have used Black Magic to overthrow kings. Morgan Le Fay in Arthurian legends of the early 12th century is thought to have...
A team of archaeologists have recently excavated the remains of a church on Lindisfarne (Holy Island) in Northumberland. Experts describe the newly discovered church as one of the most significant...
Ethiopia is a land full of ancient relics. For example, the fossil remains of the earliest hominins were found in Ethiopia. The oldest stone tools known to have been intelligently manufactured by...
I uncovered a curious tale about a scrubby patch of land while writing a book on the folklore and history of East Anglia. Marked on modern maps as Lushbush, you pass it heading eastwards out of the...
In many countries, laws prohibit employers from discriminating based on sex. However, exemptions to this law are often made for religious orders. The Roman Catholic Church is adamant that women...
The city of Roses (Greek: Rhode) in Catalonia, Spain, founded most probably in 776 BC, became the basis for some remarkable stories that last from ancient times until now. In accordance with its...
A team of archaeologists at Historic Jamestown is attempting to solve one of the biggest mysteries of the first English settlements in America: a knight’s gravestone that has been embedded into the...
Beneath the city of Rome, among its ancient remains, lie many complexes of catacombs. One of the oldest of these is the one dedicated to Saint Agnes. Agnes (or Agatha) was a beautiful young woman who...
The Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem is considered to be the holiest site in Christianity. According to tradition, this was the place where Jesus Christ was crucified, buried, and...
The Maison Carrée (which means ‘Square House’ in French) is an ancient monument located in Nîmes, a city in the Occitanie region of southern France. This building was built during the 1st century BC...
Harald Bluetooth survives history as among the most famous Viking chieftains, primarily because his personal rune stone has been repurposed for the Bluetooth software programmed into our phones, cars...