Life as a medieval jester encompassed more than whimsical performances; it was a complex role integral to the fabric of courtly life. Despite common misconceptions, jesters were often well-educated...
From the 11th to 14th centuries, medieval Europe was home to a class of poet-musicians known as troubadours. They started out in Occitania in the 11th century before spreading across much of the...
The meticulous art of handcrafting legal wigs for British courts weaves a tapestry of tradition that reaches back through the annals of time, tracing its origins to the late 17th century . Entrusted...
A research project has finally solved an archaeological mystery in America . Experts believe that they now know how a Native American people, the Calusa who lived in Florida, were able to develop and...
In Mexico , two ancient ball courts have been found in a remote highland area. This is forcing experts to rethink how an important ballgame and cultural practice emerged in ancient Mexico. The...
The Supreme court in India has finally ended perhaps the world’s most controversial property dispute. The judges’ ruled that the holy site of Ayodhya should be given to members of the Hindu religion...
One of the more unusual aspects of the Medieval world was that animals could be put on trial like human beings. Yes, there was such a thing as legal animal trials! While the veracity of many Medieval...
Born into the era of intellectual and artistic reawakening, John Dee quickly rose through Elizabethan society as a scholar, philosopher, navigator, doctor, and astrologer of the Queen of England...
Nine years ago, archaeologists unearthed a Roman bronze sculpture in farmland in Lahnau, Germany. They knew the discovery was both rare and valuable. The farmer who owns the land received a payment...
Diane de Poitiers was a French noblewoman and courtier who lived during the 16 th century. She is best remembered for being the mistress of Henry II, the King of France. This allowed Diane to wield...
Crocodiles and snakes wind their ways across the walls. The creatures swim in a sea of stars, moons and geometric designs... Traditional art and architecture are alive in the village of Tiébélé in...
The impotence trials of prerevolutionary France sound a bit like a political joke. France had mostly squelched the ability for couples to divorce, and it was in the wake of this that the impotence...
“Each of the criminals is bound to an iron pillar and the ox-headed demon is in the process of administering punishment—using iron or copper blades he peels the skin of the person's face, just as a...
The history of criminal justice and forensic science is really interesting because of all the absurd rituals and superstitions courts relied on to determine guilt or innocence right up until the 19th...
The Royal Road of the King of the World is a 20-degree band around the Earth that has 30 degrees north latitude as its center. This band is not, technically, the geographical center of the Earth,...
