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Jake Leigh-Howarth

Jake Leigh-Howarth is a journalist and researcher from the UK with 8 years experience in music, travel, news, and historical journalism. He grew up in rural North Yorkshire where he developed a lifelong fascination for nature, mythology, folklore and history.

He holds a masters degree in Modern History from the University of Leeds, where he specialized in the travelogues of Western visitors to Soviet Central Asia. Inspired by the very same travelers, he moved to Bolivia in April 2021 where he also teaches as an ESL teacher and maintains a personal blog about his experiences.

Some of his favorite historical periods include the Tamerlane Empire, the Mongolian Empire, and the Eleusinian Mysteries of Ancient Greece. Aside from writing, his other passion is making music with his ongoing experimental rock project Pandelume.

https://jakelhwrites.wordpress.com

pandelume.bandcamp.com

History

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Posts

Zhang Qian leaving emperor Han Wudi around 130 BC, for his expedition to Central Asia. Mural in Mogao Caves, high Tang Dynasty (Public Domain)

11 May, 2022 - 16:56 Jake Leigh-Howarth

A Tale of Silk and Faraway Lands: Did the Romans Meet the Chinese?

Although located on opposite ends of the globe, ancient Rome and China were remarkably similar in their stature, as both commanded respect from the weaker kingdoms enveloped in their spheres of...

Though the crusades are numbered it would appear that the Pisans zero crusade was truly the first as it preceded the First Crusade by nearly 80 years. And from that time forward the fortunes of Pisa rose to incredible heights! Source: Lunstream / Adobe Stock

10 May, 2022 - 23:01 Jake Leigh-Howarth

Was Pisa’s 1016 Sardinia Expedition the First Crusade of Them All?

During the First Crusade, the city state of Pisa, like many other European powers, was moved by the pleas of Pope Urban II, who in 1095 ordered the Christian kingdoms of Europe to launch a holy...

Artists impression of Brahmin, representative of the of the Sena Dynasty elite, who were part of the Brahmin top-echelon caste in India who forged the Sena Empire. Source: Olena / Adobe Stock

2 May, 2022 - 14:59 Jake Leigh-Howarth

The Sena Empire: Rise and Fall of the Last Hindu Kings of Bengal

The kings of the Sena Empire, who were part of the Brahmin top-echelon caste in India, originally came from Karnata in southern India before they moved to the Bengali region. The history of the Sena...

Medieval battlefield. Source: Gorodenkoff / Adobe Stock

28 April, 2022 - 22:41 Jake Leigh-Howarth

Aeons of Battle: The 5 Longest Wars in History

In the annals of humanity there is one phenomenon that has consistently weaved and threaded itself through the fabric of time. It is, of course, war, which from the very earliest times until the...

A painting of the Antonine plague, by painter Joseph Wannenmacher, which was the beginning of the end for the western Roman Empire. Source: ChrisSchweigi / CC BY-SA 3.0

22 April, 2022 - 01:59 Jake Leigh-Howarth

The Antonine Plague and the Downfall of the Roman Empire

The Antonine plague, which happened between 165 and 180 AD, was a disastrous pandemic deemed so catastrophic that many historians have argued that it was the first major event to usher in the decline...

The bloodletting of a patient by a surgeon with three dismayed onlookers; represented by five faun-like demons. Source: Wellcome Images / CC BY 4.0

16 April, 2022 - 18:58 Jake Leigh-Howarth

Bleeding Your Way to Health: The Horrible History of Bloodletting

Bloodletting, or phlebotomy, is defined by the Oxford Dictionary as “the surgical removal of some of a patient’s blood for therapeutic purposes.” Throughout the majority of history, this gruesome,...

Detail of illustration showing Roman soldiers killing the Anglesey Druids, as described by Tacitus. Source: Public domain

14 April, 2022 - 14:59 Jake Leigh-Howarth

The Conquest of Anglesey and the Destruction of Druidism’s Last Stronghold

With a reputation for their savagery, the destruction of the Anglesey Druids and conquest of the Welsh Isle of Anglesey by the Romans put an end to the last pagan corner of Wales in 77 AD. But was...

Ezekiel’s Daniel may be Biblical, or it may be based on the Ugaritic Danel from the Tale of Aqhat, with evidence pointing in both directions. Prophets Daniel and Ezekiel on the south side of the medieval rood screen, St Firman's, North Crawley, Buckinghamshire, England. Source: World History

10 April, 2022 - 14:58 Jake Leigh-Howarth

Ezekiel’s Daniel: Biblical Hero or Ancient Ugaritic Legend?

Ezekiel’s Daniel could be a real person, or he could be the Danel of ancient Ugaritic legend, and evidence points both ways. In the Biblical prophecies of Ezekiel, Daniel is characterized as paragon...

A detail from the Urgell Beatus, depicting the Siege of (Christian) Jerusalem by Nebudchadnezzar, which was threat to Christianity as was the Moorish Islamic takeover of most of the Iberian Peninsula in the 8th century AD, when monk Beatus' work was so popular. Source: Public Domain

5 April, 2022 - 14:57 Jake Leigh-Howarth

Monk’s Beatus Apocalypses Warned of The End of the World

Based on interpretations of the Book of Revelations, the Commentary on the Apocalypses, written between 776 and 784 by visionary monk Beatus of Liébana, were a series of manuscripts that foretold...

Representational image of an Aztec warrior holding a double-ended spear. Source: Warpedgalerie / Adobe Stock

3 April, 2022 - 22:59 Jake Leigh-Howarth

Aztec Weapons: The Horrifying Aztec Armory

The Aztecs were a native Mesoamerican culture that thrived in the forests, jungles, and plains of Central Mexico from 1300 until 1521, when their capital Tenochtitlan was seized by Hernán Cortés and...

One of the Sinaia lead plates. Source: Vatra Stră-Rumînă

2 April, 2022 - 22:47 Jake Leigh-Howarth

The Sinaia Lead Plates: Dacian Treasure Trove or Impressive Fakes?

It was 1875 when 200 mysterious artifacts known as the Sinaia lead plates unexpectedly turned up at the Museum of Antiquities in Bucharest, Romania. They were all rectangular, apart from one, and...

American fantasy author Byron Preiss published “The Secret” in 1982 containing a set of treasure hunt clues leading to 12 buried treasure boxes, so far 3 have been found! Source: junce11 / Adobe Stock

31 March, 2022 - 01:58 Jake Leigh-Howarth

Byron Preiss’ Treasure Hunt In the Cult Classic “The Secret” Lives On!

In 1982, inspired by the emerging “armchair treasure hunt” niche spearheaded by Kit William’s 1979 “Masquerade,” American fantasy author Byron Preiss published a book entitled “The Secret” containing...

Israel’s Exodus from Egypt. Will archaeologists ever find concrete evidence for the Exodus and the metropolises the Israelites built in Egypt? Source: Public domain

25 March, 2022 - 21:58 Jake Leigh-Howarth

Mythical Metropolises: Pithom, Piramesses, and the Israelite Exodus of Egypt

The legendary Egyptian metropolises of Pithom and Piramesses were first noted in the Exodus story of the Old Testament. One of the foundations of the Jewish religion, it told of the plight of the...

The early Bronze Age Maykop culture of the Caucuses region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea dates to the 4th-3rd millennium BC and was connected to more places than you might think! Source: Google Arts & Culture

22 March, 2022 - 13:59 Jake Leigh-Howarth

The Maykop: Lost Bronze Age Culture of the Exotic Caucasus Region

In 1897, Professor Nikolay Veselovsky, a Russian archaeologist and orientalist, specializing in the history and archaeology of Central Asia, uncovered one of the greatest archaeological finds of...

Will the Llanganatis treasure ever be found? (Mr.mach /Adobe Stock) Insert: Inca gold figure of a man. (Dorieo/CC BY SA 4.0)

21 March, 2022 - 13:57 Jake Leigh-Howarth

Lost Inca Gold: The Quest for the Llanganatis Treasure

In 1532, following a lengthy civil war with his brother Huascar, Inca emperor Atahualpa was captured by Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro who seized the opportunity to conquer the lands of the...

Henry VIII shares a drink with Anne Boleyn, after Daniel Maclise, but she was soon to lose her head as Henry revolted against Catholic divorce laws. (Mike Licht / CC BY 2.0)

16 March, 2022 - 21:59 Jake Leigh-Howarth

Why is Henry VIII’s Tomb So Small When His Life Was So Very Opulent?

Hidden under the floor in St George’s Chapel in Windsor, England where thousands of people walk every day, a forgotten tomb lies. Its inhabitant was once one of England’s most exuberant kings, yet...

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