Papacy: Did you mean...?

The Sainte-Chapelle in Paris was originally consecrated as a private royal chapel in 1248 during the reign of King Louis IX of France (r. 1226-1270), who was known in life as rex christianissimus ('most Christian king') and canonized in death...

No city on earth has preserved its past quite like Rome. Visitors stand on bridges that were crossed by Julius Caesar and Cicero, walk around temples visited by Roman emperors, and step into churches that have hardly changed since popes celebrated...

This time on the History of the Papacy Podcast's Sidetrack episodes, we will take a closer look at the impact of the Plague of Cyprian on the growth of the early Christian movement. We will see if a major plague can actually help a movement...

The pilgrimage of Cnut the Great (reign in England 1016–1035; Denmark 1018–1035; Norway 1028–1035) to Rome in 1027 illustrates the intersection of kingship, religion, and diplomacy in early medieval Europe. As ruler of a maritime North Sea...

This map illustrates the changing patterns of Christian pilgrimage during the Middle Ages: for most Europeans the long, perilous, and costly journey to the Holy Land was too far, dangerous, and forbiddingly expensive, so devotion redirected...

The document known to us as the Donation of Constantine is one of the most famous medieval forgeries. Written at an unknown date and place in the heart of the Dark Ages, for unknown purposes, it was embedded in the Forged Decretals in the...