Relics: Did you mean...?

Daily life in the Byzantine Empire, like almost everywhere else before or since, largely depended on one's birth and the social circumstances of one's parents. There were some opportunities for advancement based...

The monastic orders of the Middle Ages developed from the desire to live a spiritual life without the distractions of the world. Men and women who took religious vows were seeking a purity of experience they found...

The Renaissance period witnessed a great renewed interest in the art of antiquity. There was an appreciation of the technical skill required to produce such objects as a Roman marble figure of Venus and...

The Elizabethan era is often regarded as a golden age for English culture, language, and literature. Though William Shakespeare, Christopher Marlowe, Ben Jonson, and Edmund Spenser are amongst the best...

After the Gauls defeated the Romans at the confluence of the Tiber and the Allia rivers, the Gauls marched on to Rome. In late July 390 BCE, the undefended city fell to the invaders to be burnt and sacked. Only...

Howard Carter's 1922 CE discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun was world-wide news but, following fast upon it, the story of the mummy's curse (also known as The Curse of the Pharaoh) became even...

Monasteries were an ever-present feature of the Medieval landscape and perhaps more than half were devoted solely to women. The rules and lifestyle within a nunnery were very similar to those in a male monastery. Nuns...

Women played a vital role in the Protestant Reformation (1517-1648) not only by supporting the major reformers as wives but also through their own literary and political influence. Their contributions were largely...

As the Protestant Reformation emerged in France in the early 16th century, the city of Meaux became one of the first centers of controversy. Bishop Guillaume Briçonnet II undertook a campaign to...

The Battle of Edington, fought in May 878 in southwest England, saw Alfred the Great, King of Wessex (r. 871-899), win a decisive victory over the Viking leader Guthrum (d. 890). Two weeks later, under the terms of the Treaty...