All men and women were subject to the will of Almighty God and, under Him, to his earthly agents, principally the king and the higher clergy, and could only practice what they wished with the consent or at least the tacit acceptance of the authorities. Men in the medieval time…
The idea that people emptied chamberpots out windows into the street is one of the images of the past that has been taught to generations of school children. It’s usually said to have been done in the Middle Ages, and it’s an image that has stuck with many people, particularly…
Here in Britain it’s actually perfectly legal for first cousins to marry. Prince Philip and The Queen are even third cousins. Charles Darwin was also married to his first cousin Emma Wedgwood. That doesn’t mean cousins getting married haven’t come… For centuries, in royal families, it was common for marriages…
So during the medieval perios, an elephant cost from 100 rupee to 10,000 rupees and a horse could cost from 200 rupee to 2000 rupees or more. So in exchange for silver, one could by an elephant for 10 to 1000 gold pieces and a horse from 20 to 200…
That’s because between 15,000 and 20,000 people lived in Pompeii and Herculaneum, and the majority of them survived Vesuvius’ catastrophic eruption. One of the survivors, a man named Cornelius Fuscus later died in what the Romans called Asia (what is now Romania) on a military campaign. About 2,000 Pompeiians were…
And as for members of the ordinary public, evidence from diaries and letters suggests that many really did expect a struggle that would last only a few months. Much of this optimism may have been wishful thinking. And research by historians has made clear that ’war enthusiasm’ was skin-deep. How…
The lab, led by Professor Andrew Pask, will develop technology to bring back the marsupial which is believed to have gone extinct after the last known animal died in captivity at the Hobart Zoo in 1936. A plan to bring back the extinct Tasmanian tiger has been dismissed by conservationists…
But there was a time when people genuinely feared fairies. Much of the folklore of fairies revolves around protection from their malice. Back in a time when the world was a much more mysterious place, people feared offending fairies who could cast evil spells or curses on a whim. Today,…
Today, carving pumpkins into jack-o’-lanterns is ubiquitous with Halloween. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, however, chiseling ghoulish grins into turnips was the more common practice (at least in Ireland and other Celtic nations). Today, carving pumpkins into jack-o’-lanterns is ubiquitous with Halloween. In the 19th and early 20th…
The poodle skirt remains one of the most memorable symbols of 1950s America and is frequently worn as a novelty retro item, part of a nostalgic outfit. A similar design of these skirts became popular in the years 2009–2010. The skirts had been shortened but the newer designs retained the…