The Historia Augusta stands as a paradox within the annals of Roman historiography, a perplexing blend of fact and fiction, offering both insights into the imperial era and challenges to historical...
While exploring the enigmatic depths of ancient history, scholars often stumble upon cryptic relics, among which lie manuscripts that continue to defy the most skilled scholars and linguists. The...
Did you know that the ancestor of smartphone apps can be traced back to the Middle Ages? The volvelle, a paper-based interactive device, had a multifaceted role during its historical use. It...
A monastery, where the earliest surviving Scots Gaelic text was once noted within the margins of a significant Scottish manuscript called the Book of Deer , disappeared from the pages of history...
In 1831, Robert Curzon, an English nobleman, left Oxford without completing his studies, symbolizing the restlessness of his era. Disenchanted with England, he sought solace in Egypt , captivated by...
From Neolithic tablets containing the oldest known system of writing, to a series of letters scrawled on the back of a dead man’s book, some of the most legendary undeciphered codes and texts remain...
Within the realm of 15th-century French artistry , the Belles Heures emerges as a striking showcase of the Limbourg Brothers' talents. This exquisitely crafted manuscript, commissioned by Jean de...
It seems pretty clear right now that AI is likely the “next big thing.” This exciting (and perhaps scary) technology seems set to change the world and revolutionize our lives in a myriad of ways. But...
In the 16th century, a groundbreaking medical book emerged, now revered as one of the most influential of its time. Andreas Vesalius's De humani corporis fabrica (‘On the Fabric of the Human Body’)...
A Cambridge academic found a rare 15th-century manuscript in Scotland, revealing the oldest medieval stand-up comedy. Apparently, they had jokes and laughter back then too! Not even Chat GPT knows...
A parchment, part of a larger manuscript found in the library of the Bobbio Abbey in Italy, is believed to be authored by ancient Greek mathematician, astronomer, and geographer Claudius Ptolemy. It...
Renowned auction house, Sotheby’s in New York, prepares itself for the sale of possibly the most expensive historical document ever sold at an auction, in the form of Codex Sassoon. This is one of...
In 2012, a student at Cambridge University identified what he suspected was an ancient Greek star map hidden behind text in a medieval codex. Compiled with astronomical data from the 2nd century AD,...
The next time you’re looking through an illuminated manuscript, keep an eye out for images of medieval knights fighting off snails. Of all the villains in the world, these may not have been the first...
In early medieval art and literature fluffy white rabbits, bunnies, and hares were typically motifs of innocence, venerability, and purity. However, more in sync with these animals’ rate of...
It was in March 2013 when reports flooded the headlines about a newly deciphered Egyptian text, dating back almost 1,200 years, which controversially described Jesus as having the ability to change...
A first-time study of a privately owned 16th-century prayer roll from England is a valuable addition to knowledge on medieval England’s Christian ‘cult of the Cross’ in which the Holy Cross was...
After two years of hard work, scholars have now finished an Old-French-to-English translation of a centuries-old manuscript that tells of the adventures of Merlin the Magician , King Arthur, and...
Illuminated manuscripts are manuscripts that are covered with painted ornaments presented under several forms. These documents are perhaps most commonly associated with the European Middle Ages...
Between the 1300s and the devastating arrival of the Spanish conquistadors in the early 1500s, the Aztecs were a flourishing Mesoamerican culture in the Valley of Mexico in Central Mexico, building...
The Vergilius Vaticanus is an illuminated manuscript from the Late Antique period, said to have been created in the 400’s. Containing one of the few surviving fragments of Virgil’s Aeneid , as well...
An Italian national treasure, and one of the greatest poets and writers to emerge from the Italian Middle Age (indeed, ever), Dante Alighieri was a 13th century and early 14th century writer who was...
A newly translated papyrus from ancient Egypt dating back 3,500 years provides a rare insight into Egyptian embalming techniques. The ancient medical text details a procedure never identified before...
The Goths, one of the major Germanic tribes of ancient times, were a key player in the events that marked the downfall of the Western Roman Empire. Although their era lasted only a few centuries,...