Among the many curious pieces that can be seen on a visit to the Spanish Army Museum, which is located in the Alcázar of Toledo, is Boabdil’s sword. It is a jineta weapon (with a straight blade, double-edged, and rounded hilt, typical of the Nasrids and introduced into Al-Andalus by the Zenata Berbers) that was […]
Middle Ages
Posted inMiddle Ages, Science
Greek Fire, the Byzantine Empire’s Secret Incendiary Weapon That Survived Until the 19th Century
They began to blow with blacksmiths’ bellows into a furnace where there was fire, and from it came a great noise. There was also a brass [or bronze] tube, and from it came much fire against a ship, which burned quickly so that it all turned into white ashes… This excerpt is from the Yngvars […]
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New England, the Medieval Colony Founded in Crimea by Anglo-Saxons Fleeing the Norman Conquest
In the article dedicated to the Varangian Guard, we explained that, following the Norman conquest of England in 1066, this unit came to be known as Englinbarrangoi (Anglo-Varangians) and English became their usual language because it began to be filled with Anglo-Saxons (English and Scots) who left the islands to settle in Constantinople. In 1098, […]
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The Problem of the Two Emperors: The Historical Dispute over Embodying the Legacy of Rome
It wasn’t called the “beacon of civilization” for nothing. The legacy of Rome was so immense—in every realm—that centuries after its fall, there were still struggles to claim legitimacy as its rightful successor, something that continued well into the Middle Ages. Although many self-proclaimed themselves as heirs, the issue was particularly intense in the dispute […]
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Nan Madol, the ancient city built on 92 islets interconnected by canals in the Pacific Ocean
In the middle of the vast Pacific Ocean, in the Caroline Islands archipelago, lies one of the most enigmatic and fascinating archaeological sites in the world: Nan Madol. This complex of ruins, located off the island of Temwen, in Pohnpei (Federated States of Micronesia), has captured the imagination of explorers and archaeologists for centuries due […]
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The Legend of the Fairy Flag, an Enigmatic Protective Relic of the Scottish Clan MacLeod that May Originate from Constantinople
In a recent article dedicated to the Scottish explorer Olive MacLeod, we mentioned the existence of a curious relic that was somewhat like the talisman of the clan to which she belonged. This object is kept in Dunvegan Castle and is a banner that, according to tradition, was made by a fairy who married a […]
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How a Vase Became a Legend and Foundational Myth of France After the Fall of the Last Roman Stronghold in Gaul
Of all the things a tourist can see in the French town of Soissons (the Cathedral of Saint Gervasius and Saint Protasius, seven medieval abbeys, the 18th-century town hall, the arsenal housing the municipal museum…), the most curious is undoubtedly a monument to the fallen in Fernand-Marquigny Square, created by artist Guy Lartigue. One of […]
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Antiking, the Characteristic Medieval Figure Declared or Chosen Against the Reigning Monarch
What did figures from various periods in history such as Mithridates I of the Bosporus, William the Conqueror, Alfonso X of Castile, and Matthias Corvinus have in common? They were all kings, obviously, but there is another thing, paradoxically: before reaching the crown, they were what is called antikings. That term is not official, meaning […]
Posted inMiddle Ages, Modern Era
Sweating Sickness, the Enigmatic and Lethal Disease that Ravaged England between the 15th and 16th Centuries and Disappeared as Mysteriously as it Arrived
It seemed like flu, but it was much faster and deadlier because it killed the patient within a few hours; it has been compared to relapsing fever, but that, caused by tick or louse bites, causes a local black crust that was not present in this case; there is speculation about an infection by hantavirus, […]
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Pact of Theodemir, the Treaty by which a Visigothic Governor Saved his Cities and Inhabitants during the Muslim Conquest of Al-Andalus
The swift conquest of the Iberian Peninsula by the Umayyad Caliphate, taking advantage of the Visigothic kingdom’s succession civil war, cannot be explained so much by the strength of those troops, which were few in number, but by the implementation of a strategy of pacts that followed the initial resistance—especially in the south—after the Battle […]
