In 1081, while the Byzantine Empire was mired in a succession crisis, Robert Guiscard, Norman Duke of Apulia-Calabria, sought to take advantage and launched his conquest. To maintain appearances, he did not undertake it in his own name but in that of Michael VII Doukas, the deposed emperor—only that the latter had retired to a […]
Jorge Álvarez
Degree in History and Diploma in Archival and Library Science. Founder and director of Apuntes magazine (2002-2005). Creator of the blog El Viajero Incidental. Travel and tourism blogger since 2009 in Viajeros. Editor of LBV Magazine.
Posted inAncient Rome
Gaius Pontius, the Samnite Leader Who Defeated the Romans at the Caudine Forks and Was an Ancestor of Pontius Pilate
Throughout its long history, Rome achieved numerous military victories that allowed it to grow, expand, and dominate nearly the entire known world in Antiquity. But it also suffered defeats, and some proved especially painful due to the circumstances in which they occurred. One of them, surely among the worst due to the humiliation it entailed, […]
Posted inMiddle Ages
Wamba, the Elder Who Didn’t Want to Be King of the Visigoths
The Chapel of Corpus Christi in the Toledo Cathedral is also known as the Mozarabic Chapel because Cardinal Cisneros decreed in 1504 that it be used to celebrate worship according to the eponymous rite—the Hispano-Gothic one preserved by Christians who remained in Muslim territory and which only survived in that city. That is why in […]
Posted inModern Era
A119, the United States Project to Detonate a Nuclear Bomb on the Moon, in Which Carl Sagan Participated
On October 4, 1957, the USSR launched Sputnik I, the first artificial satellite in history, into orbit. That program would continue the following month with Sputnik II, which also carried the first living being to travel into space (the dog Laika). The success put the Soviets ahead in the space race and dealt a major […]
Posted inAntiquity
Cleopatra the Alchemist, One of the Four Women Whom Hermetic Tradition Claims Found the Philosopher’s Stone
The Philosopher’s Stone is not just the object of desire for Voldemort, who longs to regain his full powers in the first Harry Potter novel. There was a time when its pursuit was the dream of all alchemists—and their patrons—because, according to legend, it was a substance capable of converting base metals into gold or silver, as well as […]
Posted inCulture
The Difference Between Terror and Horror in Film and Literature
A quick Google search is enough to plant the seed of doubt. Type in “the best horror movies of 2024” and dozens of results appear—but with a subtle difference: most of them are listed under another heading, “the best terror movies of 2024.” The reader may not even have noticed: in almost all of them, […]
Posted inMiddle Ages
How the Mongols Conquered All of the Holy Land, Then Withdrew Without Fighting
In a recent article dedicated to the Ninth Crusade, we explained that the English prince and future king Edward I landed in Acre in the spring of 1271, ready to confront the Egyptian Mamluks under Sultan Baibars. His army was too small to prevail on its own, but he had an exotic ally with whom […]
Posted inMiddle Ages
The End of the Crusades: The Failure of the Last Christian Kingdoms in the Holy Land
On June 16, 1272, the city of Acre awoke to shocking news that quickly spread by word of mouth: that night, there had been an assassination attempt on Lord Edward, son of the English king Henry III, who was in the Near East leading a crusade. A hitman—perhaps a member of the Nizari or Hashashin […]
Posted inModern Era
Maximator, the intelligence alliance formed by five European countries that ended up being spied on by their own machines
Military alliances are interstate political agreements signed to achieve common defense. They have existed since Antiquity (remember, for instance, the leagues formed by the Greek city-states), and although their most important aspect traditionally pertains to weaponry and warfare, since the 20th century they have increasingly incorporated specialties related to espionage and intelligence services. Perhaps the […]
Posted inAncient Greece
The Mysteries of the Pythia, the Great Priestess of the Temple of Apollo Who Embodied the Oracle of Delphi
Sibyl, Phymonoe, Xenoclea, Aristocleia, Perialla, Themistoclea… These names will sound unfamiliar to almost everyone, and it’s no wonder, because although they belong to women of Ancient Greece, they weren’t queens or royal consorts, nor were they goddesses, muses, philosophers, or poets. These were the names of some of the most famous Pythias, that is, the […]
