For students of the humanities…
Seeds are potential. Environmental changes and disasters can endanger that potential, so many countries and regions have come together to try to protect that part of their heritage by creating seed banks. This article from Smithsonian Magazine showcases the greatest of these seed banks and the precious resources it protects. link to Take a Virtual… Continue reading Article: Take a Virtual Tour of the ‘Doomsday’ Seed Vault
Food is an important (and often overlooked) part of culture of any people or region. This article from Smithsonian Magazine details one woman’s quest to sample Britain’s scones. link to One Woman’s Quest to Eat 244 Scones Across U.K. Is Now Complete
Can you embrace a new trend while respecting tradition? This article from My Modern Met showcases women in Japan who may have found a way to honor the old and the new. Some brides in Japan have begun to temporarily alter kimonos into beautiful wedding dresses. The best part is that the kimonos they use… Continue reading Article: Brides in Japan are Turning Their Long-Sleeve Kimonos Into Stunning Wedding Dresses
Even when we have documentation of the past, it can still be hard to figure out what actually happened. In this article from the BBC, the author discusses the particular issues that surround attempts to understand how European Medieval and Renaissance knights fought. In this case, there is a lot of documentation--more than 80 surviving… Continue reading Article: The Lost Medieval Sword Fighting Techiniqes No One Can Decode
The tartan (plaid cloth generally associated with Scottish clans) is an important part of Scottish history. According to the BBC, an example--potentially from the 16th Century--has been found in a peat bog in Scotland. Although the cloth looks plain, researchers have been able to use scientific analysis to determine it's original colorful nature. This discovery… Continue reading Article: Oldest tartan found to date back to 16th Century
People have long tried to explain stories about sea monsters. This article from CNN goes in an interesting direction as it tries to find an explanation that is palatable to modern science, while not discrediting the original sources. link to Sea monsters? This bizarre whale feeding technique may explain some ancient folklore
People have long studied the sky, and sometimes they are surprised and confused by what they say. The Medieval and Renaissance worlds are no exception to this. This article details several well documented incidents involving flying objects that have not been identified. link to The Mysterious 1561 Nuremberg Event ‘UFO Battle’
As the February 2023 Turkey earthquake reminded us, there are many irreplaceable cultural treasures in earthquake zones (in addition to the even more precious and irreplaceable humans) around the world. The Hagia Sophia is one such treasure, located in Western Turkey. This article from Nature discusses Hagia Sophia's durability in the face of natural disasters… Continue reading Article: Hagia Sophia: Shaken, not stirred
Buildings are an integral part of our history, and the older the building is, the more it can tellus about our past. In Ireland, there is a pub that is currently called Sean's Bar, and it is believed that it was first built in 900AD. This article discusses its status as the oldest pub in… Continue reading Article: Sean’s Bar Is The Oldest Pub In Ireland, And Possibly The World
This article from Hyperallergic discusses the art of Ha Chong-Hyun (one of the leading figures of South Korea’s Tansaekhwa Movement). If you've never heard of this movement, this is a great way to get started exploring it. Ha Chong-Hyun showcases art that uses unusual materials (like barbed wire) and paint that is pushed through fabric.… Continue reading Article: What Ha Chong-Hyun’s Painting Confirmed for Me
Marbling paper or other materials can be fun, but the process can also be surprisingly complex. This website discusses the process and shows many examples. If you’re interested in either marbling or Japanese art in general, this site is a good place to start. link to Suminagashi: The Ancient Art of Japanese Marbling
This site provides a solid resource on Greek gods and goddesses, as well as links to Classical literature. If you are interested in ancient Greek religion, are researching a topic, or if your instructor has asked you to write about the Greek gods, then this site may be one you'll want to check out. link… Continue reading Website: THEOI GREEK MYTHOLOGY
Are sea monsters real? Can someone "release the Kraken"? History and literature are filled with a myriad of stories about deadly beasts that sink ships and eat people. This article presents a theory that may explain as least some of the (less deadly and dangerous) stories. link to The Kraken: when myth encounters science
There have been two Elizabethan Ages in British history. The first took place in the 16th Century, and the second ended with the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II on September 19, 2022. In this article, Sky News tries to put the most recent Elizabethan age into some kind of context as a great portion of… Continue reading Article: Queen’s own words perhaps best sum up the legacy of her Elizabethan age
In the Ancient and Medieval worlds, a great deal of the trade (in goods such as silk, spices, and glass) was conducted via the Silk Road--a trade network that ran from Europe through Northern Africa, the Middle East and Persia, India, and eventually into China. This site gives some good background on the various routes… Continue reading Website: Silk Road-History of the silk road
