One of the reasons this blog has only a loose theme is because of the diversity of my interests. I once tried a more focused blog. However, I quickly found other things I wanted to share, but I felt I’m spamming readers who came to the blog looking for aContinue Reading
As explained here, medieval artists have very little interest in image backgrounds. However, as we get further into the High/Late Middle Ages, we see more and more of it, until artwork starts turning more realistic in general, and then we start seeing environment. Often they aren’t particularly relevant. Look atContinue Reading
Through most of the Middle Ages, artwork had a decided lack of environment. If you weren’t familiar with medieval Christian Art, you’d have a hard time knowing what the image at right even is, much less where it is happening. What I see: Man with a bad bleach job andContinue Reading
On December 29, 1170, Henry II of England accidentally murdered his former best friend, Thomas Becket. The Anarchy As always, to understand a historical tale, you need to understand some of the context. Henry’s entire childhood developed in the context of a 18-year civil war known as the Anarchy, andContinue Reading
According to the Norvik Viking Centre, Ragnarok is upon us. What I can’t figure out is how serious these guys are. In my optimism, I am going to presume they aren’t. Regardless, I trust I won’t be seeing any billboards telling me to get my life in line with theContinue Reading
In my mind, something called the Bone Wars should fit in a chronology just after, say, the Time War. There are many things in my head, however, that don’t line up with reality. If you know anything about dinosaurs, you know what a brontosaurus is. They show up in prettyContinue Reading
Almost 50 years after his death, Alan Turing is finally pardoned by Queen Elizabeth II. Turing was a pioneer in cryptography (most notably in connection with breaking the WWII Enigma codes) and early computing. He wrote on the possibilities of artificial intelligence, which he expected we would develop within fiftyContinue Reading
Originally, this post was going to be simple pretty straightforward. Today, I came across this: This is, of course, all of the Doctors from Doctor Who re-enacting Leonardo DaVinci’s Last Supper. When people do these, I always wonder how much thought they put into who they put where. Clearly, itContinue Reading
I wasn’t really sure what I was going to do with this blog when I started it. Honestly, my first thought was steampunk. I’m sure I will eventually get around to it, but it clearly hasn’t been my focus. I am a medievalist. I am greatly enjoying writing about thatContinue Reading
This little gem comes from Grumpy Eleanor of Aquitaine on Facebook. My apologies for not knowing the original source. Grumpy Eleanor doesn’t list them. Often I can Google them, but finding appropriate keywords for this one is difficult. I am guessing it’s a 15th century something. Rarely is there soContinue Reading