Why Cupid Rules Valentine’s Day
The rascally cherub has been part of Valentine's Day lore since Chaucer’s time.
The Complex Economics of Medieval Convents
Medieval convents were better funded than many scholars assume, thanks in part to royal patrons sympathetic to the holy women's mission.
Trial by Combat? Trial by Cake!
The medieval tradition of deciding legal cases by appointing champions to fight to the death endured through 1817, unlike its tastier cousin.
The Medieval Castle That Pranked Its Visitors
At Hesdin, in France, the idyllic beauty of the grounds met the sadistic slapstick of the castle’s “engines of amusement.”
The Marvelous Automata of Antiquity
Centuries before the computer, whimsical automata pushed the uncanny boundary between human and machine.
The Voynich Manuscript: Crowd-Sourcing An Uncrackable Cipher
The Voynich Manuscript has mesmerized people ever since the man it's named after, bibliophile Wilfred Voynich, brought it up for sale in 1912.