Noble Blood: The Thousand-Day Conclave
1268–1271 papal election The papal election that followed the death of Pope Clement IV lasted from 1 December 1268 to 1 September 1271 and was the longest in the history…
Inside Europe’s billion-dollar anti-gender movement
A new report reveals how groups critical of so-called gender ideology across Europe raised $1.18 billion to target abortion, sex education and LGBTQ+ rights.
Stuff You Missed in History Class: Pope Leo XIII
Pope Leo XIII sought to find a way forward for the Catholic church at a time when the world was rapidly changing and the church was often at odds with…
BBC Medieval Lives: Birth, Marriage, Death Documentary
For a medieval woman approaching the moment of labour and birth, there were no antiseptics to ward off infection or anaesthetics to deal with pain. Historian Helen Castor reveals how…
The Healer By Rob Keast
He thought about turning to the orange-tie man and asking, Do you think all religion is born of desperation? As much as he wanted to be humble in the presence…
The Varieties of Mystical Experience
Simon Critchley seeks to say the unsayable
How to be an Atheist in the Middle Ages
We tend to think that it was impossible not to subscribe to Christianity in the Middle Ages. But, as in any age, belief can wax and wane. But the chroniclers…
Sex and Christianity: 2,000 years of love and fury
What were Jesus's views on sex? Why did so many Christians choose a life of celibacy? Has the church ever been tolerant of homosexuality? These are some of the questions…
A New Hurston’s “Incomplete” Truths
Many writers have wondered, when embarking on a new project, what might happen should Fate intervene and prevent them from finishing. This isn’t the most pleasant thought, however, and for…
Towers of Silence
this story is about a specific thing but also about how a system collapses when the keystone is removed