The ‘Utrecht sodomy trails’ took place amid natural disasters, for which the moral panic of the populace sought some scapegoats — The 17th and 18th centuries are often regarded as a time of great enlightenment, contained in the advances of science and the discovery of new lands all across the globe. In fact, Galilei would be the first to notice that Saturn had rings in 1610, so there was much to…

Unlike most royal mistresses, she was done away with as a consequence of her lover’s marriage — It is no exaggeration that Tsar Nicholas II, also known as essentially the last real tsar of Russia, deeply cared for his wife Alexandra. Their connection was so strong, in fact, that the woman the future tsar used to devote his attention to was snubbed in favour of Nicholas’s bride…

From 17th to 18th century Europe, animal cruelty took on the shape of yet another pointless aristocratic blood sport — At the Dresden-based court of Augustus II of Saxony, nicknamed ‘the Strong’, a tossing contest was held which involved hundreds of unsuspecting small animals. …

An 18th century work far ahead of its time… it stirred as much controversy as you can imagine — For many centuries, sex was among the most taboo subjects in the eyes of the public. Some artists, painters in particular, dared to brave the subject in their work, but mostly, bedroom activities stayed behind closed doors. …

Intelligent, open-minded, and bold; Marguerite of Navarre was the perfect sister for the chivalrous Renaissance King Francis I of France — The royal courts of France have given us many wild stories of intrigue, adultery, and rivalry throughout the ages. The court of King Francis I was no exception, and thanks to his talented sister Marguerite writing down tales which we might otherwise have dismissed as royal gossip, we have a…

What if the founder of the University of Naples liked to check if a soul could be seen escaping a dying person’s body, or imprisoned children to see if they would develop a ‘natural’ language? — Curiosity has been a thing of all ages. Whenever humanity was confronted with a phenomenon it did not understand, people laboured to search for an answer. For some, such common answers as Aristotle’s gods creating the motions of the universe just weren’t good enough. Aristotle deserves a mention specifically because…

A religious sceptic, excommunicated thrice, the ‘predecessor to the Antichrist, and confined to Dante’s sixth region of Hell (where he supposedly burns in a tomb), Frederick II was ever the controversial figure — Quarrels between kings, emperors, and popes are tales as old as time itself — at least for as long as Christianity has existed in case of the latter subject. It is a problem only recently resolved, and it could happen only because both kings, emperors (which disappeared in Europe, admittedly)…

When a blind girl was born to a future queen, a then-unknown faith healer immediately offered her services. — World history is filled with groups that sought to seize power through unethical and unconventional means. Many of the individuals these groups were composed of didn’t shy away from ideological warfare and indoctrination to isolate people so that all help offered from the outside world was rendered ineffective. Those that…

What if you had a second-class ticket but you craved something more luxurious? — The Titanic is the gift that keeps on giving, at least for those enthusiasts who find themselves fascinated with this magnificent ship many decades after the sinking, and who were never there that fateful night in April of 1912. Considering third-class was already more luxurious than many of those who…