It is a common misconception that life in the Middle Ages was extremely harsh and depressing. This couldn’t be further from the truth! While it is true that, at times, war and disease spread across the land, not all was doom and gloom. People (including peasants) had plenty of free time to enjoy life, […]

Named after the famous Roman general Julius Caesar, who sponsored and promoted its widespread implementation, the Julian Calendar was introduced in 45 BCE, replacing a lunar calendar that had become highly inaccurate. The adoption of a solar calendar represented a significant astronomical and administrative reform that spread with the expansion of Roman territory. It […]

Baptism is a Christian sacrament that marks the initiation into Christian life in most denominations. It symbolizes cleansing, death, and resurrection into a new life. Though a New Testament institution, it has antecedents in Old Testament cleansing rituals. Baptism takes several forms in Christianity, ranging from sprinkling of infants to single or multiple immersions […]

In an era of collapsing empires and shifting alliances, the Mediterranean in the 6th century CE was a “battleground of ambition.” The Eastern Roman Empire, based in Constantinople, was growing stronger and more powerful. Successive emperors dreamed of fully restoring the Roman Empire and its former glory. The recovery of lost territories was not […]

The Italian era of the Renaissance gave birth to many outstanding creative figures, yet the most influential quartet of them hardly ever gets disputed. Polymath Leonardo da Vinci, painters and architects Raphael and Michelangelo, and sculptor Donatello formed the visual culture and our contemporary understanding of the era. Read on to learn more about […]