Rosemåling
Rosemåling, with its distinctive stylized depictions of flowers, scroll forms, lining, and geometric elements, is Norway’s best known decorative folk art form. Its origins lie in eastern Norway during the … Continue reading
Móðuharðinðin – “The Hardship of the Fog”: The Human and Environmental Disaster of the Laki Eruption, 1783-4
On 8 June 1873 the Laki mountain in the Grímsvötn volcanic system of southern Iceland was ripped apart by a volcanic eruption that opened a massive fissure and scores of craters. Over a … Continue reading
‘The Apprehension of Sundrye Witches’ : The Prosecution of Witchcraft in Scotland, 1590-1727
Sixteenth and Seventeenth century Scotland, along with the rest of the British Isles and Continental Europe, saw a previously unparalleled increase in the number of people brought to trial and … Continue reading
Hanse
The ‘Steel-yard’ at London, now the site of Cannon Street Station, was once the western terminal of the Hanseatic trading system that linked England with Germany, Scandinavia, and Russia, and … Continue reading
Lucas Cranach the Elder
Lucas Cranach the Elder (1472-1553) arrived in Wittenberg in 1505 as an already accomplished artist having been appointed court painter to the Elector of Saxony Friedrich III, der Wiese. It … Continue reading
Gesellenstechen
While reading around the subject of The Reformation in Germany during the early 16th Century I came across this painting by Jost Amman (1539-1591) in Martin Kitchen’s, The Cambridge Illustrated History … Continue reading
Revolution: A short history of Prague
“I shall now set forth our plan for all to admire. Ultimate goal: overthrow Austria. First step: take Prague. Modus operandi: seize the citadel and lookout point on the promontory … Continue reading
Robbing the Rich: Juraj Jánošík
The outlaw hero is a ubiquitous character in human history. England has Robin Hood, Australia has Ned Kelly, China has Song Jiang, Wales has Twm Siôn Cati, and Java has … Continue reading
Battle of Vienna
In 1529 the citizens of Pressburg (modern day Bratislava) opened fire on an Ottoman fleet that was sailing up the Danube. Three years earlier the town had withstood a siege … Continue reading
Johannes Kepler
Between 1615 and 1621 Johannes Kepler published the seven volumes of Epitome astronomiae Copernicanae while living in Linz. In the Epitome he outlined his most famous discovery, the three laws of … Continue reading
Witch Trial
“Question I. Whether witches, hags, and sorcerers really exist? I answer, they do. Even if I know that many doubt it, even Catholics and scholars, whose names are not relevant … Continue reading
Druckpresse
Mainz (1455), Strasbourg (1458), Cologne (1465), Rome (1467), Augsburg, Basel and (1468), Nuremberg and Paris (1470), Cracow, Bruges, Buda, and Barcelona (1473), London and Gouda (1477), Leipzig (1481), Vienna and … Continue reading
Europeenses, part 2
The Duc de Sully’s ‘Great Design’ for an all-Christian universal republic not only excluded the Ottoman’s but also Russia, unless it converted to Catholicism, Lutheranism, or Calvinism. Less than a … Continue reading
Rhine
Der Rhein rises in two headstreams in the Swiss Alps, the Vorderrhein and the Hinterrhein, which meet at Reichenau above Chur. The river in its various guises as the Rhein, … Continue reading
Europeenses
Aachen is the disputed birthplace and favoured winter residence of Karl der Grosse (c. 747 – 814), more popularly known as Charlemagne in the English speaking world, whose kingdom at … Continue reading
