The Holy Innocents book is a mystery novel that has been out for years. Author Kate Sedley wrote the book in 1996 as part of her Roger the Chapman series, which eventually stretched to sixteen books. The Holy Innocents is book four in the series, but stands alone well enough. The setting is England during […]
Tag: Middle Ages
The Colossus of Rhodes – The First Ancient Wonder Destroyed?
If you blinked, you might have missed it. Well, not quite. But the lifetime of the Colossus of Rhodes as a Wonder of the Ancient World was fleeting compared to some of the other six wonders. It’s reputation must’ve been very great, then, if 56 years was enough to earn everlasting fame. The Colossus is […]
Was Greek Fire a New, Genuine Breakthrough Chemical Weapon?
Most of us think of chemical weapons as a twentieth century phenomenon. But did you know that one existed in the medieval world as well? We call that chemical weapon Greek fire. For many, the term chemical weapon has negative connotations. We recall the gas mask as an essential piece of equipment for World War […]
Sugar in the Caribbean, and the Columbian Exchange
This post continues my efforts to explain some of the consequences of the Columbian Exchange, one of my favorite historical topics. Today I want to talk about the importance of sugar in the Caribbean. To read previous posts about the Columbian Exchange, please see Introduction to the Columbian Exchange The Columbian Exchange and Human Extinction […]
Is the Byzantine Empire Underrated or Just Ignored?
I get the question all the time: Was the Byzantine Empire underrated? Have you ever even heard of the Byzantine Empire? If you’re a regular follower of my blog, possibly not. If you got to this post from an Internet search, perhaps you have. Either way, most people know little about the great empire that […]