Byzantine iconoclasm: an Icon of St. Nicholas (Russia) Byzantine iconoclasm By the early 700s AD, the Roman Empire had seen four hundred years of religious arguments about what or who Jesus Christ was. The Arians believed that [...]
Pope Gregory the Great writing, carved near Strasbourg, about 875 AD. That's under Charlemagne's grandchildren. The Holy Spirit (in the form of a dove) sits on his shoulder and dictates to [...]
A bishop from medieval Iceland (in the form of a chess piece). Now in the Metropolitan Museum, New York What is a bishop? A bishop was a man who was [...]
Egyptian caves where early monks and nuns lived Who was Benedict? In the 500s AD, Benedict was the founder of a new Christian movement toward monasticism: living as monks or nuns. What are [...]
(Bosch, the Ship of Fools) - medieval disabilities Were a lot of people disabled in the past? In the ancient and medieval worlds, many more people were physically and mentally [...]
Conciergerie: the king's castle in Paris (parts of it from the 1300 AD) Kids love visiting castles and cathedrals - especially if you tell them about the monument the night before. But they're not [...]
Amiens labyrinth: Northern France with Kids Day One: Bayeux Tapestry In northern France, drive first from Paris to Bayeux to see the Bayeux Tapestry. There are good audioguides for both adults and kids. [...]
The Portuguese force Islamic traders to give them access to the Indian port of Goa (1500s AD, Theodore De Bry) In 1500 AD, Europe was still a marginal player in the world economy, [...]
British cannon from the Hundred Years' War (now at Mount St. Michel) Throughout the Middle Ages, nobody in Europe had much money or power. Kings couldn't afford to maintain a [...]
Caravels, about 1500 AD (Livro das Fortalezas de Duarte Damas) Frame-first ship construction The Early Middle Ages - about 500 AD - brought a major change in Mediterranean ship-building. Instead of putting the planks together [...]
