The Deadly Ambition of Mary Queen of Scots
byHave you ever wanted something so bad you would do anything to get it? What if that goal was a crown and a whole kingdom? What would you do? Would…
Early Modern History
Cabeza de Vaca: Getting Lost and Captured in Spanish America
byThe stories of the Spanish conquistadors, of men that believed themselves to be conquerors fighting and exploring for God and gold, are well known. While many of those conquistadors may…
From Teahouses to Trading Ports: The Scallywag Empress Ching Shih
byThe boiling clouds roll back, the tumultuous sky reduced to a slow simmer. A terrible maelstrom has just passed, wreaking havoc on this small fleet of ships. Shouting commands and…
Like a Cat in Lombardy: Michelangelo Scavenges for Sanity While Painting the Sistine Chapel
byFrom 1508 to 1512, it took Michelangelo five long, torturous years to complete the rigorous task of painting the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. Spanning more than 10,000 square feet,…
The Aztec Origins of Día de Los Muertos
byMany people know of the Mexican holiday Día de Los Muertos, which is filled with vibrant colors and intricately painted faces. What many people don’t know is that this holiday originated…
A Tale of Two Harlots: The Unlikely Dream and a Stark Reality in Georgian England
byWhen the Georgian Era comes to mind, the idea of it being rife with sex and vice probably never crosses anyone’s mind, but this was actually the case. Dan Cruickshank,…
Port Royal: Wickedest City in the World
byToday, Port Royal, Jamaica is a small isolated fishing village with little left standing to remind any visitors of the grandeur of Port Royal’s wicked past. Frequently the subject of…
Assassination on the Innocent: The St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre of 1572
byIn the early hours of August 24, 1572, all was calm in France until an unexpected chaos struck the Protestant Huguenots gathered at the Louvre Palace in Paris. After attending the…
Heliocentrism: Galileo’s Battle With the Church
byFebruary 13, 1633 was the final day of the trial led by the Holy Office. Galileo once again walked into the same dim, candle-lit room in one of the beautiful…
How Catherine II became Catherine the Great
byWorld history has generally been led by men, and very rarely, women. Although women have had little presence in the leadership of the great governments, when they did, they did…
Werewolves: Creatures of Night
byHave you ever heard that at night the creatures come out, especially when there is a full moon. But whenever people think of a full moon, the thought of a…
The Discovery of Calculus: Leibniz vs. Newton
byCalculus is a subject loved by some and feared by many. But what is Calculus? The simplest definition is: the study of how things change. Calculus can be used to…
Elysée Palace, or the French White House
byThe Élysée Palace is the presidential house in France, the equivalent of the American White House. Synonym of power, the Palace has been the home of kings and presidents of…
The Bard vs. The Reverend Wilmot: On the Question of Authorship
byThe year is 1592, the place is London. A young man has gained notoriety as a fairly decent actor and excellent playwright. He travels with acting companies and later in…
Vasco da Gama: The European Explorer
byVasco da Gama, the first European to sail around the continent of Africa to Asia, was born into a noble Portuguese family around 1460 in Sines, Portugal. He was the…
A Good Fight: Olympe de Gouges
by“Women, wake up; the tocsin of reason sounds throughout the universe; recognize your rights.” – Olympe de Gouges1 The eighteenth century, the Age of the Enlightenment, was a time of…
The Empire of the Great Chinese Ming Dynasty
byThe Ming dynasty was founded by Zhu Yuanzhan and spanned nearly 300 years, from the collapse of Yuan Dynasty in 1368 to the dominance of the Manchus in 1644. It…
St. Ignatius of Loyola: From Knight to Priest
bySt. Ignatius was a Spanish priest who founded the Society of Jesus, or Jesuit Order, in 1540. He intended the society to be servants of the pope, and therefore of…
Wicked Witches of the West: Witch Hunts in Early Modern Europe
byIn today’s world, when someone thinks of a witch, they normally picture one of a few things: the infamous Wicked Witch of the West that was out to get our beloved…
The Jacobites: Bonnie Prince Charlie and the 1745 Rebellion
byThe Scottish Jacobite Rising of 1745 occurred after decades of oppression and un-kept promises from the British Union. The Jacobites were a political movement in Great Britain and Ireland that wanted…