Sometimes the Saints were… hmmm… jerks? St. Patrick is one of those saints that even non-Roman Catholics know to some extent. Perhaps most recall that he is the Patron Saint of Ireland, and that he drove the snakes out of that country. Some may know that he is the patron
Look what happens when you don't confess to "wanton lust"! The stories are there, but you sometimes need to seek them out. Marozia is less than a mere footnote in history, but at least she is noted. She lived and she had a story, and thanks
At first, I was going to use the idiomatic expression “sea-change”. Then I double checked its present meaning, which gave me pause. The expression goes back to William Shakespeare in ‘The Tempest’ ; specifically in the song ‘Full Fathom Five’. A supernatural spirit, Ariel, is singing to Ferdinand, the Prince of
The Triumph of Literature over Violence Enheduanna is the first author to sign her name to works of literature. She signed her name like this:𒂗𒃶𒌌𒀭𒈾 Think on it: The first and most significant literary event in all history — and it is a woman who first had the notion of appending
Imagine that you are living sometime in the 1600s in America or England, and have been accused of witchcraft. Only a few things might save you: being very skinny, underfed, very lean or very muscular. Or being a man. There were not many ways of proving innocence to witchcraft, but
Usually titled “The Truth and the Lie” (sometimes the title contains slightly different wording), it is a story that has appeared many times on the internet, from social media to blogs to LinkedIn. Most websites cite Jean-Léon Gérôme as the author, but this — ironically — is incorrect. Gérôme was a French