Medieval History
In one of cinema?s most beloved scenes, Charlie Chaplin?s Great Dictator plays in his office with a beachball-sized balloon representing the globe ? and his own insane pretension. The game and the sentiment were not, alas, unprecedented.
In 1493, the voluptuary Pope Alexander VI (fans of Bravo?s The Borgias know how wholly unholy His Holiness was), sat down at his desk and traced a line on a map of the Atlantic Ocean. He was carving up the world, unilaterally.
The following year, intent on tweaking the papal cartography, envoys of Spain and Portugal met in the dusty Castilian town of Tordesillas and agreed on a division of the world between them ? and them alone. Thus was born the far-reaching Treaty of Tordesillas of 1494, a Renaissance beachball bounced about by the squabbling ruling families of Iberia.
And when the ?known? world had expanded in the generation following the treaty?s signing, the usual suspects met up again, in the Spanish border town of Badajoz, this time to divvy up the Pacific Ocean. A young boy, of a temperament worthy of Chaplin?s, is said to have greeted the haughty Portuguese delegation on a bridge by mooning them and saying, ?Draw your line right through this!?
Click here to read this book review from The Globe and Mail
- Paleolithic Paintings In Spain Are Over 40000 Years Old
Paleolithic paintings in El Castillo cave in Northern Spain date back at least 40,800 years ? making them Europe?s oldest known cave art, according to new research published yesterday in Science. The practice of cave art in Europe thus began up to 10,000...
- Book Review: The Pope Who Quit: A True Medieval Tale Of Mystery, Death And Salvation
The Pope Who Quit: A True Medieval Tale of Mystery, Death and Salvation By Jon M. Sweeney Published by Image Books, 2012 Reviewed by Michael Walsh During the late Pope John Paul II?s long, drawn-out illness, one of the FAQs was, inevitably, can...
- The Good Book That Turned The English Language Upside Down
The King James Bible has been called the world?s most influential version of the most influential book in the most influential language. It is the Bible that travelled with British imperialism into the various dominions, and a newer version of that same...
- Jeremy Irons On Finding The Good Side Of Bad Guys
Jeremy Irons looked up from the latest tiny cigarette he?d rolled and raised an eyebrow. It?s amazing how much meaning some people can convey with one bit of facial hair. We?d been talking about the licentiousness of Rodrigo Borgia, the character Irons...
- Schulman Reviews Hudson, Ed., Studies In The Medieval Atlantic
Jana Schulman recently reviewed Benjamin Hudson, ed., Studies in the Medieval Atlantic. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2012. This collection of seven essays originated at a conference, Sailing the Western Sea: The Atlantic Ocean in a Medieval...
Medieval History
Book Review: 1494: How a Family Feud in Medieval Spain Divided the World in Half
In 1493, the voluptuary Pope Alexander VI (fans of Bravo?s The Borgias know how wholly unholy His Holiness was), sat down at his desk and traced a line on a map of the Atlantic Ocean. He was carving up the world, unilaterally.
The following year, intent on tweaking the papal cartography, envoys of Spain and Portugal met in the dusty Castilian town of Tordesillas and agreed on a division of the world between them ? and them alone. Thus was born the far-reaching Treaty of Tordesillas of 1494, a Renaissance beachball bounced about by the squabbling ruling families of Iberia.
And when the ?known? world had expanded in the generation following the treaty?s signing, the usual suspects met up again, in the Spanish border town of Badajoz, this time to divvy up the Pacific Ocean. A young boy, of a temperament worthy of Chaplin?s, is said to have greeted the haughty Portuguese delegation on a bridge by mooning them and saying, ?Draw your line right through this!?
Click here to read this book review from The Globe and Mail
- Paleolithic Paintings In Spain Are Over 40000 Years Old
Paleolithic paintings in El Castillo cave in Northern Spain date back at least 40,800 years ? making them Europe?s oldest known cave art, according to new research published yesterday in Science. The practice of cave art in Europe thus began up to 10,000...
- Book Review: The Pope Who Quit: A True Medieval Tale Of Mystery, Death And Salvation
The Pope Who Quit: A True Medieval Tale of Mystery, Death and Salvation By Jon M. Sweeney Published by Image Books, 2012 Reviewed by Michael Walsh During the late Pope John Paul II?s long, drawn-out illness, one of the FAQs was, inevitably, can...
- The Good Book That Turned The English Language Upside Down
The King James Bible has been called the world?s most influential version of the most influential book in the most influential language. It is the Bible that travelled with British imperialism into the various dominions, and a newer version of that same...
- Jeremy Irons On Finding The Good Side Of Bad Guys
Jeremy Irons looked up from the latest tiny cigarette he?d rolled and raised an eyebrow. It?s amazing how much meaning some people can convey with one bit of facial hair. We?d been talking about the licentiousness of Rodrigo Borgia, the character Irons...
- Schulman Reviews Hudson, Ed., Studies In The Medieval Atlantic
Jana Schulman recently reviewed Benjamin Hudson, ed., Studies in the Medieval Atlantic. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2012. This collection of seven essays originated at a conference, Sailing the Western Sea: The Atlantic Ocean in a Medieval...