The toothbrush has revolutionized the history of oral hygiene in the world Since ancient times, oral hygiene represented an essential habit for men (https://www.pilloledistoria.it/2364/storia-moderna/dentifricio-spazzolino-breve-storia-delligiene-orale), but when the toothbrush was invented ?
Ravioli. White ravioli were a typical Christmas dish of medieval England There are only a few days left for Christmas and like every year, even in this part of 2017, I publish on Pills of History (as you can see the site has been completely renewed!) some recipes which in ancient times wer
Medieval cuisine. The delicate sauce was used to flavor boiled fish The following is a recipe of very simple realization reported in the English cooking manual The forme of Cury, whose first publication dates back to the distant 1390, a text that at the time marked a milestone in the his
Tancredi Fountain in Brindisi The following article was written by Pierluigi Papa , creator and editor of the site brindisimedievale.blogspot.it, entirely dedicated to the history of the city of Brindisi. Enjoy the reading. Fontana Tancredi (Brindisi) before the restoration The Tancredi F
A workshop in the Middle Ages. Single and married women (in the absence of the husband) could work According to a widespread belief, medieval women they almost did not enjoy any rights but, in reality, this is also just one of the many commonplaces arose around the uses and customs of the Midd
Scenes of family life in the Middle Ages What were the general foundations of medieval nutrition ? In essence, we can say that compared to antiquity there were no substantial changes:the usual foods on the tables of the middle centuries were roughly the same as in previous eras. This means t
Two lovers in the Middle Ages. The first time was usually a moment of embarrassment for the woman How she was preparing for her first meeting of love a medieval woman? Trying to appear as beautiful and “palatable” as possible, first of all. For this reason, the ladies, before joining carnall
Usual use of the chamber pot in medieval times Yes, everything has a story, even the “ chamber pot” . Which is a prosaic but indispensable invention from a long time ago, but which remained in vogue until the late twentieth century. The woodcut shown in photo shows a usual, practically ev
A couple in the Middle Ages. Sex was forbidden on some days The religious laws in force in medieval times prohibited (or attempted to do so) having sex on certain days of the year and in the presence of particular conditions of the woman. Intimate intercourse was prohibited, for example, in th
Nucato The Christmas is almost upon us and this year too, as in the previous ones, Pills of History suggests some recipes to prepare typical dishes of the most beautiful party invented many centuries ago. Below you will find the recipe for making Nucato , a Christmas cake in vogue of t
Hippocrasus What to drink at Christmas this year? In addition to the usual drinks, how about trying one that was furious during the Christmas holidays in medieval times ? Below you will find the recipe to prepare Hippocras, or spiced wine , directly from the blog sguardosulmedioevo
The first glasses (Middle Ages) The invention of glasses, or better than slow to see better, it dates back to the Middle Ages, as evidenced by the fresco dated 1352 that you see reported in the photo, even if the first biconvex lenses they had already been created in Pisa in 1286. Un
A medieval kitchen Given the imminence of Easter, which we will celebrate in a few weeks, the medieval recipe that follows falls perfectly. I took it (and report it verbatim) from the bluedragon.it website, where in addition to this recipe for the Easter cake you can find (and experience
A woman of the Middle Ages. The breasts were one of the parts of the body that women cared for the most If you believe that for the beauty of the breast is a modern fixation, you are wrong. The breast is the emblem par excellence of the female body, therefore women, since the dawn of time, hav
The ancient game of chess in a medieval representation A curious discovery recently covered the courtyard of the famous Oxfordshire museum , in England, where a chess game piece dating back to the 13th century was accidentally found . To be precise, it is a small standard bearer only 2
St. Francis of Assisi St. Francis of Assisi, one of the most significant religious, poet and personalities of our Middle Ages, he suffered in life from many ailments, that ended up undermining his body, but never the Faith and the incredible spiritual temper that distinguished him and permeate
“Extraction of mental illness” by Hieronymus Bosch (1492). Prado Museum, Madrid In past centuries, very little knowledge about mental illness , caused the pathologies related to this sphere of the organism to be treated, obviously in a clumsy way and almost always with worse results than the dis
Crotontiglio oil was often used in the past as a purge to treat mental illness The ignorance that for centuries has reigned in the knowledge of mental illness , has almost always led, in the past, to treatments that were often worse than the disease. Or, at best, completely unnecessary care.
The Joan of Arc ring recently sold in London A few months ago, in London, a silver ring it was sold for 400,000 euros. Its peculiarity? Having adorned the finger of the Maid of Orleans, or Joan of Arc , the French heroine and saint sentenced to death for heresy and burned at the stak
Count Ugolino in prison. Nineteenth-century painting by Giuseppe Diotti One of the best known passages of the Divine Comedy is the one relating to the story of Count Ugolino , which is narrated in canto XXXIII of the Inferno . Ugolino della Gherardesca (1210-1289), was a well-known I
Do you want your son to become a priest? Do you dream of a daughter in a monks habit? Nothing easier. Just give them appropriate names. Widukind of Korbei, the author of a priceless chronicle that sheds light on the origins of the Polish state, had little to say about his career. The fact that h
What if I told you that the friars, in the Middle Ages, had a very active sex life, if I told you that the vow of abstinence was respected less than the vow of poverty? But above all, what would you answer me if I told you that Giovanni Boccaccio is also talking to us about it, with the Decameron?
Malnourished and weakened they jumped with a penalty frog, played volleyball and ran for the hundred. Sports struggles were to give them, at least a substitute for normality. Who? Prisoners of POW camps who, in 1940 and 1944, organized their - as they proudly called them - games behind barbed wire.
The Templars were a true elite, but were required to strictly follow the rules of their Rule. Even for - it would seem - a minor offense, brave monks with a red cross on their chests faced severe penalties, including exclusion from the community. How easy was it to get fired? Paul Hill in the re