There are many board games, apart from chess, that have their origin in the Middle Ages and that appears represented in the Cantigas de Alfonso X El Sabio. Among them is backgammon and other lesser-known board games such as halatafi, this could be another reason why we could affirm that medieval tim
The pagophagy It is a disease that causes the sufferer to eat only ice, snow and frozen drinks. Although it is not very clear what causes it, there are actually multiple possible causes, it is considered one of the variants of Pica, an eating disorder that consists of the irresistible desire to eat
The Travels of John de Mandeville It is a medieval book that circulated profusely and with great success throughout Europe between the years 1357 and 1371. Of its author, the supposed Sir John Mandeville, hardly what is related in the book itself is known, and he is considered a character completely
To the east of Pakistan, about 30 kilometers from Bahawalpur, lies the Cholistan Desert , a territory today arid and inhospitable that occupies about 16,000 square kilometers bordering India. This was not always the case, as the Hakra River used to run through the region. and the area was prolific
Between 1342 and 1363 the conflicts between the different states of the Italian peninsula had an exceptional protagonist:the Great Company . It was an mercenary army , mainly of German origin, which at its peak numbered more than 10,000 men, including cavalry and infantry. It was not the only one of
Founded in the year 762 by Al-Mansur, the first caliph of the Abbasid dynasty, and located 85 kilometers north of ancient Babylon, Baghdad was a titanic and revolutionary project for the time, a milestone in the history of urban design as well as an indisputable cultural reference in the following c
When one thinks of chivalric military orders of the medieval era, the first names that come to mind are the Templars, the Hospitallers, the Teutonic Knights... they are the ones that accumulated the most power, the most famous and well-known, thanks to multiple studies, books, movies and comics. In
On November 27, 1095, during the Clermont Council (France), the attendees experienced a mixture of surprise, stupefaction and enthusiasm upon hearing the unusual address of Pope Urban II . Although the Byzantine Emperor Alexios I Komnenos had launched a dramatic request for help in the face of the M
Evidently, by the middle of the 14th century there was hardly anything left of Rome ancient, beyond a heap of ruins interspersed between late medieval buildings and some illustrious patrician families of those that are perpetuated in time. For not staying, even the Holy See had moved to Avignon , at
The Middle Ages It was a period not quite as dark as we have been led to believe. Yes, there were very complicated periods, wars, diseases, plagues and climatic calamities. But what should be highlighted is that in those years a lot of inventions were discovered that helped the evolution of humani
The Kraken It is one of the oldest terrifying marine myths that are known. This abyssal creature was the terror of sailors, who believed that beyond the known seas inhabited these and other singular beings that were frightening even simply pronouncing their name. The Kraken is a myth that until it
It was the year 889 and Al-Andalus extended over much of the Iberian Peninsula. Muslims, Jews and converts lived there in a mixture that gave rise to the cultural landmarks of all known. The Christians who had been left under Muslim rule had two options, convert or seek their lives. Or both if thing
Many of the medicinal remedies used in the Middle Ages they had been inherited from ancient physicists and physicians. Although some were lost, others were transmitted orally and others were collected in manuscripts that have survived to this day. Of all these, there are several that we find incredi
Still the perception that the average citizen has about the Middle Ages is that they were dark times, with many calamities, illiterate populations and a substantial setback in terms of the medical advances that Antiquity had brought. All this is nothing more than a priori that places medieval times
They call it, quite exaggerating, The Devils Bible . Also, along the same lines, The Code of Satan . But it is commonly known as Codex Gigas (Big Book), a more accurate denomination although, admittedly, not as suggestive as the previous ones. In any case, none of them really fit the content. I
We already talked in another article about the Gemitus britannorum , the Wail of the Britons, a dramatic plea for help made to Rome by the rulers south of Hadrians Wall in the mid-5th century AD. to face the raids of Picts, Scots, Saxons and Franks. According to the cleric Gildas, author of De excid
In the winter of 330 BC, after a brilliant victory at Gaugamela, Alexander the Great de facto controlled most of the Achaemenid Empire and was persecuting King Darius III, who, taking refuge in Ecbatana, tried to organize a new army with which to resist. But he needed time and the one designated to
Athens had lost the Peloponnesian War against Sparta, surrendering in 404 BC. For a brief period of time the city was ruled by the Thirty Tyrants imposed by the Spartans, although only a year later, in 403 BC. Thrasíbulo managed to expel them and restore democracy. Difficult years followed when Ath
On the death of Theodosius I in 395 AD. the Roman Empire was divided, dividing its two sons the domains. The eldest, Arcadius, kept the eastern part, with its capital in Constantinople; for the minor, Flavio Honorio, it was the western one, with its capital in Rome. It was the definitive partition a
On many occasions we may have seen the Latin expression Nomen nominandum (yet to be named) in documents, works and event programs. It is used to refer to a person who is not yet known, and whose identity will be revealed later, or whose name is withheld for some reason. The expression derives from
The first problem posed by the U-boat was its location; the second was its destruction. In 1917 the Allied Research Commission for the Detection of Submarines had worked seriously and for a long time to solve the first point, and towards the end of the war they created a device capable of detecting
The naval battle of the Dalmatian channels was one of the few conflicts in the sea element during the Serbo-Croat war. The conflict lasted three days and took place on November 14-16, 1991. The Serb-Croat conflict has been going on since the early Middle Ages. It peaked before and during World War I
Anonymous portrait of Fernand de Magellan, 16th or 17th century, Mariners Museum, Newport News (Virginia) • WIKIMEDIA COMMONS In the spring of 1518, Fernand de Magellan, Portuguese hidalgo, concluded an agreement with the young king of Spain Charles Ist to lead a commercial expedition to the oth
Cleopatra , queen of Egypt from 51-30 BC, was the daughter of Ptolemy XII Auletes. She spoke six languages, was an admirable politician and knew how to use her seduction to secure a favorable position for Egypt within Romes growing influence. Biography of Cleopatra Cleopatra is the name seven qu