Religion

Winter Landscape with Ice Skaters, by Hendrick Avercamp, c.1608. Rijksmuseum. Public Domain.

Who to Blame for Early Modern Climate Change?

The changing climate of the Little Ice Age forced radical thinkers to reconsider humanity’s place in the universe.

Marginal illustration showing the expulsion of Jews, the Rochester Chronicle, 1355. British Library/Bridgeman Images.

Edward I’s Destruction of England’s Jews

The first year of Edward I’s reign saw waves of strictures placed on a Jewish community in an already perilous situation. It set the path to their expulsion.

William Price of Llantrisant in druidic costume, by A.C. Hemming, 1918. Wellcome Collection. Public Domain.

Archdruid William Price Challenges Funerary Rites

There was no law permitting cremation, but there was no law against it either. On 13 January 1884, a Welsh druid took the matter to trial.

Assisted dying illustration © Ben Jones/Heart Agency.

The Long Debate on Assisted Dying

The issue of assisted dying was first put before Parliament in 1936. Many of the same questions remain, but the arguments have changed.

Triptych panel with Saint Sebastian, c. 15th-16th century. Metropolitan Museum of Art. Public Domain.

‘Lower than the Angels’ by Diarmaid MacCulloch review

Lower than the Angels: A History of Sex and Christianity by Diarmaid MacCulloch reminds us that when it comes to sexuality and gender, scripture is often contradictory.

‘Rest: Aldenham Church’, by Sir Hubert von Herkomer, 1876.Yale Center for British Art, Dr. Lee MacCormick Edwards Collection, Gift of Alison Edwards Curwen. Public Domain.

‘Church Going’ by Andrew Ziminski review

In Church Going: A Stonemason’s Guide to the Churches of the British Isles, Andrew Ziminski deconstructs the humble parish church.

A farmer gives milk from the holy cow to Hindus, Parsees and the British, by Ravi Varma, c. 1848-1908. Wellcome Collection. Public Domain.

Why Do Religions Decline?

The spiritual marketplace is crowded – is there something Darwinian about it?

The Ehemann organ in the Holy Trinity Church, Ulm, 1643. Kartensammlung Moll. Public Domain.

Why the Organ Split the Church

Indulgent symbol of papist excess or mouthpiece for God’s second greatest gift? What place was there for the organ in the Reformation church?

The Sick, the leprous, and the lame praying at Saint Hedwig's tomb, from the Vita beatae Hedwigis, 1353. The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, Ms. Ludwig XI 7, fol. 87v, 83.MN.126.87v. Public Domain.

The Pilgrim as a Historian

Pilgrimage is not meant to be easy, but it remains a popular pursuit – even for non-believers.

Diogenes in the Book of Good Morals, by Jacques le Grant, 15th century. Musée Condé, Chantilly/Bridgeman Images.

‘The Green Ages’ by Annette Kehnel review

Can The Green Ages: Medieval Innovations in Sustainability by Annette Kehnel find anything worth recycling in medieval modes of living?