Feature

Patrona Halil and his rebels who overthrew Sultan Ahmed III in favour of Mahmud I are murdered at the latter's order, by Jean Baptiste Vanmour, c.1730-37. Rijksmuseum. Public Domain.

Heads Will Roll: Murder and the Ottoman Succession

Getting and keeping the throne in the Ottoman Empire was no easy task. For a new sultan, the most foolproof method of securing power was to kill all other claimants.

Portrait of Marie Antoinette with her Children, by Elisabeth Vigée Le Brun, 1787. (Château de Versailles, France / Bridgeman Images)

The Female Gaze Made Flesh

There were many obstacles preventing women from becoming artists in the 18th century, but those who overcame them created some of the most influential art of their time.

Mermaids and Mermen

Some of the most intelligent people in early modern Europe were convinced of the existence of merpeople.

The Parthenon, by Frederick Edwin Church, 1871. Metropolitan Museum of Art.

The United States of Greece

The urge to create a Greek nation state goes back millennia. Its success depended on a shared notion of ‘Greekness’ across widespread city states.

Hester Street’s pushcarts, by Berenice Abbot, 1935.

On the Streets of New York City

The pushcarts of the Lower East Side epitomised New York’s bustling immigrant community. The drive to Americanise brought about their demise and changed the streets forever.

The Siege of Antioch during the First Crusade in 1098, 15th-century manuscript.

Weapons of War in the Crusades

Turkish archers versus Frankish heavy cavalry. The Crusades marked a period of technological breakthroughs in the art of war that would decide the conflict.

The formal enclosure of an anchoress in her cell by a bishop, from a pontifical produced for Bishop Mona of St David’s, 15th century.

The Anchorites Who Escaped

Despite the spiritual rewards of the medieval anchorhold, the desire to break free could be overwhelming.

Black Panthers press conference, 21 January 1969. University of California, Los Angeles. Library. Department of Special Collections. Public Domain.

Beyond Radical Chic: The Black Panther Party

Founded in Oakland, California more than half a century ago, the Black Panther Party’s revolutionary image and legacy remain as politically and racially divisive as ever.

Henry VIII c.1540, by Hans Holbein the Younger.

Henry VIII and the Royal Supremacy

The break with Rome set England apart from continental Europe. It was born of personal desires rather than matters of principle.

Detail from Massacre of the Innocents, Guido Reni, 1611.

The conflicts that devastated Renaissance Europe were justified by ancient ideas rooted in natural law and Christianity. Though replaced by legal frameworks for the conduct of war between states, the killing continues.