Religion

Are we living in a new age of puritanism? And how would we know if we were?

Confronting Martin Luther’s ugly side.

The spiritual power of medieval relics meant that Jerusalem, or a dragon, could be remade anywhere.

In the aftermath of the Reformation, the authority of the pope depended ever more upon the will of the people.

The complexities of Haitian Vodou were misunderstood and exploited by imperialists, with tales of human sacrifices and cannibalism a backdrop to the US invasion of 1915.

The bodies of Jan Bockelson, and two other leaders of the Anabaptist sect, were hung outside the church of St Lambert on 22 January 1536.

The medieval insistence on clerical celibacy had dangerous and long-lasting consequences. 

Muslims from Asia who wished to travel to Mecca on the Hajj were exploited by a trade in human cargo that grew with the opening of the Suez Canal.

We ask four historians to consider the reputation of Henry II’s Archbishop of Canterbury, who was murdered 850 years ago this month.