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St Mary’s Abbey, York, North Yorkshire, England This once powerful abbey was oft featured in the medieval ballads of Robin Hood (his arch-enemy a ‘ryche abbot here besyde Of Seynt Mari Abbey‘). Originally built around 1055 by William the Conqueror,...

St Mary’s Abbey, York, North Yorkshire, England

This once powerful abbey was oft featured in the medieval ballads of Robin Hood (his arch-enemy a ‘ryche abbot here besyde Of  Seynt Mari Abbey‘). Originally built around 1055 by William the Conqueror, it was re-founded in 1088 as a Benedictine monastery. Destroyed by Henry VIII in 1540. The ruins sit in the courtyard of the modern Yorkshire Museum, in the shadows of the prominent York Minster Cathedral.

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Early English alabaster Virgin and Child that withstood the Reformation and the French Revolution to return after a 600-year absence. It will take its place among the rarer medieval glories of the British Museum. The statue, which stands 75cm high,...

Early English alabaster Virgin and Child that withstood the Reformation and the French Revolution to return after a 600-year absence. It will take its place among the rarer medieval glories of the British Museum.

The statue, which stands 75cm high, is thought to have been made around 1350 in the Midlands by an unknown and highly skilled hand. It is regarded as the best surviving example of its kind on show in Britain.

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The Toledo Cathedral is considered by many the pinnacle of the Spanish Gothic style. Both its exterior and interior are stunning, and its visual appeal could only be surpassed by the cathedral’s interesting history. 

The temple was actually built on top of a Muslim mosque, and before that it had been a church in the sixth century during the reign of the Visigoth King Recaredo. King San Fernando and the archbishop began building the new church in 1226.

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Hair and fingerprints in the seals used to authenticate documents are yielding fascinating insights into the life and times of those who made them. The idea of looking at seals in this way dates back to 2005, when French historian Michel Pastoureau...

Hair and fingerprints in the seals used to authenticate documents are yielding fascinating insights into the life and times of those who made them.

The idea of looking at seals in this way dates back to 2005, when French historian Michel Pastoureau estimated that European archives contained between two and four million medieval seals, with roughly one in five bearing a fingerprint. Read more

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Did Anne Boleyn have extra fingers? Among the many mysteries concerning the doomed queen, perhaps the most unusual is the claim that she had six fingers on one of her hands. The story of Boleyn’s extra digit most likely originated in a book by the...

Did Anne Boleyn have extra fingers?

Among the many mysteries concerning the doomed queen, perhaps the most unusual is the claim that she had six fingers on one of her hands. The story of Boleyn’s extra digit most likely originated in a book by the Catholic propagandist Nicholas Sander. Sander notes that the young queen “…had a projecting tooth under the upper lip, and on her right hand, six fingers.” He also claims the she had an unsightly cyst on her neck, which she tried to hide by wearing dresses and jewelry that covered her throat. Read on