history
Holy Crap and Holy Ground
In preparation for tomorrow night’s reading/party of Scott Korb’s new book (out in stores today!) Life in Year One, here are a couple of related pieces just out today. On…
Saint Meets Sultan Meets Wishful History
Today at The Immanent Frame, I’ve got a report on last night’s event at Fordham University on St. Francis’ mysterious encounter with the sultan of Egypt. More and more, it…
The Most Controversial 89-year-old Man in New York
I’ve just been one-upped by The New York Times, and I’m glad of it. In October, 2008, I did an essay for The Smart Set in tribute to my favorite…
Crashing the Mayans’ Big Date
Most of us know, one should hope, that the media’s portrayal of 2012 is essentially baseless. What is more interesting, though, is the way that the Mayan date of 2012…
Revelation Road
After ditching the tour group, he’s got twenty-four hours and seven very important Turkish towns to see.
The Masons Are Still Segregated?
Much of the response to my article from last week on Dan Brown and Freemasonry has focused on the questions of race in the fraternity. As one reader said of…
Ginormous Academicus
Earlier this month I had the pleasure to tell you about the Chronologium Academicus, a remarkable poster that a man named Guy Cutrufo has devised in the hopes of helping…
The Sapphire in Hildegard’s Wine
On the frontispiece of Hildegard von Bingen’s Scivias, the nun is propping her feet on a stool—perhaps to elevate her knees high enough to compose the first strokes of her…
Scuba Diving Beneath Hagia Sophia
At BLDGBLOG, an alluring post about the liquid underbelly of a historic building. While scuba diving beneath Hagia Sophia, an exploratory team led by filmmaker Goksel Gülensoy has “managed to…
Visual Metaphysics: Opicinus de Canistris
Passing through the Met’s Pen and Parchment: Drawing in the Middle Ages show this week, I was thrilled to discover a new fascination: the works of Opicinus de Canistris, a…
