Religion

Cyrus restores the vessels to the Temple of Jerusalem, by Gustave Doré for the Bible de Tours, 1843. Bridgeman Images.

The Great Destroyer: Cyrus, Babylon, and Jerusalem

The ancient world found him to have achieved greatness and thrust it upon his name, but was the destruction of Babylon Cyrus’ divinely ordained destiny?

Pope Innocent III declaring the crusade against the Cathars and an attack on the Albigensians, miniature from the Grandes Chroniques de France ou de Saint Denis, 14th century. British Library/Bridgeman Images.

Hunting Heretics: Inside the Medieval Inquisition

More than 5,000 people were interviewed during the Great Inquisition of medieval Toulouse. What did this mean for those ordinary people called to give evidence?

Arabian American Oil Co drilling rig in the desert, Saudi Arabia, by Robert Yarnall Richie, 1948. DeGolyer Library, Southern Methodist University. Public Domain.

‘Saudi Arabia: A Modern History’ by David Commins review

How did a Gulf backwater become a global powerbroker? Saudi Arabia: A Modern History by David Commins explores the uneasy alliance between oil, autocracy, and Wahhabism.

St Matthew writing, the Lindisfarne Gospels, 710-20. British Library/Bridgeman Images.

Artificial Inspiration

Poets across the ages have sought help with their writing – but AI bears no comparison with the divine.

Bonfire Celebrating Midsummer Night, by Nikolai Astrup, 1912-26. Nasjonalmuseet/Børre Høstland. Public Domain.

Gods at the Margins: How European Paganism Survived

By the 14th century Christianity had swept many of Europe’s indigenous religions aside, but not all. At the continent’s peripheries paganism survived and, in some cases, thrived.

Jesus Mocked by the Soldiers, Édouard Manet, 1865. Art Institute of Chicago. Public Domain.

‘Miracles and Wonder’ by Elaine Pagels review

Miracles and Wonder: The Historical Mystery of Jesus by Elaine Pagels finds that the son of God is more than the sum of his parts.

The Siege of Antioch, from the Chronicle of William of Tyre, 14th century. Heritage Images/TopFoto.

Cannibal Crusaders

Reports from the First Crusade brought tales of victorious Christian soldiers eating dead bodies.

The archbishop of Rheims crowning a queen, from The Coronation Book of Charles V, King of France, c.1365-80.

Medieval Queen by Grace of God

Queenship was transformed in the early Middle Ages, as power came to be derived not just from marriage, but from God.

‘Geology and Palaeontology’, from Cassell’s Natural History, 1896. Mary Evans Picture Library.

The Victorians, Creation, and the Dinosaur Problem

The Earth was created in seven days. On which day were the dinosaurs made? Discoveries in geology and palaeontology forced Victorian creationists to be especially creative.