Category: Items of Note

A free interactive night map of the world’s great castles, fortresses and palaces — 3,708 landmarks across 131 countries, each with its photo, founding century and story.

“Some weapons were so powerful that they redefined the nature of battles and transformed civilizations. Throughout ancient history, military innovations repeatedly shifted the balance of power between rival kingdoms

“The Battle of Castillon was a battle between the forces of England and France which took place on 17 July 1453 in Gascony near the town of Castillon-sur-Dordogne (later Castillon-la-Bataille). On the day of the battle, the

“Eco, born in Alessandria in 1932, held the chair of semiotics at Bologna’s Alma Mater from 1971 to 2007, making the university one of the world’s leading centres

“Over the centuries, errors in dragon descriptions accumulated by mistranslation, exaggeration, acceptance of folklore and myth as truth, and conflation of different animals,” they explain. “By the Renaissance,

“We know that Gygax drew direct inspiration for the definition of the Law-Chaos axis from Poul Anderson’s work, Three Hearts and Three Lions, and the Cosmic Balance from Moorcock’s

Jousting deaths could change dynasties, extinguish noble bloodlines, and shift the balance of power throughout medieval Europe. But medieval sources often used the word “tournament” to refer to

Legends of dragons were given credibility when historical figures added their firsthand accounts to the tales. People sincerely believed that the winged lizards existed because of the trustworthy

“Jousting, both now and in the Middle Ages, fascinates. It is an intensely physical experience with a direct connection to the skills of the medieval battlefield. Jousts generate