About European History

�What would have happened if Henry VIII had obtained his divorce?�

2009-07-04T11:00:39Z

Britain�s Independent newspaper published a playful article on King Henry VIII this week, taking a look at the English Reformation via the question: �What would have happened if Henry VIII had obtained his divorce?� This is a reference to Henry�s attempt to get an annulment of his first marriage and his decision to split with the Catholic Church when the Pope refused. The article concludes that England would probably have remained Catholic - although the modern era would have seen a very loosely observed Catholicism - and the Church of England would never have existed.

Cave Painters were Male and Female?

2009-07-04T11:00:03Z

In France�s Pech Merie cave, prehistoric artists painted murals surrounded by �stencils� of their hands (where someone had placed a hand on the wall and it had been painted over/around, leaving a clear hand shaped piece of wall surrounded by paint). A study by archaeologist Dean Snow has challenged the received wisdom that these stencils, and thus possibly the paintings, were created by men. As he told National Geographic �even a superficial examination of published photos suggested to me that there were lots of female hands there", and careful analysis, compared to what we know about male and female anatomy, has revealed this to be true. It raises the possibility that other European cave painters, or at least people involved in some parts of the creation, could also have been a mixture of males and females.

St. Paul Found�Or is he?

2009-07-04T10:59:15Z

The Papacy has announced that human remains found in a tomb beneath the Vatican have been identified as belonging to St. Paul, a key figure in the development of Christianity (arguably -the- key figure). Reports, such as this from the Guardian, cited testing which revealed that the bones date to between the first and second centuries CE, as well as deduction based on the location of the tomb. However, there has been some criticism of these claims. One report, by an expert in old bones and organic remains called Rengert Elburg, argues that while you can date the bones, you can�t prove they are from Paul simply because of their location, and you can�t do DNA to find a match because there are no known descendants. Further examination might prove more conclusive, such as evidence of beheading, the traditionally accepted death of St Paul. The tomb itself hasn�t been opened, but examined through a small hole.

Bede an Einstein?

2009-06-27T11:04:25Z

Church leaders applying to get a local monastery approved as an UNESCO World Heritage Site have made a bold claim: that Bede, the late seventh to early eight century monk and author, was the �Einstein of his time�. Bede is probably the greatest scholar of the early medieval era, writing in history, biography, theology and science, and is the centrepiece in the bid to win the place of his monastry, Wearmoth-Jarrow, World Heritage status. I suppose the comparison really hinges on how you view Einstein, as well as how you view Bede. More information on the bid can be found here.

The �Forme of Cury�

2009-06-27T11:03:13Z

The John Rylands Library in Manchester, Britain, has digitised and uploaded a medieval cookery book. Called the Forme of Cury, the manuscript dates from c.1420 and includes recipes only the very rich could afford; indeed, the work was written by the chefs to English King Richard II. There are a hundred pages and hundreds of recipes but news reports, such as this one from the BBC, have picked out the one involving cooked Porpoise; this isn�t a meal which has survived in Britain, although I�m sure we all know people who�d try it. Other meals include �Noumbles� and �Roo Broth�. The Rylands Medieval Collection can be accessed here.

Facedown Burials were Deliberate Disrespect?

2009-06-27T11:02:21Z

A world spanning study into the phenomenon of facedown burials has concluded that they were often deliberate attempts to �disrespect or humiliate� the dead. The report I saw on National Geographic used Sweden as an example, explaining how the greatest concentration of facedown burials occurred when Christianity was spreading through the region, and may have been a way of pagans displaying their displeasure at the new religion.

Festival of British Archaeology

2009-06-20T17:34:44Z

If you live in Britain and have an interest in archaeology (but aren�t an actual archaeologist: you�ll probably be more than involved in the subject anyway), there�s a whole summer of more than 600 events planned across the country which might interest you. It�s called the Festival of British Archaeology, and they�ve got a new website giving information, including a way to search by your postcode to see what�s near. All you need now is some sun�

Did Darwin End Werewolf Myths?

2009-06-20T17:34:14Z

In July 2009, at a meeting of British Society for the History of Science, Brian Regal is to outline a new theory about the demise of belief in werewolves. A rough summary is quoted in USA Today, but he blames Darwin for discovering evolution: �The spread of the idea of evolution helped kill off the werewolf because a canid-human hybrid makes no sense from an evolutionary point of view.� It will be interesting to see if this is accepted by folklorists (and cultural historians).

Further Elgin Marbles Row

2009-06-20T17:33:46Z

As the opening ceremony for Athens� new Acropolis Museum approaches, a new row has broken out over the ownership of the Elgin Marbles. According to reports such as this one from the Guardian, a British Museum spokesman told an Athens radio station that the museum would consider loaning the Marbles back to Greece for a short period of three to four months if Greece acknowledged that the British Museum legally owned them. Athens� Minister for Culture replied in a forthright manner: ��agreeing to the condition [of ownership] would be like sanctifying Elgin's deeds and legitimising the theft of the marbles and the break-up of the monument 207 years ago. No Greek government could accept that." Meanwhile many of the people invited to represent Britain, including the Queen and Prime Minister, have turned it down.

Give your views on the Elgin Marble�s ownership.

Russia Tries to Re-Write History

2009-06-13T10:58:14Z

Further evidence has emerged of Russia trying to rewrite the history of the Second World War. An essay posted by the Russian Defence Ministry on its website claims (translations taken from the Daily Telegraph online): Anyone who has been minded to study the history of the Second World War knows it started because of Poland's refusal to meet Germany's requests�The German demands were very modest. You could hardly call them unfounded�� This is, quite frankly, astonishing. It�s well known that Germany�s leader, Hitler, craved an empire in Eastern Europe to create what was termed �Living Room� for Germans. The demands Hitler made of Poland were designed to instigate war, and more would have followed had Poland given in. Instead Poland refused, Germany invaded on September 1 1939, and then Russia also invaded Poland and nearby Baltic nations. This action is, perhaps, what Russia is trying to obfuscate, especially as they wish to legislate that anybody who claims Russia occupied these regions should be imprisoned. So just to make clear, Russia not only occupied Poland and Baltic regions in 1939, they did so after the Second World War too.