The enduring myth that Ludwig van Beethoven was black has been a subject of debate for over a century and while recent DNA evidence has definitively debunked the claim, some people still believe it.In this article I’ll explain why people once believed it, why there’s no evidence for it and finally I’ll share the DNA … More Beethoven was not black
As it’s sometimes still difficult to comprehend how common (or uncommon) bathhouses were in medieval Europe, I thought it might be interesting to make a list of all the places that had a functioning public bathhouse/bathing facility in Europe between 500-1500AD with connected sources/evidence.This list does not tell us how many bathhouses each city/town/village had … More List of medieval towns, villages & cities with bathhouses
For a long time historians have been more interested in the stories of royals, nobles, knights and other important and powerful people, than they have been in the lives of the common folk.But I’ve always cared more about what life was like for people like me, not rich, not powerful, not living in palaces, etc. … More Book review: ‘Urban Women: Life, Love, and Work in the Medieval Low Countries’ by Andrea Bardyn, Chanelle Delameillieure, Jelle Haemers (2019)
This picture has been going around the internet with the claim that it shows “One of the earliest known photographs of a Native American with a wolf” or “One of the few documented images capturing the coexistence of a Native American and a wolf”, usually followed by a nice story about how Native Americans and … More Not a photo of a Native American with a wolf
Time to review yet another nonsense online article with no sources or references. “Why Medieval Castles Were Filthy Places You’d Never Want to Live In”https://talesofthemiddleages.com/why-medieval-castles-were-filthy-places/ Oh dear.Okay, this is mostly just a rant, a flood of words, me screaming into the void.There are some sources for what I’m saying in the thread I link to … More Article review: Why Medieval Castles Were Filthy Places You’d Never Want to Live In
For some weird reason some people seem to think that Europeans didn’t care about personal hygiene till relatively recently, others even believe that Europeans never bathed or washed and still don’t.Yes, I’m serious, there are really folks out there who believe this. So on this page I’m going to simply collect a list of links … More History of personal hygiene in Europe
I love history books that are all about a specific subject, it shows that a historian has become obsessed about one thing and that they’ve likely spend more time than is healthy researching it.Which is of course a good thing because it can result in the ultimate publication on the topic and I think that’s … More Book review: ‘The medieval pig’ by Dolly Jørgensen (2024)
On the 29th of May 1969 a young student called Bruce Baruch Mayrock set himself on fire on the lawn of the United Nations headquarters in New York.A sign he left on the grass said: “You must stop genocide – please save 9 million Biafrans.” and “Peace is where there is an absence of fear … More This is not Bruce Mayrock
This story has been making the rounds on the internet with a claim that you’ve probably been told during visits to castles, but, there’s no evidence for it whatsoever. In short the idea is that it’s easier for a right-handed soldier or knight to fight in a spiral staircase that is built going clockwise when … More Medieval staircases were NOT built going clockwise for the defender’s advantage
This story has been quite popular on social media for a while now but is there any truth to it?Here is the claim with the picture most often accompanying it: For starters the story makes little sense.Husbands tend to notice when they keep feeling a bit under the weather after each breakfast, don’t ask me … More NOT medieval women poisoning their husbands
Fake History Hunter 