Imagine for a moment you're a common Medieval peasant. You need to eat, just like we do. But you most likely don't have an oven. After all, ovens are these great, hulking metal things - they're large, expensive, and hard to use. If you're cooking at home, you're cooking in a pot over the fire.… Continue reading The Bread Law That Lasted 800 Years
Tag: european history
The History of Kissing (In Europe)
Kissing's a strange thing. We tend to think it's innate, that it's natural for humans to do it - but it's not. There are still cultures today where kissing is not done at all. I know very little about non-Western kissing, other than that it appears in early Indian texts and seems to have been… Continue reading The History of Kissing (In Europe)
Collectivism and Individualism in European Literature
When we look at European history through a modern lens, it seems apparent that Western culture has always placed great value on personal achievement. Recent discourse in some historical circles has pointed out the persistently individualistic nature of Western attitudes—many events tied into colonialism, for example, were rooted not only in a desire to better… Continue reading Collectivism and Individualism in European Literature
Is Neuschwanstein Castle… Actually A Castle?
I recently did a silly, off-the-cuff tweet that actually got some traction: I asked people what their favourite castles were. I got some obvious ones, like the castle from Beauty and the Beast and the Disney castle. And a few conventionally awesome ones, like Leeds and Warwick castles, both of which are stunning. But the… Continue reading Is Neuschwanstein Castle… Actually A Castle?
Dewi Hargreaves 