Christianity

The team used DNA analysis to determine the brothers' hair and eye color. Top: Spytihněv I and bottom: Vratislav I

3-D Reconstructions Reveal the Faces of Two Medieval Dukes

Researchers used a variety of techniques to visualize what Czech rulers Spytihněv I and Vratislav I might have looked like

Medieval women viewed birthing girdles, or long pieces of parchment inscribed with religious invocations and drawings, as protective talismans.

A Medieval Woman Wore This 'Birthing Girdle' to Protect Herself During Labor

Researchers found traces of bodily fluids, as well as milk and other materials associated with pregnancy, on the ten-foot long parchment

Researchers unearthed three Polish nuns' remains at a municipal cemetery in Orneta.

Researchers Uncover Remains of Polish Nuns Murdered by Soviets During WWII

As the Red Army pushed the Nazis out of Poland in 1945, soldiers engaged in brutal acts of repression against civilians

This mural—found on the east wall of the south transept in the Augsburg Cathedral—depicts the beheading of St. John the Baptist.

1,000-Year-Old Bavarian Frescoes Depict Life and Beheading of John the Baptist

The paintings, which adorn the Augsburg Cathedral in southern Germany, are among the oldest of their kind in northern Europe

Rome's Basilica dei Santi Apostoli has housed bones said to belong to St. James and St. Philip since the sixth century A.D.

Bones Venerated as St. James the Younger's Don't Belong to the Apostle, Study Suggests

Researchers dated the femur fragments to between 214 and 340 A.D.—at least 160 years after the saint's lifetime

All over New Orleans, thousands of "house floats" were decorated in lieu of parade floats amid the paradeless 2021 Mardi Gras celebrations.

A Mardi Gras Like No Other Seeks to Bring New Orleans Together—From a Distance

The carnival season holds the possibility for renewal during the Covid-19 pandemic

Dante Alighieri, as depicted in Luca Signorelli's Orvieto Cathedral fresco

Dante's Descendant Wants to Overturn the Poet's 1302 Corruption Conviction

More than 700 years ago, a magistrate sentenced the "Divine Comedy" author to be burned at the stake if he ever returned to Florence

Two studies, including one conducted by scholars at the Louvre, suggest that Leonardo—or another artist entirely—added Christ's hands and arms to the painting at a later point.

New Research Suggests 'Salvator Mundi' Originally Looked Completely Different

Two separate studies posit that Leonardo da Vinci's initial composition only featured Christ's head and shoulders

The color purple has long been associated with royalty. This wool fabric found in Israel dates to around 1,000 B.C.

'Royal Purple' Fabric Dated to Time of Biblical King David Found in Israel

Derived from the bodies of snails, the dye used on the wool fibers was extremely valuable in the ancient world

This month's picks include The Ravine, Four Lost Cities and The Three Mothers.

Civil Rights Icons' Mothers, Lost Ancient Cities and Other New Books to Read

These February releases elevate overlooked stories and offer insights on oft-discussed topics

In full, the Greek text reads, “Christ born of Mary. This work of the most God-fearing and pious bishop [Theodo]sius and the miserable Th[omas] was built from the foundation.”

Inscription Offers Earliest Evidence of Christianity in Israel's Jezreel Valley

The fifth-century engraving, found repurposed in a Byzantine building's wall, references "Christ born of Mary"

Authorities recovered a copy (right) of Salvator Mundi from a Naples man's apartment. Attributed to the school of Leonardo, the work dates to around 1508–1513.

Stolen Copy of 'Salvator Mundi' Found Stashed in Naples Cupboard

The museum that owns the 16th-century painting hadn't even realized the work—attributed to the school of Leonardo—was missing

Father Coughlin's bully pulpit.

When Radio Stations Stopped a Public Figure From Spreading Dangerous Lies

When radio was king, many outlets chose to cease broadcasting Father Charles Coughlin's anti-Semitic sermons

Kilij Arslan I's forces defeated the People's Crusade at the Battle of Civetot.

Turkish Archaeologists Discover Grave of Sultan Who Defeated Crusaders

Kilij Arslan I was the second leader of the Seljuk Sultanate of Rūm

The stone reads "blessed Maria, who lived an immaculate life."

A Tombstone Inscribed in Ancient Greek Is Found in Southern Israel

The Byzantine-era stone reads 'blessed Maria, who lived an immaculate life'

Father Reginald Foster celebrating his birthday in 2019

Father Reginald Foster Used Latin to Bring History Into the Present

Who speaks Latin these days? A surprisingly large number of people, thanks to the late friar, who died on Christmas Day at 81

The statue, which dates back to around 1348, likely depicts John de Belton, a priest who died of the Black Death.

Medieval Effigy Found Hidden Beneath English Church's Pipe Organ

The newly restored carving is the oldest alabaster effigy of a priest discovered in the U.K. to date

Workers building a visitors' tunnel at the modern Church of All Nations discovered the ancient mikveh, or ritual bath.

Researchers Unearth Ritual Bath Dated to Jesus's Time Near Garden of Gethsemane

The 2,000-year-old "mikveh" represents the first Second Temple–era archaeological evidence found at the site

This rare Anglo Saxon cross spent more than 1,000 years buried in a Scottish field. Left: the cross pre-conservation, and right: the cross mid-cleaning

Freed of 1,000 Years of Grime, Anglo-Saxon Cross Emerges in Stunning Detail

Conservation revealed the artifact, discovered with Scotland's Galloway Hoard, as an example of intricate Viking-era metalwork

Notre-Dame's Grand Organ, as seen before the April 2019 fire

Inside the Monumental Effort to Restore Notre-Dame's Grand Organ

Workers spent four months painstakingly dismantling the musical instrument, which is only set to sound again in 2024

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