Tag Archives: history

Old St. Peter’s, Visigoths and a Henry

Posted on November 6, 2021 by Brian H. Gill

St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome isn’t nearly as old as it looks. Architects in ancient Rome often covered large interior spaces with barrel vaults and semicircular arches, although they hadn’t invented either. Someone started using arches and vaults, probably in … Continue reading →

Posted in A Tale of Two Churches: St. Peter's, Rome, Series | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Sifting Through the Ash Heap of History

Posted on October 30, 2021 by Brian H. Gill

Petrarch called Rome “a rubbish heap of history.” That’s what Ferdinand Gregorovius says Petrarch wrote in a letter, at any rate. “…Petrarch, who was then in Avignon, wrote on this occasion his patriotic epistle in Latin verses to Aeneas Tolomei … Continue reading →

Posted in Golden Ages, Series | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

A Trilobite With a Hyper-Compound Eye

Posted on October 16, 2021 by Brian H. Gill

It’s barely over two weeks since scientists at the University of Cologne published what they’d learned about a trilobite’s unique eye. Their research vindicated an amateur paleontologist’s observations, and very likely will raise more questions than it answers. That’s par … Continue reading →

Posted in Science News | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

The Athenian Golden Age: Pericles, Aspasia, and All That

Posted on October 9, 2021 by Brian H. Gill

Ah! The Golden Age of Athens! “Golden age” arguably sounds classier than “the good old days.” But either way, it’s a bygone era that nostalgia says was so very much better than today. Folks living in a golden age may … Continue reading →

Posted in Golden Ages, Series | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Notre-Dame, Paris: History, Two Cults and a Fire

Posted on September 25, 2021 by Brian H. Gill

The Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris has survived Louis XIV-style redecorating, the French Revolution, Napoleon and 19th-century remodeling. I’m pretty sure it will survive repair and reconstruction, following the April 16, 2021, fire. Notre-Dame de Paris is Burning (From Getty … Continue reading →

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