The eventful Avignon Papacy included three different popes ruling at the same time and an Irish king complaining about the ...

The Tower of Nesle, scene of the events, in 1650, shortly before its demolition. Watercolor by Fédor Hoffbauer. Credit: Fédor Hoffbauer / Wikimedia Commons Gallardet’s version—or rather Dumas’s, since ...

When it comes to creating a gallery or museum, where do you start? London's National Gallery was founded in 1824 when the British government took the decision to buy the art collection of the ...

Maybe if the world were a little calmer and greener, and everybody had a big, self-mowing back yard with a lake… But most of us don’t. We need our parks: They keep us sane and happy and connected; ...

To choose a new pope, 120 cardinals will be confined in the Vatican until they have reached a decision. To pick Pope Francis in 2013 took two days – but in November 1268, when cardinals gathered in ...

ROME — The Pantheon is one of the most iconic and best-preserved ancient structures in the world. Located in the heart of the Italian capital, this architectural wonder has stood the test of time as ...

The Templars were the principal crusading order of the Middle Ages. They were the chief pillar of the crusading kingdom of Jerusalem before its final collapse in 1291. They played a heroic role in the ...

The pope’s embrace of literature and history is a sharp contrast to some of his predecessors, a medievalist explains.

Pope Francis has returned home to the Vatican after he was hospitalized for five weeks with a life-threatening bout of ...