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King Arthur
King Arthur is among the most famous literary characters of all time. The Arthurian legend of the Knights of the Round Table, Camelot, the Quest for the Holy Grail, the love affair of Lancelot and Guinevere, and the wizard Merlin have informed...
Article
Ten Facts You Need to Know about the Inca
The Inca civilization (c. 1400-1533 CE) is among the most vital of South America in terms of its cultural influence and legacy. The Inca began as a small tribe who steadily grew in power to conquer other peoples all down the coast from Columbia...
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Flying Shuttle
A flying shuttle, used in the textile industry to pull thread (weft) horizontally across longitudinal threads (the warp) on a weaving frame. The device was invented by John Kay in 1733 and greatly speeded up textile production. (Immigration...
Video
A Day in the Life of an Aztec Midwife
Join the Aztec midwife Xoquauhtli as she tends to her patients and honors the warrior goddess Teteoinnan at a festival ushering in the season of warfare. — The midwife Xoquauhtli has a difficult choice to make. She owes a debt...
Definition
Merlin
Merlin (also known as Myrddin, Merlinus) is the great wizard of the Arthurian Legends best known from Sir Thomas Malory's Le Morte D'Arthur (1469 CE). The character was created by Geoffrey of Monmouth in his History of the Kings of Britain...
Article
Ancient Persian Gods, Heroes, and Creatures - The Complete List
The term 'mythology' comes from the Greek mythos (story-of-the-people) and logos (word or speech), meaning the spoken story of a people. Every civilization of the ancient world developed a belief system, which is characterized as 'mythology'...
Definition
Chretien de Troyes
Chretien de Troyes (l. c. 1130-1190 CE) was the greatest romantic poet of his era, regarded today as the Father of Arthurian Romance (along with Geoffrey of Monmouth) and also Father of the Novel owing to his narrative form. He was most likely...
Article
The Textile Industry in the British Industrial Revolution
During the Industrial Revolution (1760-1840), textile production was transformed from a cottage industry to a highly mechanised one where workers were present only to make sure the carding, spinning, and weaving machines never stopped. Driven...
Book Review
Fatal Revolutions: Natural History, West Indian Slavery, and the Routes of American Literature
Christopher Iannini’s Fatal Revolutions: Natural History, West Indian Slavery, and the Routes of American Literature successfully ties seemingly disparate themes of slavery, American literature, and natural history together. By focusing on...
Video
The Aztec Myth of the Unlikeliest Sun God
Discover the myth of how the weak and pimply Aztec god Nanahuatl sacrificed himself to become Lord Sun and created a new world. — Nanahuatl, weakest of the Aztec gods, sickly and covered in pimples, had been chosen to form a new...