Old Catholic churches often house treasure troves of religious art and relics. From frescoes to altarpieces to the alleged belongings of various saints, church collections can be both impressive and eccentric, especially in churches that date many centuries back. The Santuario Madonna delle Lacrime Immacolate, in English “The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Immaculate Tears,” […]
Elmer McCurdy was born in 1880 to an unwed teenaged mother. To spare her the scandal of the circumstances of her son’s birth, Elmer was raised for much of his childhood by his aunt and uncle whom he believed to be his parents. When his adoptive father, George, died in 1890, the truth was revealed […]
The year was 1848. It was nighttime in Hydesville, New York when a flustered Margaret Fox dragged a neighbor from their home to witness the frightening phenomenon that had scared her so badly. Upon entering the farmhouse, Margaret led the neighbor to the bedroom of her two young daughters, fifteen-year-old Margaretta “Maggie” Fox and eleven-year-old […]
California, the Golden State, was first explored by Europeans in the sixteenth century when Spanish explorers began traversing the Pacific coastline. By the late-eighteenth century, the Spanish had established a series of missions which ran along the state which was referred to as “Alta California.” After a relatively brief stint as a Mexican province, California […]
From the hidden treasure trove of the pirate Samuel Bellamy to the misplaced remains of the bizarre and mysterious Pedro Mountain Mummy, lost artifacts and treasures are scattered throughout history and sought after by fortune-hunters and historians alike. Amongst all of history’s most intriguing unsolved mysteries, few can hold a candle to that of the […]
The Renaissance in Europe was a period of art and renewal that brought with it many advancements in both culture and empire. The advent of the Church of England gave birth to the rise of English Protestantism, expanding imperial power set the stage for the upcoming Age of Exploration, and the most famous playwright of […]
I previously wrote about Saint Guinefort, a dog who became an unofficial local saint after a folk tale emerged surrounding his heroic deeds. While studying Saint Guinefort, I stumbled upon a little-known saint by the name of Saint Expeditus. There is little information available regarding this character, but what I could find is quite amusing. […]
In 1835 in the town of Schifferstadt in Southwest Germany, a treasure from the Bronze Age was unearthed. Buried in an upright position atop a sheet of burnt clay, this mysterious object was found with three bronze axes leaning against its hammered gold surface. The object itself is a sheet of gold, hammered thin and […]
“Joanna the Mad” is a name that is positioned at a focal branch of both the Habsburg family tree and that of the Spanish monarchy. Joanna, also known as “Juana La Loca” actually reigned as queen of Castile, and later of Aragon, for several decades. Despite this, her name is often overshadowed by the larger […]
