The Boys, making plans to quit their jobs and sail the seven seas. The New Flagship, by Frank Moss Bennett (1874–1952). He was a British painter of portraits and architecture, but also remembered for his scenes of historical settings from the…
The life of Flemish printer Christophe Plantin (c. 1520–1589) has long been a curiosity and inspiration to me. He was a master of navigating a a society unraveling at its very seams: the escalating, bellicose rhetoric of both the traditionalist,…
A form of black powder firearm best identified by its sharply curving butt stock. Popular in the sixteenth century, it can be considered an antecedent or subcategory of the caliver, a lighter weight firearm contrasted against the musket, which was…
🕮 Book review: The Bones of Avalon (John Dee Papers #1) by Phil Rickman I’m (obviously, if you’re here reading this) a fan of 16th & 17th century media, including historical fiction. But in some stereotypically red-blooded, hetero male ways,…
An academic term that defines the transitional period between the medieval era and modernity, roughly spanning circa 1500-1800. Like any attempt at historic periodization, defining exact start and end dates is not an exact science, however, and you will always…
It is a popular misconception to think that the idea of chivalry and chivalric tournaments were entirely old-fashioned and viewed with scorn by the sixteenth century (too many overly literal readings of Don Quixote for that, I think). While the…
This piece by 19th century French painter Eugène Lami (1800-1890) is giving me MAJOR vibes of that one shot of the Lord of the Rings cast standing on the stairs… and I’m not mad about that. Lami was best known…
An alternate term for bastion forts or star forts, which became widespread in the sixteenth century. Its angular, star-shaped walls were designed in response to the evolution of canon and gunfire. The French term may be translated as the “Italian…
I appreciate the composition of this piece, but am finding it hard to independently verify the details. I believe it’s a preparatory – or unfinished? – piece by Belgian painter Hendrik Leys (1815-1869). Leys was well known for his historical…
If we’re friends in the real world – or are familiar with my odds and ends projects from my tabletop gaming blog – you’ll know that one of my White Whales for years now has been a historical TTRPG set…
