Tag Archives: Religion

12th Century: The Unknown Language

Posted on August 13, 2018 by corvusfugit

Saint Hildegard, a 12th century German Benedictine abbess, was a mystic, composer, and philosopher who wrote works on topics as diverse as theology, botany, and medicine. She began experiencing visions at the age of three, ultimately chronicling a lifetime of … Continue reading →

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12th Century: Monster

Posted on June 12, 2018 by corvusfugit

This illustration comes from a series of handscrolls telling the legends of the Shinto Kitano Tenjin Shrine, located in Kamakura, Japan. The shrine is dedicated to Sugawara no Michizane, a 9th century scholar, poet, and statesman who came to be … Continue reading →

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1913: St. Bride

Posted on May 25, 2018 by corvusfugit

John Duncan: St. Bride (1913) St. Brigid of Kildare (c. 451 – 525) is said to have been carried by angels from Iona, a small island in the Hebrides, to Bethlehem (and back in time) to serve as a midwife … Continue reading →

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340 AD: Patron Saint of Beekeepers

Posted on April 13, 2018 by corvusfugit

According to tradition, a swarm of bees settled on the face of the infant St. Ambrose, leaving a drop of honey and thus foretelling the saint’s eloquence—his honeyed tongue. He is the patron saint of bees and beekeepers. A certain … Continue reading →

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17th Century: Satan

Posted on December 18, 2017 by corvusfugit

Zämänfäs Qeddus: How Satan came (again) looking like four women and St. Michael trod on him; a page from the late 17th century Gondar Homiliary. This Homiliary was created in Gondar, Ethiopia, during a period of artistic flowering in the … Continue reading →

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1846: The System According to the Holy Scriptures

Posted on December 10, 2017 by corvusfugit

The Muggletonians were a radical Protestant sect that originated in the seventeenth century when London tailors John Reeve and Lodowick Muggleton announced themselves as the prophets foretold in the Book of Revelation. Along with Diggers, Ranters, and Levellers, Muggletonians comprised … Continue reading →

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1928: Holiday in Bangkok

Posted on December 9, 2017 by corvusfugit

    Map, frontispiece, and cover of the Royal State Railways’s Guide to Bangkok with Notes on Siam (1928); the frontispiece shows Wat Arun at night.  

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1495: Weighing Souls

Posted on December 5, 2017 by corvusfugit

Juan de la Abadía (the Elder): Saint Michael Weighing Souls (c. 1480-1495) (source) Note the Devil trying to cheat by pushing down the scale; St Michael doesn’t like this and points his spear threateningly.

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13th Century: Brother Wolf

Posted on November 29, 2017 by corvusfugit

OF THE MOST HOLY MIRACLE OF ST FRANCIS IN TAMING THE FIERCE WOLF OF GUBBIO At the time when St Francis was living in the city of Gubbio, a large wolf appeared in the neighbourhood, so terrible and so fierce, … Continue reading →

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1671: The Latest and Most Accurate

Posted on November 28, 2017 by corvusfugit

John Ogilby: America- Being the Latest, and Most Accurate Description of the New World (1671); the book is an English translation of Arnold Montanus’s De Nieuwe en Onbekende Weereld. The title of this plate is “Viztlipuztli idolum Mexicanorum” —The Mexicans’ … Continue reading →

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