Thomas Coryat described Venice as a city of opulence and wealth. But Patricia Allerston suggests that Venice was a second-hand city.
Category: History
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Renaissance Secrets
Courses tagged with "Renaissance Secrets"
The second-hand trade in Venice was well established, with clothing and furniture regularly borrowed and rented.
Category: History
The Venetian authorities became concerned that it was impossible to distinguish between courtesans and respectable women. Rules drawn up in 1543 determined what the courtesans could wear.
Category: History
Expensive fabrics were reused and refashioned many times to keep up with new styles - and records of rented clothing hint at how women were lured into prostitution.
Category: History
Professor Anne Laurence explores women's role in the past in this article on feminist history.
Category: History
Essex believed he'd uncovered a plot against Elizabeth I. How would it work?
Category: History
David Katz argues there is plenty of evidence that Roderigo Lopez was a spy and that the motive was money. The act of taking money in return for poisoning the Queen was enough to convict him.
Category: History
In 1594 Roderigo Lopez was hung, drawn and quartered for trying to poison Queen Elizabeth I. Many historians have argued that he was framed - but David Katz believes he can prove his guilt.
Category: History
Roderigo Lopez was sPortuguese Jew who became physician to Queen Elizabeth I. Why was he considered a prime suspect in her attempted murder?
Category: History
Shown the torture possibilities of the Tower Of London, Lopez confessed. But was that genuine, or self-preservation?
Category: History
How does a person set about being a historian?
Category: History
The poor received free treatment at hospitals, six senior doctors were employed and food and wine were served to patients - 14th Century Florence could challenge our own NHS
Gutenberg is credited with having invented printing using movable type. It has been assumed that the process he invented around 1450 was the method that continued to be used for another 500 years. But Paul Needham and Blaise Aguera y Arcas have made a new discovery that throws doubt on that.
Before the printing revolution, books had to be written by hand, making them very expensive. Afterwards books became consumer products.
Gutenberg is credited with inventing the printing process but what, exactly, did he invent? The details are somewhat sparse.
Gutenberg was a goldsmith from Mainz who never signed his work. But what do we know about the man and his life?
Close examination of Gutenberg texts revealed evidence that required us to rethink how he worked.
It appears that the development of modern printing might not have been as swift as we once believed
Were Renaissance hospitals hell-holes? John Henderson finds similarities to today's health care, and Katherine Park shows that autopsies were often performed.
Historians have argued that the Church saw dissection as a desecration of God's creation. But Katherine Park has found evidence of numerous dissections.