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Queen Anne Boleyn, King Henry VIII’s second wife, was executed on 19 May 1536 on charges of adultery with five men, including her own brother, and plotting the King’s death. 

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By David Albertson/The Conversation

Every year as Valentine’s Day approaches, people remind themselves that not all expressions of love fit the stereotypes of modern romance. V-Day cynics might plan a “Galentines” night for female friends or toast their platonic “Palentines” instead.

In other words, the holiday shines a cold light on the limits of our romantic imaginations, which hew to a familiar script. Two people are supposed to meet, the arrows of Cupid strike them unwittingly, and they have no choice but to fall in love. They face obstacles, they overcome them, and then they run into each other’s arms. Love is a delightful sport, and neither reason nor the gods have anything to do with it.

This model of romance flows from Roman poetry, medieval chivalry and Renaissance literature, especially Shakespeare. But as a professor of religion, I study an alternative vision of eros: medieval Christian mystics who viewed the body’s desires as immediately and inescapably linked to God, reason and sometimes even suffering.

Yet this way of thinking about love has even older roots.

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Every Valentine’s Day, we’re inundated with hearts. We purchase cards with hearts and heart-shaped balloons. We wear clothing with hearts

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Ancient humans, in their quest for survival, honed their skills in weaponry, evolving from rudimentary tools to sophisticated arms. 

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An extraordinary discovery in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, has stunned archaeologists and scientists worldwide: a 1,700-year-old egg

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The genetic legacy of Genghis Khan, the famed Mongol conqueror, extends far beyond his vast empire.

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The oldest known megastructure built by humans has been found in Europe in the form of a Stone Age wall, almost an entire kilometer in length! 

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Long before the Roman Empire came along, the Ancient Greeks controlled much of southern Italy. From the 8th to the 5th centuries BC

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The excavation of KNM-ER 1808, a Homo erectus specimen, in Kenya unearthed insights into the perilous dietary choices of our ancestors. 

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Thomas Aquinas, who lived from 1225 to 1274 AD, played a crucial role in medieval Catholic theology and philosophy.

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In the tumultuous era of 1722, the notorious pirate Bartholomew Roberts carved a path of chaos and vengeance across the high seas.

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Around 700 million years ago, Earth experienced an extreme ice age known as the Sturtian Glaciation, turning our planet into a vast, icy snowball.

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The Nibelungs are one of the most mysterious peoples of the ancient world. Some scholars regard them as a race of dwarfs or elves.

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A fascinating body of research has revealed how intimately our ancestors were connected to the earth – specifically, ancient Amazonians

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We’ve lost the secret to making some of history’s most useful inventions, and for all of our ingenuity and discoveries, our ancestors of thousands of years ago

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Life on a pirate ship was fraught with peril, particularly for those assigned to the five most dreaded roles: topmen, forced men, swabbers, liars, and shipboard musicians.

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While Caroline Nunneley was exploring the Thames' shores in London, meticulously searching the mud on all fours for archaeological treasures, she encountered an unexpected find

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In the annals of religious history, the Roman Catholic tonsure hairstyle stands out as a peculiar and enduring tradition.

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There has long been an air of mystery and intrigue surrounding a set of wooden tablets with writing on them found on the tiny, remote South Pacific island of Rapa Nui

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The ancient Mediterranean harbors mysteries that continue to intrigue historians. Beyond the well-known empires of Rome and Greece lie enigmatic civilizations like the Sea Peoples, who wielded power yet remain unidentified. Carthage, renowned for its conflict with Rome, veils its origins in the legend of Queen Dido, whose existence perplexes scholars. Meanwhile, the Minoans, depicted in vibrant frescoes, puzzle researchers with their ritual of bull-leaping, possibly inspiring the myth of the Minotaur.

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