Arts & Culture
5 Things Movies Get Wrong About the Medieval Era
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Article
There’s a reason you’ve never heard Nicole Kidman say, “We come to this place for a history lesson,” in her AMC commercials. Movies don’t have the best track record when it comes to historical accuracy, especially where the Middle Ages are concerned. Some dubious medieval tropes show up more than others, of course, and these are five of the biggest offenders. Credit: 20th Century-Fox/ Archive Photos via Getty Images Prima Nocta In one of Braveheart’s most upsettingly memorable scenes, Edward Longshanks invokes prima nocta (Latin for “first night”): the right of a feudal lord to ...Read More
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Arts & CultureFact3There was a ‘wheelbarrow craze’ in the 19th century.
The first thing you need to know in order to understand Victorian England’s “wheelbarrow craze” is that pedestrianism, or competitive walking, was all the rage in the U.S. and U.K.…
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Arts & CultureArticle17What Was the First Museum?
The roots of museums reach back thousands of years. From Mesopotamian princesses to Renaissance aristocrats, humans have long been drawn to collect, preserve, and display the material traces of their…
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Arts & CultureArticle767 Home Features That No Longer Exist
“They don’t make them like they used to.” You’ve likely heard this common refrain or even said it yourself before. Maybe it was a grumble about modern disposability, but perhaps…
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Arts & CultureArticle387 of History’s Costliest Typos
Some typos add value, turning ordinary books into rare collectibles. But others end up being very expensive. From a stray comma that ended up costing millions to a tiny typo…
