Free Republic

Restorers at Calverley Old Hall, a medieval manor in Yorkshire, England, recently turned their attention to a “very undistinguished little bedroom,” reports Mark Brown for the Guardian.Peeling away the room’s 19th-century plaster, they were “gobsmacked” by what they spotted hidden below: Tudor wall paintings, likely dated to the reign of Elizabeth I (1558 to 1603), on a scale rarely found in England today.The find is “the discovery of a lifetime,” Anna Keay, director of the Landmark Trust, which is restoring the building, tells the Guardian.“Never in my own 27 years of working in historic buildings have I ever witnessed a...

A medieval child whose mummified body was thought to show the earliest known case of smallpox was really suffering from hepatitis, scientists say. DNA analysis of the 16th century remains, found in the Basilica of Saint Domenico Maggiore in Naples, revealed the child was infected with an ancient strain of the hepatitis B virus (HBV). The team believe their findings could help shed new light on the ancient origins of the disease which, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO), kills 1.5 million people a year. Previous scientific analysis of the 16th century remains - which did not include DNA...

Atomic Kittens - German 400-Year-Old Weapons Manuscript Which Reveals Medieval Plans to Strap Bombs to Cats Dossier, called Fire Book, has drawing of animals strapped with explosives It also includes barrel bombs, grenades and anti-personnel ground spikes Document has been released in digital form by University of Pennsylvania Modern militaries have all manner of weapons at their disposal from nuclear submarines to heat-seeking missiles. But 400 years ago technology was rather more limited and armies had to make the very best of their resources - in whatever shape or form they may take. One such quest to steal a march...

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. - An archaeologist is taking a second look at a small cannon found by fishermen off the Virginia coast more than two decades ago in hopes of determining how it got to the bottom of the ocean — and who left it there. Rod Mather, a professor of maritime history and underwater archaeology at the University of Rhode Island, has studied the 25-square-mile area surrounding the site where the cannon was found the past two summers. Some historians believe the 4-feet-long, 300-pound cannon, which was loaded when it was found 24 years ago, is an English cannon...

Gout forced Charles V abdication, study finds By Gene Emery BOSTON (Reuters) - Tests of a 500-year-old pinky finger confirm that Holy Roman Emperor Charles V was debilitated by gout and the painful joints it produces, Spanish researchers reported on Wednesday. Jaume Ordi of the University of Barcelona and colleagues used a microscope to examine the tip of one of Charles' pinkie fingers, which was preserved separately from his body in a small red velvet box. After rehydrating and slicing the mummified fingertip, the Ordi team found telltale signs of gout, including the buildup of uric acid crystals. At the...

The first illustrated "how-to" book for mining and metallurgy was written by the German Georg Bauer in the mid-16th century. The book has been in print and used from then to now with only minor changes were needed to accommodate modern materials. ("Bauer" was Latinized to "Agricola", probably by his teachers at the University of Leipzig.) Agricola was a teacher, philosopher and doctor as well as the world's first industrial publicist, and the opening of De re Metallica ("Concerning Metals") reflects his philosophical bent. While re-reading it recently, I was struck by this passage in Chapter One. In the midst...