the Holy Roman Empire
The perils of being pope
The power of the medieval papacy resembled that of the Holy Roman Emperor – and like the first Roman emperors, popes attracted envy, scandal and violent retribution
The secrets of Dante’s marriage
Unlike Shakespeare, who kept himself out of all his works, except the Sonnets, Dante was endlessly reworking his autobiography, even…
German history is uniquely awful: that’s what makes it so engrossing
As I grew up half German in England in the 1970s, my German heritage was confined to the few curios…
