Good God, WHERE IS ITS FACE? This is the most awful picture I've ever seen, and I've seen some gross pig pictures i n my day. This ...

I don't normally tune in to The Simpsons , but last night I was flipping through and saw that the first 5 minute vignette of this episod...

Full title: A true relation of the admirable voiage and trauell of William Bush gentleman who with his owne handes without any other mans h...

Today is William Shakespeare's birthday! And death day! Party at my house -- we'll hold a feast in great solemnity . I sort of love ...

Sir Francis Drake is interesting to me. Not because he defeated the Spanish Armada, or because he circumnavigated the globe or anything bor...

Griffin Flood was a rogue, con-man and informer who scammed a bunch of people out of their money (and was a tattletale). He specialized in t...

No you fucking don't. He'll cut you so bad you'll wish he didn't cut you. By the way, if you are presenting your drawn sword...

The full title is: Vermiculars destroyed with an historical account of worms, collected from the best authors as well ancient as modern, pr...

Thomas Gibson (1647-1722) wrote this anatomy book, and I choose this particular heart for my valentine because a.) it's a pretty good dr...

This is the english translation of Boccaccio's Decameron 's day 4, tale 1, in which Tancredi, Prince of Salerno and father of Ghism...

"The fruit which it [the gallows] produces, Doth seldom serve for profitable uses: Except the skillful Surgeon’s industry Do make Disse...

President Wilmot would probably spend all our tax money on booze and hookers, but that's not too far removed from what most politicians ...

Build your own Blingee YES! This is the best picture ever. Awhile ago I started a series called Rochester Through the Ages , but this trump...

The moral of this ballad is that you shouldn't get sloppy-ass drunk and say dirty words, which is pretty standard stuff on the early-mod...

The explorer William Dampier made this map, but it's pretty useless without all my notes and insider tips. That's probably why Dam...

If there was ever a contest for "most pwned race in history," I think the Irish might win. This pamphlet tells the story of Sir C...

We all know the Renaissance had its share of perverts and dirty messages , but I think my delicate sensibilities have finally been tested in...

Did you know that one time in 1643, some people killed someone for surfing! The story goes like this: some Parliamentarian soldiers are wa...

I'm pretty sure the prophesies concerning "The University" go something like, "Your advanced degree shall be utterly usel...

Even monks think so. That's why they illuminated their copies of ancient texts with sexy pictures.

Crowns are shiny, and I hear absolution and peace are overrated anyway. And is it just me, or do the demons sort of look like they'd be...

In my quest to trace everything back to the Renaissance, I have once again discovered the antecedent of a popular rap lyric ( here is the l...

People often ask me, "Sarah, what were the worries and anxieties of early modern peoples?" The answer : Pretty much everything. ...

I thought this was a pretty sweet picture of a ship. The publication chronicles a royal entertainment of a mock sea battle put on by the N...

Oh, Alchemy . It was so popular in the Renaissance, and it always surprises me to see the types of people interested in it (Thomas Aquinas,...

I've never been to Amsterdam, but for some reason this is exactly how I imagine it. Anyway, apparently tobacco, aka the "heathen we...

I've been researching for this one for a while, because Prince Rupert of the Rhine is maybe my favorite Cavalier ever. Nephew of Charl...

The "Descending" or " Long S " is ubiquitous in Renaissance publications; a holdover from Carolingian minuscule handwrit...

These two gentlemen don't seem to realize that you fight with the pointy ends. I guess that's why swordfighting manuals were in suc...

The full title of this publication is "Nugae Venales, Or Complasent Companion: Being new jests domestic and foreign, bulls, rhodomontad...