By Dr. Michael Tinkler, Associate Professor of Art and Architecture, Hobart and William Smith Colleges The good news from Paris this week is that medieval builders worried about church fires. Remember, all light before Edison involved open flame – whether torches or candles. Candles in churches today are mainly symbolic, but reading inside churches called […]
Lecture – The Story of the Sword by Don Halter Warfare changes with the technology of the day. Historian and historical bladesmith, Donald Halter, will detail the evolution of edged and blunt force trauma weapons in medieval times. This presentation will include an overview of the advancement of iron and steel from the inception of […]
Lecture – Medieval Arms Race Throughout the Middle Ages competition between offensive and defensive arms resulted in a constant stream of innovation and evolution that resulted in the magnificent suits of armor and gracefully proportioned weapons on display in the current collection. Historian David Wise will explore the science behind the arms race […]
Imagine you’re on Tinder, maybe wasting time or maybe looking for love, when the plague doctor pops up on your feed! You’d probably be tempted to swipe left as quickly as possible. Well hang on there…not so fast! Even though he looks like the stuff of nightmares, he’s really quite amazing. He may be complicated, […]
Lecture – What Makes Us Human? Lessons from the Study of Wild Chimpanzees by John Mitani This evening leading Primate behavioral ecologist John Mitani will reveal interesting parallels between humans and chimpanzees with respect to friendships, longevity and cooperation. Humans form long-lasting friendships, live a very long time, and are an unusually prosocial and cooperative […]
Lecture – Jousting – The Sport of Kings Jousting tournaments were held as grand sporting and social events in medieval times. These events sealed the mystique of the knight into modern times. In full knight armor, historian and historical jousting competitor Steve Hemphill will the take us through the various events of a grand […]
If you’re just joining us on our slightly nauseating journey through the wonders of Medieval medicine, you may want to check out the first blog in this series. If you’re already on board, I promised you poop and it is poop you are going to get! I feel there is a Freudian joke there, […]
Organized warfare has been part of human history for thousands of years. Over time advances in offensive weapons gave rise to advances in defensive measures. Times of crisis often led to a speeding up of such changes. One of those times were the Crusades. At the time I am writing this, the Houston Museum of […]
BTS – Knights Enjoy the Knights special exhibition in the evening when the museum is closed to the public. Your master docent will take you back to the very origins of knighthood, in the days after the collapse of the Western Roman Empire. Chivalry, feudalism and knighting will be introduced alongside a wide array […]
Everyone knows that Chivalry is dead. But what are the real symptoms that the famous code of honor is no longer adhered to in our society and should we really be sad about that? These days most of us equate chivalry with holding the door open for ladies, pulling out a chair for a […]
