Religion

Richard Wilkinson argues against the prevailing orthodoxy.

A sea voyage in the 12th century was a perilous undertaking, as a Spanish Muslim courtier’s account of his crossing of the Mediterranean demonstrates. Yet, explains David Abulafia, it was also a test of one’s religious devotion, whether Muslim or Christian.

Though their appeal seems bizarre to the modern mind, relics and reliquaries reflected an entirely logical system of belief bound up in the medieval worldview, explains James Robinson, curator of a new exhibition at the British Museum.

Dunia Garcia-Ontiveros reveals the tragic story of torture and martyrdom which inspired Robert Persons' book De persecutione Anglicana libellus quo explicantur afflictiones in the collections of the London Library.  

Dunia Garcia-Ontiveros considers the works of three authors who, during the religious fervour of 16th-century Europe, moved away from the Church and wrote about magic.

Dunia Garcia-Ontiveros explores the work and influence of William Allen, who fought to restore Roman Catholicism to England during the reign of Elizabeth I.

The Victorian era was an age of faith – which is why it was also a golden period of progress, argues Tim Stanley.

One of the last popes to play a major role in international affairs, Innocent XI defied Louis XIV, the Sun King, and played a decisive part in the defence of Christianity against the spread of Islam under the auspices of the Ottoman empire, as Graham Darby explains.

Richard Cavendish marks the anniversary of St Catherine of Siena's canonisation by Pope Pius II.

Since its discovery in Yemen in 1972 a collection of brittle documents, believed to be among the earliest Koranic texts, has been the subject of fierce and divisive debate among scholars of Islamic history, as Scott MacMillan reports.

Though it is immersed in the theological ideas of the Middle Ages, the cosmology of Dante’s Divine Comedy is sophisticated, sceptical and tolerant, argues James Burge.

Launching our new 'Treasures from the London Library' series in which, every fortnight, we reveal undiscovered documents from the collections of the London Library, Dunia Garcia-Ontiveros highlights several books with examples of both Catholic and Lutheran visual propaganda used during the Reformation. 

On Holocaust Memorial Day, January 27th, and following recent claims by Sarah Palin that she has been the victim of 'blood libel', Richard Sugg writes an exclusive article for the History Today website in which he explains the origins of the term.