Portrait of Agnes Sorel in a dark laced dress and sheer veil, with one breast bare, her name inscribed at the top.

NB! · Monarchies · Mores · People

Agnes Sorel, her influence over Charles VII and a beauty noted by Pope Callixtus III

The low-born courtesan Agnès Sorel was called a common whore, yet even Pope Callixtus III remarked on her extraordinary beauty. She went about in frank attire, bared one breast and twisted Charles VII round her little finger

NB! · Monarchies · Museums · Mores · Society

The beard token introduced by Peter the Great in 1705, confirming payment of the beard tax (30 to 100 roubles) with the words "The money has been taken"

The beard token introduced by Peter the Great in 1705, confirming payment of the beard tax (30 to 100 roubles) with the words "The money has been taken". Peter died on 8 February 1725, yet the tax was abolished only in 1772

Monarchies · Mores · People

On 7 February 1770, Louis XV formally asked for the hand of Marie Antoinette on behalf of his grandson, Louis XVI

On 7 February 1770, Louis XV formally asked for the hand of Marie Antoinette on behalf of his grandson, Louis XVI. The wedding took place some months later, and by proxy at that, which is to say in the absence of the groom! Then the 14-year-old Marie Antoinette

NB! · Aristocracy · Mores · Society · Humour

In Eighteenth-Century Britain, a Black Boy Serving at the Tea Table Was a Mark of a Household of Particularly High Standing

In eighteenth-century Britain, a mark of a household's particularly high standing was a Black boy waiting on the tea table. As for the preposterous headgear of noble ladies, in every age it has been the sign of a face best not looked at too closely

NB! · Archive · Mores · Humour

A medieval recipe for a pie made up of three parts, two lower and one upper, is described in a manuscript from the Vatican Library

A medieval recipe for a pie made up of three parts, two lower and one upper, is described in a manuscript from the Vatican Library. The pie is served by a one-armed, one-legged grotesque

Books · London · Mores · Society

"The Pleasures of Coition" are notable also because their publisher was convicted in England on a charge of filthy libel, and his case laid the foundation of the English law on obscene publications

"The Pleasures of Coition" are notable also because their publisher was convicted in England on a charge of filthy libel, and his case laid the foundation of the English law on obscene publications. And only in 1967 did this offence cease to be regarded as a serious crime

NB! · Books · Observations · Mores · Humour

A rare erotic edition of 1721, "The Pleasures of Coition", by a French poet named CELEBRATED BONEFONIUS

A rare erotic edition of 1721, "The Pleasures of Coition", by a French poet named CELEBRATED BONEFONIUS. And that is not a pseudonym! In 2003 the book was sold at auction for $420, and I regret that it was not I who bought it.

Monarchies · Mores · People

Descendants of Princess Anna Yaroslavna of Kyiv ruled France until the late 18th century

The marriage of the Kyivan princess Anna Yaroslavna to Henry I of France, childless in his first marriage, produced three sons, Philip I, Robert and Hugh, and a daughter, Emma. Anna's descendants would rule France until the end of the eighteenth century: all three dynasties that succeeded one

NB! · Archive · Mores · Humour

Elegant Skating Positions from a Manual of 1830

Elegant skating positions from a manual of 1830. What is a rink without a hat and an umbrella?

Monarchies · Mores · People

How Many Horses Served Napoleon in His Lifetime and on Campaign

It has been calculated that over his whole life Napoleon was served by some six thousand horses, including those harnessed to the carriages that accompanied him and those ridden by his retinue. Every day he had at his disposal more than a hundred horses, divided into ten brigades, and on

Science · Mores

Execution in the brazen bull from Phalaris of Sicily to Rus in the early modern era

Execution by roasting alive inside a brazen bull has been known since the 6th century BC. It was first introduced under the Sicilian dictator Phalaris. The dreadful irony is that the coppersmith Perilaus, who by tradition built the first brazen bull for executions, ended his own life in it. As,

NB! · Archive · Books · London · Mores · Humour

The School of Venus: a sex manual for women of the seventeenth century, London, 1680

The School of Venus: a sex manual for women of the seventeenth century, London, 1680. The words in this text still strike one as bawdy vocabulary today, though the comparison with cows' teats is simply odd