Archaeology · Monarchies · Museums

Decorative shield from Louis the Pious's chapel was probably made no earlier than the 11th century

A shield made of elk antler, from the Rijksmuseum collection. According to its catalogue description, the decorative shield comes from the funerary chapel of the Frankish king Louis the Pious. It is sometimes called “the shield of Charlemagne”, Louis the Pious having been Charlemagne's son. Still, the ornamental

Faith · Monarchies · Observations · Rome

Believers’ doubts about the validity of Pope Benedict XVI’s resignation

In February it would have been 10 years since Pope Benedict XVI stunned the world by resigning. I remember that day very well, and my own state of shock. Yes, this extraordinary situation astonished many, but it has never quite left me in peace. If one looks into it, the

Monarchies · Observations · People · Humour

Marshal Berthier stayed awake for years with Napoleon and kept others from sleeping

Louis Alexandre Berthier, French Minister of War and Bonaparte's chief of staff, was obliged for many years to stay awake together with Napoleon, who slept three or four hours a night. In the end Berthier grew accustomed to this regime and even acquired the habit of not letting

Faith · Monarchies · People · Rome

While a sixth of the earth's landmass chops its salads, in the first Rome they pray on bended knee for Pope Benedict XVI and keep the windows open, lest the tolling of bells announce the pontiff's death

On 28 December the Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni announced a rapid deterioration in the condition of the Pope Emeritus, owing to his venerable years, of course. Francis I, who visited Benedict on the morning of the 28th, asked for prayers for him in his hour of great weakness, beseeching God

Aristocracy · Monarchies · People · Pop Culture

One of Vivienne Westwood's most important collections, Harris Tweed, Autumn-Winter 1987/88, was inspired by images of the royal family, British motifs and historical details…

One of Vivienne Westwood's most important collections, Harris Tweed, Autumn-Winter 1987/88, was inspired by images of the royal family, British motifs and historical details, and featured traditional woollen fabrics, black velvet and elements of eighteenth-century corsetry. Ironic and mocking of the aristocratic way of life,

Still from an HBO series: two women in a dark theatre audience, the subtitle asking whether the play is about them.

Books · Monarchies · Saint Petersburg · Humour

Leaving his box, the emperor said the play had hit everyone, and him most of all

Nicholas I, with the heir, at the premiere of The Government Inspector on the stage of the Alexandrinsky Theatre on 19 April 1836, felt roughly like this. Leaving the box, the Emperor exclaimed: "What a play! Everyone got it, and I most of all!"

NB! · Art · Monarchies · Humour

Isabella of Castile has a rather advanced spacesuit for the late fourteenth century

Monarchies · Science · Society

Falling weight of the silver kopeck under Mikhail Fyodorovich and Alexei Mikhailovich

On the Government's Manipulation of the Exchange Rate in Days of Old. Under Tsar Mikhail Fyodorovich the weight of the kopeck was 0.5 grams of silver. In practice, however, coins of lesser weight were struck: first 0.48 grams, then 0.46-0.47 grams, until matters

NB! · Archive · Monarchies · People · Pop Culture

The former King of England, the Duke of Windsor, and Wallis Simpson, the cause of his abdication, in the star photographer Philippe Halsman's "Jump" series, 1958

Archive · Faith · Books · Monarchies

Monks who had access to monastic libraries, like the scribes engaged in copying and compiling manuscripts, sometimes left in the margins of the books they read notes or even entries recording the provenance of the volumes, or idle thoughts…

On the last leaf of a Lenten Triodion of 1462 there is a curious epitaph for the late Grand Duke of Moscow, Vasily II the Blind: "In the year 6970 [1462] on the 28th day of the month of March, on the feast of our holy and venerable father

NB! · Archive · London · Monarchies · People

The First and Last Photographs of Elizabeth II

In the Press · London · Monarchies · Observations · Society

A Times columnist has criticised the ever-whining Meghan Markle, forever bemoaning persecution over the colour of her skin, and the black activist who caused the royal family to dismiss an 83-year-old maid of honour and made her repent before the whole wo

A Times columnist has criticised the ever-whining Meghan Markle, forever bemoaning persecution over the colour of her skin, and the black activist who caused the royal family to dismiss an 83-year-old maid of honour and made her repent before the whole world of a transgression she never