Aristocracy · Interviews · Art · Moscow · Observations · Mores · Society
Since action is sure and inaction false, pray accept the monthly digest of the main pieces published on the channel. 📌 Historical notes 📌 The sword for the harlots: how Joan of Arc restored order in a military camp. 📌 On the finer points of diplomatic etiquette under Ivan the Terrible. 📌 "Sunday:
Faith · Observations · Society
The conclave expected on 7 May will in many respects proceed in a new way, and thanks to the actions of Pope Francis. Throughout his pontificate, Francis refrained wherever possible from appointing cardinals from the traditional, long-established archdioceses, giving preference to ecclesiastical territories, many of which had never before
Observations · Mores · Education · Society
At lectures on historical memory, to show how unstable this substance is, I sometimes ask the audience: do you know when your grandmother and grandfather were born? As a rule, people have only the vaguest notion, to say nothing of great-grandmothers and beyond. Those who know for certain are
In the Press · Faith · Society
The Italian and French press continue to accuse Emmanuel Macron of meddling in the conclave. Conclave means, literally, "a locked room", and nobody is supposed to know what goes on behind its doors. Yet the veil of secrecy looks rather less impenetrable once one considers the quite unconcealed
Books · Society
So lived the citizens of Florence, watching with indignation as the grandeur of their state was brought low, as every institution was perverted, the rule of law destroyed, morals corrupted and all decency trampled underfoot. Those who had never beheld the outward pomp of monarchical power could not without grief
NB! · Archive · Faith · The East · Society · People
Art · Society · Pop Culture
ARTinvestment.RU has compared the performance of the Russian art market at foreign auctions in the first quarter of 2025 and of 2024. The report includes the results of auction transactions in works by all artists who were born, worked or are significant in the context of the art history
Art · Science · Society
Artsy, a major online platform for buying, selling and learning about art, has released the report Art Market Trends 2025, based on more than 1,600 responses from collectors and gallerists in 60 countries. The main findings: 🖋 52% of collectors doubt that art prices are justified. Prices for art are
Observations · Education · Society · Humour
By the way, why is it a pack of "barking" and not "barkaing" dogs from the Western kennels? Because in the suffixes of the active present participles, that is, those formed with the suffixes -ushch (-yushch) / -ashch (-yashch), we write the letter u or yu if
NB! · Books · Society
Architecture · Madrid · Society
Did you know that the Gran Vía, Madrid's main street, was renamed in 1937 Gran Vía Avenida de Rusia, Russia Avenue, and soon afterwards Avenida de la Unión Soviética, Soviet Union Avenue? Shortly before the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War, sympathy with and interest in the workers&
Archive · Books · Society
The 1939 volume "The Press of the Land of Socialism" offers valuable data on the state of the publishing industry in the USSR. For example, it gives a comparative breakdown of book output and the print runs of books issued in particular fields and by particular authors. If