335 Years’ War
The Three Hundred and Thirty-Five Years’ War was a state of diplomatic conflict between the Netherlands and the Isles of Scilly, located off the southwest…
Izlek
Beard Tax and the Box of Severed Beards
Everything began in 1697 when Peter went to Europe on a secret mission he called the “Grand Embassy.” He did not travel as a monarch…
Haile-i Osmaniye (The Ottoman Tragedy)
When Sultan Osman II (Genç Osman) ascended the throne at the age of 14, he was a very young and fiery reformer who realized that…
The “Monkey Executions” of Istanbul
The case of the “Monkey Executions” in Istanbul is a dark narrative of how a society can lose its rationality within the grip of collective…
The Cadaver Synod
Born in Rome in 816 A.D., Formosus became the Bishop of Porto after a childhood spent in church education. Thanks to his diplomatic talents, he…
The Incident of the Vakvak
One of the bloodiest and most tragic pages of Ottoman history, the Vaka-i Vakvakiye—also known as the Incident of the Plane Tree—was a massive military…
The Münster Rebellion and the Iron Cages
While 16th-century Germany was reeling from the birth pains of the Reformation, the city of Münster became the stage for one of history’s most radical…
The Silent Corridors of the Sultan: Mute Executioners
In the classical period Ottoman palace hierarchy, “the presence of the Sultan” is a sacred space where worldly noises are cut off. The Sultan is…