The death of a pope results in a conclave to elect another. It’s a secret process that none of us are permitted to witness. In the medieval period, it could be a dangerous affair surrounded by murder, intimidation, corruption, nepotism, and bribery. Let’s investigate the sordid conclaves in Vatican history.
The Vatican has announced it’s going to introduce new rules to authenticate miracles as social media promotes unverified claims. For the pope – modern technology has created plenty of new heretics. And if there’s only thing the Roman Catholic church enjoys doing – and that’s rooting out a heresy! You might have imagined a few…
The trials of the Knights Templar saw prosecutors using accusations of demonic magic and necromancy. It was an early sign that witchcraft and sorcery were moving into the medieval mainstream. Previously, wizards and witches, while being condemned, were viewed as a fringe threat to Christian belief – a hangover from paganism. But in the late…
There wasn’t just one crusade but multiple crusades in medieval Europe from modern Spain all the way up to Russia as Tony McMahon discovers
Pope Clement V tried to save the Knights Templar but found himself up against King Philip of France who got his way as Tony McMahon discovers
The Name of the Rose is a new TV series from the BBC but many may not realise that the inquisitor Bernardo Gui was a real person as Tony McMahon discovers
Question marks over the future of the Templar series Knightfall but Tony McMahon hopes that History will renew it for season three
Templar expert Tony McMahon reveals the Rule book of the Knights Templar and how it covered everything from eating to praying
Defleshing bodies during the Crusades was a gruesome practice to preserve dead nobles on their way back home as Tony McMahon discovers
Why the Chinon Parchment found in the secret Vatican archives does not exonerate the Knights Templar from the charge of heresy
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