Browse Items (202 total)

The Agora was a public space found in Ancient Greek city-states (depicted above is the Athenian Agora) in which citizens would congregate for a number of purposes—exchange of goods, speeches, discussion, and more. The Agora itself was usually home to…

The Bank of Amsterdam was originally a town hall, but was converted into a bank by the city of Amsterdam in the year 1609. The Bank of Amsterdam is considered to be the first modern central bank. As the Netherlands entered the Dutch Golden Age in the…

Passed in Parliament near the end of the 18th century, this act sought to expand programs for the lower classes within the city of Edinburgh. “Poor Laws” such as this can trace their origins in England and Scotland to the late medieval era. However,…

Published in 1776 by Scottish philosopher Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations continues to be a seminal piece of classical economics. Smith’s contributions, however, went far beyond the scope of the classical school of thought, defining the very…

The Anatomy Theater in Padua was the first permanent anatomical theater in the world, and it remains preserved today. The room is cylindrical, built on two overlapping floors, with the entrance on the first floor. Surrounding the central table on the…

Aphra Behn was an English writer whose work Oronooko addressed the slave trade. She wrote about a slave rebellion in Surinam, drawing upon her own experiences there along with her knowledge of the slave trade (Wiesner-Hanks, 390). The slave trade,…

The bust (above) depicts Aristotle.
The student of Plato, Aristotle was another prominent philosopher of Ancient Greece. His works were also studied in the Renaissance, and many of his theories thus made their way into European intellectual…

The Queen Elizabeth I “Armada Portrait” is a distinct indicator of her monarchical rule in 16th century England. She is portrayed sitting in a lavish gown, adorned in pearls (a symbol of divine chastity and virginity), in front of two tableaus…

The tale that Jean de Coras recounts in his Arrest Memorable is the story of perhaps one of the most famous 16th century French peasants, a man named Martin Guerre. The story itself is remarkable. A man named Martin Guerre disappears for many years,…

A variety of flora and fauna existed in the New World that differed from European plants and animals. One notable example is the opossum, which, according to Hugh Honour, revealed the “strangeness” of the Americas “while parrots and toucans…

Casta paintings were family portraits displaying different Spanish colonial couples and their children that were often crafted around the 1700s. The paintings are important for a number of reasons related to race and status. The first is how they…

In 1588, Spain sent out a fleet of around 130 ships that they called ‘la felícissima armada’ or ‘the most fortunate fleet,’ to attack Britain and transport troops to her shores. This failed attack took on a legendary place in British national…