Browse Items (202 total)

The drawing is a visual representation of the Leiden Anatomical Theater in Leiden, Netherlands. In 1597, Dutch professor Petrus put the anatomical theater into permanent use.

Anatomical theaters of universities are regarded as one of the symbols…

The development of the earliest telescopes is the source of some debate among historians, as numerous individuals claimed to be the inventors of the telescope. The Low Countries and Italy both emerge as potential locations for its invention, and…

The Edict of Restitution was published by Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II in 1629. It laid out a set of orders that had the potential to marginalize Protestantism in the Holy Roman Empire and pave the way for a centralized and unified Germany.…

The Eggenberg Palace, begun in 1625 by Hans Ulrich von Eggenberg, is a very interesting exhibition of the way one man's life was changed by political power in the context of the Thirty Years' War. Before Hans' alterations, this was a rather modest…

The Monastery of San Lorenzo de El Escorial (usually referred to simply as “El Escorial”) might be seen as the physical embodiment of the Spanish Golden Age. At once austere and ornate, martial and scholarly, tradition-stamped and forward-looking, it…

Spanish history has long been intertwined with the Catholic faith. Spain is famous for spreading and defending the religion wholeheartedly, and its Catholic tendencies are etched into its cultural identity. The devotion of King Philip II (reign…

“The male is male only at certain moments; the female is female her whole life… everything constantly recalls her sex to her, and to fulfill its functions, an appropriate physical constitution is necessary to her… she needs a soft sedentary life to…

During the era of constantly changing political power and international affair, the Austrian Habsburg faced a succession problem after the death of Charles VI who had no sons. The succession of a women emperor in Europe was generally rare during the…

The English Bill of Rights was a revolutionary document that afforded more authority to Parliament. It was written as a response to the absolutist ideas and actions of the Stuart monarchs. Absolutism dictated that a monarch’s power was God-given,…

In order to prevent the Catholic heir of King James II from the inheriting the throne and reuniting the Anglican Church with Rome, Parliament decided to offer the throne to Dutch noble William of Orange and his wife Mary. In exchange, they drew up a…

This picture depicts Queen Elizabeth I sitting in the middle, Willim Cecil and Sir Francis Walsingham, two major secretaries of Elizabeth, sitting on her side. William Cecil, who is sitting on her left, is a major figure to help her carry out the…

This is an engraving of the Gustavianum, the oldest standing building in Uppsala University. It owes both its name and construction to Gustavus Adolphus, a Swedish king who enacted many reforms in the country. Sweden was largely ignored by Europe,…