A few months after the death of Richelieu, Louis Xlll died, leaving his five-year-old son Louis XIV to reign for seventy-two years, first under the restraint of Mazarin, and later as absolute monarch. With his succession and under the unbroken influence of his long reign all the arts flourished to […]

This English language term is often attributed to unnamed Native Americans of many tribes. The meaning in English may be different from the meaning in native languages. Probably, “Many” meant “more than could reasonably be expected.” Probably, “Smokes” meant campfires, although I have read that one or more of the […]

We typically think of a catapult as something that was used in the Middle Ages to destroy the walls of a castle. But catapults have a very long history dating long before the time of castles and they were developed and designed in many different ways by many different cultures […]