A Good Fabrication
Throughout his lifetime, and long after his death, stories have cemented his reputation as a megalomaniacal monster of lust and cruelty. But how many of these stories are based in fact, and how many are made up to intensify the
EXCOMMUNICATING A FRIAR
On this day in 1497, the Borgia Pope, Alexander VI, excommunicated the Dominican friar, Girolamo Savonarola. But who was Savonarola? What did he do that deserved excommunication in a time so rife with sin? And why is it important?
Michelangelo: Fact vs Fiction
Given the sheer volume of surviving documents written by, to, and about Michelangelo, it’s a wonder that we have so many myths relating to the Renaissance Master. Time to see what’s fact, what’s fiction, and what has been exaggerated.
The Tigress of Forlí
Meet the woman who stormed the Castel Sant’Angelo without spilling any blood while heavily pregnant, wrote a book on alchemy, trained and led numerous armies, and even managed to turn her captor, Cesare Borgia, into her lover.
