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Henry the Navigator and the Age of Discoveries

Henry the Navigator and the Age of Discoveries

Harald Sack
On March 4, 1394, Infante Henry, Duke of Viseu, better known as Henry the Navigator, was born. He was an important figure in the early days of the Portuguese Empire and the Age of Discoveries in total. He was responsible for the early development of European exploration and maritime trade with other continents. Legend or Historical Fact Henry has become a legendary figure, and it is somewhat difficult to disentangle the historical…
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history
Henry IV and his Walk to Canossa

Henry IV and his Walk to Canossa

Tabea Tietz
On January 25, 1077, Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV arrived at the gates of the fortress at Canossa in Emilia Romagna beyond the Alpes to declare atonement and to pledge for forgiveness from Pope Gregory VII, who had excommunicated Henry earlier from church. Henry’s act of penance became known as the “Walk to Canossa”. It took wisdom, patience, and self-restraint. It was also a brilliant strategy because he basically forced the Pope to forgive…
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mathematics
Abu al-Wafa Buzjani – Negative Numbers and Trigonometry

Abu al-Wafa Buzjani – Negative Numbers and Trigonometry

Harald Sack
On June 10, 940, Persian mathematician and astronomer Abū al-Wafāʾ, Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad ibn Yaḥyā ibn Ismāʿīl ibn al-ʿAbbās al-Būzjānī was born. Abu l-Wafa wrote several books on applied mathematics, made several important trigonometric discoveries, and wrote now-lost commentaries on the works of Euclid, Diophantus of Alexandria, and al-Chwarizmi. His work on arithmetics for businessmen contains the first instance of using negative numbers in a medieval Islamic text. Abu al-Wafa – Biographical Background…
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history
Einhard, the Scribe, and the Life of Charlemagne

Einhard, the Scribe, and the Life of Charlemagne

Harald Sack
On March 14, 840, Frankish scholar and courtier Einhard passed away. A dedicated servant of Charlemagne [1] and his son Louis the Pious, Einhard’s is best known for “Vita Karoli Magni“, a biography of Charlemagne, one of the most precious literary bequests of the early Middle Ages. Einhard’s Family Background and Education Einhard, who came from a noble East Franconian family in the eastern German-speaking part of the Frankish Kingdom, was initially educated in the…
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architecture
Abbot Suger and the Birth of the Gothic Style

Abbot Suger and the Birth of the Gothic Style

Harald Sack
On January 13, 1151, French abbot, statesman, historian and one of the earliest patrons of Gothic architecture, Suger passed away. The eastern end of the Basilica Church of St. Denis, built by Abbot Suger and completed in 1144, is often cited as the first truly Gothic building, as it draws together many of architectural forms which had evolved from Romanesque and typify the Gothic style. “The new chevet being joined to the narthex,…
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philosophy
Basilios Bessarion and the Great Revival of Letters

Basilios Bessarion and the Great Revival of Letters

Harald Sack
On January 2, 1403, Roman Catholic Cardinal Bishop Basilius Bessarion was born. The titular Latin Patriarch of Constantinople, Bessarion was one of the illustrious Greek scholars who contributed to the great revival of letters in the 15th century. One of the most learned scholars of his time, Bessarion spread knowledge of Greek language and learning by building a personal library that included a large collection of Greek manuscripts, by his patronage of…
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history
Frederick II – The “Wonder of the World”

Frederick II – The “Wonder of the World”

Tabea Tietz
On December 26, 1194, Frederick II, one of the most powerful Holy Roman Emperors of the Middle Ages and head of the House of Hohenstaufen was born. Speaking six languages (Latin, Sicilian, German, French, Greek and Arabic), Frederick was an avid patron of science and the art, called by a contemporary chronicler stupor mundi (“the wonder of the world”). “But our intention in this book on falconry is to show what is…
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history
Averroes – The Commentator and Polymath

Averroes – The Commentator and Polymath

Tabea Tietz
On December 10, 1198, medieval Andalusian polymath Abū l-Walīd Muḥammad Ibn ʾAḥmad Ibn Rušd, better known as Averroes, passed away. Averroes wrote on logic, Aristotelian and Islamic philosophy, theology, the Maliki school of Islamic jurisprudence, psychology, political and Andalusian classical music theory, geography, mathematics, and the mediæval sciences of medicine, astronomy, physics, and celestial mechanics. Averroes had a greater impact on Christian Europe: he has been described as the “founding father of…
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explorer
Marco Polo – The Great Traveler and Merchant

Marco Polo – The Great Traveler and Merchant

Tabea Tietz
Around 1254 (according to some sources on September 15, 1254 [1]) Venetian merchant traveler Marco Polo was born. He is best known for his journeys to Central Asia and China, narrated in the book “Il Milione” (‘The Book of the Wonders of the World‘). “I have not told half of what I saw.” – Marco Polo, On his death-bed, when urged to retract “some of the seemingly incredible statements he made in his…
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astronomy
Al-Biruni – Mathematician, Astronomer and Founder of Indology

Al-Biruni – Mathematician, Astronomer and Founder of Indology

Tabea Tietz
On September 4, 973, Muslim scholar Al-Biruni was born. He is regarded as one of the greatest scholars of the medieval Islamic era and was well versed in physics, mathematics, astronomy, and natural sciences, and also distinguished himself as a historian, chronologist and linguist. He is referred to as the founder of Indology for his remarkable description of early 11th-century India. “You well know … for which reason I began searching for a…
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