Meadhalls in Beowulf
Reading the meadhalls of Beowulf, Heorot and Hygelac's hall, as the social center of medieval life, much like a modern-day bar.
Essays
Medieval History
Work on medieval institutions, religious conflict, chronicles, and political inheritance.
Bede's Legacy
How Bede's careful sourcing and research in his Ecclesiastical History are undercut by the religious bias that shaped his account.
Reconquista
Comparing the Spanish Reconquista with the Crusades, and why one ended in a Golden Age while the other faded into directionless war.
Spanish Inquisition
How the Spanish Inquisition became a secular, politically motivated tool that Ferdinand and Isabella used to unify their territory.
The Spanish Inquisition
On torture, religious zealotry, and how secular interests let the Spanish Inquisition thrive as a complex reaction by an evolving society.
Evolution of the Spanish Inquisition
Tracing the Spanish Inquisition's shift from religious purification to a secular institution that weakened Catholicism and Spain itself.
The Spanish Inquisition
How the Inquisition of 1478 to 1834 became a secular instrument the Spanish monarchy used to unify the country and sustain its power.