Beachcombing's Bizarre History Blog

The Misericordia Polyptych is a talismanic work of art by Piero della Francesca, today, and for most of its history, kept at Sanselpolcro in eastern Tuscany near the border with Umbria (Italy). It took PF seventeen years to complete the polyptych, yet it would have only taken a second for an Allied bomb to blow […]

  Bardossy, ex Hungarian Prime Minister, executed in 1946 in Budapest. The tides of history…  

Beachcombing’s grandfather was sunk three times in the last World War. But the three times in question were spread out over seven years… Imagine, instead, being sunk three times in just under an hour, not only that, we are not talking about lonely frigates or minesweepers, these were three British battleships: HMS Cressy, Aboukir and […]

  Would you leave the kids at home with these three?  

Here’s a strange text to say the least. It appears in that remarkable tenth-century Arab work Meadows of Gold and Mines of Gems by Abu Zayd, the kind of miscellany of marvels that only the Arabs could write: the non-fiction reflex of Sinbad. In the Sea of Rum [the Mediterranean] near the island of Iqritish […]

Two of the most charismatic sportsmen of all time embrace.

Joan of Arc has appeared once before on this blog in that fascinating moment where she apparently picked out the Dauphin with psychic antennae. Today, two years on, Beach is turning instead to another part of Joan’s paranormal life, her voices. Joan heard, from her early adolescence onwards, voices. These voices gave her instruction and […]

There are some rare accounts from the middle ages (though not from antiquity?) of trees that are alive. The following comes from the great eighth-century Chinese geographer Du You. Du You is talking here of the Dashi, the Chinese word for the Arabs, that have just started to come onto the horizon with the Islamic […]

Family on the run from the dustbowl.

3.5 kilos, homebirth, lots of stitches, baby and mother doing well. 29 Nov 2014 Invisible sent this beautiful piece in. Looking for anecdotes of Charles I, ran across this charming welcome to a new-born daughter. Miss Talbot to a new-born child, daughter of Mr. John Talbot, a son of the Lord Chancellor. You are heartily […]

A fourteenth-century chess game. What’s the blue bag for on high?

Sparse 19 cent version of Elizabeth walking in the puddle, note the pipe!

Keith Thomas includes in his classic Magic and the Decline of Religion a few precious pages on gibberish charms that were sometimes given out by ‘cunning men and women’ (aka witches) to those who wanted protection. These were typically worn about the neck of someone who wished for help against demons or better health. Some […]

Italians and World Wars don’t really get on. A combination of poor military culture and one of the most macho yet incompetent political classes on the planet made for messy interventions, and amputations rather than extrications. However, even by sorry Italian standards, the six weeks beginning 28 Oct 1940 and ending 7-8 Dec 1940 were […]

  What is the red bull? Tony B with the answer: The Red Bull is a Bonacon, a fabulous creature perhaps based on the European Bison or Wisent, which levels whole sections of forest with its farts. It also defends itself with them. The only reason it’s familiar is that I once painted a Bestiary […]