Canary Slaves in the Arab World April 17, 2015
Author: Beach Combing | in : Medieval
It is sometimes said that the furthest travelled people in the ancient and medieval world were slaves. Consider four points. First, average men and women were not foolish enough to pass beyond the frontiers. Second, when they were foolish enough to travel they often risked becoming slaves (St Patrick, Frumentius… there are many examples). Third, […]
Christopher Columbus’s Origins August 24, 2011
Author: Beach Combing | in : Contemporary, Medieval, Modern
There are many different kinds of historical controversies. But Beachcombing’s favourite by far are what he thinks of as ‘identity debates’: nice examples of which include the arguments over the location of Atlantis, the ‘real’ King Arthur and the ‘true’ Shakespeare. Identity debates are characterized by four things: (i) an orthodox academic position; (ii) multiple […]
