This Halloween marks the 499th anniversary of Martin Luther’s posting of the 95 Theses on the church door in Wittenberg castle. Luther’s theses were against the act of indulgences which were certificates one could buy from the church to skip part of the penitential process. An extremely pious man, Luther was deeply troubled by his…
Category: Features
The Renaissance Festival: A Home for All by Ashley Vassar
On September 5th 2016, I attended my 13th Renaissance Festival and 9th Ohio Renaissance Festival. The Ohio Renaissance Festival is located in Waynesville, Ohio and this year, it ran from September 3rd to October 23rd. Since my friends and I dress up, we usually wait until October when the weather has cooled to attend. This…
On the Work of Petronius by Merritt Ver Steeg
Petronius Arbiter was a Roman who lived during the reign of Nero, and—according to most historians—the author of The Satyricon. We don’t know much about Petronius’life, but according to Tacitus,“His days he passed in sleep, and his nights in the business and pleasures of life. . . Indolence had raised him to fame, as energy…
Who Runs the World? Shakespeare’s Girls by Hannah Simpson
“It’s always fun to talk about Shakespeare,” quipped Caroline Bicks at the start of her lecture, “Incited Minds, Rethinking Shakespeare’s Girls.” I couldn’t agree more. Much like the title of her lecture indicates, Bicks’ talk centered on stereotypes that surround adolescent girls and how the strong-Willed (pun intended) females of Shakespeare’s plays defy them. After…
LaRP Or MARRCA? by Josephine DiNovo
Have you ever seen people on the grassy hill in front of Hayes wielding swords or quarterstaffs? Do you stop to snicker at the “LARPers” whenever you spy them? Have you ever really thought about what this group does? This group—often mistaken for role-players unafraid of the public—is MARRCA. MARRCA stands for Medieval and Renaissance…
Frankly, My Dear: A history of the Franks Casket By Elizabeth House
In 1867, Augustus Wollaston Franks donated a carved whalebone box to the British Museum. Called the Franks Casket, the box dates from the Northumbrian Renaissance— between 690 and 750 AD—and was probably created in a monastic setting, before it wound up in a shrine and then in a family home in Auzon, France, where it…
The Importance of Riddling By Patricia DeMarco
Tucked away in the Rare Book archives on the second floor of Beeghly Library is a facsimile of a rare, handwritten manuscript over 1,000 years old known as the Exeter Book. The original manuscript, dating from the late tenth century and owned by the Exeter Cathedral Library, holds the greatest treasures of English literature including…
The Life of a Saint By Rebecca Pollard
When we think of saints, we often think of holy, celibate, virtuous people, and when we think of holy, celibate, virtuous people, oftentimes our eyes will glaze over, drool will spill from our mouths, and we will be shaken awake by angry people who like talking of such boring things. Yet, if we go beyond…
Do You Play Croquet? By Becca Pollard
It is almost that time…the time when normally civilized students and professors resort to their most base qualities in an attempt to seek vengeance on poor grades or late papers…the time for The Annual AMRS Croquet Death Match. For one day, we students will put aside our chosen time periods and join together on the…