When people think of the European Middle Ages, it often brings to mind grinding poverty, superstition and darkness. But the reality of the 1,000-year period from 500 to 1500 was much more complex.

The humble potato shows up in plenty of vintage recipes. Invented in places from Ireland to New York, these dishes still ...

Celebrations for medieval peasants were frequent and centered around religious holidays, and the longest and most festive of ...

St. Christopher About ten years, ago, my wife Harriet and I spent part of a summer with my parents-in-law at their house in Burnham-Overy-Staithe, on the ...

During the Tokugawa era (A.D. 1603–1868), much of Japan was ruled by the country’s military governor, called the shogun, or his retainers. The rest was divided up into several hundred semiautonomous ...