Gothic cathedrals were the height of medieval architecture—but how did they build these jaw-dropping structures with only rudimentary tools?

Here's the step-by-step process of building a gothic cathedral🧵 In the 11th-13th centuries, unprecedented population growth and newfound wealth in northern Europe created a need for larger church buildings. The aging Romanesque-style churches weren't built to support so many people.

In comes gothic architecture.

“Civilizations die from suicide, not by murder,” according to 20th-century historian Arnold Toynbee.

He claimed every great culture collapses internally due to a divergence in values between the ruling class and the common people…🧵 (thread) Toynbee was an English historian and expert on international affairs who published the 12 volume work “A Study of History,” which traced the life cycle of about two dozen world civilizations.

Through his work he developed a model of how cultures develop and finally die…

Historian Will Durant was not a religious man, but he believed faith was "indispensable" to a culture.

He delivered a dire warning to societies who traded faith for comfort…🧵 (thread) Will Durant was a 20th-century American historian and philosopher most known for his 11-volume “Story of Civilization,” telling the history of both eastern and western civilizations.

His work led him to conclude that all cultures follow a predictable pattern…

Napoleon was the best general ever, and it’s backed up by science.

A data scientist recently created a mathematical model to rank every general in the history of warfare—and it led to some surprising results.

Here’s what he found🧵 Inspired by Hannibal’s’ list of the three greatest generals (Alexander, Pyrrhus, and himself), data scientist Ethan Arsht sought to use hard data to determine a general’s abilities.

What he created was a system that could rank every notable military commander in history.

If you like Greek or Roman classics, you can thank a monk.

Just as much as on any battlefield, Western civilization was safeguarded within the quiet confines of a monastery...🧵 (thread) In the 6th century, the fate of western Europe was uncertain.

Barbarians had deposed the Roman emperor; age-old institutions were left decaying; the flame of civilization almost gone…

But at a monastery in Calabria, a monk named Cassiodorus toiled to keep this flame alight.

Kenneth Clark lamented that civilization was a fragile thing.

He observed three “enemies” that could topple even the mightiest cultures—what are they?🧵 The first enemy is fear:

“fear of war, fear of invasion, fear of plague and famine, that make it simply not worthwhile constructing things, or planting trees or even planning next year’s crops. And fear of the supernatural, which means that you daren’t question anything.”

Alexander the Great’s tomb has been missing for centuries. Over 140 official attempts have been made to locate it. All have failed.

But one rogue historian thinks he’s finally found it.

He claims everyone's been looking in the wrong place…🧵 Alexander’s body wasn’t always missing. We know that figures like Julius Caesar, Cleopatra, and Augustus visited his tomb in Alexandria during the 1st century BC.

But somewhere along the way it disappears from the record…

Dueling might seem barbaric today, but it actually reveals a culture obsessed with etiquette.

Duels served a few purposes:

-settled disputes
-encouraged civility
-channeled aggression

Unlike in modern times, careless words had consequences…🧵(thread) Dueling in the West can be traced to pre-Christian practices like the Norse “holmgang”.

A Viking-era duel, the holmgang was a legal way to settle disputes. Whether it was for honor, a legal dispute, or revenge, it was fought regardless of the parties’ social status.

Napoleon's battle record: continued:

Alexander the Great’s tomb has been missing for centuries. Over 140 official attempts have been made to locate it. All have failed.

But one rogue historian thinks he’s finally found it.

He claims everyone's been looking in the wrong place…🧵 Alexander’s body wasn’t always missing. We know that figures like Julius Caesar, Cleopatra, and Augustus visited his tomb in Alexandria during the 1st century BC.

But somewhere along the way it disappears from the record…

A great tragedy of the Reformation was the decline of monastic life.

In England, for example, Henry VIII shut down hundreds of monasteries, displacing ~7,000 monks and nuns.

Western monasticism still hasn't recovered...🧵 (thread) It’s well known how Henry VIII began the Reformation of the English Church so that he could divorce his first wife, Catherine of Aragon.

Since the Pope refused to grant Henry an annulment, he declared himself head of his new church, allowing him to get a divorce.

In 1322 an English knight journeyed to China, following in the footsteps of Marco Polo. 

His trip, however, involved:

-dwarves
-dragons
-centaurs & more

The tale he told made him the most famous man in Europe🧵 Hailing from St. Albans, Sir John Mandeville set out on a trip to the far east.

It would be over three decades until he returned, but the knight kept a log of his expedition and published it in 1371.

It is known simply as "Mandeville's Travels."

For most of history, kings and generals didn’t sit back and direct troop movements from afar—they fought on the front lines with their men.

A thread on courageous leaders who fought alongside their troops🧵 1. Leonidas

The Spartan king showed his willingness to sacrifice for his people when he, along with a cohort of vastly outnumbered Greeks, fought to the death at Thermopylae in 480 BC.

Despite his death, he’s become immortal in the legend that surrounds his epic last stand.

Let's talk about warrior bishops...

A fusion of clergy and knight, they played a pivotal role on the battlefield and the development of medieval society🧵 First off, this is going to be a very lengthy thread, so I'd advise bookmarking this so you can pick up where you left off later.

I wouldn't feel right posting just a short thread on the most interesting topic of the middle ages.

Ok let's begin 👇

The ancient Greeks had the iconic Olympics, Rome had thrilling chariot races, and medieval Europe had jousting. Nearly every civilization has developed some way to play.

A crash course history of ancient and medieval sports in the West🧵 Sports are nothing new. In the Lascaux caves of southwest France, images of wrestlers and sprinters dating back to ~15,000 BC indicate that prehistoric man engaged in athletics.

It’s most likely that simple sports requiring little to no equipment were developed first...

Early Christians had a complete Bible by the 4th century—but that’s not the only thing they were reading to deepen their faith.

Here’s what books the early Church read besides the Bible🧵 1. The Didache, Anonymous, 1st cent.

The Didache is a brief discourse that contains moral and ritualistic teachings—a handbook for a Christian life.

It’s speculated the apostles wrote it, and contains the formulas for baptism and eucharist that are still used today.

Great men read great books.

A thread on the great figures of history and the books that influenced them🧵 Alexander

According to Plutarch, Alexander was given an annotated copy of the Iliad by Aristotle which he carried with him everywhere.

He considered it a “perfect portable treasure of all military virtue and knowledge” and was especially fascinated by the character Achilles.

Ever wonder how the West gained geographical and cultural influence over its global peers?

Historian Niall Ferguson claims in his book “Civilization” that the West gained its power by embracing six killer applications—what are they?🧵

1. Competition

During the 15th century European powers competed globally to acquire resources, especially spices, fueling an arms race in maritime expansion—Europe’s “spice race”.

Meanwhile, China embraced an isolationist policy after Zheng He’s last voyage in the 1430’s.

The “divine right of kings” is a concept that claims a monarch's right to rule is derived from heavenly, not earthly, authority.

To modern ears it might seem absurd, but it actually has Biblical roots…🧵 Simply put, the divine right of kings is a political/religious doctrine that asserts kings are granted authority by God.

In its strongest form, monarchs are not subject to the will of the people, parliament, or any other human institution.

Can architecture be a moral force?

19th-century architect Augustus Pugin thought so.

He believed people’s surroundings influenced how they behaved, so he made it his life’s mission to change society by changing its architecture🧵 You’ve probably seen Pugin’s impressive Neo-Gothic designs. The Palace of Westminster and Elizabeth Tower (where Big Ben rests atop) are two of his most famous contributions.

They were products of a man who aimed to shape the world both aesthetically and spiritually…

On May 20th, 1910, nine kings gathered at Windsor for the funeral of King Edward VII.

The photograph they took is a stark reminder of how drastically European leadership has changed—the men pictured remain symbols of a bygone era of monarchy.

Who were they?🧵 King Haakon VII of Norway (top row, far left)

Ruled from November 1905 until his death in 1957. After the 1905 dissolution of the union between Sweden and Norway, he became the first independent Norwegian monarch since Olaf II in 1387.