Four centuries ago, in 1624 and 1625, all of Europe followed the siege of the city of Breda with utmost interest. In June 1625, after ten months of strangling encirclement, the Italian general Spinola and his tens of thousands of troops, fighting for the king of...

In many cultures and countries, there is one day in the year when children receive special presents. In most regions of Spain, Epiphany (January 6th) is traditionally that day. In Germany, Britain and the U.S., the important days are Christmas Eve and Christmas Day...

Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam (1466-1536) was the most widely read and most prestigious intellectual of early 16th century Europe. Nevertheless, his dreams never came through. Instead of the open-minded study of biblical and classical texts, dogmatism prevailed....

The novel ‘Moby Dick’ is an almost infinite source of inspiration for study and debate. In his masterpiece from 1851, Herman Melville not only describes the bloody and dangerous reality of sperm whale hunting, he also broaches many other passionate subjects that are...