Longfellow was not Catholic. I don't know how he felt about Catholicism but his translation of Dante, and these sonnets, amazing meditations on confession, are evidence of a sympathy at least. He was friends with Nathaniel Hawthorne whose daughter Rose became a Catholic nun. She is currently listed as a Servant of God. He also [...]
City states or cities
Cities in Medieval times were strange creatures. They were often governed from afar by a king or emperor and as long as his representative was satisfied no-one else was fully able to intervene in their affairs. If a noble family was in charge of a city then it functioned slightly differently. This immensely complicated topic [...]
Longfellow
Included with the Longfellow translation of The Divine Comedy on Project Gutenberg are six sonnets. Here are the first two. I Oft have I seen at some cathedral door A laborer, pausing in the dust and heat, Let down his burden, and with reverent feet Enter, and cross himself, and on the floor Kneel to [...]
What is Science?
One of the reasons that I loved Dante, once I figured out how to read him, was that his attitude towards the world was one of careful observation. He knew, for example, where the stars were in the heavens at different times of the year, and different times of night, and different parts of the [...]
Medieval and modern machines
Having posted about the book Medieval Machines (by Jean Gimpel) on December 27, I found The Chip by T. J. Reid. The chip is the microchip inside modern machines of every kind. Reid wrote about the chip because he thought that the people who invented it ought to be as well known as Henry Ford [...]
Janey's blog 