History Articles published in Three Monkeys Online
Women on the margins: the 'beloved' and the 'mistress' in Renaissance Florence
Dr. Catherine Lawless explores the position of a particular category of women who did not fit at all easily into either religious or social stereotypes, women who were the objects of amorous devotion on the part of prominent and influential citizens and o
Balancing the Renaissance - Tim Parks on Medici Money
Fifteenth Century Florence was the centre of the artistic explosion we now term the renaissance. It was also home to the relatively new profession of banking, which, for families like the Medici, created the wealth which was used to patronise the arts. En
‘Keeping the Tempo’: The Orange Revolution Remembered
In November 2004 Horatio Morpurgo flew into Kiev, on his way to report on a Nature reserve for an ecological magazine. By chance he found himself in the midst of the Orange revolution. Morpurgo gives his eye-witness account of the Ukranian Orange revoluti
From the Liberation of Rome, to the Armistice in Korea - General Mark Clark Interview (1975)
In another 'snapshots from history' interview, broadcaster Richard Gilbert shares with Three Monkeys Online readers an interview with General Mark Clark conducted in 1975. Clark fought in WWI, was commander of allied forces in Italy during WWII, and was c
Snapshots from the Past. A 1975 interview with former US Secretary of State Dean Rusk
In 1975 Richard Gilbert, as part of a production for Canada's CBS, interviewed Dean Rusk. Rusk, at that stage retired, had been a serving Secretary of State for both John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson. The interview, over thirty years later, still reso
Bombing Civilians - WWII's 'moral crimes'. A.C. Grayling in interview.
Is bombing civilians ever justified during wartime? Did the bombing of German and Japanese cities hasten the end of World War II? What constitutes a war crime? Just some of the questions that A.C. Grayling, Professor of Philosophy at Birkbeck College Lond...
Your Beatitude, Mr President - interviewing Makarios 1964.
In 1964 Richard Gilbert interviewed Cypriot President Archbishop Makarios, against a backdrop of building tension between the Island's Greek and Turkish communities. In an extended piece for Three Monkeys Online, Gilbert presents the interview and a perso...
"Tumultuous, prolonged applause ending in ovation. All rise." Khrushchev's "Secret Report" and Poland
In 1956 Nikita Khrushchev, addressing a closed session of the Twentieth Congress of the Communist Party, did the unthinkable and denounced his predecessor Stalin. The report on the "cult of the individual", which inevitably and quickly leaked out across t...
Ancient Americans - Rewriting the History of the New World. Charles C. Mann in interview.
Science writer Charles C. Mann's latest book Ancient Americans could easily be subtitled 'everything you know about the Americas pre-Columbus is wrong!' It takes into account developments in fields such as archaeology, anthropology, geology and his...
Eoin O'Duffy - The Self-Made Hero.
Eoin O'Duffy, the founder of an Irish fascist party during the 1930s, as well as that of an Irish Brigade which would fight on Franco's side in the Spanish Civil War, is the subject of a new biography by Fearghal McGarry, lecturer in History at Queens Uni...
Seventeenth Century Dutch Art – Recording the Visual World
Pictures record the world but they are inexorably bound up with the perception of the world by the artist. The emergence of the Dutch Republic was one of the key national historical events of the 17th century and the intense realism of painting...
The Image of Christmas - The Nativity Represented in Art
The richly detailed Christmas nativity story contains far more than is included in the 'authoratitive' versions of the two Gospels that mention Christ's birth. Over centuries, artists have been inspired to depict and embellish this iconic story. Dr. Cathe...
Myth, Ritual and Orthodoxy: Cosimo de’ Medici and Saint Peter Martyr.
The Medici, powerful patrons of the arts in renaissance Florence, chose to be associated in portraits with the figure of Saint Peter Martyr, not to be confused with St. Peter the Apostle. The reasons for this choice are far from obvious, but this article ...
Gendered Monsters - Art and politics in the representation of St. George and the Dragon
Dr. Samantha Riches discovered, almost by accident, a significant and intriguing tradition of clearly depicting St. George's dragon with a gender (usually female). In interview with Three Monkeys Online she discusses that tradition, and its possible motiv...
The Role of the Machine in Twentieth Century Art
The machine is the single most defining entity of the twentieth century. Throughout the twentieth century perceptions of the machine’s role in society changed. So inevitably, the content of this machine inspired art changed throughout the century. S...
Football and Fascism - The creation of Italy's Serie A
Italy's Serie A is one of the world's best loved footballing championships, watched by millions. In interview, Simon Martin, author of Football and Fascism - The national game under Mussolini, outlines the fascist roots of the championship, ...
Feminity in the work of Harry Clarke, Ireland's great Symbolist artist.
Harry Clarke, Ireland's great Symbolist artist, lived and worked during a time when traditional roles assigned to Women where changing in Europe. Karen Normoyle examines Clarke's depiction of women, and presents us with an important insight into the chan...
A Perfect Red - the history of cochineal
Following the Spanish conquest of Mexico, cochineal was one of the most highly prized exports from the new world, second only to Gold and Silver. It's value was due to the deep and durable red dye that it produced. Historian Amy Butler Greenfield, author ...
Cosa Nostra - rebranding the Mafia.
John Dickie's Cosa Nostra is one of the first serious attempts to examine the Sicilian mafia from an Historian's perspective. In interview with Three Monkeys Online, Dickie, a senior lecturer of Italian History at the University of London, explains...
A history of Fear. Professor Joanna Bourke in interview
Emotions are rarely the subject for Historians, many of whom feel more comfortable with causality and rational responses. Professor Joanna Bourke, of Birkbeck College, London, has taken the challenge to examine, from the perspective of a cultural history,...
From Fertility Symbol to Political Propaganda - Decoding the Massa Marittima Mural.
In 2000, in the small Tuscan town of Massa Marittima, a bizarre mural depicting a tree covered in phalluses was uncovered by restoration workers. Through close analysis of the images and symbolism, historian George Ferzoco argues that this painting tells ...
Drowning the Shamrock. The place of drink in the Irish national holiday, St. Patrick's day.
St. Patrick's day is celebrated by the Irish worldwide, usually with parades and pints. It hasn't always been the case, and, in fact, in the nascent Irish Republic of the 1920's the national holiday was a dry one, at least in terms of alcohol....
America: From Colony to Superpower. Part III: 1929-1960
In the third part of his series on American History, Colm McInerney charts the period from the new deal through to Eisenhower's presidency. A period when America arguably made the final step in its passage from colony to superpower....
Black cat seen walking under a ladder on Friday the 13th. A historical look at superstitions.
Steve Roud, author of A Pocket Guide to Superstitions of the British Isles, has studied and collected superstitions for years. In interview with Three Monkeys Online he sheds light on the history of popular superstitions such as Friday the 13th....
Christmas Reborn. The creation of a consumer Christmas - Professor Steven Nissenbaum in interview.
Over the top consumerism has increasingly become part of the Christmas tradition. Professor Steven Nissenbaum, author of the battle for Christmas argues that Christmas, as we celebrate it now, is an invention, and the starting point for the consume...
America: From Colony to Superpower. Part II: 1876- 1929
From the Gilded Age through to the Great Depression, Colm McInerney continues his series of articles on American History. In this piece he takes us from the economic boom times of the latter half of the 19th century, through a world war, and on to the sto...
Atlantis from a Geographer's Perspective. Dr Ulf Erlingsson locates Atlantis, in Ireland.
Dr. Ulf Erlingsson in his new book Atlantis from a Geographer's perspective, has located Atlantis, firmly above sea level, in Ireland. In interview he talks about his hypothesis, and the stigma attached to scientific research on the Atlantis myth....
Halloween. All Hallows Eve - the day between years.
As children from America through to Italy celebrate Halloween, with the obligatory pumpkins and masks, the celtic and pagan origins of the festival are obscured. Berit Haugen Keyes takes a timely look at the origins and development of the festival....
America: From Colony to Superpower. Part I: 1776-1876
In a three part essay, Colm McInerney looks at the development of the American system of Government. In this installment he examines the development from its Colonial beginings to the aftermath of the Civil War....
Wilderness, past and present.
From Plato to Joni Mitchell, by way of Thoreau and Malthus, Michael Keyes takes a look at the construct of Wilderness, past and present....
The Congo Free State - a colony of gross excess.
History has tended to judge the Congo Free State, established by Leopold III of Belgium, as an exception to the rule in the colonisation of Africa, being little more than a slave state. Michael Keyes argues that rather than being an exception, it was a le...
Rain in August. Cyprus, the UN, and the death of Archbishop Makarios - a personal recollection.
As a young officer in the Irish Army, in 1972, Tom Brace found himself a few feet away from world leaders, as they searched for a solution on the divided Island. ...
The Glorious and Immortal Memory. Commemoration at the Dublin Statue of King William of Orange.
Trinity College Dublin, has, in the past, been associated in the popular perception with Unionism and the Protestant Ascendency, and thus with a certain loyalty to the British Crown. Where better then, than in College Green, to erect a statue to King Will...
Restoration and Invention: The role of language in the invention of the Irish and Norwegian Nations.
For 19th and 20th century nationalists, both in Norway and in Ireland, the relationship between language and national identity was a crucial one. Michael Keyes examines the changing relationship between nationalism and the national l...
Looking back at D-Day. A review of The D-Day Companion.
The D-Day Companion, edited by Jane Penrose, has been published to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Normandy landings. Tom O'Carolan reviews for Three Monkeys Online....
