“Spain was also determined to stamp out any free thought or intellectual activity that might challenge Catholicism. With this aim, books were banned,76 students were forbidden to study abroad, and any foreign thought was, by its very nature, unwelcome.” — Christopher Lascelles Copy Share Image
“western notions of medicine were based largely on superstition and exorcism in contrast to the Arab’s advanced clinical training and understanding of surgery, pharmacology… — Christopher Lascelles Copy Share Image
“Jews would eventually be expelled from France in 1394 and Spain in 1492, having already been expelled from England in 1290.” — Christopher Lascelles Copy Share Image
“The Mayans developed several incredibly precise calendars without the use of any scientific instruments. Obsessed with time-keeping, they were even able to predict solar… — Christopher Lascelles Copy Share Image
“The 21st century is no exception, with Swine Flu and Bird Flu acting as nasty reminders that rearing animals in close quarters – and… — Christopher Lascelles Copy Share Image
“By the time the slave trade ended, the Caribbean had taken an estimated 50 percent of the roughly fifteen million African slaves transported to… — Christopher Lascelles Copy Share Image
“Fearful of change, the Iberian peninsula77 failed to develop at the same pace as the rest of Europe and missed out on the Reformation… — Christopher Lascelles Copy Share Image
“Spain was also determined to stamp out any free thought or intellectual activity that might challenge Catholicism. With this aim, books were banned,76 students… — Christopher Lascelles Copy Share Image
“if one lived a moral life, was mindful of one’s actions, and developed wisdom, he taught, it was possible to dispel ignorance, rid oneself… — Christopher Lascelles Copy Share Image
“The Roman Empire at its height was the largest empire the world had ever witnessed.” — Christopher Lascelles Copy Share Image
“Voltaire, rightly commented that it was ‘neither Holy, nor Roman nor an Empire’.” — Christopher Lascelles Copy Share Image
“The earliest evidence that has been found of complex societies comes from Mesopotamia – modern-day Iraq and Syria – in around 3500 BC.” — Christopher Lascelles Copy Share Image
“The Protestant reformation gave a big boost to literacy, spawned dissent and heresies, and promoted scepticism and refusal of authority that is at the… — Christopher Lascelles Copy Share Image