#On This Day – The Reformation

Monday, August 27th, 2018
#OnThisDay
Pope Sixtus V, a significant figure in the Counter Reformation, died of malarial fever on 27 August 1590. Born in 1521, Felice Piergentile joined the Franciscan order in his youth, before becoming inquisitor general in 1552. Piergentile also took part in the investigation of heresy against the Archbishop of Toledo, Bartolome Carranza in 1565. He was voted to the papacy on 24 April 1585 with the title of Sixtus V, and it is claimed that there were more heads on spikes during his papal reign than melons for sale in the marketplace. But, what does Pope Sixtus V’s rather spectacular beard have to do with Sanctus bells, devil doors, the Exeter school master Thomas Bennet, bones of venerated saints and a certain church door in Wittenberg?
More Magazine Articles

Salisbury Cathedral Clock
18, 9, 2019 - The Ticking of a Clock It was not until the nineteenth century when clocks became the norm for .... Read More

#On This Day – Hair
10, 7, 2018 - #OnThisDay July 10th is Don’t Step On A Bee Day, and as you know bees provide us with .... Read More

Plastic Surgery
16, 9, 2019 - Wounded Soldiers of the First World War War has always produced injuries, and inevitably scars, .... Read More
Subscribe to our newsletter
Keep up to date with Histories of the Unexpected