Egypt's Mamluk rulers began as purchased slaves
Egypt's Mamluk sultans ruled from 1250 to 1517 after being bought as boys, freed and trained as cavalry. Having no family ties bound them to their masters.
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A pope's letter set Roger Bacon writing the Opus Majus
In 1266 Pope Clement IV asked a confined Franciscan friar for his writings. Roger Bacon had none, so he spent a year writing the Opus Majus.
How the Black Death spread, and why medieval doctors missed it
BBC Bitesize and National Geographic explain how a bacterium on rat fleas killed a third to half of Europe. Doctors blamed the four humours and bad air.
No decoding of the Voynich manuscript has survived scrutiny
Three researchers have separately announced they cracked the Voynich manuscript's code since 2017. None produced a translation other experts accept.
A chaplain's student hostel gave the Sorbonne its name
Robert de Sorbonne, a royal chaplain, opened a hostel for Paris students in 1257. Officially, the Sorbonne stopped being a university in 1970.