Stealing the communion bread was both a problem for the authorities in medieval Europe, but also quite understandable. But in the context of Reformation Geneva, it unveils an entirely new set of problems.

Between the noise from “ruffians” and the large number of swallows flitting about the church, preaching in Reformation Geneva presented special challenges.

Nothing like a good execution on a spring afternoon to entertain the kids and teach them good values.

The phrases “child of God” and “child of Geneva” had very particular meanings in Reformation Geneva. How those two phrases get deployed elucidates a fundamental tension in Reformation Geneva.

Twain had a low opinion of monarchs and a lower opinion of Americans who sought aristocratic titles.

We don’t have much detail on the life of the dwarf, Michel Die, but one can’t help but notice the concern that he be treated “humanely,” suggesting that outcome was very much in doubt.

John Muir spent his first winter as a shepherd on the plains of the Central Valley. His comments merit some comparison with Antoine Saunier’s description of Geneva in his 1538 prospectus for the Genevan school. Taken together, we have a sense of how the perception of mountains changed in the 300 years between Saunier and Muir and has changed again since Muir’s day.

Claude Paccard’s idiosyncratic version of the Three Commandments