Pluscarden Abbey has always intrigued me. Just 15 minutes from my home in Elgin, it is Britain’s only medieval monastery still being used for its original purpose. For years I had lived nearby, but ...

The community traces its origins to the English Benedictine convent founded in Ypres, Belgium, in 1665 (reassigned as an Irish house in 1682). Dedicated to the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary ...

Vlad III Dracula, the brutal warlord and inspiration for Bram Stoker’s genre-defining vampire, has long held a reputation as medieval Europe’s most terrifying ruler. Now, new research asks: how true ...

The Sword of St. Michael, a line of sacred sites stretches mysteriously in perfect alignment from Ireland through Greece to the Holy Land.

I went to Pluscarden Abbey, in Moray, to experience what a spiritual retreat is like at Britain's only functioning medieval monastery.

When we learn music today, one of the first things we encounter is the familiar set of syllables used to name the notes of the scale: do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, ti, do. To many people, this seems ...

September, Isla Johnston, the 18-year-old star of Baz Luhrmann’s much-anticipated film based on the life of Joan of Arc, is wandering through The Met Cloisters. The museum—a 1930s amalgam of medieval ...

Monasticamp was designed, in part, to give students exposure to an entire monastic day, praying together the distinct periods of prayer in the Liturgy of the Hours, something not always possible for ...

There is a timeless magic that clings to a medieval castle. It’s a feeling you get when you stand beneath massive stone walls, gaze up at towering turrets, and imagine knights, royalty, and ancient ...

Across the table from me, Tony Robinson’s eyes are brimming with what look like tears. I’ve just asked him about the time five chapters of his book were stolen from his car while he was on holiday, ...

Powerful abbots once seen as untouchable now face investigation as Beijing reins in excess wealth and religious commercialisation ...