In the summer of 1518, the streets of Strasbourg, then part of the Holy Roman Empire, became the stage for a terrifying and inexplicable event.

Water is something we take for granted today, but in the Middle Ages, it was often unsafe to drink

Imagine stepping out in shoes with toes so long they curl up like a cat’s tail, stretching nearly two feet ahead of you.

Forget everything you think you know about medieval hygiene. The popular image of the Middle Ages as a time when people never bathed and lived in filth is not only misleading but downright wrong.