David Tollen, Author at Pints of History

Police History: Constable vs. Paramilitary

by David Tollen | Jul 1, 2020 | The Early Modern Age, The Recent Modern Age, Current Politics, Legal History

Calls to abolish or massively reform America’s police sound new and radical. Yet history offers a very old model for those reforms: an alternative to our current military style of policing. In the world of the Founding Fathers, civilian constables enforced the...

This Week in History: Althing

by David Tollen | Jun 26, 2020 | The Postclassical Age (Medieval History)

This week in 930 CE, the chieftains of Iceland established the Althing, which remains the country’s parliament. It’s the world’s oldest surviving legislature. Northmen (sometimes called Vikings) had arrived on the island about 60 years before, and now they set about...

This Week in History: The Treaty of Tordesillas

by David Tollen | Jun 11, 2020 | The Postclassical Age (Medieval History), The Early Modern Age, Geography

This week in 1494, the Spanish and Portuguese Empires signed the Treaty of Tordesillas—brokered by the Pope. The treaty divided the globe between the two great powers, fifty-fifty. The Treaty of Tordesillas drew a line through the Atlantic, from pole to pole. New...

This Week in History: the Ashmolean Museum

by David Tollen | May 29, 2020 | The Early Modern Age, The Recent Modern Age

This week in 1683, the Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology opened in Oxford. It was the world’s first university museum and was named after Elias Ashmole, who in 1677 had given Oxford University what became the museum’s first collection. Construction also...

This week in history: Kublai Khan

by David Tollen | May 15, 2020 | The Postclassical Age (Medieval History)

This week in 1260, Kublai Khan became ruler of the Mongol Empire. Grandson to the great Genghis Khan, the empire’s founder, Kublai was the fifth Khagan, or Great Khan. He succeeded to the throne after the death of his eldest brother, Mongke. The latter died in...