Human faces, part 31: The Condottieri, winners in every war

From dishwasher to millionaire, or: from mercenary to Duke of Milan. Francesco Sforza did the impossible and founded one of the most influential families in Renaissance Italy.

Numismatic Miniatures from the North: Part 3 – Treasure Island. The History

If you’re looking for the island where the most treasures have been found, you don’t need to sail to the Caribbean. Far from it. The highest concentration of treasure finds is in the North, more specifically on the island of Gotland, which used to be a central trading post in the Baltic Sea.

Human faces, part 32: Murder in Milan

After the brutal murder of the Duke of Milan, only one question is on the mind of Milan’s aristocracy: who will follow in his office? The seven-year-old son? Quite surprisingly, the succession is settled peacefully. Peaceful, but not uneventful, thanks to the dowager duchess…

Numismatic miniatures from the North: Part 4 – Treasure Island. Treasures, treasures and even more treasures

More than 700 treasure cases with around 180,000 coins have been discovered on the island of Gotland. The trader-peasants buried the earnings from their adventurous travels in the ground, where they were found by their descendants.