An elaborately painted 16th century chapel damaged during the Second World War is being restored not with paint but with light.

Affordable, limited edition jewelry inspired by medieval and Renaissance designs. JG Originals - Camelot Collection offers handcrafted necklaces, earrings, and brooches made from high quality fire-polished glass, twinkling rhinestones, and hand-antiqued brass.

The Centre for Metropolitan History has made available the 1603 edition of John Stow's A Survey of London, edited by C. L. Kingsford. The work chronciles the history of the city from the 13th through the 16th centuries.

Thirty years ago, the city of Florence, Italy converted the Sant'Orsola convent, the final resting place of Lisa Gherardini, the model of da Vinci's Mona Lisa, into barracks for the city's Guardia di Finanza. The graves and tombs from the site were dumped into 'Case le Passarini', the rubbish tip near Florence.

An historic, 16th century stone archway on the grounds of Scone Palace in Perthshire was destroyed recently when a van driven by a contractor crashed into it.

In late 2009, previously unseen artifacts found on the Mary Rose, Henry VIII's flagship, were put on display at the Portsmouth Historic Dockyard. The artifacts will be included in the exhibits at the new Mary Rose Museum scheduled to open in 2012. (photos)

The website Virtual Jamestown includes a gallery of photos of artifacts found at the Jamestown site. The gallery includes large images and rotating clips of each of the artifacts in the collection.

For the first time in 25 years, art experts will be able to study two portraits of Queen Elizabeth I with hopes of discovering the works' mysterious artist. The paintings will go on display at the National Portrait Gallery in London from September 13 to 19, 2010.

Until January 29, 2011, art lovers and historians have the opportunity to study six masterpieces from the Uffizi gallery in Florence in minute detail on the Haltadefinizione company website. The site allows visitors to zoom in on high-resolution images.

Three shipwrecks have been found in the Mediterranean Sea dating from 1400 to 1600. One is probably a large English merchant ship and the other two are small and probably of local origin.

For the past nine years, archaeologists have been excavating what they believe is Iceland's oldest hospital, dating to the early 16th century. The building, located near Skriduklaustur in east Iceland, was part of a monastery.

The Kõpu lighthouse in Estonia was built first used in 1531 and still uses its original lens. The lighthouse once served as a beacon for merchants in the Hanseatic League.

Over the centuries, thousands of people have pondered the mystery of Mona Lisa's smile. Now French researchers believe they can explain the enigmatic expression: it was da Vinci's technique.

For the first time in centuries, the 16th century site in Edinburgh, Scotland where Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, was killed, is being excavated. Darnley was the second husband of Mary, Queen of Scots.

Henry VIII meets the Age of Connectivity in a series of short sketch comedies from the BBC. Brian Blessed stars as the monarch on holiday with his sixth wife, Catharine Parr.

The University of Exeter (England) will offer a non-credit, distance learning course entitled The Tudors: History, Culture and Religion for fall 2010. Deadline to register is September 15, 2010.

For centuries, it was theorized that Francesco I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, and his second wife, Bianca Cappello were murdered, but new evidence shows that their deaths were from natural causes.

An amateur actress rehearsing for a show at St. Mary's Church in Redgrave, England got more than a sore ankle when her foot went through a flagstone near the altar. She inadvertently discovered a long-lost burial chamber.

A new hall will host performances on the same ground where Shakespeare's plays were first acted. The predecessor to the Globe, known simply as "The Theatre," stood on London's South Bank. Its site was bought by an amateur theatrical group and has been under excavation since 2008. 

Two of Galileo's fingers were discovered during rennovations at the Museo Galileo in Florence, Italy. The remains are currently on display along with Galileo's famous telescope.

The National Music Museum at the University of South Dakota boasts instruments ranging from gamelans to medieval mandolins. Now the museum has added a 400-year-old Amati Brothers violin. Gary Ellenbolt of NPR has the audio story.

During the New World plague of the 16th century, a group of artists and intellectuals barricaded themselves in the Colegio de Santa Cruz de Santiago Tlaltelolco to produced the Florentine Codex, a massive encyclopedia handwritten in three columns and two languages. The work has been restored and digitized.

Archeologists are excavating "The Theater", London's first known successful playhouse, where it is believed that Shakespeare himself worked and may have even acted. The building was completed in 1576, and historians believe that Romeo and Juliet premiered there.

We all know the schoolboy version of the naming of the American continents: merchant explorer Amerigo Vespucci supposedly named the New World after himself. But a little-known proofreader and scholar named Matthias Ringmann may actually be responsible.

Archaeologists believe they have identified Shakespeare's cesspit on the property of New Place, his home in Stratford-upon-Avon. They now hope to find clues to the playwright's life among the rubbish from a dig.

Join a team of medical experts as they analyze one of history's greatest monarchs. Inside the Body of Henry VIII will air July 20, 2010 on the National Geographic Channel.

This January, seven master stoneworkers from Japan joined a team of "rockknockers" at the International Stoneworkers' Symposium to construct castle ramparts using traditional dry stone masonry techniques in Serra Cross Park, Ventura, California.

Unlike the famous mummies of Egypt, the preserved corpses lying in the crypt of a Berlin church are almost unknown. Although they are nearer to us in space, time and philosophy, no one is quite sure why hundreds of 18th-century German nobles were mummified.

When the National Trust took over the Kingston Lacy mansion, the filthy old painting on the wall could not be identified. Now, after cleaning, the painting is confirmed as the work of Renaissance master Tintoretto, but art historians aren't sure who the allegorical figures in the picture are meant to represent.

Archaeologists digging at the Plaza de la Constitucion in St. Augustine, Florida, are finding that the plaza is different than the plans authorized by the King of Spain in the late 1500's.