Philip IV (1268-1314), called Philip the Fair, ruled France from 1285 to 1314. His reign was one of the most momentous in medieval history because Philip successfully challenged the traditional power of the papacy in France, thereby strengthening the...

Steven N. Orso. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994. 208 pp. + 81 illus. $70. Velazquez's first major mythological painting, "Los Borrachos" [The Drunkards], is an enigmatic work that has both delighted and puzzled its viewers over the centuries. The wide variety of...

Henry IV of France (1553-1610) was born into a country riven by religious warfare and political infighting. A shrewd and personable man who cared not to spend his life in battle, he figured out ways to defuse the great conflicts before him. In...

It's not the Holy Grail, but for fans of "The Da Vinci Code" and its tantalizing story line about the Knights Templar, it could be the next best thing.Ignored for centuries, documents about the heresy trial of the ancient Christian order discovered in the Vatican's...

Sheiks, libraries and collectors around the world have ordered the Vatican's new $8,400 limited-edition documentation of the heresy trial of the Knights Templar, officials said Thursday.The leather-bound volume, which includes high-quality reprints of the original documents as well as clerical seals, is noteworthy because it...