The circus of horrors

In AD 897, Pope Formosus was put on trial for the crimes of perjury, coveting the papacy and violating canon law by holding more than one bishopric at a time. In truth, the whole thing was a spectacle

Strange murder mysterie s from times gone by

Every June, across France, there is a huge street festival, the Fête de la Musique, where towns and cities stage free concerts, parades and dancing, with millions of people taking part. This year, tho

Zola’s vivid characters blew his theories off course

FT has covered these a number of times, with one of the earliest and most disastrous examples taking place in Hammersmith in 1804 (see FT296:42-45, 310:30-35, 452:16-18). Then a semi-rural village on

DIGGING UP THE TRUTH ABOUT THE MAN WHO CLAIMED HE MURDERED DOZENS OF PEOPLE