You may remember that Alexander the Great was a pupil of the famous philosopher Aristotle. But this 14th-century find (in the form of a water jug referred to as the Aquamanile in The Form of Aristotle and Phyllis) recalls a (very possible untrue) humiliating story.

Here’s the story from the Penn Digital Archives:

“The narrative tells of Aristotle’s annoyance that Phyllis was distracting the pupil Alexander from his studies and of his attempts to separate the lovers. In retaliation, Phyllis schemed to seduce Aristotle, promising him her affection if he would gratify her wish to be carried around the garden on the philosopher’s back. Phyllis arranged to have Alexander view Aristotle’s disgrace from a window. When discovered, Aristotle cautioned Alexander that if one as wise as the philosopher could be so easily duped by a woman, a less experienced man should be exceedingly cautious.”

It puts the philosopher in a whole new light!

This relic is an amazing example of craftsmanship for the time (the 13th century). Made of silver, rock crystal, and glass, it’s meant to represent the arm of Saint Fiacre, who was known for healing the sick as well as some divinely-inspired gardening skills.

In case you don’t know, a reliquary is said to house actual bodily remains of the Saints themselves!

After his death, his body was moved around quite a bit in the 17th century after his tomb was opened and no one can quite figure out why he became popular again.

The Boar and Bear Hunt tapestry was made in the 1420s. The elaborate tapestry shows vivid details of costumes and men carrying boar-spears.

The tapestry is said to be over 3 meters wide and is one of four others made around the same time, telling the story of political intrigue within a wealthy family.

This intricately carved candlestick is decorated with humans and beasts, and was modeled in wax with many other properties used to achieve the mold. It’s been interpreted to represent good vs evil and was likely crafted by a layman who was commissioned by a church.

An inscription on the outside of the drip pan says, “+ lvcis.on[us] virtvtis opvs doctrina refvlgens / predicat vt vicio non tenebretvr homo,” meaning “This flood of light, this work of virtue, bright with holy doctrine instructs us, so that Man shall not be benighted in vice.”

Just check out the amazing detail

When you see a reliquary, the interesting part is what lies inside. Which piece of a Saint is in there?

In the case of this ornate reliquary of Mary Magdalene, composed of three sections that were created hundreds of years apart, they say the relic contained within the rock crystal was her tooth.

Let’s let the Metropolitan Museum’s website describe this early 16th-century piece:

“Each bead of the rosary represents the bust of a well-fed burgher or maiden on one side, and a skeleton on the other. The terminals, even more graphically, show the head of a deceased man, with half the image eaten away from decay. Such images served as reminders that life is fleeting and that leading a virtuous life as a faithful Christian is key to salvation.”

It’s a stark, macabre warning.

This golden straw was used to sip the consecrated wine during mass.

It’s a rare type of relic. The representation of Saint Trudpert on the paten shows that this was made for the monastery near Freiburg im Breisgau, a monastery dedicated to the Saint.

The casket made by the Embriachi family in Venice in the 15th century depicts moments from the life of the Trojan prince, Paris (the Paris who abducted Helen of Troy which led to the Trojan War).

Caskets would hold a woman’s bridal jewels upon marriage.

This is the 3rd oldest surviving globe in the world and shows 48 constellations that were identified by Ptolemy in Alexandria. Silver dots represent 1025 stars, varying in size according the brightness of each.

What most people don’t know is that when the Christians took over the Roman Empire, they burned many ancient scientific treatises that the Muslims saved copies of. These artifacts, along with the Islamic interest in science, mean that much of the scientific knowledge we have from the past passed through the Muslim world at some point.

The wheel of dharma is a symbol used in Hinduism, Jainism, and especially Buddhism. Wheel symbols have appeared in many of India’s ancient artifacts.

This is apparently a Buddhist wheel of law, denoting the Buddha’s first sermon and is from the 7th century.

Olav was king of Norway in the early 1000s. He’s given credit for spreading Christianity throughout Norway, but since most of the Christianization of Norway seems to have happened after his death, historians are disputing that claim.

The amazing work of art is carved out of walrus tusk.

The bust is an idealized representation created 500 years after Charlemagne’s death.

It’s a reliquary, so can you guess which part of him it contains?

The bust of Charlemagne is a masterpiece of late Gothic metalwork and is said to contain the top of his skull.

500 years ago, this stretch of the Thames was a neighborhood of wharves and warehouses, workshops and taverns. This man could have been a sailor or a fisherman judging by his build.

“We know he was very powerfully built,” says Niamh Carty, an osteologist, or skeletal specialist, at MOLA. “The muscle attachments on his chest and shoulders are very noticeable. The muscles were built by doing a lot of heavy, repetitive work over a long period of time.”

The helmet was found during a 1939 excavation of the Sutton Hoo ship-burial. Its elaborate design means the helmet may have doubled as a crown for King Rædwald of East Anglia.

But what it also shows us is the kind of war gear Anglo-Saxon warriors would have donned in the 7th century.

The Battle of Visby in 1361 saw the Danish king Valdemar IV reign victorious over Gotland. He threatened the townspeople with fire if they didn’t fill his big beer vats with riches.

Excavations in 1905 revealed that a third of the Gotlandic army were buried in their armor, like this chainmail headpiece.

Clearly, the Danish troops didn’t bother stripping the victims since there were around 2,000 dead.