Corvinus.nl is a website dedicated to history. Ancient history, medieval history, modern history, any kind of history. This website mainly focuses on the stories in history. It is not an academic website, what I practice here is usually described as popular history. That does not mean it is unreliable. I check my sources and have been to many of the places I write about. Although I have no degree in history – I actually have a degree and a PhD in law – history has fascinated me ever since I was able to read.
My name in the real world is Laurens Dragstra. “Messalla Corvinus” was the nickname I used on the internet many years ago. The name refers to Marcus Valerius Messalla Corvinus (64 BCE-8 CE), a Roman politician and contemporary of the emperor Augustus. Messalla was a patron of literature and an avid writer himself, but unfortunately all of his works have been lost. I hope mine are safe here. On this website, I am Messalla. Corvinus is the name of my site.
A Dutch flag in a post in English indicates that a version in Dutch is available as well. Conversely, a British flag in a Dutch post means you can click on the flag to read the post in English. Most posts should now be available in both languages.
A note on images
The images on this website mainly come from two different sources: my personal photo collection and the internet. If no source is given, an image is usually one of my own. You are free to reuse these images for any non-commercial purpose as long as you attribute the picture to my website, corvinus.nl. Let me know if you need any pictures in high resolution! I mostly use Wikimedia Commons for my other images. These are usually either in the Public Domain or can be used under a Creative Commons license.
Contact details
Email: messalla@corvinus.nl