Middle Ages
The Advance of the Mongols: 6 Campaigns That Built the World’s Largest Land Empire
At the end of the twelfth century the Mongols were a tribal people. They led a nomadic life centered on…
Holy Wars: 6 Key Turning Points in the Ottoman Wars Against Europe
Christians and Muslims have fought since the very century that Islam was founded. From the Arab conquests of the 7th and…
Historians Continue to Debate the Origins of This Famous Explorer
Christopher Columbus’s accomplishments are renowned throughout the world. For generations, the mnemonic “in 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue” has…
Shrouded in Mystery: 6 Myths About the Black Death Plague
The Black Death was one of the deadliest plagues the world has ever seen. It claimed the lives of anywhere…
The Bloody Throne: 5 Key Battles of the Hundred Years’ War
Despite the name, the Hundred Years’ War between England and France actually lasted 116 years (1337-1453). It was an intermittent…
Tenochtitlan: 8 Things You Didn’t Know About The Aztec Floating City that Rivaled Venice
“Even we who have seen these things with our own eyes, are yet so amazed as to be unable to…
A Pirate’s Life: 6 Swashbuckling Medieval Pirates
For about as long as there have been a means to sail the ocean there have been pirates. During the…
When William Conquered England: The Battle of Hastings in 1066
On October 14, 1066, a field some seven miles from the town of Hastings was the scene of arguably the…
King Charles II Died a Horrible, Unfortunate Death
Charles II, Count of Evreux, was King of Navarre from 1349. Almost as soon as he became King, he earned,…
How the Vikings Formed The World’s Oldest Existing Parliament
The Vikings are known as plunderers, murderers and generally perceived as violent thugs by those with only passing knowledge of…