Latest Content
Featured Article

Article
The Ball Game of Mesoamerica
The sport known simply as the Ball Game was played by all the major Mesoamerican civilizations and the impressive stone courts became a feature of many...
Featured Image

Image
Christian Pilgrimage in the Middle Ages, c. 1000
A map illustrating the changing patterns of Christian pilgrimage during the Middle Ages - for the average European, a pilgrimage to Jerusalem was out...
Free for the World, Supported by You
World History Encyclopedia is a non-profit organization. For only $5 per month you can become a member and support our mission to engage people with cultural heritage and to improve history education worldwide.
Become a Member Donate
Definition
Vasco Núñez de Balboa
Vasco Núñez de Balboa (1475-1519) was a Spanish conquistador who famously discovered the Pacific Ocean after crossing the isthmus of Panama in 1513...

Article
The Origins of Christian Teachings on Human Sexuality
The Bible is often quoted in the modern discourse concerning human sexuality, gender identification, same-sex marriages, birth control, and especially...

Image Gallery
A Panorama of Central Greece
The uniqueness of modern central Greece's landscape derives from the atmospheric blend of ancient archaeological sites and the Mediterranean flora...

Definition
Shajara al-Durr
Shajara al-Durr (r. 1250) was the founder of the Mamluk Dynasty in Egypt, and she was the first and only woman to sit on the Islamic Egyptian throne...

Article
Continuity and Change after the Fall of the Roman Empire
The cataclysmic end of the Roman Empire in the West has tended to mask the underlying features of continuity. The map of Europe in the year 500 would...

Article
The Portuguese Conquest of India
Throughout the 15th century, the Portuguese Crown yearned for a piece of the Far Eastern spice trade. For centuries this trade had been dominated by...

Article
Family Planning in Greco-Roman Antiquity
Family planning was a topic of vital importance in the ancient Mediterranean. Some of the earliest medical literature from ancient Greece and Rome deals...

Definition
Hernán Cortés
Hernán Cortés (1485-1547) was a Spanish conquistador who led the conquest of the Aztec Empire in Mexico from 1519. Taking the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan...

Article
Death of Admiral Coligny
The assassination attempt on Gaspard II de Coligny, Admiral of France (l. 1519-1572) on 22 August 1572 was the spark igniting the St. Bartholomew's...

Article
The Fall of Tenochtitlan
The fall of Tenochtitlan on 13 August 1521 was a decisive moment in the dramatic collapse of the Aztec empire which had dominated Mesoamerica. Led by...

Definition
Women's March on Versailles
The Women's March on Versailles, also known as the October March or the October Days, was a defining moment in the early months of the French Revolution...

Article
Margaret of Valois' Account of St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre
Margaret of Valois' eyewitness account of St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre is among the most famous and the only written record of the event left by a...