Featured
Article
Ten Halloween Facts and Traditions You Need to Know - A Celebration of Transformation
Halloween is the most popular holiday in the world, after Christmas (based on level-of-celebration and consumer spending) and, increasingly...
Featured
Definition
Ghosts in the Ancient World - The Return of the So-Called Dead
A belief in an afterlife was central to every major civilization of the ancient world and this encouraged the recognition of the reality of ghosts as...
Featured
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12 Largest Contiguous Land Empires Before 1880 - From the Mongol Empire to Rome, Qing China & Russia
Land empires were expansive states whose rulers exercised authority over large, substantially connected territories and...
Featured
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Map of the Rise of the Delhi Sultanate: Mamluk Dynasty - State Formation and Conquest in Medieval India, 1206–1290
The Delhi Sultanate's Mamluk (or Slave) period (1206–1290) marked the emergence of a powerful Muslim-ruled state...
Latest Content
Definition
Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor - The Great Matchmaker
Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor (1459-1519), belonged to the imperial House of Habsburg, and the imperial electors made him King of the Romans in 1486 during...
Definition
James Longstreet - Civil War Hero and Lost Cause Villain
James Longstreet (1821-1904) was a Confederate general in the American Civil War, serving chiefly under Robert E. Lee in the Eastern theater. He was regarded...
Collection
First 16 US Presidents - From Washington to Lincoln
Since the founding of the United States, the office of the presidency – and the men who have occupied it – have had a profound impact on the hearts, minds, and...
Definition
Seven Years' War - The 18th-Century World War
The Seven Years' War (1756-1763) was a global conflict fought between the great powers of Europe in the mid-18th century. The culmination of several decades of conflict...
Article
Top 10 Roman Sites in Bulgaria
Roman Bulgaria occupied an important position in the heart of the Balkans, between the Black Sea, the Aegean, and Asia Minor. In the north, the Danube River formed a heavily...
Definition
Millard Fillmore - The Forgotten US President
Millard Fillmore (1800-1874) was the thirteenth president of the United States. A member of the Whig Party, he was elected vice president in 1849 and assumed the presidency...
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Map of the Latin Empire - A Crusader State in Constantinople - The Fourth Crusade and the Fragmentation of Byzantium
The Latin Empire (Imperium Romaniae, 1204–1261) emerged after the Fourth Crusade (1202–1204) captured and...
Image
12 Largest Contiguous Land Empires Before 1880 - From the Mongol Empire to Rome, Qing China & Russia
Land empires were expansive states whose rulers exercised authority over large, substantially connected territories and...
Image
Map of the Sasanian Empire at Its Height, c. 620 - Khosrow II and the Byzantine–Sasanian War, 602–628
The Sasanian Empire (224–651), also known as Sassanian Persia, was the last pre-Islamic Persian empire and one of the...
For You
Definition
Edvard Grieg
Edvard Grieg (1843-1907) was a Norwegian composer known for his songs, piano music, and the Peer Gynt suites. The composer was famous in his own lifetime, touring extensively to play and conduct...
Article
The Wise Man of Chief Mountain
The Wise Man of Chief Mountain is an origin story of the Blackfeet nation explaining how they came to wear brightly colored clothing. Although Native American nations generally...
Article
The Coffin Texts
The Coffin Texts (c. 2134-2040 BCE) are 1,185 spells, incantations, and other forms of religious writing inscribed on coffins to help the deceased navigate the afterlife. They include the...
Interview
Interview: Circe by Madeline Miller
Award-winning writer Madeline Miller's newest novel, Circe, tells the story of a sorceress who was once the onetime lover of the wily Odysseus. The heart of the novel is...
Book Reviews
Book Review
The Army of Alexander the Great
The Army of Alexander the Great (2025) is a highly detailed and insightful examination of one of the most influential military forces in history. Rather than presenting Alexander...
Book Review
Alexander to Constantine: Archaeology of the Land of the Bible, Volume III
Eric M. Meyers, biblical scholar and archaeologist at Duke University, and Mark A. Chancey, Professor of Religious Studies at Southern Methodist...
Book Review
Red Dead's History: A Video Game, an Obsession, and America's Violent Past
Many university students today have complained about the dryness and boringness of their history courses. Tore Olsson, Associate Professor...
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| 2,643 | videos |
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Ancient Period
Article
Traveling Classroom History Exhibit
The best way to learn ancient history is not by memorizing dates and facts but, rather, through critical thinking and analysis. When studying ancient history, the key is...
Article
Gilgamesh, Enkidu, and the Netherworld
Gilgamesh, Enkidu, and the Netherworld is a Sumerian poem pre-dating The Epic of Gilgamesh and featuring its central characters. It is sometimes included in modern-day...
Article
The Battle of Colmar (58 BCE): Caesar against Ariovistus
The Battle of Colmar (58 BCE): one of the first battles of the Gallic War, in which Caesar defeated an army led by the Germanic leader Ariovistus. In 58...
Definition
Amun
Amun (also Amon, Ammon, Amen, Amun-Ra) is the ancient Egyptian god of the sun and air. He is one of the most important gods of ancient Egypt who rose to prominence at Thebes at the beginning of the...
Definition
Childeric I
Childeric I (r. c. 458-481) was a late antiquity king of the Salian Franks during the period of the fall of the Western Roman Empire. Childeric's reign solidified the Salians as a dominant Frankish...
Definition
Aytap
Aytap is the modern name for the ancient city of Iotapa (sometimes given as Iotape and Iotape Philadelphos) in Cilicia. The city's ruins are located in southern Turkey near modern day Alanya (ancient...
Image Gallery
Faces of Roman Emperors: Nerva to the Severan Dynasty
A series of facial reconstructions of Roman emperors from the Nerva-Antonine Dynasty (96 CE-192 CE), the Year of the Five Emperors (193 CE) and the Severan...
Article
Celtic Brooches - The Jewellery of the Ancient Celts
Ancient and medieval Celtic cultures produced many forms of jewellery, and one distinctive category is their brooches, fibulae, and pins. Without zips and buttons...
Medieval Period
Collection
10 Great Renaissance Artists
The Renaissance of 15th- and 16th-century CE Europe witnessed an extraordinary blossoming of artistic talent. In this collection of resources, we look at ten of the greatest artists...
Collection
Daily Life in a Medieval Monastery
Monasteries and other religious institutions such as priories and nunneries were a quintessential part of the medieval landscape and an important component of a community's...
Definition
Saint Sophia Cathedral, Kyiv
Saint Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv, Ukraine is a monument of 11th-century architecture, painting, and mosaic work. The cathedral was named after Hagia Sophia and, as the main temple...
Definition
Song Dynasty
The Song (aka Sung) dynasty ruled China from 960 to 1279 CE with the reign split into two periods: the Northern Song (960-1125 CE) and Southern Song (1125-1279 CE). The Northern Song ruled...
Definition
Bardr mac Imair
Bardr mac Imair (c. 873-881 CE, also known as Barid mac Imair, Barith, Baraid) was a Viking king of Dublin, son of the Viking king Imair (Imar, Ivan) who founded the Ui Imair Dynasty in...
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. She held the title of sultana for only...
Article
Battle of Tricamarum
The Battle of Tricamarum (533 CE) was the second and last major battle of the Vandalic War (533 – 534 CE). The battle was fought between the forces of the Byzantine Empire under the...
Article
12 Best Historical Fiction Books to Read
The AHE team live and breathe history, but we all have our favourite historical periods and authors. We thought it would be fun for each of us to nominate one or two...
Early Modern Period
Definition
Michel Foucault
Michel Foucault (1926-1984) was a post-modernist French philosopher and is considered one of the most influential philosophers of modern times. Aside from his critiques of social institutions...
Definition
Desiderius Erasmus
Desiderius Erasmus (c. 1466/69 - 1536) was a Dutch humanist scholar considered one of the greatest thinkers of the Renaissance. A prolific writer who made full use of the printing press...
Article
The Dutch Discovery of Australia
17th-century Dutch East India Company (Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie or VOC) navigators were the first Europeans to set foot on Australian soil. Although there is a strong...
Definition
Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette
Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de La Fayette (l. 1757-1834), more commonly known in the United States as simply Lafayette, was a French aristocrat...
Definition
Henricus Colony of Virginia
Henricus (1611-1622, also known as Henrico, Henryco, Citie of Henryco) was a colony established in Virginia in 1611 by Sir Thomas Dale (l. c. 1560-1619). Dale had been ordered by...
Definition
Pedro de Alvarado
Pedro de Alvarado (c. 1485-1541) was a Spanish conquistador who became the first governor of Guatemala in 1527. Living an extraordinary life of adventure, Alvarado participated in separate...
Article
The Elizabethan Religious Settlement
The Elizabethan Religious Settlement was a collection of laws and decisions concerning religious practices introduced between 1558-63 CE by Elizabeth I of England (r. 1558-1603...
Definition
Assignat
The assignat was a paper bill issued by France between 1789 and 1796, during the French Revolution (1789-1799). First issued in the form of bonds, the assignat was meant to stimulate France's...
Modern Period
Definition
War of 1812
The War of 1812 (1812-1815), referred to by some contemporaries as the Second American Revolution, was fought between the United States and the United Kingdom. Often remembered only as a sideshow...
Definition
Portuguese Angola
Portuguese Angola in southwest Africa was the first European colony on that continent. While settlement from 1571 proved problematic in the interior, the Portuguese did obtain a large number...
Article
Coal Mining in the British Industrial Revolution
Coal mining boomed during the British Industrial Revolution as it provided fuel for steam engines of all kinds in factories, transport, and agriculture. Draining...
Definition
James 'Jim' Bowie - Accidental Hero of the Alamo
James 'Jim' Bowie (1796-1836) was a frontiersman, land speculator, slave trader, and militia officer who became a legendary figure following the Sandbar Fight in...
Definition
Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles, signed in June 1919, was an agreement between the victors of the First World War (1914-18) which redivided parts of Europe and imposed reparations, armament...
Definition
Anton Bruckner
Anton Bruckner (1824-1896) was an Austrian composer, most famous for his nine grand symphonies and his church music. Never quite gaining full recognition for his work until he was in his...
Definition
Sepoy Mutiny
The 1857-8 Sepoy Mutiny (aka Sepoy Rebellion, Indian Mutiny, The Uprising or First Indian War of Independence) was a failed rebellion against the rule of the British East India Company (EIC...
Article
Colonial Government in the Spanish Empire
The apparatus of colonial government in the Spanish Empire consisted of multiple levels, starting with the monarchy and Council of the Indies at the top and moving down...
Prehistoric Period
Definition
Pre-Colonial North America
Pre-Colonial North America (also known as Pre-Columbian, Prehistoric, and Precontact) is the period between the migration of the Paleo-Indians to the region between 40,000-14,000...
Definition
Denisovan
The Denisovans are an extinct group of fossil humans who, along with their sister group the Neanderthals, also share an ancestor with Homo sapiens. Thus far, they are known only from Denisova...
Definition
Chauvet Cave
The Chauvet Cave (also known as the Chauvet-Pont-d'Arc Cave) is a Palaeolithic cave situated near Vallon-Pont-d'Arc in the Ardèche region of southern France that houses impeccably preserved...
Article
Early Human Migration
Disregarding the extremely inhospitable spots even the most stubborn of us have enough common sense to avoid, humans have managed to cover an extraordinary amount of territory on this...
Definition
Skara Brae
Skara Brae is a Neolithic Age site, consisting of ten stone structures, near the Bay of Skaill, Orkney, Scotland. Today the village is situated by the shore but when it was inhabited (c.3100-2500...
Image Gallery
A Gallery of the Indus Valley Civilization
The Indus Valley Civilization (c. 7000-c. 600 BCE) is among the oldest in the world but, as it was only “discovered” in 1829 – after ancient Egyptian and Mesopotamian...
Definition
Newgrange
Newgrange is a Neolithic monument located in the region of Bru na Boinne, County Meath, Ireland. The name is fairly modern and comes from the 'newer' grange (farm) of the monks of Mellifont Abbey...
Definition
Locmariaquer
Locmariaquer is a Stone Age site in north-west France distinguished by its two large stone tombs and massive granite standing stone or menhir. The monumental structures, all built within metres...
