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
Definition
Hundred Years' War
The Hundred Years' War (1337-1453) was an intermittent conflict between England and France lasting 116 years. It began principally because King Edward III (r. 1327-1377) and Philip VI...
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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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...
Image
Map of the Hallstatt Culture - Early Iron Age Europe - Salt, Iron, Trade and the Rise of Regional Elites
The Hallstatt culture flourished across Central Europe during the Early Iron Age (c. 800-450 BCE), emerging from earlier...
For You
Definition
War of the Fourth Coalition
The War of the Fourth Coalition (October 1806 to June 1807) was a major conflict during the Napoleonic Wars (1803-1815). The Fourth Coalition consisted of Russia, Prussia, Saxony...
Definition
Kapilavastu
Kapilavastu (“Place of Kapila”) is the name of the city where Siddhartha Gautama (the Buddha, l. c. 563-483 BCE) grew up and lived for the first 29 years of his life before leaving to pursue...
Collection
Battles of the Roman Republic
In this collection we look at some of the most significant battles that shaped the history of the Roman Republic. There were defeats such as at Allia River to the Celts in 390...
Article
Siege of Khartoum - Last Stand of General Gordon
The siege of Khartoum from March 1884 to January 1885 was the most dramatic episode of the Mahdist War (1881-99) in Sudan when an army led by the inspirational Muslim...
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
30-Second Ancient Greece
The 30-Second Guide to Ancient Greece serves well as an introduction to one of the worlds most fascinating ancient cultures as well as a travel guide for those seeking a trip of a...
Book Review
Inventing the Way of the Samurai: Nationalism, Internationalism, and Bushidō in Modern Japan (The Past & Present Book Series)
Japan is known for many different things, but one popular image associated with the country is that...
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| 1,764 | articles |
| 19,853 | illustrations |
| 2,643 | videos |
| 415 | 3D images |
| 16,349 | translations |
| 48 | languages |
| 1,342 | contributors |
| 15,615 | keywords |
| 61,675 | registered users |
Ancient Period
Definition
Apis
Apis was the most important and highly regarded bull deity of ancient Egypt. His original name in Egyptian was Api, Hapi, or Hep; Apis is the Greek name. He is not, however, associated with the god...
Definition
Siddhartha Gautama
Siddhartha Gautama (better known as the Buddha, l. c. 563 - c. 483 BCE) was, according to legend, a Hindu prince who renounced his position and wealth to seek enlightenment as a spiritual...
Article
Kingdom of Magadha: Wars and Warfare
In ancient India from the 6th century BCE onwards, the kingdom of Magadha (6th century BCE to 4th century BCE) made a mark for itself. Located in the eastern part of India...
Definition
Suppliants by Euripides
The Suppliants (also given as Suppliant Women) is a Greek tragedy written by Euripides, not to be confused with Aeschylus' tragedy of the same title. Its exact date of production is...
Article
Mesopotamian City Laments - Suffering And The Will Of The Gods
The question "Why do bad things happen to good people?" has been asked for millennia, probably since before writing was invented, but at least since circa...
Interview
Interview with Michael Levy
Join World History Encyclopedia as they talk to Michael Levy, a prolific composer of the ancient lyre all about his inspiration and knowledge of the instrument. If you want to hear...
Definition
Leo I
Leo I was emperor of the Byzantine Empire from 457 to 474 CE. He was also known as “Leo the Butcher” (Makelles) for the assassination of his patron and rival Aspar. Although his reign was lacklustre...
Definition
Crucifixion
Crucifixion as a punishment was practiced by several ancient cultures, but most notably adopted by the Roman Republic and later Roman Empire. Crucifixion was a method of hanging or suspending...
Medieval Period
Article
The Contest between Odin & Thor
The poem called The Lay of Greybeard (Old Norse: Hárbarðsljóð) is one story from Norse mythology that relates an intriguing verbal fight between two of its essential gods, Thor...
Article
Korean Celadon Pottery
The celadon (or greenware) ceramics produced in ancient Korea during the Goryeo Dynasty (918-1392 CE), are regarded as some of the finest and most elegant pottery pieces produced anywhere...
Article
Medieval Cures for the Black Death
The Black Death is the 19th-century CE term for the plague epidemic that ravaged Europe between 1347-1352 CE, killing an estimated 30 million people there and many more worldwide...
Definition
Krak Des Chevaliers
Krak des Chevaliers (also spelt Cracs des Chevaliers, and known in Arabic as Hisn al-Akrad) is a castle in Syria originally built for the Emir of Aleppo in 1031 CE but acquired and extensively...
Definition
Theophilos
Theophilos was emperor of the Byzantine Empire from 829 to 842 CE. He was the second ruler of the Amorion dynasty founded by his father Michael II. Popular during his reign and responsible for...
Article
Trade in Medieval Europe
Trade and commerce in the medieval world developed to such an extent that even relatively small communities had access to weekly markets and, perhaps a day's travel away, larger but...
Collection
Ancient China: Geography, Economy & Trade
Ancient China was often connected to the rest of the world through trade, not only along the famous Silk Road but also via merchant ships that sailed the Indian Ocean...
Definition
Razia Sultan - The First Female Muslim Ruler of India
Sultan Razia (Raziyyat-Ud-Dunya Wa Ud-Din, r. 1236-1240) was one of the few women rulers in the Indian subcontinent and the first and only female Sultan of Delhi...
Early Modern Period
Article
Reformation & Repression under Bishop Briçonnet of Meaux
As the Protestant Reformation emerged in France in the early 16th century, the city of Meaux became one of the first centers of controversy. Bishop Guillaume...
Article
Parisian Salons & the Enlightenment
The salon was a notably French cultural event, a private social gathering where a mixture of guests openly discussed art, literature, philosophy, music, and politics. Salons...
Article
Müntzer's Vindication and Refutation
The Vindication and Refutation of Thomas Müntzer (l. c. 1489-1525) is a 1524 open letter to Jesus Christ, Martin Luther (l. 1483-1546), and the Christian community charging...
Definition
Ben Jonson - The Second Greatest Playwright of Jacobean Theatre
Ben Jonson (1572-1637) was an English poet, playwright, and literary critic, whose influence on English Renaissance literature during the Jacobean Era...
Article
The Printing Revolution in Renaissance Europe
The arrival in Europe of the printing press with moveable metal type in the 1450s CE was an event which had enormous and long-lasting consequences. The German printer...
Definition
Conway Cabal
The Conway Cabal was a movement undertaken by American military officers and political leaders to remove General George Washington from command of the Continental Army during the winter of...
Definition
Nicolaus Copernicus
Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543 CE) was a Polish astronomer who famously proposed that the Earth and other planets revolved around the Sun in a heliocentric system and not, as then widely...
Image Gallery
5 Maps on the Origins of the United States
In this gallery of five maps, we examine the creation and expansion of the United States from the colonization of North America by European powers to the routes of the...
Modern Period
Definition
Portuguese Macao
Macao (Macau) is located on a peninsula in the estuary of the Pearl River delta in southeast China and it was a Portuguese colonial settlement from c. 1557 until 1999. Macao was a major...
Definition
Dred Scott Decision - Worst Supreme Court Ruling in US History
The Dred Scott Decision (Dred Scott v. Sandford, 60 U.S. (19 How.) 393 (1857) was the infamous ruling of the United States Supreme Court that, according...
Article
Battle of Nashville - The Bitter End of the Army of Tennessee
The Battle of Nashville (15-16 December 1864) was the last major battle in the western theater of the American Civil War (1861-1865). After suffering...
Definition
Juan Seguín - Betrayed Hero of the Texas Revolution
Juan Nepomuceno Seguín (1806-1890) was a Tejano soldier in the Texas Revolution, commissioned as a captain of cavalry by Stephen F. Austin, later a colonel under...
Article
The Woodpecker's Mother-in-Law
The Woodpecker's Mother-in-Law is a Cheyenne tale which, like any other, is open to various interpretations but, among them, highlights the strength and autonomy of Cheyenne...
Article
How the Pacific War Changed Global Warfare
The Pacific War (1941-45) contributed many lasting innovations and developments to global warfare. This theatre of the Second World War witnessed the end of battleships...
Definition
Jameson Raid - The Failed British Coup in Transvaal
The Jameson Raid was an unofficial and failed attempt by the British to take over the Boer Republic of Transvaal in Southern Africa in December 1895. Masterminded...
Article
Notes on the State of Virginia
Notes on the State of Virginia (1785) is the only full-length work by Thomas Jefferson (l. 1743-1826) published in his lifetime and was written in response to questions from...
Prehistoric Period
Definition
Homo Sapiens
Homo sapiens ('wise man'), or modern humans, are the only species of human still around today. Despite having invented countless ways of labelling the world around us, we have so far done a...
Article
The Megalithic Temples of Malta
The megalithic temples of Malta and Gozo rank amongst the oldest free-standing buildings in the world. Construction of these temples started c. 3500 BCE, an impressive architectural...
Definition
First Agricultural Revolution
The First Agricultural Revolution, beginning c. 12-20,000 years ago, was characterized by the emergence of different agricultural systems in different parts of the world, whose...
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
Banpo Village
Banpo Village is a Neolithic site in the Yellow River Valley, east of Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, in the People's Republic of China. The site was occupied from c. 4500-3750 BCE and covers almost...
Article
The Meaning of European Upper Paleolithic Rock Art
Rock art (also known as parietal art) is an umbrella term which refers to several types of creations including finger markings left on soft surfaces, bas-relief...
Definition
Poulnabrone
Poulnabrone is a portal tomb in the region known as the Burren, County Clare, Ireland and the oldest dated megalithic monument in the land. The name means "Hole of the Quern Stones", but the...
Definition
Lindow Man
The Lindow Man (officially Lindow III) is the top half of a male body, found preserved in a peat bog in Cheshire, England. The peat bogs at Lindow Moss date back to the last ice age and were...
