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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 (r. 1328-1350) escalated a dispute over feudal rights in Gascony to a battle for the French Crown. The French eventually won and gained control of all of France...
Featured
Definition
William Still - Father of the Underground Railroad
William Still (1819-1902) was an African American abolitionist known as the "Father of the Underground Railroad" for his efforts in helping to free between 600...
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...
Featured
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Mongol Warriors in Deel Robes
An illustration of Mongol warriors carrying out an execution. They are wearing the traditional Mongol deel robe. 14th century CE. (From Rashid-ad-Din's Gami' at-tawarih)
Latest Content
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...
Article
The Eternal Life of Gilgamesh - Literary Immortality
The Epic of Gilgamesh is among the most popular works of literature in the present day and has influenced countless readers, but for the greater part of its history...
Article
The Ideal of Christendom in the Middle Ages & Beyond
The ideal of Christendom in antiquity joined separate nations into one single community carrying out the precepts of the God of Israel. Constantine's conversion...
Definition
Gilgamesh - The Historical and Mythical King
Gilgamesh is the semi-mythic King of Uruk, best known as the hero of The Epic of Gilgamesh (circa 2100 to circa 1200 BCE), the great Babylonian poem that predates Homer's...
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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...
Image
6 Machines That Shaped World War II - Tanks, Fighters, and the Industrial Power of Total War
The Second World War (1939–1945) pushed industrialized warfare to an unprecedented scale. Military effectiveness depended not...
Image
Map of the Louisiana Purchase, North America in 1804 - U.S. Expansion, Rival Claims & Indigenous Nations
The Louisiana Purchase (1803) was the United States' acquisition of France's territorial claim to approximately 828,000...
For You
Definition
Transatlantic Slave Trade - The Shame of Nations
The transatlantic slave trade (also given as the Atlantic slave trade, circa 1492 to 1860) was the practice of enslaving the citizens of African states and transporting...
Definition
Eustathios Rhomaios - Judge and Jurist of the Byzantine Empire
Eustathios Rhomaios was a prominent Byzantine judge and jurist during the late-10th and early- to mid-11th century. He studied Roman Law and began his...
Definition
Empire
An empire is a political construct in which one state dominates over another state, or a series of states. At its heart, an empire is ruled by an emperor, even though many states in history without...
Definition
Literature - The Artistic Expression of the Human Experience
Literature (from the Latin Littera meaning "letters" and referring to an acquaintance with the written word) is the written work of a specific culture...
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
The Pharaoh’s Treasure: The Origin of Paper and the Rise of Western Civilization
Having completed his Ph.D. in Botany at the University of California at Berkeley, John Gaudet primarily worked as an ecologist throughout...
Book Review
Yoga: The Art of Transformation
Yoga: The Art of Transformation, edited by Dr. Debra Diamond, Associate Curator of South and Southeast Asia art at the Smithsonian's Freer Sackler Gallery, is exhibition catalogue...
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| 1,764 | articles |
| 19,847 | illustrations |
| 2,642 | videos |
| 415 | 3D images |
| 16,318 | translations |
| 48 | languages |
| 1,340 | contributors |
| 15,576 | keywords |
| 61,343 | registered users |
Ancient Period
Article
The Mayan Pantheon: The Many Gods of the Maya
The pantheon of the Maya is a vast collection of deities worshipped throughout the regions of Yucatan, Quintana Roo, Campeche, Tabasco, and Chiapas in Mexico and...
Definition
Sidon
Sidon is the Greek name (meaning 'fishery') for the ancient Phoenician port city of Sidonia (also known as Saida) in what is, today, Lebannon (located about 25 miles south of Beirut). Along with...
Interview
Rubin Museum's Faith and Empire: Tibetan Buddhist Art
Faith and Empire: Art and Politics in Tibetan Buddhism, a new exhibition at the Rubin Museum of Art in New York, explores the dynamic historical intersection...
Definition
Legio XXI Rapax
Legio XXI Rapax was a legion of the Roman army whose name name "Rapax" means "rapacious" or "greedy". It is not clear when the legion assumed this name; it may or may not be the same 21st...
Definition
Pax Romana
The Pax Romana (Roman Peace) was a period of relative peace and stability across the Roman Empire which lasted for over 200 years, beginning with the reign of Augustus (27 BCE - 14 CE). The...
Image Gallery
Gallery of 25 Masks From the Ancient World
The love of masks is one of the striking similarities across global cultures. In this gallery of images, we showcase 25 masks from world history. Very often made with...
Article
Trade in Ancient Egypt
Trade has always been a vital aspect of any civilization whether at the local or international level. However many goods one has, whether as an individual, a community, or a country...
Definition
Queen Himiko
Queen Himiko, also known as Pimiko or Pimiku (183? - 248 CE), was a 3rd-century CE ruler of the territory in ancient Japan known as Hsieh-ma-t'ai or Yamatai, later to be known as Yamato. Considered...
Medieval Period
Definition
Edinburgh Castle
Edinburgh Castle, towering atop Castle Rock, has served Scotland for centuries, at one time or another acting as a fortress, royal residence, seat of government, armoury, and prison. The...
Definition
Christine de Pizan
Christine de Pizan (also given as Christine de Pisan, l. 1364 - c. 1430) was the first female professional writer of the Middle Ages and the first woman of letters in France. Her best-known...
Definition
Nasta 'liq
Nasta 'liq is one of the styles of Islamic calligraphy that was developed on Persian grounds by Persian calligraphers. The art of calligraphy has always held a prominent position in Persia...
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...
Definition
Despotate of the Morea
The Despotate of the Morea was a semi-autonomous appanage of the later Byzantine Empire. The Byzantines retook part of the Peloponnese in Southern Greece in 1262 CE, but the Morea was...
Article
The Ideology of the Holy Roman Empire
"The Holy Roman Empire was in no way holy, nor Roman, nor an empire," wrote Voltaire, and this interpretation still dominates the popular imagination, so the Holy Roman...
Definition
Templo Mayor - The Aztecs' Greatest Temple
The Templo Mayor or Great Temple (called Hueteocalli by the Aztecs) dominated the central sacred precinct of the Aztec capital Tenochtitlan. Topped by twin temples dedicated...
Definition
Anjar
The city of Anjar stands as the single Umayyad site in Lebanon, located near the Litani River and 58 km from the capital of Beirut. Anjar was founded during the Umayyad period under Caliph Walid...
Early Modern Period
Definition
Château de Chenonceau
The Château de Chenonceau, picturesquely located astride the river Cher, in the Loire Valley town of Chenonceaux, France is a magnificent Renaissance-style building also known as le...
Article
Arsenale - The Shipyard and Arsenal of Venice
The immense commercial trade, wealth, and sea power of the Republic of Venice was rooted in the ships built in the industrial site known as the Arsenale, or arsenal...
Collection
Men of the Protestant Reformation
The men who initiated and advanced the vision of the Protestant Reformation (1517-1648) did not set out, at first, to challenge the authority of the Catholic Church but only...
Article
Battle of Hondschoote
The Battle of Hondschoote, fought on 6-8 September 1793, was a major turning point in the Flanders Campaign of 1792-1795 during the French Revolutionary Wars (1792-1802). An army of...
Definition
Salem Witch Trials
The Salem Witch Trials were a series of legal proceedings in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692-1693 resulting in the deaths of 20 innocent people accused of witchcraft and the vilification...
Definition
Reign of Terror
The Reign of Terror, or simply the Terror (la Terreur), was a climactic period of state-sanctioned violence during the French Revolution (1789-99), which saw the public executions and mass...
Definition
Titus Andronicus - Shakespeare's Bloodiest Play
Titus Andronicus is the earliest tragedy by William Shakespeare (l. c.1564-1616), probably written sometime between 1589 and 1593, and first performed in 1594. Infamous...
Article
The Six Wives of Henry VIII
In his search to secure the continuation of the Tudor line, Henry VIII of England (r. 1509-1547 CE) married an incredible six times. Some marriages were the result of passion while...
Modern Period
Article
The Search for the Source of the Nile - Solving Geography's Last Great Riddle
The search for the source of the Nile River was one of the last great geographical mysteries of 19th-century European exploration. Men like...
Image Gallery
Mary Cassatt: A Gallery of 30 Paintings
In this gallery, we showcase 30 works by Mary Cassatt (1844-1926), the American impressionist painter. The selection here is presented in chronological sequence to show...
Definition
Penny Black - The World's First Postage Stamp
People have been sending letters to each other ever since paper and pen were invented, but it was not until 1840 that a new idea was introduced where people could...
Article
Cousteau's Calypso - The World's Most Famous Research Ship
Slicing through tropical reefs or patrolling Arctic waters, the Calypso gained worldwide fame as the research ship of the French underwater explorer Jacques-Yves...
Article
The Snake Brother
The Snake Brother is a legend of the Pawnee nation, which corresponds to the "King of the Waters" – or Snake Man – myth told by many other Native peoples of North America. Although many...
Article
Harpe Brothers - America's First Serial Killers
Colonial American history has many 'firsts' – Harvard University, the first institution of higher learning (1636), Bacon's Rebellion (1676), the first large-scale...
Article
Letters of William B. Travis from the Alamo - Appeals for Help That Never Came
The letters of William Barret Travis from the Alamo between 23 February and 3 March 1836 provide a first-hand account of the famous siege...
Definition
Amistad Seizure - The Court Case that Captivated the World
The Amistad Seizure (also known as the Amistad Incident, the Amistad Rebellion, the Amistad Mutiny, and Amistad Revolt) was a conflict aboard the Spanish...
Prehistoric Period
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
Ҫatalhöyük
Ҫatalhöyük is one of the largest Neolithic settlements ever discovered. Built more than 9000 years ago in modern Konya Plain, central Turkey, it is known in archaeology as a proto-city, a link...
Definition
Lascaux Cave
Lascaux Cave is a Palaeolithic cave situated in southwestern France, near the village of Montignac in the Dordogne region, which houses some of the most famous examples of prehistoric cave...
Article
Stone Age Tools
As the Stone Age covers around 99% of our human technological history, it would seem there is a lot to talk about when looking at the development of tools in this period. Despite our reliance...
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 Historical Maps
This gallery of 30 maps traces the history of cartography, with examples of maps made by cultures from the Paleolithic to the early modern period. The maps cover cities, states...
Article
Prehistoric Hunter-Gatherer Societies
Hunter-gatherer societies are – true to their astoundingly descriptive name – cultures in which human beings obtain their food by hunting, fishing, scavenging, and gathering...
Article
Origins of World Agriculture
Agriculture arose independently at several locations across the world, beginning about 12,000 years ago. The first crops and livestock were domesticated in six rather diffuse areas...
