Babington Plot: Did you mean...?

The Second Triumvirate was a political association of convenience between three of Rome's most powerful figures: Mark Antony, Lepidus, and Octavian in the 1st century BCE. Following the assassination of Julius Caesar the three vowed revenge...

The Glorious Revolution of November 1688 saw Protestant William of Orange (l. 1650-1702) invade England and take the throne of Catholic James II of England (r. 1685-1688). There were no battles, and William was invited by Parliament to become...

Catherine de' Medici (l. 1519-1589) was the queen of France, mother of three kings and two queens and, between 1559 and c. 1576, the most powerful woman in France and, possibly, all of Europe. She was the strength behind the French throne...

The Canterbury Tales (written c. 1388-1400 CE) is a medieval literary work by the poet Geoffrey Chaucer (l. c. 1343-1400 CE) comprised of 24 tales related to a number of literary genres and touching on subjects ranging from fate to God's...

The Gestapo was the secret political police organisation of Nazi Germany. Created in 1933, the Gestapo became one of the most feared instruments of state terror, its members having few or no legal restrictions to their actions. The Gestapo...

Hippolyta, or Hippolyte, was a queen of the Amazons in Greek mythology. A daughter of Ares, the Greek god of war, and Otrera, queen of the Amazons, she is a significant figure in the legends of Hercules and Theseus. In the present day, she...

Charles II of England (r. 1660-1685) was the king of Scotland (1649-1685) before the Restoration in 1660 also made him king of England and Ireland. Charles was a charming and easygoing monarch who took a keen interest in sports, science...

The Aeneid, written by the Roman poet Virgil (70-19 BCE), is a twelve-book-long epic poem that describes the early mythology of the founding of Rome. The eponymous hero Aeneas, a Trojan prince and son of Venus, faces trials and tribulations...

Excalibur is the sword of King Arthur in Sir Thomas Malory's iconic work Le Morte D'Arthur published in in 1485 CE. The sword was originally introduced in Geoffrey of Monmouth's History of the Kings of Britain (1136 CE) as Caliburnus (or...

The 1588 Spanish Armada was a fleet of 132 ships assembled by King Philip II of Spain (r. 1556-1598) to invade England, his 'Enterprise of England'. The Royal Navy of Elizabeth I of England (r. 1558-1603) met the Armada in the English Channel...