Peasants: Did you mean...?

Ancient Persian culture flourished between the reign of Cyrus II (The Great, r. c. 550-530 BCE), founder of the Achaemenid Persian Empire, and the fall of the Sassanian Empire in 651 CE. Even so, the foundations of Persian culture were already...

Richard II of England reigned as king from 1377 to 1399 CE. The son of the late Edward the Black Prince (1330-1376 CE), Richard would succeed his grandfather Edward III of England (r. 1327-1377 CE), but as he was only 10 years of age, he...

Andreas Karlstadt (also given as Carlstadt, l. 1486-1541) was a reformer, theologian, and early supporter of Martin Luther (l. 1483-1546) in the movement that became known as the Protestant Reformation. Karlstadt was one of Luther's most...

Bloody Sunday on 22 January 1905 was the massacre of peaceful and unarmed protestors by soldiers outside the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg, Russia. The crowd of workers and their families were led by Father Georgy Gapon (1870-1906), who...

The Protestant Reformation (1517-1648) was one of the most significant cultural, political, and religious events in the history of Europe and helped shape the modern world. It was a complex event spanning over 100 years, which radically changed...

The Black Death was a plague pandemic that devastated medieval Europe from 1347 to 1352. The Black Death killed an estimated 25-30 million people. The disease originated in central Asia and was taken to the Crimea by Mongol warriors and traders...

The Norman conquest of England, led by William the Conqueror (r. 1066-1087 CE) was achieved over a five-year period from 1066 CE to 1071 CE. Hard-fought battles, castle building, land redistribution, and scorched earth tactics ensured that...

Catherine II of Russia (Catherine the Great) was the empress regent of Russia from 1762 to 1796. During the mid-18th century, Russia was still regarded as culturally behind compared to Western European countries. However, during her reign...

Ancient China produced what has become the oldest extant culture in the world. The name 'China' comes from the Sanskrit Cina (derived from the name of the Chinese Qin Dynasty, pronounced 'Chin') which was translated as 'Cin' by the Persians...

Martin Luther (l. 1483-1546) was a German priest, monk, and theologian who became the central figure of the religious and cultural movement known as the Protestant Reformation. Even though earlier reformers had expressed Luther's views, his...