Enrico dandolo: Did you mean...?

A portrait by Tintoretto of Enrico Dandolo, Doge of the Republic of Venice (r. 1192-1205 CE) and prime instigator of the sack of Constantinople in 1204 CE during the Fourth Crusade.

A photograph of the Italian scientist Enrico Fermi who contributed to the Manhattan Project and the development of an atomic bomb during the Second World War (1939-45). Los Alamos National Laboratory

The Fourth Crusade (1202-1204 CE) was called by Pope Innocent III (r. 1198-1216 CE) to retake Jerusalem from its current Muslim overlords. However, in a bizarre combination of cock-ups, financial constraints, and Venetian trading...

Giotto di Bondone (b. 1267 or 1277 - d. 1337 CE), usually referred to as simply Giotto, was an Italian painter and architect whose work was hugely influential in the history of Western art. Giotto is most famous today for the cycle of...

In 1204 CE the unthinkable happened and Constantinople, after nine centuries of withstanding all comers, was brutally sacked. Even more startling was the fact that the perpetrators were not any of the traditional...

The Manhattan Project was the code name for the secret US-led programme to develop an atomic bomb during the Second World War (1939-45). Hugely expensive and employing the best scientific minds from Europe...

Dante Alighieri (1265-1321) was an Italian poet and politician most famous for his Divine Comedy (c. 1319) where he descends through Hell, climbs Purgatory, and arrives at the illumination of Paradise. Dante meets many historical...

Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924) was an Italian composer best known for his operas La Bohème, Tosca, Madama Butterfly, and Turandot. Puccini drew inspiration from a wide range of literary sources, and his late Romantic music with its...

In our new animated historical documentary, we will describe the Fourth Crusade and the Sack of Constantinople in 1204. Although the First Crusade was succeeded in taking Jerusalem and a number of Frankish...

During the Renaissance, most works of fine art were commissioned and paid for by rulers, religious and civic institutions, and the wealthy. Producing statues, frescoes, altarpieces, and portraits were just some...