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Donation of Constantine
The Donation of Constantine (Donatio Constantini or the Donatio) is a medieval forgery dated to the 8th century purporting to be an original 4th-century document in which the Roman emperor Constantine the Great (r. 306-337) granted supreme...
Definition
Dissolution of the Monasteries
The Dissolution of the Monasteries was a policy introduced in 1536 CE by Henry VIII of England (r. 1509-1547 CE) to close down and confiscate the lands and wealth of all monasteries in England and Wales. The plan was designed as a lucrative...
Definition
Despotate of Epirus
The Despotate of Epirus was one of the successor states of the Byzantine Empire when it disintegrated following the Fourth Crusade's capture of Constantinople in 1204 CE. It was originally the most successful of those successor states, coming...
Definition
Frederick II
Frederick II (l. 1194-1250 CE) was the king of Sicily (r. 1198-1250 CE), Germany (r. 1215-1250 CE), Jerusalem (r. 1225-1228 CE), and also reigned supreme as the Holy Roman Emperor (r. 1220-1250 CE). He was born in Jesi in 1194 CE but spent...
Definition
Thessaly and the Duchy of Neopatras
Thessaly was an independent state in medieval Greece from 1267 or 1268 to 1394 CE, first as the Greek-ruled Thessaly and later as the Catalan and Latin-ruled Duchy of Neopatras. Under its sebastokrators, Thessaly was a thorn in the side of...
Definition
Taifa
Taifas ("factions" or "camps") were small independent Muslim kingdoms and principalities that emerged after the fall of hegemonic Muslim caliphates in al-Andalus – the Muslim-controlled part of the Iberian peninsula – during the High Middle...
Definition
Pilgrimage of Grace
The Pilgrimage of Grace is the collective name for a series of rebellions in northern England, first in Lincolnshire and then in Yorkshire and elsewhere between October and December 1536 CE. Nobles, clergy, monks, and commoners united to...
Definition
Duchy of Athens
The Duchy of Athens was a Latin or Frankish state in Greece that existed from 1205 to 1458 CE. It was created in the aftermath of the Fourth Crusade (1202-1204 CE) and would be ruled for the majority of its history by the Burgundian de la...
Definition
Cardinal Thomas Cajetan
Cardinal Thomas Cajetan (l.c. 1468-1534) was a Catholic theologian and philosopher best known for his disputations with Martin Luther (l. 1483-1546) beginning in 1518. Cajetan, a philosophical Humanist, was thought to have had the best chance...
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Map of the Voyages of Christopher Columbus 1492-1504
Christopher Columbus (c. 1451–1506) led four transatlantic expeditions between 1492 and 1504 under the patronage of Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile. His goal was to find a westward maritime route to Asia’s trade centers...