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Map of the Four Voyages of Christopher Columbus, 1492 - 1504
This map illustrates the four voyages of Christopher Columbus between 1492 and 1504, commissioned by Queen Isabella I of Castile (reign 1474–1504) and King Ferdinand II of Aragon (reign 1479–1516). Overlaid on the prevailing winds and currents...
Definition
Reconquista
The Reconquista (Reconquest) or Iberian Crusades were military campaigns largely conducted between the 11th and 13th century CE to liberate southern Portuguese and Spanish territories, then known as al-Andalus, from the Muslim Moors who had...
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Eighth Crusade
The Eighth Crusade of 1270 CE was, like the Seventh Crusade (1248-1254 CE), led by the French king Louis IX (r. 1226-1270 CE). As previously, the idea was to attack and defeat the Muslims first in Egypt and then either reconquer or negotiate...
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Map of Spain and the Spanish Indies
This map illustrates the dramatic rise and gradual decline of Spain as a global imperial power between the late 15th and late 17th centuries. Emerging from a union of northern Iberian kingdoms, Spain reached its zenith under Habsburg rule...
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War of the Fifth Coalition
The War of the Fifth Coalition (1809) was a major conflict of the Napoleonic Wars (1803-1815) that was fought primarily in Central Europe between the First French Empire and its client states against the Austrian Empire, supported by the...
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Joachim Murat
Joachim Murat (1767-1815) was a French cavalry officer who fought in the French Revolutionary Wars (1792-1802) and Napoleonic Wars (1803-1815). He was appointed marshal of the French Empire in 1804, Grand Duke of Berg in 1806, and ruled as...
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Juan Ponce de León
Juan Ponce de León (1474-1521) was a Spanish conquistador who led expeditions from Puerto Rico to the coast of Florida, giving the region its current name. He also served as the first governor of Puerto Rico and discovered the Gulf Stream...
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Wyatt Rebellion
The Wyatt Rebellion of January-February 1554 CE saw Sir Thomas Wyatt the Younger lead a group of several thousand Kent rebels in a march on London with the primary aim of preventing Mary I of England (r. 1553-1558 CE) from marrying Spain's...
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Henry VII of England
Henry VII of England ruled as king from 1485 to 1509 CE. Henry, representing the Lancaster cause during the Wars of the Roses (1455-1487 CE), defeated and killed his predecessor the Yorkist king Richard III of England (r. 1483-1485 CE) at...
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The Causes of WWI
The origins of the First World War (1914-18) are many and varied, with some even dating back several decades, but a political assassination in the Balkans in the summer of 1914 was the spark that blew up Europe's political powder keg, that...