Justinian s plague: Did you mean...?

Squanto (l. c. 1585-1622 CE) is the best-known Native American of the pilgrim narrative, famous for helping the Plymouth Colony survive in 1621 CE. He makes up what scholar Charles C. Mann calls the “uneasy triumvirate” of Native Americans...

Learn all about the Plagues and Pandemics in the Ancient and Medieval world! In this video Kelly Macquire discusses the most prominent plagues that the human race has overcome in history, and the effects they had on the populations. The...

People in the Middle Ages have acquired something of a bad reputation when it comes to cleanliness, especially the peasantry. However, despite the general lack of running water and other modern amenities, there were common expectations of...

The Crisis of the Third Century (also known as the Imperial Crisis, 235-284) was the period in the history of the Roman Empire during which it splintered into three separate political entities: the Gallic Empire, the Roman Empire, and the...

Giovanni Boccaccio (1313-1375) was an Italian poet, writer, and scholar. His most famous and influential work is the Decameron, completed by 1353, in which his ten characters present 100 tales of everyday life. The book covers all manner...

Squanto (l. c. 1585-1622) was the Native American of the Patuxet tribe who helped the English settlers of Plymouth Colony (later known as pilgrims) survive in their new home by teaching them how to plant crops, fish, hunt, and generally acclimate...

Suppiluliuma I (1344-1322 BCE) is considered the most powerful and impressive king of the Hittite Empire. He was the son of Tudhaliya II (also known as Tudhaliya III) and is credited with founding the New Kingdom of the Hittites (also called...

Yazdegerd III (r. 632-651) was the last monarch of the Sassanian Empire (224-651), ruling – or attempting to rule – amidst the chaos of its final decline and fall to the invading Muslim Arabs. He was the son of the prince Shahriyar (d. 628...

John Fletcher (1579-1625) was a playwright of the English Renaissance who flourished during the Jacobean Era (1603-1625). The author of over 50 plays, he is known for developing the genre of tragicomedy in English literature, and for his...

Leo III was emperor of the Byzantine Empire from 717 to 741 CE. He founded the Isaurian dynasty which ruled until 802 CE. The emperor was a talented administrator, and he revamped the empire's political apparatus and legal code. Leo's reign...