Search
Search Results
Video
Doctrine of Discovery: What Is It and Why is Pope Francis Being Asked to Denounce It?
Pope Francis is facing calls to rescind a centuries-old policy called the ‘Doctrine of Discovery,’ stemming from a series of edicts, known as papal bulls, dating back to the 15th century, which states that white European nations "discovered"...
Definition
Potsdam Conference - When the WWII Allies Declared Japan Must Surrender
The Potsdam Conference, held from 17 July to 2 August 1945 in Potsdam in eastern Germany, decided how the Allies would deal with a defeated Germany and how they could best conduct the ongoing campaign against Japan as the Second World War...
Definition
Fifth Crusade
The Fifth Crusade (1217-1221 CE) was called by Pope Innocent III (r. 1198-1216 CE) with the objective, like previous crusades, of recapturing Jerusalem from Muslim control; only this time the strategy was to weaken the enemy by first attacking...
Article
The Crusades: Causes & Goals
The Crusades were a series of military campaigns organised by Christian powers in order to retake Jerusalem and the Holy Land back from Muslim control. There would be eight officially sanctioned crusades between 1095 CE and 1270 CE and many...
Article
France’s 1905 Law of Separation of Church and State
The 1905 Law of Separation of Church and State was enacted as the climax of decades of conflict between monarchists and anticlerical Republicans who viewed Christianity as a permanent obstacle to the social development of the Republic. The...
Article
Dogs & Their Collars in the Age of Enlightenment
In medieval and Renaissance Europe, dogs were considered little more than 'machines' which performed certain tasks, such as guarding a home or tracking game, but this view changed significantly during the Age of Enlightenment (also known...
Definition
First Crusade
The First Crusade (1095-1102) was a military campaign by western European forces to recapture the city of Jerusalem and the Holy Land from Muslim control. Conceived by Pope Urban II following an appeal from the Byzantine emperor Alexios I...
Definition
Thomas Cromwell
Thomas Cromwell (l. c. 1485-1540 CE) served as chief minister to Henry VIII of England (r. 1509-1547 CE) from 1532 to 1540 CE. With his king and the Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Cranmer (in office 1533-55 CE), Cromwell masterminded the...
Definition
Sir Thomas More
Sir Thomas More (1478-1535 CE) was a lawyer, scholar, statesman, and Lord Chancellor to Henry VIII of England (r. 1509-1547 CE) who was executed in July 1535 CE for his refusal to endorse Henry's break of the Church in England from the Catholic...
Article
How Christmas Was Shaped by 19th-Century Literature
How we celebrate Christmas today is largely shaped by a small group of authors who recorded festive traditions in the 19th century. These authors include Washington Irving (1783-1859), Clement Clarke Moore (1779-1863), and Charles Dickens...