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The brutal murder of the entire Romanov family was the culmination of deep discontent across the Russian Empire with the persistently autocratic rule of Tsar Nicholas II (reign 1894-1917). Following the disaster of...

English medieval knights wore metal armour of iron or steel to protect themselves from archers and the long swords of opponents. From the 9th century CE, chain mail suits gave protection and freedom of movement...

An English medieval castle, if a large one, could have a household staff of at least 50 people, which included all manner of specialised and skilled workers such as cooks, grooms, carpenters, masons...

The staggering quantity of gold the conquistadors extracted from the Americas allowed Spain to become the richest country in the world. The thirst for gold to pay for armies and gain personal enrichment resulted in...

The Bronze Age Aegean in the eastern Mediterranean encompassed several powerful entities: the Minoans on Crete; the Mycenaeans on mainland Greece, and the Cypriots on Cyprus. These cultures...

The alliance system in Europe was one of the causes of the First World War (1914-18), although it did not make war inevitable. In the first decade of the 20th century, the Triple Entente powers...

The Legend of Sargon of Akkad (circa 2300 BCE) is an Akkadian work from Mesopotamia understood as the autobiography of Sargon of Akkad (Sargon the Great, reign 2334-2279 BCE), founder of...

The fall of Tenochtitlan on 13 August 1521 was a decisive moment in the dramatic collapse of the Aztec empire which had dominated Mesoamerica. Led by Hernán Cortés (1485-1547), the Spanish conquistadors enjoyed superior...

The world's oldest love poem is The Love Song for Shu-Sin (written circa 2000 BCE), composed in ancient Mesopotamia for use in part of the sacred rites of fertility. Prior to its discovery in the...

The 167 stained glass windows of Chartres Cathedral, built 1190-1220 CE, are the most complete group surviving anywhere from the Middle Ages. Several windows date to the mid-12th century CE while over...