Islamic North Africa: Kairouan mosque (ca. 800 AD) The Eastern Roman reconquest of North Africa in the 530s AD ended the Vandal kingdom there. But trade declined until the Islamic invasions of North [...]
Mehmed II When Mehmed II conquered Constantinople in 1453 AD, he made it the capital of the Ottoman Empire. He took for himself the title of "Kayser-i-Rum" - Caesar of Rome, or Roman [...]
Jewish money-lenders in medieval France - Jews in medieval Europe A hard time for the Jews The Middle Ages in Europe were a difficult time for the Jews. Many Jews lived [...]
Jews in the Islamic Empire: The synagogue where Maimonides worked in Cairo, Egypt (1100s AD) Did Jewish people help the Arab conquest? The Arabs first began to attack the Roman Empire in the 630s AD. [...]
Louis IX sailing to Tunis with the Eighth Crusade (1270 AD) Why even do an Eighth Crusade? When Blanche of Castile died, her son Louis IX of France had to spend some [...]
The Hafsid Dynasty minted gold coins like this one The Hafsids replace the Almohads In the early 1200s AD, the Almohad empire fell apart into Marinid, Christian, and Hafsid kingdoms. The middle of North Africa [...]
