First Punic War – Carthage and Rome
Sicily seen from space (the tip of Italy is on the right): the First Punic War was fought here. We know the Roman side Most of what we know about [...]
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09, 2017
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08, 2017
Late medieval Italy – Guelfs and Ghibellines
Late medieval Italy: Constance of Sicily (late 1100s AD) North Italy's republics All through the later middle ages, Northern Italy was still divided into lots of small independent city-states. The most important city-states [...]
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08, 2017
Eighth Crusade – Medieval Europe
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 [...]
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08, 2017
Third Crusade – Medieval history
Saladin (Salah al-din) When the Mamluk general Imad-ed-din Zangi died, he was succeeded by his son Nureddin, who added Damascus to the land his father had gathered together. And after Nureddin died in 1174 AD, [...]
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08, 2017
Medieval Italy – the High Middle Ages
Medieval Italy: Matilda of Canossa (ca. 1100 AD) Matilda of Canossa By about 900 AD, the Holy Roman Emperors started to lose power over Northern Italy. The Counts of Canossa controlled most of Northern [...]
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08, 2017
Early Medieval Italy
Early medieval Italy: Lombard shield boss (to make spears slide off it) (Metropolitan Museum, New York) Northern Italy and France In 774 AD, Charlemagne conquered northern Italy from the Lombards. Soon after that [...]
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08, 2017
Eleanor of Aquitaine – Queen of France and England
Eleanor of Aquitaine (Cloisters Museum, New York City) Eleanor of Aquitaine was fifteen years old in 1137 AD, and not yet married, when her father, the Duke of Aquitaine, died suddenly. [...]
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08, 2017
Vikings – Early Medieval Scandinavia
A Viking ship. Viking trade took the Vikings all over the world. Who were the Vikings? The Vikings were Indo-European people from Scandinavia (modern Denmark, Norway and Sweden). Around the 400s AD the Vikings started to [...]
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08, 2017
Nicephorus and Leo – Byzantine history
Maybe the skull cup was something like this? Nicephorus deposed the Empress Irene in 802 AD and made himself emperor. He refused to pay tribute to the Islamic caliph, and therefore lost still more Roman [...]
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07, 2017
Who was Pythagoras? Greek Mathematics
Near where Pythagoras lived: Doric temple at Paestum, Italy Who was Pythagoras? Pythagoras lived in the 500s BC. He was one of the first Greek mathematical thinkers that we know about, after Thales. Who [...]
