Featured
Definition
Literature - The Artistic Expression of the Human Experience
Literature (from the Latin Littera meaning "letters" and referring to an acquaintance with the written word) is the written work of a specific culture...
Featured
Article
The Origins of British Pub Names
Pubs remain a prominent feature of the rural and urban landscapes of Britain, but their names very often date back to medieval times. Red lions, white horses, and colourful...
Featured
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Alexander the Great’s Eight Bodyguards - The Somatophylakes and the Macedonian Empire
Under Philip II of Macedon (reign 359–336 BCE) and Alexander the Great (reign 336–323 BCE), the somatophylakes (“bodyguards”) formed...
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10 Crowned Monarchs on Crusade for the Holy Land (1107–1254) - Kings and Emperors Who Personally Led Crusades to Jerusalem
Between 1107 and 1254, ten crowned European monarchs personally led or joined major Crusades to the Holy...
Latest Content
Definition
Thaddeus Stevens - American Jacobin
Thaddeus Stevens (1792-1868) was a US politician and abolitionist, who rose to prominence in the 1860s during the American Civil War and Reconstruction eras. A leader of the...
Definition
Battle of Wilson's Creek - The "Bull Run of the West"
The Battle of Wilson's Creek (also known as the Battle of Oak Hills, 10 August 1861) was the second major battle of the American Civil War and the first major...
Article
Eyewitness Accounts of the Pacific War - From Pearl Harbor to Hiroshima
The Pacific War (1941-45) was the theatre of the Second World War that saw Imperial Japan and the United States, with its allies, fight for control...
Definition
US Presidential Election of 1860 - The Election That Caused a Civil War
The election of 1860 was one of the most pivotal moments in the political history of the United States and was one of the direct causes of the...
Article
Battle of Okinawa - WWII's Last Major Battle
The Battle of Okinawa (April to June 1945) was the largest amphibious assault and last major battle of the Second World War (1939-45). A massive naval fleet landed...
Article
Sectional Divisions of the Civil War - The Correspondence of A. Nicholas and J.M. McCue
Sectional divisions between the North and South in the United States began long before the American Civil War (1861 to 1865) and...
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Map of the Caucasus after the Peace of Nisibis 299 CE - Roman and Sasanian Power on the Caucasian Frontier
The Peace of Nisibis (299 CE) ended the Roman–Sasanian War of 296–299 CE after Galerius, Caesar under the Roman emperor...
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Map of the African Slave Trade Networks, c. 1750 - Atlantic, Trans-Saharan, Red Sea & Indian Ocean Routes
By c. 1750, the slave trades affecting Africa were entering a period of major transformation. Long-established trans-Saharan...
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Map of the Holy Roman Empire under Otto the Great c. 972 - The Formation of Imperial Rule in Medieval Europe
The Holy Roman Empire emerged from the fragmentation of the Carolingian world during the 9th and 10th centuries...
For You
Definition
Second Triumvirate
The Second Triumvirate was a political association of convenience between three of Rome's most powerful figures: Mark Antony, Lepidus, and Octavian in the 1st century BCE. Following the...
Definition
Roman Science
The Romans assimilated earlier Greek science for their own purposes, evaluating and then accepting or rejecting that which was most useful, much as they did in other fields such as warfare...
Definition
Norman Conquest of England
The Norman Conquest of England (1066-71) was led by William the Conqueror who defeated King Harold II at the Battle of Hastings in 1066. The Anglo-Saxon elite lost power as William...
Article
New Testament Text-Types
The books of the New Testament were written in the 1st century CE. As Christianity spread in the 2nd century CE, many copies were made, some by non-professionals. Early manuscripts...
Book Reviews
Book Review
The Army of Alexander the Great
The Army of Alexander the Great (2025) is a highly detailed and insightful examination of one of the most influential military forces in history. Rather than presenting Alexander...
Book Review
The Neanderthals Rediscovered: How Modern Science is Rewriting Their Story
The Neanderthals Rediscovered: How Modern Science Is Rewriting Their Story, by Drs. Dimitra Papagianni and Michael A. Morse, provides a series...
Book Review
Trafficking with Demons: Magic, Ritual, and Gender from Late Antiquity to 1000
Martha Rampton’s two primary goals with this book were to define in specific terms what “magic” meant and to examine how that meaning changed...
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| 2,623 | videos |
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| 15,712 | translations |
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| 1,327 | contributors |
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| 53,842 | registered users |
Ancient Period
Article
Scythian Women
Scythian women garnered leadership roles and a raised level of status in their day, which is perhaps without parallel until recent times. While many female figures rose to pivotal roles in...
Article
The Letters of Paul the Apostle to the Gentiles
Paul was a member of the Jewish Pharisees in the 1st century CE, who experienced a revelation of the resurrected Jesus Christ. In this vision, Jesus commissioned...
Definition
Eratosthenes
Eratosthenes (l. c. 276-195 BCE) was a Greek astronomer, geographer, mathematician, and poet best known for being the first to calculate the circumference of the earth and its axial tilt. He...
Definition
Ancient Japan
Ancient Japan has made unique contributions to world culture which include the Shinto religion and its architecture, distinctive art objects such as haniwa figurines, the oldest pottery vessels...
Article
Early Jericho
The city of Jericho is remembered for the story in the Book of Joshua in the Bible regarding its destruction by the Israelites. Excavations have revealed that Jericho is one of the earliest...
Definition
Sphinx
A sphinx is a mythical creature with the body of a lion, most often with a human head and sometimes with wings. The creature was an Egyptian invention and had a male head - human or animal; however...
Article
The Civil Service Examinations of Imperial China
The civil service examinations of Imperial China allowed the state to find the best candidates to staff the vast bureaucracy that governed China from the Han Dynasty...
Image Gallery
Ships in the Ancient Mediterranean
The Egyptians, Phoenicians, Greeks and Romans all prospered in the ancient Mediterranean thanks to their mastery of the sea which allowed them to fish, trade, win naval battles...
Medieval Period
Article
The Portuguese Colonization of Madeira
Madeira is a group of volcanic islands in the North Atlantic which were colonised by the Portuguese from 1420. The settlement and distribution of land rights on the uninhabited...
Definition
Lorenzo Ghiberti
Lorenzo Ghiberti (1378-1455 CE) was an Italian Renaissance sculptor and goldsmith whose most famous work is the gilded bronze doors of the Baptistery of Florence's cathedral. These doors...
Article
Selja Monastery - The Sacred Island off the West Coast of Norway
Selja monastery has been considered one of the most sacred sites in Norway for more than 1000 years. The monastery is connected to the legend of St...
Definition
Cwenthryth of Mercia
Cwenthryth of Mercia (also given as Cwoenthryth, 9th century CE) was the daughter of King Coenwulf (r. 796-821 CE). Little is known of her actual life but she later became infamous in...
Definition
Kinkakuji
Kinkakuji Temple in Kyoto, Japan, more formally referred to as Rokuon-ji or 'Deer Garden Temple' and otherwise known as 'The Temple of the Golden Pavilion', was first built in 1397 CE. Originally...
Definition
Berbers
The Berbers have occupied North Africa, specifically the Maghreb, since the beginning of recorded history and until the Islamic conquests of the 8th century CE constituted the dominant ethnic group...
Definition
Maya Government
Ancient Maya government was formed on the basis that rulers were thought to have been god-like, which to some might suggest one unified state. However, the consensus amongst anthropologists...
Definition
Hilda of Whitby
Hilda of Whitby (also known as Saint Hilda of Whitby, l. 614-680 CE) was the founder and abbess of the monastery at Whitby, Kingdom of Northumbria, Britain. She was a Northumbrian princess...
Early Modern Period
Definition
Drake-Norris Expedition
The Drake-Norris expedition of April-July 1589 CE, otherwise known as the Don Antonio Expedition, English Armada or Portugal Expedition, was an unsuccessful attempt by a large English...
Definition
John Adams
John Adams (1735-1826) was an American lawyer, statesman, and diplomat who was a prominent leader of the American Revolution (1765-1789) before going on to serve as the first vice president...
Definition
Martin Frobisher
Sir Martin Frobisher (c. 1535-1594 CE) was an Elizabethan adventurer and explorer who embarked on three expeditions in the 1570s CE to chart the waters of the North American Arctic and find...
Article
The Integration of Church and State in the Roman Empire
In the ancient world, "religion" and society were not separate entities. Various gods dictated covenants, "law-codes," and social conventions. Such law-codes...
Interview
Interview: Kutuzov a Life in War and Peace by Alexander Mikaberidze
Join World History Encyclopedia as they have a chat with author Alexander Mikaberidze all about his new book Kutuzov: A Life in War and Peace, published...
Article
How the World Was Made: A Cherokee Creation Story
How the World Was Made is a creation story of the Cherokee nation, which, like many such tales of the Native peoples of North America, begins with a world covered...
Article
Storming of Bristol
The storming of Bristol, a port then second only in importance to London, on 26 July 1643 by Royalist forces led by Prince Rupert (1619-1682) was a major coup against the Parliamentarians...
Definition
Stupa
A stupa (literally “heap” or “pile”) is a reliquary, a shrine containing the remains of a holy or sainted person and/or artifacts (relics) associated with them, originating in India prior to the...
Modern Period
Article
First Battle of the Marne - How Paris was Saved in World War I
The First Battle of the Marne, fought between 6 and 10 September 1914, was a major and successful Allied counterattack against the German invasion of...
Article
Sugar & the Rise of the Plantation System
From a humble beginning as a sweet treat grown in gardens, sugar cane cultivation became an economic powerhouse, and the growing demand for sugar stimulated the colonization...
Definition
Gabriel's Rebellion
Gabriel's Rebellion (30 August 1800) was a carefully planned slave revolt in Virginia orchestrated by the literate slave blacksmith Gabriel (l. c. 1776-1800), property of one Thomas Prosser...
Definition
Ghost Dance
The Ghost Dance (Spirit Dance) is an expression of rebirth and renewal using the traditional Native American circle dance, first practiced by the Paiute Nation in 1869 and again in 1889 when...
Definition
John Bell Hood - The Most Aggressive Confederate General
John Bell Hood (1831-1879) was a Confederate general during the American Civil War (1861-1865). Known for his aggressive style of leadership, he initially...
Definition
Paul Gauguin
Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin (1848-1903) was a French neo-impressionist painter whose vivid paintings with their flat, bold colours and use of mystical and ambiguous symbols revolutionised art...
Article
Fear of Insurrection - Harriet Jacobs on Nat Turner's Rebellion
Fear of Insurrection comes from Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl (1861) by Harriet Jacobs (l. c. 1813-1897) describing the reaction of the White...
Article
History of Juneteenth
Juneteenth is an annual event celebrating the end of chattel slavery in the United States in commemorating the issuance of General Order No. 3 (which included the line "all slaves are...
Prehistoric Period
Definition
Locmariaquer
Locmariaquer is a Stone Age site in north-west France distinguished by its two large stone tombs and massive granite standing stone or menhir. The monumental structures, all built within metres...
Definition
Ness of Brodgar
The Ness of Brodgar is a Neolithic Age site discovered in 2002 CE through a geophysical survey of the area of land in Stenness in Orkney, Scotland, which separates the salt water Stenness...
Definition
Poulnabrone
Poulnabrone is a portal tomb in the region known as the Burren, County Clare, Ireland and the oldest dated megalithic monument in the land. The name means "Hole of the Quern Stones", but the...
Definition
Homo Heidelbergensis
Homo heidelbergensis is an extinct species of human that is identified in both Africa and western Eurasia from roughly 700,000 years ago onwards until around 200,000 years ago – fitting...
Image Gallery
A Gallery of Historical Maps
This gallery of 30 maps traces the history of cartography, with examples of maps made by cultures from the Paleolithic to the early modern period. The maps cover cities, states...
Definition
Barnhouse Settlement
The Barnhouse Settlement is a Neolithic village located in Antaness, Orkney, Scotland, which was inhabited between c. 3300 and 2600 BCE. The present designation of 'Barnhouse' comes...
Definition
Predynastic Period in Egypt - The Time Before History Began
The Predynastic Period in ancient Egypt is the time before recorded history, from the Paleolithic to the Neolithic Age and on to the rise of the First Dynasty...
Definition
Stonehenge
Stonehenge is a Neolithic / Bronze Age monument located on Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire, southern England. The first monument on the site, began around 3100 BCE, was a circular 'henge' earthwork...
