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Featured
Definition
Golden Fleece
The golden fleece is the fleece of a flying, winged ram named Crius Chrysomallos, or 'Golden-fleeced Ram', in Greek mythology. It is best known from the story of Jason and the Argonauts, who were sent by Pelias, the ruler of Iolcos, to retrieve it from Aeëtes, the king of Colchis. According to the Roman poet Ovid (43 BCE to 17 CE) in his Metamorphoses, Chrysomallos, the...
Featured
Definition
Castle Keep - The Safest Place in a Medieval Castle
The keep, located within a courtyard and surrounded by a curtain wall, was the heart of a medieval castle. The hall keep was a low building while the tower keep...
Featured
Image
Map of Hadrian’s African Journey, 128 CE - Military Discipline and the Roman Frontier in North Africa
Hadrian’s African journey (128 CE) was a concentrated inspection of Rome’s military establishment and southern frontier...
Featured
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The Bayeux Tapestry: The Story of 1066 - Conquest, Propaganda, and the Norman Claim to England
The Bayeux Tapestry, created in the late 11th century, probably in England for a Norman patron, is one of the most important...
Latest Content
Definition
Macedon - Birthplace of Alexander the Great
Macedon was an ancient kingdom located in the north of the Greek peninsula first inhabited by the Mackednoi tribe whose identity was challenged by some southern Greeks...
Definition
Gettysburg Address - Lincoln's Most Important Speech
The Gettysburg Address was a speech delivered by US President Abraham Lincoln on 19 November 1863. It was given during the formal dedication of the Soldiers’...
Article
The Rise of the Christian Cult of the Saints - Relics, Tombs, and Pilgrimages
Many world religions have elevated individuals with the title of "saint," which often simply means "pious one," "devout," or "holy one." The...
Article
Battle of Midway - Japan's First Naval Defeat in WWII
The Battle of Midway, 4-6 June 1942, was the turning point of the Pacific War. The US Pacific fleet sank four Japanese aircraft carriers for the loss of only...
Definition
Strabo of Amasia - Author of the 1st-Century Geography
Strabo of Amasia (c. (c. 64 BCE - c. 24 CE) was the author of Geography, a 17-book geography of the world as it was known to the Greeks and Romans of the time...
Article
The Myth of Etana - Faith and Kingship in Ancient Mesopotamia
The Myth of Etana is the story of the Sumerian antediluvian King of Kish who ascends to heaven on an eagle to request the Plant of Birth from the gods...
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Map of the Travels of Leo Africanus, c. 1509–1518 - Africa, Trade and Empires in the Early 16th Century
The travels of Leo Africanus (al-Hasan ibn Muhammad al-Wazzan al-Fāsī, c. 1494–c. 1554) illuminate the political, commercial...
Image
Map of the Sultanate of Rum & Anatolia, c. 1200 - From Manzikert to Köse Dağ - Seljuk Expansion and Fall
The Seljuk Sultanate of Rum (1077–1308) emerged amid the political fragmentation of Anatolia following the Great Seljuk...
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Map of Japanese Expansion in Asia & the Pacific, 1875–1942 - Japanese Empire at Its World War II High-Water Mark
Japan’s imperial expansion developed over several decades rather than from a single fixed plan. Modernization...
For You
Article
Legions of Mesopotamia, Cappadocia, & Arabia
As the Roman Empire expanded further eastward, annexing territories that were once the domain of the Parthians, the legions of Mesopotamia, Cappadocia, and Arabia...
Article
Index of Prohibited Books - The Banned Books of the Catholic Church
The Index of Prohibited Books (Index Librorum Prohibitorum) was a list of written works condemned as heretical or injurious to the Christian faith...
Article
Battle of Ferozeshah
The Battle of Ferozeshah (aka Forezeshur) on 21-22 December 1845 was one of four major battles during the First Anglo-Sikh War (1845-6) between the Sikh Empire and the British East India...
Definition
Code of Ur-Nammu - The Oldest Law Code in the World
The Code of Ur-Nammu (circa 2100-2050 BCE) is the oldest extant law code in the world. It was written by the Sumerian king Ur-Nammu (reign circa 2112-2094 BCE...
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
Strategos: Born in the Borderlands
Strategos: Born in the Borderlands, by Gordon Doherty, is a novel following the incredible exploits of Apion, a Byzantine boy living among Seljuk farmers in the lawless area...
Book Review
The Ancient City
The Ancient City by Arjan Zuiderhoek is a thoughtful study of cities in the ancient world, specifically focusing on ancient Greece and Rome. He argues that the similarities between the cities...
Statistics
| 2,963 | definitions |
| 1,738 | articles |
| 19,658 | illustrations |
| 2,618 | videos |
| 415 | 3D images |
| 15,484 | translations |
| 47 | languages |
| 1,324 | contributors |
| 15,283 | keywords |
| 51,729 | registered users |
Ancient Period
Definition
Ancient Israelite Technology
Technology enabled ancient Israel, the Northern Kingdom excluding Judah, to be economically prosperous and establish itself as a major political power as early as the 10th century...
Definition
Satyr
Satyrs (aka silens) are figures from Greek mythology who were followers of the god of wine Dionysos. Satyrs were often guilty of excessive sexual desires and overindulgence of wine. Men with a horse's...
Definition
Susanoo
Take-haya-Susa-no-wo or Susanoo is the storm god of the Shinto religion. He is the younger brother of the sun goddess Amaterasu and infamous for his mischievous and sometimes destructive behaviour...
Definition
Hephaistos
Hephaistos (Hephaestus) was the ancient Greek god of fire, metallurgy, and crafts. He was the brilliant blacksmith of the Olympian gods, for whom he fashioned magnificent houses, armour, and...
Definition
Chanakya
Chanakya (l. c. 350-275 BCE, also known as Kautilya and Vishnugupta) was prime minister under the reign of Chandragupta Maurya (r. c. 321-c.297 BCE), founder of the Mauryan Empire (322-185 BCE...
Definition
Draco's Law Code
Draco was an aristocrat who in 7th century BCE Athens was handed the task of composing a new body of laws. We have no particular clues concerning his life and general biography and the only...
Definition
Coinage
Coins were introduced as a method of payment around the 6th or 5th century BCE. The invention of coins is still shrouded in mystery: According to Herodotus (I, 94), coins were first minted by the...
Definition
Tiridates I of Armenia
Tiridates I (Trdat I) ruled as the king of Armenia from 63 to either 75 or 88 CE). Considered the founder of the Arsacid dynasty proper, his reign got off to a rocky start with invasions...
Medieval Period
Interview
Interview: The Real Valkyrie: The Hidden History of Viking Warrior Women by Nancy Marie Brown
In this interview, World History Encyclopedia is joined by American author Nancy Marie Brown, who is talking to us about her...
Definition
James III of Scotland
James III of Scotland reigned as king from 1460 to 1488. He succeeded his father James II of Scotland (r. 1437-1460) at the age of eight, which led to some nobles taking advantage of...
Article
Vikings in Wales
The Norse may have ruled parts of northern Wales in the early 11th century, specifically in Anglesey and Gwynedd, though the degree to which is unclear. Old Norse had relatively little impact...
Definition
Thomas Becket
Thomas Becket (aka Thomas á Becket) was chancellor to Henry II of England (r. 1154-1189) and then archbishop of Canterbury (1162 to 1170). Thomas repeatedly clashed with his sovereign over...
Image Gallery
A Gallery of Churches from Around the World
Churches around the world are not only houses of worship but offer a wide array of architectural styles and forms, from modest structures, such as St. John's Church...
Definition
Khosrow II
Khosrow II (aka Kosrau II, r. 590-628) was the last powerful shahanshah (king of kings) of the Sassanian Empire. Grandson of Kosrau I (r. 531-579) and near-conqueror of the Byzantine Empire...
Definition
James IV of Scotland
James IV of Scotland ruled as king from 1488 to 1513. He succeeded his father James III of Scotland (r. 1460-1488) and became one of the most popular of the Stuart kings. James sought...
Interview
The World of Parsi Cooking: Interview with Niloufer Mavalvala
In this exclusive interview, Niloufer Mavalvala, author of The Art of Parsi Cooking: Reviving an Ancient Cuisine, speaks to James Blake Wiener of Ancient...
Early Modern Period
Definition
Jeanne d'Albret
Jeanne d’Albret (Joan III of Navarre, l. 1528-1572) was Queen of Navarre, daughter of Marguerite de Navarre (l. 1492-1549) and niece of King Francois I (Francis I of France, r. 1515-1547...
Article
The Girl Who Was the Ring
The Girl Who Was the Ring is a Pawnee legend committed to writing by the anthropologist George Bird Grinnell (l. 1849-1938) in his work The Punishment of the Stingy and Other Indian...
Article
Henry IV of France & the Edict of Nantes
Henry of Navarre became the nominal ruler of France after the assassination of Henry III of France (r. 1574-1589), whose marriage to Louise de Lorraine produced no heir...
Definition
Elizabethan Theatre
Elizabethan theatre, sometimes called English Renaissance theatre, refers to that style of performance plays which blossomed during the reign of Elizabeth I of England (r. 1558-1603...
Article
The Sixteenth-Century Massacre of the Waldensians of Mérindol
As the Reformation developed in France in the first half of the 16th century, there were several episodes of severe repression which preceded the Wars...
Definition
John Stuart Mill
John Stuart Mill (1806-1873) was a highly influential English philosopher of the Victorian Era. His writings were influenced by the Enlightenment thinkers and German Romanticism. Besides...
Definition
Merrymount Colony
Merrymount Colony (1624-1630 CE) was a settlement first established in New England as Mount Wollaston in 1624 CE but renamed Mount Ma-re (referred to as Merrymount) in 1626 CE by the lawyer...
Definition
Committee of Public Safety
In the French Revolution (1789-1799), the Committee of Public Safety (French: Comité De Salut Public) was a political body created to oversee the defense of the French Republic from...
Modern Period
Article
Coronation of Napoleon I
The Coronation of Napoleon I as Emperor of the French took place on Sunday 2 December 1804, in the Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral. A sacred ceremony held to legitimize Napoleon's reign...
Article
Harriet Tubman's Escape from Slavery - Bound for the Promised Land
When Sojourner Truth (circa 1797-1883) escaped from slavery, she later said, "I did not run off, for I thought that wicked, but I walked off, believing...
Definition
Moroccan Crises - German v. French Imperialism
The Moroccan Crises were two international incidents, the first in 1905-6 and the second in 1911, when Imperial Germany, eager to expand its empire, threatened France's...
Article
Native American Land & The Mysterious Butte Legend
The Native American understanding of the land as a living thing, providing for, guiding, and speaking to the people, is expressed in many of their stories, legends...
Article
How Germany Lost World War I
Germany started the First World War (1914-18) with the belief its armed forces could win a quick and decisive victory over France and then Russia. The reality turned out to be...
Definition
Sepoy
A sepoy was an Indian soldier in the armies of various states and European trading companies in the Indian subcontinent and then, from the second half of the 19th century, in the British Indian...
Article
Uʻtlûñ′tă, the Spear-Finger
Uʻtlûñ′tă, the Spear-Finger is a legend of the Cherokee nation, defined as a wonder story – a tale involving a supernatural entity – in which higher powers contend with each other...
Image Gallery
10 Maps on European History
In this gallery of 10 maps on European history, we explore the dynamic borders and the fragile quest for peace on the continent. Witness the shifting borders and the persistent...
Prehistoric Period
Definition
Longmen Grottoes
The Longmen Grottoes, a Buddhist cave complex located 13 kilometers south of Luoyang in China's Henan province, form some of the most significant and exquisite representations of ancient...
Definition
Maeshowe - The Ancient Meadow Mound of Orkney
Maeshowe (pronounced `maze-ow' or `maze-oo') is a large Neolithic chambered cairn, dating from between 3000-2800 BCE, in the Stenness parish of Orkney, Scotland. According...
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
Clava Cairns - Monuments to Memory and More
Clava Cairns is an early Bronze Age site in Scotland, located east of the city of Inverness, consisting of three well-preserved cairns (two of which are passage graves...
Definition
Woolly Mammoth
The woolly mammoth, Mammuthus primigenius, is an extinct herbivore related to elephants who trudged across the steppe-tundras of Eurasia and North America from around 300,000 years ago until...
Definition
Knap of Howar
The Knap of Howar is a Neolithic site on the island of Papa Westray in Orkney, Scotland. The name is Old Norse for `mound of mounds' or `large barrow'. The building preserved at the site...
Definition
The Sweet Track
The Sweet Track is a Neolithic timber walkway, located in the Somerset Levels, England. It was originally part of a network of tracks built to provide a dry path across the marshy ground...
Definition
Stone Age
From the dawn of our species to the present day, stone-made artefacts are the dominant form of material remains that have survived to today concerning human technology. The term “Stone Age”...
