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Pilgrimage in the Byzantine Empire
Pilgrimage in the Byzantine Empire involved the Christian faithful travelling often huge distances to visit such holy sites as Jerusalem or to see in person relics of holy figures and miraculous icons on show from Thessaloniki to Antioch...

Article
In Search of the Promised Land: Saint Brendan’s Voyage
Between the 9th and the 10th century CE, in an unknown European abbey, an anonymous author told the story of an Irish monk and his 14 companions who embarked on a dangerous journey in the 5th century CE. The monk's name was Brendan, and his...

Article
Top 5 'Deep-Dive' Virtual Shipwrecks
According to UNESCO, an estimated three million shipwrecks are scattered in the oceans’ deep canyons, trenches, and coral reefs and remain undiscovered. These shipwrecks preserve historical information and provide clues about how people lived...

Video
How Magellan Circumnavigated the Globe - Ewandro Magalhaes
View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/how-magellan-circumnavigated-the-globe-ewandro-magalhaes On September 6, 1522, the "Victoria" sailed into harbor in southern Spain. The battered vessel and its 18 sailors were all that remained...

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European Colonization of North America c.1750
A map illustrating the process of systematic European colonization of North America during the Age of Exploration - from the 1490s until the start of the French and Indian War of 1750s. It also depicts the shift of balance of power in the...

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, continents, sometimes the entire world as it was known at the...

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John Cabot's Route to Newfoundland
The Italian explorer John Cabot (aka Giovanni Caboto, c. 1450 - c. 1498 CE) sailed from England to eastern Canada in 1497 CE. His exact route and points of exploration are unclear and the map is therefore only an approximate guide.

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The World Known to Europeans in 1000 CE
In 1000 CE, Europeans had a limited but expanding awareness of the wider world, shaped by trade, exploration, and religious contacts. The Vikings had pushed westward, reaching Greenland and Vinland (North America). At the same time, merchants...

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Voyage of Hanno the Carthaginian Explorer
A map indicating the possible route of Hanno, a Carthaginian who led a colonising and exploration expedition down the Atlantic coast of Africa in the 6th or 5th century BCE. Some scholars suggest he reached modern Sierra Leone, others that...

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Aetia by Callimachus
A 2nd-century CE papyrus of Callimachus' Aetia.
B.P. Grenfell & A.S. Hunt, The Oxyrhynchus Papyri: Part XI. (London: The Egypt Exploration Society, 1915), plate IV