Pope Leo X: Did you mean...?

The tiara of Pope Pius IX (in office 1846-1878). Made in 1854. Made of a trio of gold crowns set with diamonds, emeralds, sapphires, pearls, and other jewels around a silver-thread fabric. It measures 35 cm (13.7 in) in height...

The Council of Clermont in central France was held in November 1095 and witnessed Pope Urban II's (r. 1088-1099) historic call for the First Crusade (1095-1102) to capture Jerusalem for Christendom from its Muslim occupiers...

The government of the Byzantine Empire was headed and dominated by the emperor, but there were many other important officials who assisted in operating the finances, judiciary, military, and bureaucracy of a huge territory...

A c. 1450 illustration showing Pope Joan giving birth during a procession. Pope Joan was a legendary female pope of the Middle Ages said to have reigned from 855 to 858. Her existence is disputed. (Spencer Collection)

The Unam Sanctam (1302) was a papal bull issued by Pope Boniface VIII (served 1294-1303) requiring the complete submission of all people, including kings, to the authority and dictates of the pope...

A 15-16th century manuscript illustration of Pope Joan, a legendary female pope of the Middle Ages said to have reigned from 855 to 858. Her existence is disputed. (Bibliothèque nationale de France).

Catherine of Aragon (1485-1536 CE) was a Spanish princess who famously became the Queen of England and the first wife of Henry VIII of England (r. 1509-1547 CE). When the marriage did not produce a male heir, Henry VIII became...

Many scholars, without concrete evidence, believe that Leo Africanus 1485-1554 was the inspiration behind William Shakespeare’s Othello, shown here with Desdemona in an 1849 painting by Théodore Chassériau, currently...

Portrait of a Humanist by Sebastiano del Piombo c. 1520. The identity of the person is unknown. Dietrich Rauchenberger has suggested that the painting may depict Leo Africanus (1485-1554).

A gold nomisma coin depicting Byzantine emperor Leo III (r. 717-741 CE). (British Museum, London)