Holy grail: Did you mean...?

The Arthurian Legend developed in Europe between c. 830, when the Welsh historian Nennius first mentions King Arthur through c. 1469 when Sir Thomas Malory composes Le Morte D’Arthur, the best-known version of the tales, which...

Courtly Love (Amour Courtois) refers to an innovative literary genre of poetry of the High Middle Ages (1000-1300 CE) which elevated the position of women in society and established the motifs of the romance genre recognizable in...

The First Crusade (1095-1102) was a military campaign by western European forces to recapture the city of Jerusalem and the Holy Land from Muslim control. Conceived by Pope Urban II following an appeal from the Byzantine emperor...

Jerusalem is a major holy city for the three Western traditions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. It sits on spurs of bedrock between the Mediterranean Sea and the Dead Sea area. To the north and west, it tapers off to the Jezreel...

Richard I of England, also known as Richard the Lionheart (Cœur de Lion), reigned as king of England from 1189 to 1199. The son of Henry II of England (r. 1154-1189) and Eleanor of Aquitaine (c. 1122-1204), Richard was known...

Sitting Bull (Tatanka Iyotanka, l. c. 1837-1890) was a Hunkpapa Sioux holy man, warrior, leader, and symbol of traditional Sioux values and resistance to the United States' expansionist policies. He is among the best-known Native...

The German Crusade of 1197 CE, also known as the 'Emperor's Crusade', was led by the Holy Roman Emperor Henry VI (r. 1191-1197 CE). Although the emperor died on his way east, his army did capture Beirut from the forces...

The Cathedral of the Holy Cross (Sainte-Croix) of Orleans in the Centre-Val de Loire region of France, was first built in the 13th century CE on the site of a series of older churches dating back to the 4th century CE. The cathedral...

Gilgamesh and Huwawa is a Sumerian poem relating the expedition of Gilgamesh and Enkidu to the Cedar Forest and the slaying of the monster-demon Huwawa. The work predates and informs The Epic of Gilgamesh in which the death...

The Declaration of Pillnitz was a joint statement issued on 27 August 1791 by Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor (r. 1790-1792) and King Frederick William II of Prussia (r. 1786-1797). The declaration appealed to all European...