Knight: Did you mean...?

Jerusalem, a holy city for the adherents of all three great monotheistic religions (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam) was conquered by the armies of the First Crusade in 1099 CE. The Muslims failed to halt their advance, as they were themselves...

The monastic orders of the Middle Ages developed from the desire to live a spiritual life without the distractions of the world. Men and women who took religious vows were seeking a purity of experience they found lacking as lay people. Their...

Artillery weapons in medieval Europe included the mounted crossbow (ballista) and single-arm torsion catapult (mangonel), both similar to ancient Roman machines. As armies battled further afield such as in the Byzantine Empire and against...

A 13th century CE illustration of the famous English knight Sir William Marshal (c. 1146-1219 CE) unseating Baldwin Guisnes. (From the Historia Major of Matthew Paris, Cambridge, Corpus Christi College Library, vol 2, p. 85)

King John of England (aka John Lackland) ruled from 1199 to 1216 CE and he has gone down in history as one of the very worst of English kings, both for his character and his failures. He lost the Angevin-Plantagenet lands in France and so...

The Cathars (also known as Cathari from the Greek Katharoi for “pure ones”) were a dualist medieval religious sect of Southern France which flourished in the 12th century and challenged the authority of the Catholic Church. They were also...

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 for his courage...

Eleanor of Aquitaine (l. c. 1122-1204 CE) was one of the most impressive and powerful figures of the High Middle Ages (1000-1300 CE) – male or female – whose influence shaped the politics, art, medieval literature, and perception of women...

Henry III of England ruled from 1216 to 1272 CE. The son of the unpopular King John of England (r. 1199-1216 CE), Henry was immediately faced with the ongoing Barons' War which had been fuelled by discontent over John's rule and his failure...

Henry VI of England ruled as king from 1422 to 1461 CE and again from 1470 to 1471 CE. Succeeding his father Henry V of England (r. 1413-1422 CE), Henry VI was crowned the king of France in 1431 CE but he could not prevent a French revival...