Definitions

The Dissolution of the Monasteries was a policy introduced in 1536 CE by Henry VIII of England (r. 1509-1547 CE) to close down and confiscate the lands and wealth of all monasteries in England and Wales. The plan was designed as a lucrative...

Mehmed II (1432-1481 CE), also known as Mehmed the Conqueror, was the seventh and among the greatest sultans of the Ottoman Empire. His conquests consolidated Ottoman rule in Anatolia and the Balkans, and he most famously triumphed in conquering...

The Pilgrimage of Grace is the collective name for a series of rebellions in northern England, first in Lincolnshire and then in Yorkshire and elsewhere between October and December 1536 CE. Nobles, clergy, monks, and commoners united to...

The Wyatt Rebellion of January-February 1554 CE saw Sir Thomas Wyatt the Younger lead a group of several thousand Kent rebels in a march on London with the primary aim of preventing Mary I of England (r. 1553-1558 CE) from marrying Spain's...

The Sumerian Flood Story (also known as the Eridu Genesis, The Flood Story, Sumerian Creation Myth, Sumerian Deluge Myth) is the oldest Mesopotamian text relating the tale of the Great Flood which would appear in later works such as the Atrahasis...

Mary I of England reigned as queen from 1553 to 1558 CE. The eldest daughter of Henry VIII of England (r. 1509-1547 CE) with Catherine of Aragon (1485-1536 CE), she restored Catholicism in England while her persecution of Protestants led...

Lepenski Vir (Serbian Cyrillic: Лепенски Вир, “Lepena Whirlpool”) is an ancient settlement on the banks of the Danube in eastern Serbia; more precisely, in Boljetin village, near Donji Milanovac. The site shows evidence of a culture which...

Tiamat is the Mesopotamian goddess associated with primordial chaos and the salt sea best known from the Babylonian epic Enuma Elish. In all versions of the myth, following the original, Tiamat always symbolizes the forces of chaos, which...

The Rashidun Caliphate (632-661 CE) was responsible for setting up the basis of the Islamic empire and expanding its borders beyond the Arabian soil. These leaders were selected by the consent of the people and based on their own merits...

Walpurgis Night (30 April, annually) is a modern-day European and Scandinavian festival derived from the merging of the ancient pagan celebration of Beltane with the commemoration of the canonization of the Christian Saint Walpurga (l. c...