10 Knightly Orders and What Made Each One Distinct
Combining knightly warfare and a monastic lifestyle, the knightly crusading orders were one of the strongest institutions of medieval Europe. Through them, men sought a…
How Muslims Responded to the Crusades
For Muslims living in the Holy Land, the arrival of Christian crusaders from the late 11th century onwards was hugely disruptive. It brought misery to…
The Rise of The Tokugawa Shogunate – The Beginning Of A Remarkable Period Of Japanese Peace and Prosperity
On October 21st, in the year 1600, the battle whose outcome would establish the hegemony of the Tokugawa Shogunate for the next 268 years was…
Was Napoleon Really a Military Innovator?
The success of Napoleon Bonaparte stands as a testament to his extraordinary talent as a general. For twenty years, his armies dominated the battlefields of…
Siege of Vienna: Led by a Mercenary, This Desperate Army Turned the Tide on the Ottoman Empire
For four hundred years, the Crusades had seen European powers take war deep into lands far from home, under the banner of Christianity. The clash…
How Napoleon Managed His Vast Armies
The wars fought by Napoleon Bonaparte were like nothing that had ever come before. His armies were vast in scale and constant in their activity,…
The Slave Who Stole A Confederate ship, Met President Lincoln & Bought His Master’s House
In 1862, Robert Smalls stole a Confederate ship, gave it to the Union Army, freed slaves, and met President Abraham Lincoln. After the war, he…
7 Types of Medieval Armor – From Quilted Cloth to Full Steel Plate
More than any other artifact of war, armor dominates visual images of medieval Europe. From the chainmail carefully stitched onto each warrior in the Bayeux…
Battle of Lepanto – The Naval Battle that Saved Europe From The Ottoman Empire
The Siege of Venetian Famagusta, which lasted over a year and ended in Ottoman victory, was a critical loss for the Christian world. The merciless…
The Longbow: Its Rise and Dominance
The growing effectiveness of metal armour created a challenge for medieval soldiers. While the elite of knights and men-at-arms were now well protected, the majority…
9 Factors that Caused the First Crusade
On the surface, the First Crusade looks like something with a simple cause – the hatred of one religious group for another. In reality, the…
The Iberian Wars between Rome and Persia
At the beginning of the 6th century, the Roman and Persian Empires were in the midst of a major conflict. The Second War between Rome and…