Secrets of the Harem: The Poisoned Brides
The world of Abbasid princesses and marriage politics was a dizzying maze of intrigue, ambition,…
Sweyn II Estridsson: The Warrior King who Fathered 5 Kings
The medieval history of Denmark is marked by a series of formidable monarchs. Among these,…
An Admiral’s Betrayal and the Loss of Sicily
The history of the Mediterranean is a history of waves – of people, empires, and…
Three Brothers, One Crown: A Royal Spanish Bloodbath
Alfonso VI of León and Castile (1040–1109) is remembered as one of medieval Spain’s most…
From Tribes to Kingdom: The Dramatic Founding of Serbia
The emergence of Serbia as a defined political and cultural entity in the early medieval…
What If: England Had Won the Hundred Years War
If England had won, not lost, the Hundred Years’ War, the trajectory of English, French,…
The Rise of the Mahdi
In 1121 CE, far to the western edge of the Islamic world, a new flame…
The Tsar Who Made Byzantium Tremble
Tsar Simeon the Great, ruler of Bulgaria from 893 to 927, was a figure of…
England Before England: How the Tribal Hidage Reveals a Fractured Past
The Tribal Hidage is a compelling relic of dark age England: a mysterious, fragmentary window into the…
Aragon and Castile: Uneasy Neighbors
Introduction: Iberia in the 11th–12th Century The Iberian Peninsula in the early twelfth century was…
The Battle of Anzen: An Emperor Saved By the Rain
On July 22, 838, the rolling plains of Dazimon (in modern-day Turkey) saw one of…
From Frontier Kingdom to an Empire Across Asia
Rising from semi-nomadic Turkish military origins in the late 10th century, the Ghaznavids managed within…
From Vassals to Kings: The Rashtrakutas’ Amazing Journey to Power
The Rashtrakuta dynasty emerged as a dominant force in 8th-century India, rising to power in 756 CE…
The Pope Attacked in Rome
The closing years of the eighth century were a time of turbulence, transformation, and realignment…
The Mysterious Collapse of the Mayan Empire
The Mayan civilization stands as one of the most fascinating and enigmatic cultures of the ancient world….
