In the 15th century, Italy was divided into countless small city states, similar to ancient Greece, and divided among themselves.
Spain had its Reconquista ended in 1492, the Muslims were expelled from the Spanish peninsula and France had won the 100-year war against England. Now the rulers of the European big states were searching for new...
The Byzantine Empire was a result of the 2 division of the former All-Roman Empire in 395 to the two rulers Honorius and Arcadius, both sons of the Roman ruler Theodosius.
But while the Western Roman Empire slowly countered its downfall, the Eastern Roman Empire could survive for some years. After the downfall of West Rome...
Decisive for the centenary conflict between France and England was the political double role that English kings held because of their position and possessions and could not be resolved diplomatically.
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In the 8th century, Muslims invaded the Spanish peninsula from North Africa and conquered it almost entirely. Only a northern part and the border with France could be held by the Christians and thus the further Muslim conquest of Europe be prevented.
The reconquest of the Spanish peninsula, also called Reconquista, took place in several stages....
Unlike today, in the thirteenth century Britain was not one country but two kingdoms, England and Scotland, as well as the autonomous Principality of Wales. Despite the size and wealth of England at that time, the rulers could never assert a union.
This changed when Edward I became king of England and invaded Wales in 1277...
In the 12th century, the Church of Europe was not only faced with enemies from the outside, more and more people questioned the doctrines of the church or adopted other faiths. In order to stop and eradicate this disintegration of the European order, Pope Innocent III. in 1209 for a crusade against the Cathars living...
Timur Lenk began his notorious career as a small cattle thief and bandit who led a 300-strong troupe in his early 20s. He deeply esteemed Genghis Khan, and his self-declared goal was no less than to step into his inheritance.
Like Khan, Timur also knew how to play off stronger opponents, and in 1360 he was...
The origins of the Mongol Empire were the widespread and scattered nomadic tribes of Central Asia. These tribes have been known for generations to argue among themselves about livestock and grazing land rather than showing each other. Rarely did it come to mergers of some tribes, usually the reason was an attack on settled people...
Hardly any other war like the Gempei war had such far-reaching effects on Japanese society and military sentiment.
In Japan, in the 12th century, so-called "clans" had formed, which were the secret rulers on the island and based their power on the legendary samurai warriors who were subject to them. The emperor played at this time...
With the capture of Jerusalem in 1099 and the founding of many small states such as the Principality of Antioch, the County of Edessa or the Kingdom of Jerusalem, the Christian crusaders were at the height of their power in the Middle East in the late 11th and early 12th centuries.
However, it soon became clear...
