The motives for the invasion of Ireland by Edward Bruce, younger brother of Robert, the king of the Scots, are tangled. He was either opening up a second front in elder brother Robert’s war with England or attempting to seize his own kingdom. The Scots army disembarked at Larne in... More
The Indians coined the term ‘Buffalo Soldiers’ for the African-American frontier regiments, either for their curls’ resemblance to tousled bison head-fur, or their predilection for buffalo-hide overcoats. Effectively banished from peacetime service east of the Mississippi, they were not immune from bigotry in the West. Custer refused to command black... More
Andrea di Petro della Gondola was born in Padua in 1508. At age 16 he became an apprentice sculptor in Padua, where he specialized in monuments and was enrolled in the guild of the bricklayers and stonemasons. In 1530 he came to the attention of Count Gian Giorgio Trissino, who... More
Having encountered strong defences along much of the Dnieper’s western bank, the relative lack of German troops in the Bukrin loop provided the perfect place for the Soviets to attempt to establish a crossing over which their forces could advance. On 24-25 September a large airborne assault attempted to leapfrog... More
The Fourth Crusade (1202–04) instigated by Pope Innocent III recruited a considerable force of knights, mainly from France and Italy, who were to sail from Venice to Jerusalem. Due to financial difficulties they instead recaptured Hungarian Zara (Zadar) in Croatia for the Venetians and then sailed on to Consantinople, where... More
The Byzantine Empire, based on the territory of the former Eastern Roman Empire, adopted Christianity under its first Emperor Constantine I and reached its greatest territorial extent under Justinian I in the mid 6th century. In 681 CE Bulgar tribes moving into the northeastern Balkans, defeated the Byzantine army, led... More
Greatly fragmented and weakened by the Fourth Crusade of 1204 and its aftermath, the Byzantine Empire shrank considerably during the ensuing century. The Palaiologos dynasty, which reasserted Greek Orthodox control of Constantinople in 1261, concentrated on rebuilding the city and, to assuage the Latins, swore allegiance to Rome, but paid... More
In the 8th century Eastern Christianity, reeling from the Islamic assault and in a crisis of self-confidence, experienced the convulsion known as iconoclasm, which was officially promulgated by Emperor Leo III (717–41). Icons are works of religious art, commonly depicting Christ, the Virgin Mary and the saints and angels, which... More
The Cambrian period succeeded the breakup of the global supercontinent, Pannotia. Its remaining contiguous landmass, Gondwanaland, stretched from the southern polar regions to the Tropic of Cancer. To the west, a ribbon of continents straddled the southern tropics: Avalonia, Baltica, Siberia, and Laurentia. The overall mean global temperatures in the... More
1861 was, overall, evenly balanced. On the battlefield, the Confederacy had triumphed at the First Battle of Bull Run but failed to exploit their victory. Meanwhile, the Union’s ‘Anaconda Plan’, a full naval blockade, was devastating southern trade and, consequently, its ability to finance a long war. In spring 1862,... More
In spring 1863 the Union forces forced Vicksburg and Port Hudson to surrender, giving them control of the Mississippi and accomplishing the objective of splitting the Confederate forces in two. The Union army forced the Confederates to leave Gettysburg in the North and retreat to Virginia. In East Tennessee, the... More
Although the Ancient Egyptian propaganda machine declared Ramesses II’s Kadesh campaigns a victory, neither the Hittites or Egyptians were victors. In year 4 of his kingship, Ramesses reclaimed the Hittite vassal kingdom of Kadesh, installing the elite Ne’arim mercenaries to hold the port at Sumur. During year 5, the Hittites... More