The father of Amenhotep II, Thutmose III was perhaps the greatest military conqueror of all the pharaohs, hailed for ‘making his boundaries as far as the Horn of the Earth, the marshes of Naharin’. The marshes of Naharin were the borderlands of Egypt’s northern rivals, the Mittani, who probably were... More
Although Thutmose I (c. 1493 BCE) successfully thwarted Syrian resistance in the Phoenician north, the conquered rulers only briefly paid tribute to him as their pharaoh. His grandson, Thutmose III (1482-25 BCE), was determined to restore Egyptian hegemony in Canaan and Phoenicia. Considered a military genius, not only did Thumose... More
At the beginning of the 21st Dynasty, Egypt had lost control of its empire and was weak and divided. The north was controlled by the Tanite 21st Dynasty (1075–950 BCE) and the southern Nile valley by the High Priest of Amun, who ruled from Thebes, home to the Amun cult.... More
The death of Pepi II after a reign of over 70 years ushered in a prolonged period of instability. A succession of weak and ephemeral rulers resulted in a steady leakage of real power to the nomarchs or regional governors. The first of these to have pretensions of pre-eminence was... More
In a bid to secure Egypt and overcome Axis forces in North Africa, Montgomery (‘Monty’) had carefully built up his 8th Army to maximize chances of success. El Alamein was a two-part process, beginning with Operation Lightfoot and ending with Operation Supercharge a few days later. On the night of... More
After the ‘crumbling’ away at enemy defences during the first phase of El Alamein (Operation Lightfoot), Rommel’s forces were significantly weakened. Monty ordered Operation Supercharge, the final push for victory. As Australian forces launched an attack from the Mediterranean, forcing Rommel to move some of his tanks, Allied armoured divisions... More
When the Puritan missionary John Eliot first preached to Indians (1646), ‘they paid no heed...were weary, and despised what I said’. But Eliot was a man of persistence, as well as conviction, and not a little imagination. He took the trouble to master the native American languages, creating written versions... More
Henry VIII – atypically – adopted a conciliatory policy of ‘amiable persuasions’ in Ireland, after first executing the rebel ‘Silken Thomas’ Fitzgerald. Elizabeth’s policy, through her Lords Deputy, became more assertive, beginning with the attempted subjugation of Leinster, through ‘plantations’ of settlers. This provoked guerrilla warfare from the displaced clans;... More
At the time of the death of Emperor Jiaqing, the seventh of the Manchu-origin Great Qing dynasty, the empire was in decline, but still in control of large areas of greater China and influential over many neighboring territories. By 1806 the White Lotus and Miao rebellions had been overcome, but... More
In the early part of his reign. Edward the Confessor (r. 1042–66), maintained a precarious authority over his kingdom by playing the powerful earls against one another. His judgement faltered, however, in 1051, when his predilection for appointing Normans to senior ecclesiastical positions provoked a confrontation with the Witan, his... More
The death of Edward the Confessor in January 1066 began a complicated dispute over the succession to the English throne. Harold Godwinson, a powerful noble, became king in the absence of a viable successor amongst Edward’s broader bloodline. Meanwhile, the duke of Normandy William the Conqueror, claimed that Edward had... More
William the Conqueror commissioned the Domesday Book after his conquest of England in 1066. Its survey, completed in 1086, gave an overview of population and a breakdown of which lands were leased to whom as tenants under the new feudal system. It also contained information about what taxable sources of... More