Report Having been ambassador in the legation of France on behalf of Your Serenity for some forty months, I know my duty, according to the most laudable custom of this Most Serene Dominion, is not to give an account of all my actions during that legation, because day by day I have striven to keep Your Lordships advised of those matters that have seemed to me worthy of your notice: and therefore I shall not say a word about them, which will also be the cause of that brevity I desire. Report Having been ambassador in the legation of France on behalf of Your Serenity for some forty months, I know my duty, according to the most laudable custom of this Most Serene Dominion, is not to give an account of all my actions during that legation, because day by day I have striven to keep Your Lordships advised of those matters that have seemed t…

Revenues; Court; Territories; Religious and Political Turmoil; War Against the Turks; Personal Matters This is Part II of a 1532 report on the Habsburg dominions. Part I here.

Revenues and Forces; Government; Protestantism; Personality; Diplomatic Relations This is a long report on the Habsburg dominions of Charles V and Ferdinand I, so I split it into a Part I and Part II. This first part covers Charles V, the second will cover Ferdinand I. I also added section headers (to me, the most interesting sections are Protestantism and Charles V’s Diplomatic Relations with other states).

The Death of Mustafa; Description of Aleppo; The Sultan's Entrance; The Sultan at Aleppo; The Campaign This report is pretty long, so I broke it up into sections; the section headers don’t appear in the original report. You can skip the Description of Aleppo and The Sultan’s Entrance sections without losing much context, although I find the Description of Aleppo to be fascinating.

The Battle of Didgori and the Rise of Georgia Under the white-capped peaks of the Greater Caucasus live the Kartvelians. Jason’s Argonauts found them on the balmy shores and hills, retreating from the Black Sea as an already ancient people. Modern scholars estimate their occupation dating well into the Neolithic when the Kartvelians first made wine in

How African Slaves Helped Break the Caliphate In the sweltering August heat of Southern Iraq, an army of slaves and Bedouins laid siege to the wealthy city of Basra. Over a month the besiegers tightened the noose around the city, burning outlying villages, and ambushing reinforcements and supply trains bound for the city. By September 7th, 871 AD the rebel army had gained a foothold in the city and…

How Viking Trade Revitalized Europe In 655 AD the first Muslim fleet met the Byzantine navy off the coast of Anatolia. The rough seas forced both sides to lash their ships to one another and the two great rafts collided in a fierce battle. Soldiers and sailors jumped from ship to ship in ruthless melee combat. As the day wore on the Muslim fleet gained the upper hand. When enemies closed …

How Geography Has Shaped Levantine Politics On a scorching July day in Palestine Ludolf of Tournai clambered over the battlements and scattered his Fatimid foes. Ludolf fought wildly, desperately, he had endured years of suffering on behalf of his God to reach the Holy City. He had survived the arrows of Turkish horsemen as he thirsted on the Anatolian Plateau. He had braved the treacherous footp…

I'm finishing my new book, The Castle. Ask me anything you like about it... Sir Edward Coke, that great legal brain and Magna Carta fetishist of the seventeenth century, is the man usually given credit for the coining the idiom ‘An Englishman’s home is his castle.’

You can now watch every episode of my podcast on YouTube ****French adventure special notice****

A non-definitive list Lots of people seem to be enjoying my little Nativity podcast mini-season, This Is History: A Nativity To Die For. (If you haven’t listened yet, give it a go.)

An essay on medieval history and modern politics One of the buzziest slogans of this year, after the ubiquitous 6-7, is ‘No Kings’.

Old High German was spoken between the eighth and eleventh centuries, and a small but significant body of its literature has survived. This anthology brings together editions and translations of about a dozen poetic works, spanning subjects from religious devotion to historical narrative.

Scotland’s in turmoil in the 1330s—and Edward III spots an opening. In this episode of Bow & Blade, Michael and Kelly break down the Battle of Dupplin Moor, where tactics, terrain, and timing turn chaos into catastrophe.

Medieval historians have debated for generations about when the Middle Ages began and ended. Was there a single year that launched the medieval period—and another that closed it?

Across sixteen essays, the author examines the Ming dynasty’s diplomatic and commercial networks, tracing how the “Silk Road” linked China with regions far beyond its borders.

In antiquity, Southern Italy was a prominent destination for Greek colonists. However, numerous people already lived in the region. The Greeks sometimes peacefully coexisted with these tribes — and sometimes came into conflict with them. Theme: Magna Graecia Richard Evans, 'Syracusan democracy - A fragile start and a feeble end'. Edwar Herring, 'From imports to indigenous ware - Magna Graecia's red-figure pottery'. Sosseh Assaturian, 'Eleatic philosophy - The birth of ancient Greek metaphysics'. Mark Thatcher, 'Conflict and compromise - Greeks and non-Greeks in Italy'. Richard Evans, 'Caught between fact and fiction - The Achaean colony of Sybaris'. Emmanouil Peponas, 'The theatre in Magna Graecia - A creative frontier'. Kathryn Lomas, 'The conquest of Magna Graecia - The coming of Rome'. Features: Michael Carter, 'Morituri te salutant! Aut non - Death (and life) in the gladiatorial arena'. Sem van Atteveld, 'Local industry - The impact of Tyrian purple production'. Adriano Orsingher, 'Worn, hung, offered - Phoenician and Punic masks'. Alexander Thein, 'Sulla's dictatorship - Lawgiving, patronage, social mobility'.

During the Middle Ages, the court of a great lord was a place filled with lavish feasts, grand tournaments, and other ostentatious displays of wealth and power. Theme: Courtly life Alice Isabella Sullivan, "Courtly culture in the Middle Ages: Origins and sources," 16-17. Kathryn Walton, "The romances of courtly life: Of love, magic, and chivalry," 18-21. Leslie Ivings, "The court of the purple born: Byzantine power and ceremony," 22-25. Jacob H. Deacon, "Pas d'armes: Knights, giants, and unicorns," 26-33. Helen Carr, "The court of Edward III: Chivalry, powers, and spectacle," 34-37. Lucie Laumonier, "Dining at court: Fine cuisine and table manners," 38-43. Jacob H. Deaon, "Freydal: Combat and dance," 44-47. Features: Richard Thomson, "Medieval Edinburgh: The principal burgh of our kingdom," 8-13. Robert Jones, "Knights behaving badly: When chivalric culture failed." 14-15. Conor Robison, "The hard ground at Gladenmore: Reigniting Scotland's war for independence," 48-51. Lucie Laumonier, "Practical magic: Debunking myths about medieval witches," 52-53. James G. Clark, "The Golden Legend: A popular treasury of tales," 54-55. Jonathan H. Jones, "Book review: Johannes Gutenberg: A Biography in Books," 56. Michael Kister, "Book review: Frederick Barbarossa," 57.

Vikings Behaving Reasonably: Nordic Hóf in Civic and Legal Rhetoric was written to try and make sense of the rhetoric shown in the Icelandic family sagas, but I expanded its scope to look more at how the medieval Scandinavians dealt with conflicts in both the civic and legal arenas. I found through my research that the medieval Scandinavians had a native rhetorical tradition outside of Classical influence.

The best site for beginning your coin collection if theancientcoinguy on eBay.

Empire Earth remains one of my most favorite games for a reason. The game is a sandbox not just a game you play and put away then come back to it.

How farmers came together to build Europe’s most grandiose funerary monuments some 7,000 years ago