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…

A report from the Venetian ambassador sent to the court of Suleiman the Magnificent and returning in 1553. Background

Peace negotiations between Charles V and Francis I after the Italian War of 1536-1538 Background

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.

Vikings, peasants, moody kings - here’s what’s on my desk right now My new book, Castles: A Fortified History of the World is now open for pre-orders in the UK and USA.

Timing, skill, judgement or... luck? Let’s discuss... This summer the New York Times sent me a book to review. Profits, Prophets, Coaches And Kings is the latest work by Jared Diamond, the Pulitzer Prize-winning historian/scientist/anthropologist best known for his 1997 work, Guns, Germs And Steel.

Now we know This weekend I was standing outside a pub trying to watch the eclipse using the barely spread fingers of my right hand as a solar light diffuser when a guy I used to know clapped me on the shoulder and shouted DAN JONES!

A medieval trip to New York City to celebrate my new book launch This November I’ll be on book tour in the US.

Castles: A Fortified History of the World (Standard Edition) - Signed

Charlemagne’s Dream: The Rise and Fall of the Carolingian Empire

Talking Classics (Standard Edition) - Signed

A rare 14th-century gold seal ring discovered by metal detectorists in England could have belonged to Matilda of Lancaster, Countess of Ulster.

Archaeologists at Govan Old in Glasgow have discovered evidence of an early medieval jewellery workshop, including an unfinished shale finger ring.

Archaeologists at Loburg Castle in Germany have uncovered early medieval fortifications, pottery and other finds dating back to the 9th and 10th centuries.

A new study finds that medieval monasteries helped drive the rise of England’s wool economy, as sheep farming expanded from the seventh century.

The First Intermediate Period of Egypt is often characterized as a dark age, a time of famine and war. Yet recently, this view has come under increasing scrutiny — the truth appears to be far more nuanced. Theme: The First Intermediate Period Juan Carlos Moreno García, 'A time of change and misunderstanding - The end of the Old Kingdom in Egypt'. Ellen Morris, 'Remembering the First Intermediate Period - The best of times, the worst of times'. Wojciech Ejsmond, A land divided - The competing kingdoms of Egypt'. Dr Simone Petacchi, 'Ancient Nubia and the Kingdom of Kerma - A new power on Egypt's southern frontier'. Marco Daniele, 'A tale of decline and renewal - Egyptian pyramids' changing faces'. Features: Jason Douglas Porter, 'Endemic and crucial - The role of slavery in democratic Athens'. Henrik Mouritsen, 'A wild goose chase - Political parties in Republican Rome'. Phil Wood, 'An infamous opportunist - The rise and fall of Sejanus'. Anneka Rene, 'Helmets and crowns - Hellenistic Macedon's warrior queens'. Lauren Morris, 'The kingdoms that connected Eurasia - Central Asia and long-distance exchange'.

Bronze helmets, greaves, armour, and bronze-faced shields make for an impressive army, but who fought in all that kit, next to whom, and how? Theme: Greece in the Late Archaic period Murray Dahm, 'State of play - Warfare in late Archaic Greece'. Ben Truska, 'Two coins in the hand - Economics and war in Archaic Greece'. Adam Godfrey, 'A man of bronze - The Archaic hoplite up close'. Murray Dahm, 'Writing their names in blood - The Battle of the Champions'. Paul Bardunias, 'Gleaming like the sun - The Archaic Greek shieldwall'. Annelies Koolen, 'Bring in Colophon! - Cavalry in Archaic Greece'. Features: Mardonbek Rajapov, 'Their name alone terrifies - Who were the Hephthalites'. Mark McCaffery, 'Imperium - The authority to command'. Velite Aquila, 'An underwater source - Roman soldiers of the First Punic War'. Nicky Nielsen, 'The "Late Egyptian Miscellanies" - Daily life for the soldiers of Ramesses II'. Sean Lake, 'The problematic Spoila Opima - A rare and mysterious military honour'. Jo Ball, 'Name, unit, kit - The tombstone of Severius Acceptus'.

The Byzantine Empire was an empire that endured for more than a millennium. However, when was the empire truly the strongest and most influential in Europe?

This post shows charts showcasing the populations of the biggest cities in the Byzantine Empire in 1050 AD right before the Great Schism between the Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church in Constantinople.

How did a rare medieval wood notebook and pieces of silk tissue end up in a toilet?