World 1066-1509

Anyone who was anyone from a noble house set off on crusade during this period while elsewhere in the Middle East the Islamic world was developing. Further afield power was developing in the Pacific and explorers and Invaders were encountering the Americas. Information about all of this is here in this section.

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  • Culture Shock: The Arrival of the Conquistadores in Aztec Mexico

    Article

    When the Spanish Conquistadores arrived in Mexico during the early sixteenth century there were many repercussions for the indigenous people. Their conversion to Christianity and the sacking of their temples are two of the most well known examples.  However, it is often forgotten that the Aztecs had only a pictorial...

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  • Polychronicon 133: The Crusader States in the Levant

    Article

    In my first Polychronicon article on ‘The Crusades' I pointed out that research historians are increasingly specialising either on the crusades themselves or on the crusader states. There are good reasons for this, but in my opinion it makes little sense for school or university teachers to treat these topics...

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  • Upwards till Lepanto

    Article

    Ottoman society centred on the Sultan. He was lawgiver, religious official, leader in battle-and until the late sixteenth century an active field commander on campaign. The Law of Fratricide of Mehmet (Mohammed) II, 1451-81, urged each new Sultan to kill his brothers in order to produce a capable ruler and...

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  • Polychronicon 127: The Crusades

    Article

    Modern research on the crusades has concentrated on three basic questions. What were they? How were they justified? What motivated the crusaders? The first of these questions became controversial twenty-five years ago, when historians with a traditional approach to the subject, who took into consideration only those expeditions launched to...

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  • Confounding expectation at Key Stage 3: flower-songs from an indigenous empire

    Article

    In this article Nicolas Kinloch examines aspects of an indigenous empire: that of Aztec Mexico. He attempts to persuade a group of mixed-ability Year 8 students to examine - and question - some of the assumptions they bring to the study of this empire. Their attitudes reflect quite widespread beliefs...

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  • The Knights Templars

    Article

    Professor Malcolm Barber explores the rise and fall of the Knights Templars. "The master of the Temple was a good knight and stout-hearted, but he mistreated all other people as he was too overweening. He would not place any credence in the advice of the master of the Hospital, Brother...

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