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The Abbasids: Glory and Decay 750 -1258 A. D.
UNDER THE Omayyads, who ruled from 661 to 750, Islam had grown into a mighty empire. Arabic had become its
Cracks in the Wall of Islam A.D. 656-750
THE FIRST three caliphs — Abu Bakr, Omar and Othman — had all known — Mohammed well. In 656, Othman,
The Holy Book of Allah A. D. 632-732
Mohammed sometimes dictated his thoughts to his secretary, Zayd, but when he spoke in public no one wrote down what
Early Civilizations to Modern Age
Rome, the City of the Pope 1492-1564
In 1492, young Giovanni de’ Medici bade farewell to his father, Lorenzo the Magnificent and left Florence to take his
Venice, City in the Sea 1350 – 1590
The houses of Venice are “like sea-birds half on sea and half on land,” said Cassiodorus. An officer of a
The Italian Kings of France 1494 – 1590
In all Europe there was no greater admirer of Italy than Francis I, king of France. Francis practiced Italian manners
Distant Past and New Challenges
Milestones of History
Notre-Dame, Palace of the Virgin (1194 A.D.)
Notre-Dame, Palace of the Virgin, with its clusters of columns, its soaring arches, its superb stone carvings and its matchless
Richard I, the Lion Heart (1194-1204 A. D.)
Richard I, the Lion Heart, fails to capture Jerusalem from the Saracens. The birth of the New Byzantium The first
Fall of Constantinople
Fall of Constantinople begins – the crusaders from the West had taken an oath to free the Holy Land from
