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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
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
Gentlemen, Scholars and Princes 1400 – 1507
One day in the fifteenth century, the Turkish potentate of Babylonia decided to send gifts to the greatest ruler in
Early Civilizations to Modern Age
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 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
Rival Caliphs and Amirs in the West A.D. 750-1492
IN 750, when the first Abbasid caliph ordered a wholesale massacre of the family that had ruled before him, hardly
Distant Past and New Challenges
Milestones of History
Justinian Corpus (520-622 A.D.)
Justinian Corpus, the Juris Civilis, is the ancestor of all European legal systems. The sixth century – in the West,
Flight to Medina (622 A.D.)
The flight to Medina, was made by the prophet Mohammed, when he fled from his native Mecca, in hopes of
T’ang Empire (622 – 794 A.D.)
T’ang Empire – first of the great Chinese dynasties – unifies the nation. The siege of Byzantium During the seventh
