Latest Posts
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
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,
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
Toledo falls, marking the end of Islam in Spain (1077 – 1100)
Toledo falls and this marks the beginning of the end of Islam in Spain. A triumph for orthodoxy The events
