Medieval

Deryck Abel reflects on a crucial figure in the dispute between King John of England and Pope Innocent III, which in turn led to the issuing of Magna Carta in 1215.

A.H. Burne analyses the key factors that led to what would be a major victory in the Hundred Years' War.

F.M. Godfrey describes how, during the fifteenth century, the courtly civilization of Ferrara gave birth to splendid works of art.

Michael Grant tells how, some 1000 years ago, the “Scourge of God” died on his wedding night.

David Williams traces the Welsh heritage of England's greatest monarchy to medieval times and the Wars of the Roses.

Imbued, with the militant spirit of the Counter Reformation, a sixteenth-century Prince Bishop, Wolf Dietrich von Raitenau, set out to re-build Salzburg as a Second Rome, as Tudor Edwards here describes.

A solid middle-class clan who exported English wool to foreign markets, the Celys have left behind them a graphic record of their private affairs and shrewd commercial dealings, as Alison Hanham here finds.

George Woodcock describes how, in opposition to Portuguese, Dutch and British intruders, the highland kingdom of Kandy in Ceylon flourished under a succession of Buddhist rulers almost until the year of Waterloo.

In 1453 the Duke of Burgundy and his knights dramatically pledged themselves to crusade against the Turkhut with many face-saving qualifications. By Dorothy Margaret Stuart.

Just over a thousand years ago Chinese printers completed the publication of the Confucian Classics—an event as important in the history of civilization as the printing of the Gutenberg Bible. By Adrian L. Julian.