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Mary, Queen of Scots
Mary, Queen of Scots was the queen of both Scotland (r. 1542-1567 CE) and briefly, France (r. 1559-1560 CE). Obliged to flee Scotland, the queen was...
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Chinese Pig-Dragon Sculpture
A Chinese pig-dragon sculpture. China, probably Yunnan Province, Yuan dynasty, 1279-1368 CE. (Los Angeles County Museum of Art)
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Definition
Ship Money
Ship Money was a tax applied by medieval monarchs to English coastal communities to pay for ships for the Royal Navy and so ward off pirates and enemies...
Article
50 Biblical Phrases, Idioms, & Metaphors
In the Western tradition, many phrases and terms from the Bible are utilized as allegory, metaphors, idioms, or simply to describe the characteristics...
Definition
Aristarchus of Samos
Aristarchus of Samos (l. c. 310 - c. 230 BCE) was a Greek astronomer who first proposed a heliocentric model of the universe in which the sun, not the...
Article
Legions of Judea
Judea was initially dependent on its neighbor Syria for military support until it received a Roman legion of its own in 70 CE after the Great Jewish...
Definition
Parthian Cataphract
The Parthian cataphract was a heavy cavalry unit of Parthian warfare, an entirely armored, huge fast horse mounted by a completely armored rider, equipped...
Definition
Martyr
A martyr is someone who voluntarily dies for either a religious or secular cause. The word originates from "witness" in Greek and is related to a witness...
Definition
Grand Remonstrance
The Grand Remonstrance of 1641 was a list of grievances issued by Parliament against King Charles I of England (r. 1625-1649). It recorded what Parliament...
Definition
Greek Astronomy
Ancient Greek astronomy was the study of the universe to understand how it functioned and why apart from the established theistic model that claimed...
Article
Müntzer's Vindication and Refutation
The Vindication and Refutation of Thomas Müntzer (l. c. 1489-1525) is a 1524 open letter to Jesus Christ, Martin Luther (l. 1483-1546), and the Christian...
Article
Lokasenna
The poem Lokasenna belongs to the Poetic Edda, a bulk of Old Norse poetry written down in Iceland in the 1200s but based on linguistic features dating...
Definition
Twelve Articles
The Twelve Articles (1525) is a document written between 27 February and 1 March 1525 addressing grievances of the peasants of the Germanic regions...
Definition
Zealots
The Zealots were a group of Jews who began to emerge as a religious/political movement around the beginning of the 1st century CE. They strongly opposed...
