Fury from the North 814-1042
“. . FROM THE FURY OF THE NORTHMEN, Good Lord, deliver us.” Until recent times, this line was included in the prayer book used by the Church of England. The raids of the Norse Vikings on Britain were so terrible…
World History Volume
5000 Years of History.Wisdom. Heritage. Vision.
Category Middle Ages 500 – 1400 A.D.
From the fall of Rome, to the Renaissance. Includes Western & Eastern Middle Ages, Islamic empires, Crusades, feudalism and how Europe widened its horizons.
Charles, Called the Great 771 – 814
IT WAS COLD INSIDE the great cathedral of St. Peter in Rome on Christmas day, in the year 800. The breath of the closely packed worshipers rose like steam. Although their heads were bowed in prayer, many of the worshipers…
The End and the Beginning 378- 752
THE FIRST SIGN of the approaching Roman army was a thin column of dust. It rose like smoke from behind the jagged Thracian hills of Northern Greece, which sheltered the Visigoths’ encampment. Moments later, the Visigoths, or German barbarians, as…
Two and a Half Centuries of Unrest in Japan A.D. 1336-1573
Go-Daigo had found refuge in a place in the mountains called Yoshino. Japan now had two emperors, one in Kyoto and the other in Yoshino. Takauji set out to simplify matters. As a first step, he had his puppet, the…
The Warrior’s Take Over A. D. 1150 – 1336
BY THE middle of the twelfth century, Kyoto was no longer the real center of power in Japan. The old forms of government were kept unchanged. The emperor was still, supposedly, the source of all authority. The aristocrats wanted to…
Japan’s Change and Slow Growth A.D. 838-1150
BETWEEN THE ninth and twelfth centuries, Japan developed at a slower pace. It was as if the people knew that they needed time to digest what they had learned. After 838, the government sent no more official missions to China.…
Borrowing From China A. D. 587 – 838
PRINCE SHOTOKU was pleased to see his fellow aristocrats take to his chosen faith so enthusiastically. He wanted them to adopt other ways of living from China, too. Having seen how the Sui emperors had reunified China after three and…
Becoming a Nation B.C. 660 – 587 A. D.
DRAWING ON nature for inspiration, the Japanese invented a number of gods and goddesses. They took it for granted that their islands and their ancestors had been created by gods. Many different stories were told about how these things had…
Japan, the “Source of the Sun” 3000 B.C.-A.D. 400
THE Japanese islands — four large ones and many smaller ones — rise out of the Pacific Ocean to the east of China and Korea. They form a bow that bends from southwest to north for eleven hundred miles. The…