It is believed that the Black Death started in China. It then reached rat fleas on merchant ships and was spread throughout the Mediterranean and Europe. The Black Death is estimated to have killed anywhere from 30-60 percent of the European population. It took nearly 2 centuries for Europes population to recover and it is difficult to gage just how much an effect the Black Death had on the course of European history. I.F.C. Heckers The Black Death in the Fourteenth Century provides detail...

The black death is thought to have started in China, and travelled along the Silk Road to reach Crimea by 1346. From there, it was probably carried by Oriental rat fleas living on the black rats that were regular passengers on merchant ships, it spread throughout the Mediterranean and Europe. The Black Death is estimated to have killed 3060 percent of Europe's population,reducing the world's population from an estimated 450 million to between 350 and 375 million in 1400. This has been seen as...

History of three wars from the reign of Justinian, Byzantine emperor -- The Persian War, The Vandalic War, and The Gothic War. According to Wikipedia: "Procopius of Caesarea (Latin: Procopius Caesarensis, c. AD 500 c. AD 565) was a prominent Byzantine scholar from Palestine. Accompanying the general Belisarius in the wars of the Emperor Justinian I, he became the principal historian of the 6th century, writing the Wars of Justinian, the Buildings of Justinian and the celebrated Secret Hist...

Medieval France: From the Reign of Hugues Capet to the Beginning of the Sixteenth Century is a classic treatise on the history of France. This expansive text covers French history form the 10th to the 16th centuries, including the Capetian dynasty, the Crusades, and the Hundred Years War. A table of contents is included for easier navigation.

Egyptian History offers a compact yet ambitious survey of one of antiquity's most enduring civilizations, moving from dynastic origins and monumental statecraft to religion, art, warfare, and imperial decline. Its style combines narrative history, antiquarian synthesis, and moral reflection, reflecting the nineteenth-century effort to make ancient societies intelligible to general readers while preserving scholarly seriousness. The work's significance lies in its broad scope: pharaohs, pri...

New York Times'Could hardly be a more timely parable for our day'Evening Standard'An engrossing and vivid impression of those terrible days'Sunday Express'Absorbing. . .an excellent account of the two most fantastic years in London's history'This book chronicles the horror and human suffering of two of the most terrible years in London's long and vivid history. 1665 brought the plague and cries of "Bring Out Your Dead" echoed the city. A year late...

Medieval Cuisine from Food Fare features information about food and culture in the Middle Ages, including the history of medieval dishes, kitchen utensils and other cooking tools, etiquette, dining, holy days, common recipes, food terms, words and phrases, a medieval day in the life, and links for further study. *UPDATED in May 2013 with 15 new recipes and extra content.*

The First Crusade began in 1095 by Pope Urban II in response to an appeal from Byzantine Emperor Alexios I Komnenos, who requested that western volunteers come to his aid and help to repel the invading Seljuq Turks from Anatolia. An additional goal soon became the principal objectivethe Christian reconquest of the sacred city of Jerusalem and the Holy Land and the freeing of the Eastern Christians from Islamic rule. During the crusade, knights and peasants from many nations of Western Europe ...

Saint Gregory of Tours (November 30, c. 538 November 17, 594) was a Gallo-Roman historian and Bishop of Tours, which made him a leading prelate of Gaul. He was born Georgius Florentius, later adding the name Gregorius in honour of his maternal great-grandfather.He wrote in form of late Vulgar Latin; however, it has been argued that this was a deliberate ploy to ensure his works would reach a wide audience. He is the main contemporary source for Merovingian history. His most notable work was ...

The Life of Charlemagne comes complete with a Touch-or-Click Table of Contents. Einhard was a Frankish scholar and courtier. Einhard was a dedicated servant of Charlemagne and his son Louis the Pious; his main work is a biography of Charlemagne, the Vita Karoli Magni, "one of the most precious literary bequests of the early Middle Ages." Einhard was from the eastern German-speaking part of the Frank Kingdom. Born into a family of relatively low status, his parents sent him to be educated by t...

Also known as “De Re Militari” (On Military Matters), this is the only handbook of Roman warfare to survive to modern times. Written when the power of the Roman empire was already waning, it was intended to educate a new emperor on the capabilities of the Roman legions. Vegetius touches on all military matters, including the selection and training of recruits, the importance of logistics and supply, how to develop leadership qualities, the maintenance of army discipline, the use of arms an...

Burys The Christian Roman Empire and the Foundation of the Teutonic Kingdoms is an expansive history of each of the popes of the Middle Ages. Curated by the famous historian J.B. Bury, The Christian Roman Empire and the Foundation of the Teutonic Kingdoms is a history of the Western Roman Empire and the Church focusing on the period from the introduction of Christianity during Constantines reign to the 7th century A.D. A table of contents is included for easier navigation through over 550 ...