Zahiruddin Muhammad Babur (1483-1530), born prince of Fergana in Transoxiana (modern Uzbekistan and Tajikistan), was scion of the dynasty of Tamerlane, which ruled throughout eastern Iran and Central Asia. By the age of twelve, Babur had become the ruler of … Continue reading
The Mongol armies were thought to be unstoppable after they were able to overcome the defences of both Baghdad and Damascus. In 1260 Hulagu sent envoys to Saif ad-Din Qutuz in Cairo demanding his surrender; Quduz responded by killing the … Continue reading
In the following letter, the Patriarch of Antioch describes events in the Crusader States that took place in 1164. To describe briefly, the King of Jersualem, Amalric I, joined forces with a Kurdish emir, Shirkuh, to besiege the Egyptian city … Continue reading
In his work, De Gestis Edwardi Tertii, Robert of Avesbury has preserved several letters from Edward III in which he gives accounts of his actions while on campaign in France in the 1330s and 1340s. In the letter given below, … Continue reading
Translated by William Watson. From: Canadian/American Slavic Studies 35 (2001). 1. al-Kāmil fi ‘t-Ta’rīkh, viii, 412-415 “The Rūs Seizure of the Town of Barda’a” (332 A.H./943-944 A.D.) In this year (332) armed bands of Rūs went by sea (the Caspian) to the … Continue reading
Translated by Helen Nicholson from the editions in the Monumenta Germaniae Historica Scriptores, ed.Bill Zajac. In 1153, Baldwin launched a major attack on Ascalon, with an army large enough to invest the great city completely. The siege dragged on for months, with … Continue reading
The Journal of Socho (Socho shuki) was compiled from 1522 to 1527 by Saiokuken Socho (1448-1532), one of Japan’s preeminent poets of that period. He served as poet laureate of the Imagawa daimyo house in his later years, and this … Continue reading
This text, known as the Munyatu’l-Guzat, or Wish of the Warriors of the Faith, is a fourteenth-century chivalric arts manual written in Mamluk-Kipchak. The work was originally in Arabic, but that version and the Mamluk-Kipchak have several differences. The use … Continue reading
Boncompagno da Signa (1168?-1240?) was an important Italian scholar who wrote several treatises and other works as he moved around between cities such as Ancona, Bologna and Venice. His account of the siege of Ancona, which he wrote around 1201, … Continue reading
Ammianus Marcellinus was an army officer of Greek origin who left a history of the wars and conflicts that beset the Roman Empire in the latter half of the fourth century. Although he is more famous for his account of … Continue reading
The Amloravid empire collapsed in 1145, leading to al-Andalus fragmenting into a new collection of taifa states. Alfonso VII was able to exploit this situation by capturing Cordova in 1146. He then organized another expedition with Genoa and Pisa to … Continue reading
The conquest of Baghdad was not the end of the Mongol invasion of the Middle East. The following section relates Hulagu’s invasion of modern-day Syria, where he captured the city of Aleppo and gained the surrender of Damascus. Hulagu Khan … Continue reading
In the 1190s, Alfonso VIII of Castile (1158-1214) undertook a raid into the region around Seville, the Almohad capital of Spain. In retaliation, the Almohad ruler, Ya’qub (1184-99) went on his own campaign against Alfonso, leading to his victory at … Continue reading
The Chronicle of Ahimaaz is an epic genealogical work composed in Southern Italy in 1054 by Ahimaaz ben Paltiel. Although it intended merely to glorify his own immediate ancestors, this work gives much important information in regard to the history … Continue reading
Ágrip af Nóregskonungasögum wrote his account of the history of the Norwegian kings around 1190. Along with Theodoricus Monachus’ Historia de Antiquitate Regum Norwagiensium and the anonymous Historia Norvegiae, this work represents one of the earliest surving accounts of the history of Norway and … Continue reading
This account of the famous battle of Agincourt comes from Enguerrand de Monstrelet (d.1453), governor of Cambrai and supporter of the French crown. CHAPTER CXLIII – THE KING OF FRANCE COLLECTS A GREAT BODY OF MEN-AT-ARMS FROM ALL PARTS OF … Continue reading
