This French queen was the only woman to lead a Crusade – and she was good
The Crusades usually calls to mind European knights duking it out with Islamic warriors in long and protracted series of battles over control of the Holy Land. No doubt we…
4 lopsided battles lost because of excessive pride
Leading a massive military force must be a huge ego booster for its commander. Wielding that much military power in one place has to make anyone feel confident of victory….
These warriors were the ‘Leper Knights’ of the Crusader Kingdoms
August 1099 saw the culmination of the First Crusade. European Knights had finally succeeded in capturing Jerusalem, creating a series of feudal states that would see European Christians control the…
The 7 deadliest weapons of the Crusades
The battles that marked the period of the Crusades were bloody and brutal. Medieval warfare flat out sucked; not only was it incredibly violent, but medicine was basically nonexistent, there was poor sanitation practices, and really bad tactics.
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These are the slave soldiers that defeated the Mongols
The rulers of the Islamic world in the 1200s were not born into aristocracy or priesthood, as was the custom in Europe. They were an army of former slaves. Trained in combat and Sunni Islam from a young age, these “Mamluks” (from the Arabic for …
The elite medieval knights who were bankers and brawlers
They were one of the most powerful organizations in the world at their time, controlling wealth and military arms across the world. The Knights Templar were the first Christian religious military order, eventually growing to be one of the first inte…
These crusader knights answered the call to fight World War I
The country known as Georgia derives its name – “Gurgan,” the land of the wolves – from the Persian word for the “
How the ‘Warrior Pope’ led armies in vicious combat
Catholics know the Pope as God’s representative on Earth. Most other people know him as a generally fine world leader who usually wears unique and cool hats. But, from 1503 to 1513, the papal chair was sat by Pope Julius II, the “Warrior Pope,” w…