Category: History Essay Examples
See our collection of history essay examples. These example essays are to help you understanding how to write a history essay. History is a fascinating puzzle with both personal and cultural significance. The past informs our lives, ideas, and expectations. Historians study the past to figure out what happened and how specific events and cultural developments affected individuals and societies. Also, see our list of history essay topics to find the one that interests you.
After the prophet Muhammad’s death in 632, the elder statesman Abu Bakr (r. 632–34) was selected as the new caliph or representative of the Muslim community. The first four caliphs were known as the Rashidun or rightly guided ones. Abu Bakr irritated Muhammad’s daughter, Fatima, and her husband, …
Canute was the younger son of Sweyn Forkbeard (c. 960–1014) and Princess Gunhild, and the grandson of Harold Bluetooth, king of the Danes. In 1013 Canute joined Sweyn on his third attempt to invade England. Sweyn forced the incompetent King Ethelred II the Unready (968–1016) to escape to …
The founder of the Capetian dynasty of French kings (987–1328), Hugh Capet was born the second son of Hugh the Great, duke of Francia and count of Paris, and Hedwig, sister of Otto I, the emperor of Germany. In 961 he was made duke of Francia, holding vast …
The Carolingian dynasty was a family of Frankish tribe nobles who came to rule over much of western Europe from 751 to 987. The dynasty’s most prominent member was Charlemagne. The family originally served as hereditary mayors of the palace of Austrasia, the northeastern section of the kingdom …
The Carolingian Renaissance is the name given to the revival of classical learning and culture that occurred during the late eighth and ninth centuries, a period that roughly corresponds to the rule of the Frankish emperor Charlemagne (768–814) and his successors during the Carolingian dynasty. Prior to Charlemagne’s …
A variety of modern sectarian and special interest groups, from New Age cults to Irish nationalists to feminists to independent Christians, claim Celtic roots for their drive and inspiration. With so many competing claims it is difficult to clear away the partisan fervor from the historical realities surrounding …
Genghis Khan (c. 1167–1227) had four sons by his principal wife, Borte. The eldest son, Juji, and second son, Chagatai, were such fierce rivals that Genghis decided to bypass both in favor of his third son, Ogotai Khan as his successor khaghan (Grand Khan), and all of his …
According to Chinese texts, in 192 c.e., Champa was formed during the aftermath of the breakup of the Han dynasty of China. The Champa kingdom was situated along the coastal plains of present-day central and southern Vietnam. The Chams shared many biological traits with the Malays and Polynesians. …
Charlemagne, or Charles the Great, was born the eldest son of Pepin the Short, king of the Franks (751–768), and his wife, Bertrada of Laon. Upon his father’s death the Frankish kingdom was divided between Charlemagne and his younger brother Carloman in 768. When Carloman died suddenly in …
Geoffrey Chaucer was the son of John Chaucer, a prosperous wine merchant, and Agnes de Copton. Around 1355 his fairly wealthy parents secured a position for the young Geoffrey as a page in a household of royal rank, that of Prince Lionel, the earl of Ulster, the future …
Two successive kingdoms with strong Indian influence emerged during the pre-Angkorean centuries of Khmer history. These were the Funan, from the second to sixth centuries, and Kambuja (Chenla, Zhenla in Chinese) from the sixth to the eighth centuries. A vassal state of Funan, Chenla emerged as an independent …
The three centuries of the Tang (T’ang) dynasty (618–909) represent the golden age of Chinese poetry. Chinese poetry reached its pinnacle during the reign of Minghuang (r. 712–756, also known as Xuanzong (Hsuan-tsung). About 3,000 poets’s names have survived from the Tang dynasty; many of those works are …
During the Middle Ages chivalry (derived from Latin caballus, “nag,” and closely related to French chevalier, Spanish caballero, and English cavalier) denoted the class of knighthood and the ideals associated with it. The noble knight was distinguished from the peasant infantryman by several attributes: his horse, weapons (sword …
The Chola kingdom was a medieval Indian state, which saw most of southern India being brought under a united government for the first time. At its greatest extent, Chola covered not just the south of India but also Sri Lanka, peninsular Malaya, western Borneo, and other islands of …
When the Moors from Morocco invaded Spain in 711, they easily managed to capture most of the Iberian Peninsula with the exception of the area around the Asturian Mountains in the north. When they did get around to attacking that region in 718, the Christians defeated the Moors …
Manuel Chrysoloras was born in approximately 1350, in Constantinople, only about a century before the city— and its Eastern Roman Empire, or Byzantine Empire— fell to the Ottoman Turks under Mehmed II in 1453. He became a student of Georgius Gemisthos Pletho, who represented the Greek Church at …
At the end of the ninth and beginning of the 10th century, European society faced the turbulent effects of the destruction of central authority in civil government. This major crisis was not without repercussion in the ecclesial sphere, including: schisms and scandals in the papacy, seizure of church …
Also known as St. Columbanus, Columban of Leinster was born in West Leinster, Ireland, in 543. He died in Bobbio, Italy, on November 21, 615. Early in life, Columban entered religious life under Sinell, an abbot in Lough Erne. He then left for the monastery of Bangor and …
The Council of Constance was the last and most successful of a series of church councils called to heal the division in the Catholic Church between followers of the popes in Avignon and followers of the popes in Rome. By the time the council was actually convened, on …
The Fourth Crusade had a devastating impact on the Byzantine Empire and its capital, Constantinople. For an enormous charge, the Venetians offered to transport the forces of the Fourth Crusade to Egypt to fight the Muslim “infidels.” But the Venetians never intended to attack the Egyptian Muslim rulers, …
