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.
In 1095 Pope Urban II incited the Crusades with a speech urging Christian armies to free the holy sites, especially Jerusalem, from Muslim control. The Crusades sparked a fire of religious fervor among thousands of young knights and other Christian believers. Other crusaders were adventurers, fortune seekers, and …
The brothers Saint Cyril and Saint Methodios were born around 827 and 825, respectively, in the bilingual (Greek and Slav) city of Thessalonika to a prominent Byzantine family. They were educated in Constantinople, where Cyril was a professor at the patriarchal school, and Methodios entered the religious life, …
John Damascene is one of the great fathers of the church for the Byzantine East. His contributions include several influential, even fundamental theological works, apologetic literature, and hymnography, all in Greek. John was the son of a wealthy mercantile family that served at the court of the Umayyad …
Danelaw encompassed the areas of northeast England where Danish customs had a strong political and cultural influence throughout much of the early Middle Ages. The area included Yorkshire (southern Northumbria), East Anglia, and the Five Boroughs, named for its main centers of settlement: Lincoln, Stamford, Nottingham, Leicester, and …
Dante Alighieri was born in 1265 in Florence to a family of noble lineage. His father made a living through property rental and moneylending. His mother, Bella degli Abati, died when he was seven years old, and his father also died when he was young, before 1283. Dante …
The influx of Muslim Turks into the Indian subcontinent began in the 11th and 12th centuries. It was spearheaded by a series of military dynasties, including the Ghaznavids, who ruled parts of Persia and invaded northern India, and the Ghurids, who started off as allies of the great …
In Islamic ruled territories, Dhimmis were those religious minorities, or People of the Book (ahl al-kitab), who were protected under Islamic law. People of the Book included Jews, Christians (of all denominations), and sometimes Zoroastrians. As polytheists Hindus were not usually granted protected minority status. Under Islamic law …
In June 632 the prophet Muhammad, the founder and last prophet of Islam, died of natural causes. He left behind a nascent Islamic state within the Arabian Peninsula. Although some Muslim sources state that there had been a premonition of his death, the confusion and divisions within the …
Donato di Niccolode Bettto Bardi (Donatello) is one of the greatest and most famous Italian sculptors of the 15th century, whose work was greatly influenced by the early European Renaissance. He was born in Florence (or in its vicinities) between the years 1382 and 1387, in the family …
The Mon kingdom of Dvaravati (also called Siam) flourished in what is now Thailand from the sixth century c.e. to around the 11th century. The kingdom covered the political area of Nakhon Pathom (west of present-day Bangkok), U-Thong, and Khu Bua. Dvaravati extended outward from the lower Chao …
The Bantu migration from the central Sahara, perhaps the defining event in the history of Africa south of the Sahara, brought people to the region of East Africa as the nucleus of the emerging city-states. From the 10th century, Arab traders noticed the importance of such settlements to …
The origins of the modern British parliament can be traced to the reign of two medieval English kings: Edward I (1239–1307) and Edward II (1284–1327). Parliament had its roots in the king’s Great Council, a primarily judicial and executive body in which prominent barons counseled the king and …
The title El Cid was given to a Spanish early medieval warrior called Rodrigo (or Ruy) Díaz de Vivar, also known as El Campeador (“the Champion”). After his death, he became a folk hero with many Spanish ballads written of his rise from obscurity to lead the Castilians …
Common law developed after the Norman Conquest of England. In 1066 England was peopled with Angles, Saxons, Vikings, Danes, Celts, Jutes, and other groups who were suddenly ruled by French-speaking Normans. Most law at the time was customary law that had been handed down orally from generation to …
Leif Ericson was an Icelandic explorer who is believed to have been the first European to discover North America and, more specifically, the region that would become known as Newfoundland and then Canada. It is believed that Ericson was born around 980 to Erik the Red, a Norwegian …
Ethiopia’s unique and venerable identity stems from its claims to have deep roots in the ancient and biblical world. On one hand it continued the ancient civilization represented by Axum, the trading intermediary for Rome and India on the Red Sea. And on the other hand, it promoted …
As the European economy grew during the 11th and 12th centuries overland trade between Italy and northwest Europe increased and merchants from these regions needed to meet to exchange their goods. During the period from the early 12th through the 13th century, this exchange was centered mostly in …
The Fatimid dynasty (named after the prophet Muhammad’s daughter Fatima, from whom the Fatimids claimed descent) was a Shi’i dynasty founded by Abd Allah. Although he was an Isma’ili, Abd Allah did not claim descent from the Imam Isma’il but from the Prophet’s family. When his beliefs led …
Medieval historians have traditionally understood feudalism to be a sociopolitical system that dominated European societies from the fall of the Roman Empire to the start of the Renaissance. This definition however has been thrown into question by myriad incongruous details, among which is the notable absence of the …
When most people think of feudalism, medieval Europe from about the ninth to 15th centuries is most likely to come to mind. The term feudalism is of fairly recent origin, coined in the 17th century by lawyers and antiquarians who used it to describe rules of land tenure, …
