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.
Marsilio Ficino was an important Italian Neoplatonist philosopher during the Renaissance and the mainstay of the so-called Florentine Platonic Academy, a circle of philosophers around him. His father was Cosimo de’ Medici’s personal physician, but few details are known of Ficino’s early life. He was trained in medicine …
Abu Al-Qasem Mansur Firdawsi was a medieval poet, writer, and historian, best known as an author of the Persian grand epic Shahnamah (the Epic of Kings). This monumental work made him the most recognized and highly regarded writer among Persian-speaking people from Central Asia to the Middle East. …
The great Tang (T’ang) dynasty, founded in 618, was wrecked by the Huang Zhao (Huang Ch’ao) Rebellion that lasted between 875 and 884. It was put down only with the help of regional warlords and Turkic allies (the Turks who lived to the north of China were called …
When the prophet Muhammad sensed that he was about to leave this earthly life, he summoned his followers to keep a code of five parts called the Five Pillars. Following are the pillars, given in their Arabic names, though each of the words has a long history in …
The Council of Florence, which ran from 1438 to 1445, was a council of Roman Catholic bishops and other church officials that convened to reform the church and deal with the issues of the east-west schism. The year 1054 marks the date of the schism that broke Christendom …
Florentine Neoplatonism is the Italian Renaissance revival of Neoplatonism, led by Marsilio Ficino (1433–99) and Giovanni Pico della Mirandola (1463–94), that flourished in 15th century Florence. This renewed interest in Neoplatonism, or the philosophy formulated by Plotinus (205–270 c.e.) and founded upon the thought of Plato (427–347 b.c.e.), …
The Franks were a group of Germanic peoples who lived northeast of the northernmost part of the Rhine frontier of the Roman Empire. Bibliography to the Franks first appeared in the mid-third century in Roman sources listing them among the German tribes raiding across the Roman frontier. Eventually, …
Frederick I, called Barbarossa (Italian for “Red Beard”), ruled the Holy Roman Empire from 1152 until his death in 1190 while on the Third Crusade. He was elected emperor upon the death of his uncle, Conrad III, in 1152, when the empire was in decline. He led several …
The Fujiwara clan rose to power as a result of the coup d’etat of 645 that overthrew the Soga, which had dominated the Japanese government until then. The period between c. 857 and 1160 is called the Fujiwara period. Even after losing power it continued to monopolize positions …
Part of the Taira-Minamoto wars the Gempei War in Japan lasted from 1180 until 1185. It was fought between the Taira clan, which was losing influence, and the Minamoto clan, which hoped to replace the Taira clan. It resulted in a victory for the Minamoto clan, and the …
Genghis or Chinggis Khan means “universal ruler.” He was born Temuchin, the son of a minor Mongol chief, and overcame early obstacles to conquer the greatest empire of the world to date, which he bequeathed to his sons. Some believe he was a greater military strategist than Alexander …
The city of Genoa (Genova), in Liguria in northern Italy, was an important Roman port that was founded in the fourth century b.c.e. It is believed to have gained its name from the Latin word ianua, meaning door, as it served as an entry point for many goods …
Ghana, Mali, and Songhai were three of the greatest western African trading states. Beginning with Ghana as early as 300 c.e. and ending with the conquest of the Songhai by Morocco in the 16th century c.e., they dominated the trade of gold, salt, and merchandise between North Africa …
The Ghaznavid dynasty ruled eastern Afghanistan and parts of Iran and Pakistan from 977 to 1186. SebukTigin (r. 977–997), a former slave, founded the empire, ruling from the city of Ghazna, from which the dynasty obtained its name. Sebuk-Tigin had been a slave of the Turks and the …
Al-Ghazzali (al-Ghazel in Latin) is one of the foremost Muslim theologians, comparable to Saint Augustine or Thomas Aquinas in Christianity. He was born in northeastern Iran and studied science and theology. As a young man, he was appointed by the Seljuk vizier Nizam al-Mulk to teach at the …
Lorenzo Ghiberti was born in Florence and trained as a goldsmith by his father, Bartoluccio Ghiberti, and as a painter prior to taking up sculpture. Ghiberti rose to prominence in 1401, with the announcement by the Opera of the Baptistery of a competition to construct a second set …
The early life, artistic training, and attributed works of Giotto di Bondone (commonly referred to as Giotto) are all shrouded in mystery and legend. In his Lives, Vasari provided the first biography and chronicle of the works of Giotto. Giotto was born in 1276 in the village of …
One of the first European nobles to depart on the First Crusade in 1095 was Godfrey of Bouillon. Godfrey led his troops from France to Constantinople and fought alongside other armies through Asia Minor to Jerusalem. After the crusaders took the city, they elected Godfrey as their ruler. …
For those who knew how to survive it, the Sahara was not an impenetrable desert as much as it was a vast, navigable ocean. Like ships on the ocean, large camel caravans have crossed vast distances on waves of sand for centuries, stopping at island oases along the …
Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV (r. 1346–78) established a kind of constitution for the Holy Roman Empire in 1356, calling the document in which the new rules were laid out the “Golden Bull” (Bulla Aurea). It was called by that distinctive name for two reasons: first, because of …
