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.
Wang Yangming was an influential scholar during the era of the Ming dynasty in China, the last native Chinese dynasty. In 1644 invaders from Manchuria would overthrow the Ming, beginning the Qing (Ching) dynasty. The Qing dynasty would rule until the collapse of the Chinese empire in the …
A concordat is a formal agreement between the pope acting in his spiritual function and a state. It is a legal contract between church and state, recognized as a treaty under international law. The antithesis between temporal and spiritual authority was particularly pronounced in the medieval quarrels leading …
Wu Zhao or Zetia (Tse-tien) is famous in Chinese history because she was the only woman who ruled in her own name. Daughter of an official of the recently founded Tang (T’ang) dynasty she was selected to join the harem of the emperor Taizong (T’ang-tsung) at age 15 …
Theology and ecclesiastical affairs had been in ferment for some time before the 16th-century upheavals now known as the Protestant Reformation, which left behind enduring divisions among Western Christian churches. For at least three centuries theologians had held divergent opinions on the possibility of conflict between the Bible …
As the Tang (T’ang) dynasty (618–907) was crumbling, several regional states came into being that occupied outlying areas of the once great empire. One of them was called Xixia or Western Xia (982–1127). Although it included several ethnic groups, among them many Han Chinese, the ruling dynasty and …
Xuanzang was a Chinese monk who journeyed to India to study Buddhism. He was preceded by others, among them Fa Xian (Fa-hsien), but was surpassed by none. Together the pilgrims’ translations and other writings enhanced China’s knowledge of many lands and added to the understanding of Buddhism. A …
Li Longji (Li Lung-chi) reigned 712–756 as Minghuang (Ming-huang means Brilliant Emperor; Xuanzong was his posthumous title). He was the grandson of Empress Wu Zhao and son of Ruizong (Jui-tsung, r. 710–712), who abdicated in his favor. His youth was spent under house arrest in his grandmother’s court. …
The Battle of Yarmuk (a tributary of the Jordan River), close to the present-day border of Syria and Jordan, was a decisive battle between the Byzantine Empire and the rapidly expanding Arab Islamic empire. In the 630s as Arab forces advanced out of the Arabian Peninsula into Iraq …
Also called Iaroslav, or Yaroslav Mudryi in Russian, Yaroslav the Wise was grand prince of Kiev from 1019 to 1054, one of the brightest representatives of the Riurykide (Rurikovich) dynasty, who was best known in eastern European history as a powerful leader of the early centralized Kievan Rus …
Yelu Chucai belonged to the Yelu clan of the Khitan Liao dynasty, which ruled northeastern China 916– 1125. After the fall of Liao his branch of the family remained in northern China and served the Jin (Chin) dynasty (1115–1234) that had destroyed Liao. He was thoroughly Sinicized, a …
The man who became the third ruler of China’s Ming dynasty (1368–1644) as Emperor Yongle (Yung-lo) (meaning “lasting joy”) was the fourth son of Zhu Yuanzhang (Chu Yuan-chang), the dynastic founder. His personal name was Zhu Di (Chu Ti). Well-grounded in Confucian studies and also a proven military …
Yuan was the first non-Chinese dynasty to rule the entire area of the Chinese civilization (1279–1368). Kubilai Khan (grandson of Genghis Khan) proclaimed this rule in 1271, but because South China was not then under his control, historians did not formally recognize it as the ruling dynasty of …
Yue Fei is one of the most famous and admired figures in Chinese history. His parents were farmers in present day Henan (Honan) province. Growing up he was acutely aware of the brutal power of the nomadic Jurchens, who frequently raided his region. In 1122 he joined a …
Zen is a form of Buddhism that concentrates on calm, reflective forms of meditation in the quest for enlightenment. The word Zen, by which the school is known in Japan, derives from the Sanskrit word dhyana, which means “meditation.” Dhyana took root in China and was translated into …
Zhao Kuangyin, founder of the Song (Sung) dynasty (960–1289), is better known by his posthumous title Song Taizu (T’ai-tsu), which means “Grand Progenitor of the Song.” China was plunged into half a century of turmoil after the fall of the Tang (T’ang) dynasty in 909. From 909 to …
Zheng He was born into a Muslim family named Ma in Kunying, Yunnan province. At the beginning of the Ming dynasty (1368–1644), a number of generals fighting on the frontiers were put in charge of recruiting eunuchs for the court. When Yunnan was pacified in 1381, Zheng He, …
Zhu Xi was a prominent Song (Sung) dynasty NeoConfucian scholar who taught at the White Deer Grotto Academy and, by completing the second wave of canonizing Confucian learning, created a program of education and self-cultivation that became the official standard for the Chinese civil service examinations from 1313 …
As with much of southern Africa, the earliest inhabitants of what is now the country of Zimbabwe were the nomadic San peoples, who led a life in search of game and edible vegetation about 20,000 years ago. Later the Khoi-Khoi people, pastoralists with herds, entered the region. The …
On August 9, 378 c.e., the Eastern Roman army under the command of Emperor Valens attacked a Gothic army (made up of Visigoths and Ostrogoths) that had camped near the town of Adrianople (also called Hadrianoplis) and was routed. The battle is often considered the beginning of the …
The son of a wealthy family in sixth century b.c.e. Attica, Aeschylus was a tragedian at a time when Greek theater was still developing from its beginnings as a form of elaborate dance. In contrast to the first dramas, performed in honor of Dionysus and under the influence …
