Category Archives: Uncategorized

As an aid to students, teachers and parents dealing with the challenges of home learning, we have constructed an A–Z of the World taken from E. H. Gombrich’s, A Little History of the World. Day by day, we will be sharing a bite size introduction to a historical figure, event or period – using Gombrich’s magical words – along with links to free resources, so that readers of all ages can discover more. Today, Gombrich covers Leonardo da Vinci.

L

Leonardo da Vinci

E. H. Gombrich: In Florence there was one artist in particular for whom painting good paintings was not enough, no matter how beautiful they might be. And his were far and away the ﬁnest. He wanted to have a perfect understanding of all the things he painted and how they related to each other. This painter’s name was Leonardo da Vinci. He lived from 1452 to 1519 and was the son of a farm servant-girl. He wanted to know how a person looked when they cried and when they laughed, and also what the inside of a human body was like – the muscles, bones and sinews. So he asked hospitals to give him the bodies of people who had died, which he then dissected and explored. This was something quite unheard of at the time.

And he did not stop there. He also looked at plants and animals in a new way and puzzled over what makes birds able to ﬂy. This led him to think about whether people, too, might not be able to ﬂy. He was the ﬁrst person to carry out an accurate and precise investigation into the possibility of constructing an artiﬁcial bird or ﬂying machine. And he was convinced that one day it would be done.

He was interested in everything in nature. Nor did he limit himself to the writings of Aristotle and the Arab thinkers. He always wanted to know if what he read was really true. So, above all, he used his eyes, and with those eyes he saw more than anyone had ever seen before, because he was always asking himself questions about what he observed. Whenever he wanted to know about something – for example, why whirlpools happen or why hot air rises – he did an experiment. He had little time for the learned writings of his contemporaries and was the ﬁrst person to investigate the secrets of nature by means of experiments. He made sketches and noted down his observations on scraps of paper and in a vast accumulation of notebooks. Leaﬁng through his jottings today, one is constantly amazed that a single human being could investigate and analyse so many different things, things about which nothing was known at the time and few cared to know about.

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Free Resources to Learn More about Leonardo da Vinci

At the time of publication, these resources were free to use (some for a limited time only, during the COVID-19 pandemic).

BBC History

Leonardo da Vinci (1452 -1519)

BBC Teach (KS2)

Discovering the work of Leonardo da Vinci (video)

The Khan Academy

Various resources

The School Run

Leonardo da Vinci

The Yale Blog

When Leonardo Met Michelangelo: The Art of the Figure – Michael Cole

This page provides access to a list of free online resources. It is not intended to endorse any particular resource.

A Little History of the World

All the descriptions in this A-Z are taken from E. H. Gombrich’s A Little History of the World.

Philip Pullman described the book as, “A brilliant piece of narrative, splendidly organised, told with an energy and confidence that are enormously attractive, and suffused with all the humanity and generosity of spirit that Gombrich’s thousands of admirers came to cherish during his long and richly productive life. It’s a wonderful surprise: irresistible, in fact.”

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The Little Histories are vivid storybook introductions for the young and old alike. Inspiring and entertaining, each short book lays out our greatest subjects in deceptively simple, engaging tones. With charming and personal insights each expert gently takes the reader from ancient times to the present through bite size chapters, ideal as bedtime reading or on the journey to work. Other Little Histories available include, Philosophy, Economics, Science, Literature, Language, Religion and Poetry. More details about the whole series can be found on the Little Histories website.

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The post An A-Z of the World – E. H. Gombrich on: Leonardo da Vinci appeared first on Yale University Press London Blog.

K

Knights

E. H. Gombrich: I am sure you have heard of knights of old from the Age of Chivalry. And you have probably read books about knights and their squires who set out in search of adventure; stories full of shining armour, plumed helmets and noble steeds, blazoned escutcheons and impregnable fortresses, jousting and tournaments where fair ladies give prizes to the victors, wandering minstrels, forsaken damsels and departures for the Holy Land. The best thing is that all of it really existed. All that glitter and romance is no invention. Once upon a time the world really was full of colour and adventure, and people joyfully took part in that strange and wonderful game called chivalry, which was often played in deadly earnest.

But when exactly was the Age of Chivalry, and what was it really like? The word chivalry comes from the French word chevalier meaning horseman, and it was with horsemen that chivalry began. Anyone who could afford a good charger on which to ride into battle was a knight. If he couldn’t, he went on foot and wasn’t a knight. Noblemen whose lands had been bestowed on them by the king were also knights and their serfs had to provide hay for the horses. A nobleman might, in his turn, bestow part of his ﬁef on his agent or steward, who would also be rich enough to own a ﬁne horse even if, in other respects, he had little power. When his lord was summoned to war by the king he had to ride with him. So stewards were also knights. Only peasants and poor servants, farm-lads and labourers who went to war on foot weren’t knights.

It all began around the time of the emperor Henry IV – that is to say, after the year 1000 – and went on for several centuries, in Germany and in England, but above all in France.

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Free Resources to Learn More about Knights

At the time of publication, these resources were free to use (some for a limited time only, during the COVID-19 pandemic).

BBC Bitesize (KS3)

Life in a castle

What impact did the feudal system have on society?

BBC In Our Time

Chivalry

Khan Academy

Chivalry in the Middle Ages (video)

The Yale Blog

The Battle of Agincourt: Chivalry – Anne Curry

This page provides access to a list of free online resources. It is not intended to endorse any particular resource.

A Little History of the World

All the descriptions in this A-Z are taken from E. H. Gombrich’s A Little History of the World.

Discover More

Stay connected with the latest developments in the Little Histories series by following us on Twitter and Facebook.

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The post An A-Z of the World – E. H. Gombrich on: Knights appeared first on Yale University Press London Blog.

J

Joan of Arc

E. H. Gombrich: A Norman family had conquered England in 1066, and they had been ruling England ever since. This made them nominally French and, as such, subjects of the kings of France, who could therefore claim sovereignty over England as well as France. However, when no heir was born to the French royal family, the kings of England claimed that, both as relatives and as vassals of the French kings, they should now rule France as well as England. The dispute that followed turned into a terrible struggle. It began in 1337 and lasted for more than a hundred years. The English won more and more land for themselves, conquering ever-greater parts of France – not least because the French king who was in power towards the end of this war was thick-witted and incompetent.

‘Only when the English are in England will there be peace’

But the French people did not want to be ruled by foreigners. And it was then that the miracle happened. A simple seventeen-year-old shepherdess called Joan of Arc, who felt herself called by God to the task, succeeded in persuading the French to put her at the head of an army, dressed in full armour, and the English were driven from the land. ‘Only when the English are in England will there be peace,’ she said.

But the English took their revenge. They captured her and sentenced her to death for witchcraft. And in 1431 Joan of Arc was burned at the stake. But perhaps it wasn’t so surprising that they thought she was a witch. For doesn’t it seem like magic that a simple, uneducated girl, all on her own, armed with nothing but courage and a passionate conviction, should be able to wipe out the accumulated defeats of almost a century in just two years, and bring about the crowning of her king?

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Free Resources to Learn More about Joan of Arc

At the time of publication, these resources were free to use (some for a limited time only, during the COVID-19 pandemic).

BBC In Our Time

The Siege of Orléans

BBC Chivalry and Betrayal: The Hundred Years War

Joan of Arc – Dr Janina Ramirez (video)

BBC The Invention Of…

France: Joan of Arc – Misha Glenny

BBC How to Invent a Country

Joan of Arc and England’s role in defining France – Misha Glenny

BBC You’re Dead To Me

Joan of Arc – Greg Jenner

BBC Things We Forgot to Remember

Joan of Arc – Michael Portillo

The Yale Blog

England’s Scourge, France’s Heroine: Joan of Arc at 600 – Larissa Juliet Taylor

Bringing Joan of Arc to Life: Larissa Taylor on ‘The Virgin Warrior’ and Collaborating with Ken Follett

This page provides access to a list of free online resources. It is not intended to endorse any particular resource.

A Little History of the World

All the descriptions in this A-Z are taken from E. H. Gombrich’s A Little History of the World.

Discover More

Stay connected with the latest developments in the Little Histories series by following us on Twitter and Facebook.

Or sign up to our mailing list to discover more!

The post An A-Z of the World – E. H. Gombrich on: Joan of Arc appeared first on Yale University Press London Blog.

I

The Industrial Revolution

E. H. Gombrich: Mastering the mathematics of nature enabled people not only to understand the forces of nature, but to use them. And they were now harnessed and put to work for mankind.

The steam engine came first. In 1769 a Scottish engineer named James Watt patented a proper steam engine. At first the engine was mainly used to pump water out of mines, but people soon saw the possibility of using it to drive carriages or ships. At about the same time attempts were also being made in England to propel vehicles using steam. In 1814 George Stephenson built the first effective steam locomotive and in 1825 the first railway line was opened between the towns of Stockton and Darlington. Within thirty years there were railway lines all over Britain, America, throughout almost all of Europe, and in India. These lines went over mountains, through tunnels and over great rivers, and carried people at least ten times as quickly as the fastest stagecoach.

It was much the same with the invention of the electric telegraph, the only means of rapid communication before the telephone. In 1837 an American artist called Samuel Morse succeeded in sending a short telegram to his friends. Once again, hardly more than ten years had passed before use of the telegraph was widespread.

‘All of these developments produced a tremendous upheaval in people’s lives. Everything was turned upside-down and hardly anything stayed where it had been.’

However, other machines changed the world even more profoundly. These were the machines that made user of the forces of nature instead of manpower. Take spinning and weaving, for example – work that had always been done by artisans. When the demand for cloth increased (around the time of Louis XIV), factories already existed, but the work was done by hand. It took a while for people to realise that their new knowledge of nature could be applied to the production of cloth. The dates are much the same as those of the other great inventions. People were experimenting with various sorts of spinning machines from 1740 onwards. The mechanical loom was introduced at about the same time. And again, it was in England that these machines were first made and used. Machines and factories needed coal and iron, so countries which had their own coal and iron were at a great advantage.

All of these developments produced a tremendous upheaval in people’s lives. Everything was turned upside-down and hardly anything stayed where it had been.

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Free Resources to Learn More about the Industrial Revolution

At the time of publication, these resources were free to use (some for a limited time only, during the COVID-19 pandemic).

BBC Bitesize (KS2)

Victorians class clips (videos)

BBC Bitesize (KS3)

The Industrial Revolution

BBC History

All Change in the Victorian Age – Bruce Robinson

The Workshop of the World – Professor Pat Hudson

Who Wants to Be a Cotton Millionaire? (game)

BBC Teach

Why the Industrial Revolution Happened Here – Professor Jeremy Black (videos)

The Industrial Revolution – Andrew Marr (video)

BBC In Our Time

The Industrial Revolution

Consequences of the Industrial Revolution

Khan Academy

Various resources

The Yale Blog

‘Hell Upon Earth’? The True Nature of the Victorian City – Emma Griffin

This page provides access to a list of free online resources. It is not intended to endorse any particular resource.

A Little History of the World

All the descriptions in this A-Z are taken from E. H. Gombrich’s A Little History of the World.

Discover More

Stay connected with the latest developments in the Little Histories series by following us on Twitter and Facebook.

Or sign up to our mailing list to discover more!

The post An A-Z of the World – E. H. Gombrich on: the Industrial Revolution appeared first on Yale University Press London Blog.

H

Hannibal

E. H. Gombrich: Hannibal was a truly extraordinary young man. Reared among soldiers, he knew everything there was to know about warfare. Hunger and cold, heat and thirst, forced marches day and night, he had seen them all. He was fearless, unbelievably tenacious and a born leader. He could outwit the enemy with his cunning and sum up a situation in an instant, and he has a cool head. He was that rare thing: a man who made war like a chess-player, carefully considering each move before he made it.

‘He left Spain immediately for Italy, equipped with war elephants and a large army – a truly formidable force.’

But above all he was a good Carthaginian. He already hated the Romans for trying to subdue his native city, and their meddling in Spain was the last straw. He left Spain immediately for Italy, equipped with war elephants and a large army – a truly formidable force. To reach Italy he had to take his army and all his elephants across the whole of southern France, across rivers and over mountains and right up over the Alps. He may have taken the pass that goes over the shoulder of Mount Cenis, as it is known today. I’ve been there myself, following a wide, winding road. But how they found their way over those wild mountains in those days, with no roads to follow, is impossible to imagine. Surrounded by deep ravines, sheer precipices and slippery grass ledges – I wouldn’t want to be up there with one elephant, let alone forty, and by then it was already September and there was snow on the mountain tops.

But Hannibal found a way through for his army and they finally reached Italy. There he was confronted by the Romans, but he defeated them in a bloody battle. Later a second Roman army surprised his camp under cover of darkness. But Hannibal, having been forewarned, saved himself with a cunning trick. He tied flaming torches to the horns of a herd of cattle and drove them down the mountainside where his camp was billeted. In the darkness the Roman soldiers mistook them for Hannibal’s soldiers and rushed off in hot pursuit. How I would love to have seen their faces when they finally caught up with them and found they were cows!

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Free Resources to Learn More about the Hannibal

At the time of publication, these resources were free to use (some for a limited time only, during the COVID-19 pandemic).

BBC History

Hannibal, Carthaginian general and political leader – Dr Peter Heather

BBC In Our Time

Hannibal

Khan Academy

Punic Wars between Rome and Carthage (video)

The Yale Blog

Hannibal: No Ordinary Enemy – Eve MacDonald

This page provides access to a list of free online resources. It is not intended to endorse any particular resource.

A Little History of the World

All the descriptions in this A-Z are taken from E. H. Gombrich’s A Little History of the World.

Discover More

Stay connected with the latest developments in the Little Histories series by following us on Twitter and Facebook.

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The post An A-Z of the World – E. H. Gombrich on: Hannibal appeared first on Yale University Press London Blog.

G

Galileo Galilei

E. H. Gombrich: The first man to understand the extraordinary magical power of applying mathematical calculation to things in nature was an Italian called Galileo Galilei. He had devoted many years to observing, analyzing and describing such things when, one day, someone denounced him for writing exactly what Leonardo da Vinci had observed but not explained. What he had written was this: the sun does not move – on the contrary, it is the earth which moves around the sun, together with the planets. This discovery had already been made by a Polish scholar named Copernicus, after many years of calculation. It had been published in 1543 but the theory had been denounced as un-Christian and heretical by Catholic and Protestant priests alike.

They pointed to a passage in the Old Testament in which Joshua asks God not to let dusk fall until his enemy is destroyed. In answer to his prayer, we read: ‘The sun stood still and the moon stayed, until the people had avenged themselves on their enemies.’ If the Bible says the sun stood still, people argued, then the sun must normally be in motion. And to suggest the sun did not move was therefore heretical, and contradicted what was written in the Bible.

‘And yet it moves.’

So in 1632, when he was nearly seventy years old, Galileo, who had devoted is whole life to scholarship was brought before a religious tribunal known as the Inquisition, and made to choose between being burned as a heretic or renouncing his theory about the movement of the earth around the sun. He signed a declaration saying that he was but a poor sinner, for he had taught that the earth moved around the sun. In this way he avoided being burned, the fate of many of his predecessors. Nevertheless, when he signed the declaration, he is said to have muttered under his breath: ‘And yet it moves.’

None of these fixed ideas was in the end able to prevent Galileo’s ideas and methods and all the discoveries he made from influencing and inspiring people in ever-increasing numbers. And if today, thanks to mathematical formulas, we can make nature do whatever we want, so that we have telephones, aeroplanes and computers, and all the rest of modern technology, we should be grateful to those who, like Galileo, investigated nature’s mathematical laws at a time when it was a dangerous thing to do.

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Free Resources to Learn More about the Galileo Galilei

At the time of publication, these resources were free to use (some for a limited time only, during the COVID-19 pandemic).

BBC Bitesize (KS2)

The work of Galileo Galilei

BBC History

Galileo Galilei (1564-1642)

The School Run

Galileo Galilei

Khan Academy

Various resources

This page provides access to a list of free online resources. It is not intended to endorse any particular resource.

A Little History of the World

All the descriptions in this A-Z are taken from E. H. Gombrich’s A Little History of the World.

Discover More

Stay connected with the latest developments in the Little Histories series by following us on Twitter and Facebook.

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The post An A-Z of the World – E. H. Gombrich on: Galileo Galilei appeared first on Yale University Press London Blog.

F

The First World War

E. H. Gombrich: In the spring of 1914, the heir to the Austrian throne was visiting Bosnia and was murdered by a Serb in the capital, Sarajevo. Austria’s generals and politicians thought at the time that war with Serbia was inevitable. The dreadful murder had to be avenged, and Serbia humbled. Frightened by Austria’s advance, Russia was drawn in, whereupon Germany, as Austria’s ally, also became involved. And, once Germany was in the war, all the ancient enmities were unleashed. The Germans wanted to begin by destroying France, their most dangerous enemy, so they marched straight across neutral Belgium to attack Paris. Britain, fearing that a German victory would make Germany all-powerful, now joined in as well. Soon the whole world was at war with Germany and Austria.

‘The world had never seen a war like it. Millions and millions of people marched against each other.’

The world had never seen a war like it. Millions and millions of people marched against each other. The German armies were stopped when they reached the River Marne, not far from Paris. From this moment on, real battles, in the old sense, would only very rarely be fought. Instead, giant armies dug themselves in, and made their camps in endlessly long trenches facing one another. Then, for days on end, they fired thousands of guns at each other, bursting out in assaults through barricades of barbed wire and blown-up trenches, across a scorched and devastated wasteland strewn with corpses.

People fought against each other in the skies in aeroplanes; they dropped bombs on peaceful towns, sank innocent ships, and fought on the sea and under the sea, just as Leonardo da Vinci had foreseen. People invented horrible weapons that murdered and mutilated thousands each day, the most terrible of which were gases that poisoned the air. Anyone who breathed them died in terrible agony. People built armoured cars and tanks which moved slowly and inexorably over ditches and walls, demolishing and crushing everything in their path.

Eleven million people died in that war and entire regions were devastated in a way that had never been seen before. The suffering was beyond imagination.

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Free Resources to Learn More about the First World War

At the time of publication, these resources were free to use (some for a limited time only, during the COVID-19 pandemic).

BBC Bitesize (KS2)

World War One

BBC Bitesize (KS3)

The First World War

BBC Teach (KS3)

World War One Video Resources

BBC History

World War One

World War One at Home

Khan Academy

Various resources

Education Quizzes

Various World War One quizzes

FutureLearn

WW1 Heroism: Through Art and Film

The Yale Blog

First World War blogposts

This page provides access to a list of free online resources. It is not intended to endorse any particular resource.

A Little History of the World

All the descriptions in this A-Z are taken from E. H. Gombrich’s A Little History of the World.

Discover More

Stay connected with the latest developments in the Little Histories series by following us on Twitter and Facebook.

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The post An A-Z of the World – E. H. Gombrich on: the First World War appeared first on Yale University Press London Blog.

E

The Enlightenment

E.H. Gombrich: The widespread and terrible suffering that Europeans endured during the wretched wars of religion had made some people wonder if it was really right to judge someone by his or her religious belief. Was it not more important to be a good and honest human being? Would it not be better if people got on with one another regardless of any differences of opinion or belief that they might have?

‘Would it not be better if people got on with one another regardless of any differences of opinion or belief that they might have?’

Better if they respected one another and tolerated each other’s convictions? This was the first and most important idea that the people who thought about such things now voiced: the principle of tolerance. Only in matters of religion could there be differences of opinion. No rational person disputes the fact that two plus two makes four. Therefore reason – or sound common sense, as they also termed it – is what can and should unite all men. In the realm of reason you can use arguments to convince others of the rightness of your opinions, whereas another’s religious beliefs, being beyond rational argument, should be respected and tolerated.

And so reason became the second most important thing to these people. Reason alone could explain the appearance of nature and the workings of the universe. Reason, which is given in equal measure to all mankind the world over. Now if reason is given to all, it must follow that all people are of equal worth.

All these ideas, which came from 1700 onwards were debated in England and later in France, came to be called the Enlightenment, because the people who held them wanted to combat the darkness of superstition with the pure light of reason.

Many people today think that the Enlightenment only taught what was obvious, and that people in those days had a rather simple view of the great mysteries of nature and the world. This is true. But you must realise that what seems obvious to us wasn’t in the least so then, and that it took a great deal of courage, self-sacrifice and perseverance for people to keep on repeating them so that they seem obvious to is today. And of course you must also realise that reason cannot, and never will, give us the key to all mysteries, although it has often put us on the right track.

Discover more A-Z blogposts here.

Free Resources to Learn More about the Enlightenment

At the time of publication, these resources were free to use (some for a limited time only, during the COVID-19 pandemic).

BBC Bitesize (KS3)

Immigration in the Early Modern era 1500-1750: Changing ideas about humanity

BBC In Our Time

Four episodes

Khan Academy

Various resources

The Yale Blog

Enlightened Princesses: How They Shaped the Modern World – Joanna Marschner

This page provides access to a list of free online resources. It is not intended to endorse any particular resource.

A Little History of the World

All the descriptions in this A-Z are taken from E. H. Gombrich’s A Little History of the World.

Discover More

Stay connected with the latest developments in the Little Histories series by following us on Twitter and Facebook.

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The post An A-Z of the World – E. H. Gombrich on: the Enlightenment appeared first on Yale University Press London Blog.

D

Darius, King of Kings

E.H. Gombrich: Something very strange happened between 550 and 500. I don’t really understand it myself, but perhaps that’s what makes it so interesting. In the high mountain chain that runs north of Mesopotamia a wild mountain tribe had long been living. They had a beautiful religion: they worshipped light and the sun and believed it to be in a state of constant warfare with the dark – that is, with the dark powers of evil.

These mountain people were the Persians. For hundreds of years they had been dominated, ﬁrst by the Assyrians, and then by the Babylonians. One day they had had enough. Their ruler was a man of exceptional courage and intelligence called Cyrus, who was no longer prepared to put up with the oppression of his people. He led his band of horsemen down onto the plain of Babylon. The Babylonians looked down from their mighty ramparts and laughed at the little band of warriors that dared attack their city. Yet, under Cyrus’s leadership, they succeeded, through courage and guile. And so Cyrus became lord of that great realm.

His ﬁrst act was to free all the peoples held in captivity by the Babylonians. Not content with his great kingdom, however, Cyrus marched on to conquer Egypt, only to die on the way. But his son, Cambyses, succeeded. Egypt fell and the pharaoh was deposed. That was the end of the Egyptian empire, which had lasted almost three thousand years! And with its end, this little Persian tribe became master of nearly all the known world. But only nearly: they hadn’t yet swallowed up Greece. That was still to come.

It came after the death of Cambyses, during the reign of a great king named Darius. He governed the vast Persian empire – which now stretched from Egypt to the frontiers of India – in such a way that nothing happened anywhere that he himself had not decreed. He built roads so that his orders might be carried without delay to the furthest parts of his kingdom. And even his highest ofﬁcials, the satraps, were spied on by informers known as ‘the king’s eyes and ears’. Darius now began to extend his empire out into Asia Minor, along whose coasts lay the cities of the Ionian Greeks.

Now the Greeks were not used to being part of a great empire, they had no wish to be ruled by a Persian king, nor would they pay him tribute. So they rebelled, and threw out the Persian governors.

‘Never before had the king of Persia, the King of Kings – for that was his title – been so insulted.’

Never before had the king of Persia, the King of Kings – for that was his title – been so insulted. That this insigniﬁcant tribe, these nobodies, should dare to challenge him, the ruler of the world! He dealt with the Ionian cities in Asia Minor in less than no time.

He then sent his son-in-law, with a new and mighty ﬂeet, to sail against Athens. They conquered many islands on their way and destroyed a lot of cities. They ﬁnally dropped anchor not far from Athens, at a place called Marathon. There, the whole great Persian army disembarked, ready to march on Athens. It is said that they numbered seventy thousand men, as many as the entire population of Athens. With roughly ten thousand soldiers the Athenian army was outnumbered seven to one. Their fate was surely sealed. But not quite. For the Athenians had a general named Miltiades, a brave and able man, who had lived for many years among the Persians, and knew their ﬁghting tactics. Added to which, the Athenians all knew what was at stake: their freedom and their lives, and those of their wives and children. So there at Marathon they formed ranks, and fell upon the startled Persians. And they were victorious. The Persians suffered heavy losses. Those remaining took to their ships and ﬂed.

Such a victory! And against such odds! Others in his place might have thought of nothing but celebration. But Miltiades was shrewd as well as brave. He had noted that instead of sailing back the way they had come, the Persian ships had turned towards Athens, which lay undefended and open to attack. But as luck would have it, the distance from Marathon to Athens was greater by sea than by land. For ships had to negotiate a long spit of land easily crossed on foot. This Miltiades did. He sent a messenger ahead, who was to run as fast as he could, to warn the Athenians. This was the famous Marathon Run after which we call our race. Famous, because the messenger ran so far and so fast that all he could do was deliver his message before he fell down dead.

Meanwhile Miltiades and his army had taken the same route, marching in tremendous haste. This was just as well, for no sooner had they reached the harbour at Athens than the Persian ﬂeet appeared over the horizon. But there was no more ﬁghting: at the sight of their heroic enemy, the disheartened Persians turned tail and sailed for home. And not just Athens, but the whole of Greece was saved. This was 490.

How the great Darius, King of Kings, must have cursed when he learnt of the defeat at Marathon! But at the time there was little he could do about Greece, for a revolt had broken out in Egypt which had to be suppressed. He died soon after, leaving his son and successor, Xerxes, to take revenge on Greece once and for all (look out for more on Xerxes when we get to X in our A-Z).

Discover more A-Z blogposts here.

Free Resources to Learn More about Darius and the Persian Empire

At the time of publication, these resources were free to use (some for a limited time only, during the COVID-19 pandemic).

BBC Bitesize (KS2)

The ancient Greeks at war

BBC In Our Time

Persepolis

BBC Radio 4

Through Persian Eyes – Professor Ali Ansari

BBC News Magazine

Alexander the not so Great: History through Persian eyes – Professor Ali Ansari

Khan Academy

The Rise of Persia

The Yale Blog

The Persian Wars: Why We Must Attend to Sparta – Paul A. Rahe

This page provides access to a list of free online resources. It is not intended to endorse any particular resource.

A Little History of the World

All the descriptions in this A-Z are taken from E. H. Gombrich’s A Little History of the World.

Discover More

Stay connected with the latest developments in the Little Histories series by following us on Twitter and Facebook.

Or sign up to our mailing list to discover more!

The post An A-Z of the World – E. H. Gombrich on: Darius, King of Kings appeared first on Yale University Press London Blog.

C

The Crusades

E. H. Gombrich: Under the leadership of a French knight, Godfrey of Bouillon, a great army set off along the Danube in 1096, first to Constantinople and then on through Asia Minor towards Palestine. These knights and their followers had crosses of red material stitched to their shoulders and were called ‘crusaders’. Their aim was to liberate the land in which Christ’s cross had once stood.

When, after long years of battles and unimaginable hardships, they finally reached the walls of Jerusalem, it is said that they were so moved by the sight of the Holy City, which they knew from the Bible, that they wept and kissed the soil. Then they besieged the town. It was valiantly defended by Arabs soldiers, but eventually the took it. Once inside Jerusalem, however, they behaved neither like knights nor like Christians. They massacred all the Muslims and committed hideous atrocities.

The crusaders formed the Christian kingdom of Jerusalem but because it was small and weak, far from Europe and in the midst of Muslim kingdoms, the little state was forever under attack from Arab warriors. This meant that back in England, France and Germany, priests were forever urging knights to go on new crusades. Not all of these were successful.

‘one good thing came out of the Crusades, although it wouldn’t have pleased the knights at all’

However, one good thing came out of the Crusades, although it wouldn’t have pleased the knights at all. In the distant Orient the Christians discovered Arab culture – their buildings, their sense of beauty and their learning. And within a hundred years of the First Crusade, the writings of Alexander the Great’s teacher, the books of Aristotle, were translated from Arabic into Latin and eagerly read and studied in Italy, France, Germany and England.

People were surprised to find how similar many of his teachings were to those of the Church and filled heavy Latin tomes with complicated thoughts on the subject. All that the Arabs had learnt and experienced in the course of their conquests around the world was now brought back to Europe by the crusaders. In a number of ways it was the example of those they looked on as their enemies that transformed the barbaric warriors of Europe into truly chivalrous knights.

Free Resources to Learn More about the Crusades

At the time of publication, these resources were free to use (some for a limited time only, during the COVID-19 pandemic).

BBC Bitesize (KS3)

BBC In Our Time

Khan Academy

Twinkl

The Yale Blog

What Did the Crusades Ever Do For Us? – Roger Crowley

This page provides access to a list of free online resources. It is not intended to endorse any particular resource.

Read all the other parts of An A-Z of the World here.

A Little History of the World

All the descriptions in this A-Z are taken from E. H. Gombrich’s A Little History of the World.

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The post An A-Z of the World – E. H. Gombrich on: the Crusades appeared first on Yale University Press London Blog.