Search
Search Results
Definition
Jan Hus
Jan Hus (also John Huss, l. c. 1369-1415) was a Czech philosopher, priest, and theologian who, inspired by the work of John Wycliffe (l. 1330-1384) challenged the policies and practices of the medieval Church and so launched the Bohemian...
Definition
Bohemian Reformation
The Bohemian Reformation (c. 1380 to c. 1436) was the first concerted effort by Catholic clergy to reform the abuses and corruption of the medieval Church. Bohemian clerics and theologians called for reform and, like later advocates, initially...
Image
The "Spring of Nations", Revolutionary Europe in 1848
A map illustrating the series of republican revolts and political upheavals against European monarchies in 1848, also known as the People's Spring or the Spring of Nations. The widespread violent unrest started in Sicily and, within a short...
Definition
Pre-Colonial North America
Pre-Colonial North America (also known as Pre-Columbian, Prehistoric, and Precontact) is the period between the migration of the Paleo-Indians to the region between 40,000-14,000 years ago and contact between indigenous tribes and European...
Article
The Civil Service Examinations of Imperial China
The civil service examinations of Imperial China allowed the state to find the best candidates to staff the vast bureaucracy that governed China from the Han Dynasty onwards (206 BCE - 220 CE). The exams were a means for a young male of any...
Definition
Native Peoples of North America
The Native Peoples of North America (also known as American Indians, Native Americans, Indigenous Americans, and First Americans) are the original inhabitants of North America believed to have migrated into the region between 40,000-14,000...
Article
Slavery in Colonial America
Slavery in Colonial America, defined as white English settlers enslaving Africans, began in 1640 in the Jamestown Colony of Virginia but had already been embraced as policy prior to that date with the enslavement and deportation of Native...
Article
African Slave Life in Colonial British America
African slave life in Colonial British America was far worse than slavery practiced in the Americas prior to the arrival of Europeans. The indigenous tribes took people as slaves in raids, enslaved those convicted of crimes, and traded slaves...
Article
Pets in Colonial America
Pets in Colonial America were kept by the colonists for the same reasons they were in Europe: for companionship and, in the case of dogs, for protection, hunting, and herding. Cats controlled vermin in homes and barns until the 18th century...
Definition
Diet of Worms
The Diet of Worms (January-May 1521) was the assembly convened by Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor to address, among other issues, the works of the reformer Martin Luther (l. 1483-1546) who openly criticized the Church. Luther was told to recant...