The Battle of Pliska – a Byzantine military disaster
Though they clung to the name of the Roman Empire, the Byzantines never achieved the glory of their predecessors. Theirs was an empire in slow…
The Battle of Arsuf – To Win the Day, One Man Must Defy His Own King
Beneath the relentless beating of the midday sun, under a seemingly endless rain of arrows, The Grand Master’s patience had all but run out. Garnier…
Single Combat At The Siege of Bayonne, 1131AD
Pedro de Lara was bored. His had lived a full life, a life of personal pride and skill at arms, of politics, wine and of…
Samurai, Ninja, Ronin, And More – Seven Different Warrior Classes Of Feudal Japan
Feudal Japan is remembered as the era of the samurai. Like the knights of feudal Europe, they were the expensively equipped warrior aristocracy. They were,…
The Battle of Morgarten – against all the Odds, One Small Army Changes the Course of Military History
The supremacy of heavy cavalry and mounted knights on the battlefield came to an end one cold November morning in 1315, and it began with…
Arab Women Shame Their Fleeing Men Back Towards the Fight At The Battle of Yarmouk
Most people are familiar with the general history of the Arab expansion after the death of Mohammad. The Arabs didn’t sit idly in Saudi Arabia,…
Al-Andalus, a Melting Pot of Faiths in the Iberian Peninsula
Jewish people have often faced persecution throughout history, and across many states. At the start of the 8th century, the technologically and numerically superior Muslims…
The Causes Of The English Civil Wars – Some Of The Most Destructive Conflicts In British History
By Guest Blogger Jemahl Evans The English Civil Wars (there were three, involving all the nations of the British Isles) were some of the most destructive…
The Battle of Edgehill, October 1642 – Both commanders hoped to force battle
War History Online presents this Guest Article by Jemahl Evans Everyone thought it would all be over by Christmas. Everyone expected a single sharp engagement and…
An Age Of Brutal Conflicts – The Vikings and The Franks
Two great military forces dominated Europe in the 9th century. On the mainland was the Frankish Empire, a kingdom covering modern France and much of…
AD 732, Battle of Tours: Charles Martel the ‘Hammer’ Holds The Line Of Battle
Few Empires emerged as quickly as that of the Muslim Caliphates. Bursting out from what is now Saudi Arabia in the mid-7th century, the Islamic…
The Viking Mercenaries of the Byzantine Empire – The Varangian Guard
The Byzantines Hired Viking Mercenaries as Guards The relationship between the Byzantine Emperors and their Varangian Guard was a complex affair. The Byzantines were first…