Middle Ages

The Cross of Mathilde, a crux gemmata made for Mathilde, Abbess of Essen (973–1011), who is shown kneeling before the Virgin and Child in the enamel plaque. The figure of Christ is slightly later. Probably made in Cologne or Essen, the cross demonstrates several medieval techniques: cast figurative sculpture, filigree, enamelling, gem polishing and setting, and the reuse of Classical cameos and engraved gems.
A late Roman sculpture depicting the Tetrarchs, now in Venice, Italy
Barbarian kingdoms and tribes after the end of the Western Roman Empire
A coin of the Ostrogothic leader Theoderic the Great, struck in Milan, Italy, c. AD 491–501
A mosaic showing Justinian with the bishop of Ravenna (Italy), bodyguards, and courtiers.
Reconstruction of an early medieval peasant village in Bavaria
An 11th-century illustration of Gregory the Great dictating to a secretary
Map showing growth of Frankish power from 481 to 814
Charlemagne's palace chapel at Aachen, completed in 805
10th-century Ottonian ivory plaque depicting Christ receiving a church from Otto I
A page from the Book of Kells, an illuminated manuscript created in the British Isles in the late 8th or early 9th century
Medieval French manuscript illustration of the three classes of medieval society: those who prayed (the clergy) those who fought (the knights), and those who worked (the peasantry). The relationship between these classes was governed by feudalism and manorialism. (Li Livres dou Sante, 13th century)
13th-century illustration of a Jew (in pointed Jewish hat) and the Christian Petrus Alphonsi debating
Europe and the Mediterranean Sea in 1190
The Bayeux Tapestry (detail) showing William the Conqueror (centre), his half-brothers Robert, Count of Mortain (right) and Odo, Bishop of Bayeux in the Duchy of Normandy (left)
Krak des Chevaliers was built during the Crusades for the Knights Hospitallers.
A medieval scholar making precise measurements in a 14th-century manuscript illustration
Portrait of Cardinal Hugh of Saint-Cher by Tommaso da Modena, 1352, the first known depiction of spectacles
The Romanesque Church of Maria Laach, Germany
The Gothic interior of Laon Cathedral, France
Francis of Assisi, depicted by Bonaventura Berlinghieri in 1235, founded the Franciscan Order.
Sénanque Abbey, Gordes, France
Execution of some of the ringleaders of the jacquerie, from a 14th-century manuscript of the Chroniques de France ou de St Denis
Map of Europe in 1360
Joan of Arc in a 15th-century depiction
Guy of Boulogne crowning Pope Gregory XI in a 15th-century miniature from Froissart's Chroniques
Clerics studying astronomy and geometry, French, early 15th century
Agricultural calendar, c. 1470, from a manuscript of Pietro de Crescenzi
February scene from the 15th-century illuminated manuscript Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry
Medieval illustration of the spherical Earth in a 14th-century copy of L'Image du monde

In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history.

- Middle Ages
The Cross of Mathilde, a crux gemmata made for Mathilde, Abbess of Essen (973–1011), who is shown kneeling before the Virgin and Child in the enamel plaque. The figure of Christ is slightly later. Probably made in Cologne or Essen, the cross demonstrates several medieval techniques: cast figurative sculpture, filigree, enamelling, gem polishing and setting, and the reuse of Classical cameos and engraved gems.

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Byzantine Empire

The empire in 555 under Justinian the Great, at its greatest extent since the fall of the Western Roman Empire (its vassals in pink)
Constantine the Great was the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity and moved the seat of the empire to Byzantium, renamed Constantinople in his honour.
The empire in 555 under Justinian the Great, at its greatest extent since the fall of the Western Roman Empire (its vassals in pink)
Restored section of the Walls of Constantinople
The empire in 555 under Justinian the Great, at its greatest extent since the fall of the Western Roman Empire (its vassals in pink)
After the death of Theodosius I in 395, the empire was again divided. The west disintegrated in the late 400s while the east ended with the fall of Constantinople in 1453.
Empress Theodora and attendants (Mosaic from Basilica of San Vitale, 6th century)
Hagia Sophia built in 537, during the reign of Justinian. The minarets were added in the 15th–16th centuries by the Ottoman Empire.
The Byzantine Empire in c. 600 during the reign of Maurice. Half of the Italian peninsula and most of southern Hispania were lost, but the eastern borders expanded, gaining land from the Persians.
Battle between Heraclius and the Persians. Fresco by Piero della Francesca, c. 1452
By 650 (pictured) the empire had lost all its southern provinces, except the Exarchate of Africa, to the Rashidun Caliphate. At the same time the Slavs invaded and settled in the Balkans.
Greek fire was first used by the Byzantine Navy during the Byzantine–Arab Wars (from the Madrid Skylitzes, Biblioteca Nacional de España, Madrid).
Constantine IV and his retinue, mosaic in Basilica of Sant'Apollinare in Classe. Constantine IV defeated the First Arab siege of Constantinople.
The Byzantine Empire at the accession of Leo III, c. 717. Striped indicates areas raided by the Umayyads.
Gold solidus of Leo III (left), and his son and heir, Constantine V (right)
A Simple Cross: An example of Iconoclast art in the Hagia Irene Church in Istanbul.
The Byzantine Empire, c. 867
The general Leo Phokas defeats the Hamdanid Emirate of Aleppo at Andrassos in 960, from the Madrid Skylitzes
10th century military successes were coupled with a major cultural revival, the so-called Macedonian Renaissance. Miniature from the Paris Psalter, an example of Hellenistic-influenced art.
Emperor Basil II ((r. 976 – 1025))
The extent of the Empire under Basil II
Rus' under the walls of Constantinople (860)
Varangian Guardsmen, an illumination from the Skylitzis Chronicle
Constantinople was the largest and wealthiest city in Europe throughout late antiquity and most of the Middle Ages until the Fourth Crusade in 1204.
Mural of Saints Cyril and Methodius, 19th century, Troyan Monastery, Bulgaria
The seizure of Edessa (1031) by the Byzantines under George Maniakes and the counterattack by the Seljuk Turks
Alexios I, founder of the Komnenos dynasty
The Chora Church, dating from the Komnenian period, has some of the finest Byzantine frescoes and mosaics.
The Byzantine Empire and the Seljuk Sultanate of Rûm before the First Crusade (1095–1099)
A mosaic from the Hagia Sophia of Constantinople (modern Istanbul), depicting Mary and Jesus, flanked by John II Komnenos (left) and his wife Irene of Hungary (right), 12th century
Byzantine Empire in orange, c. 1180, at the end of the Komnenian period
The Lamentation of Christ (1164), a fresco from the church of Saint Panteleimon in Nerezi, North Macedonia, considered a superb example of 12th-century Komnenian art
Byzantium in the late Angeloi period
The Entry of the Crusaders into Constantinople, by Eugène Delacroix (1840)
The partition of the empire following the Fourth Crusade, c. 1204
The Byzantine Empire, c. 1263
The siege of Constantinople in 1453, depicted in a 15th-century French miniature
The Eastern Mediterranean just before the Fall of Constantinople
Flag of the late Empire under the Palaiologoi, sporting the tetragrammic cross symbol of the Palaiologos dynasty
The embassy of John the Grammarian in 829, between the emperor Theophilos and the Abbasid caliph Al-Ma'mun
Italian sketch of Emperor John VIII during his visit in Ferrara and Florence in 1438
Interior of the Hagia Sophia, the patriarchal basilica in Constantinople designed 537 by Isidore of Miletus, the first compiler of Archimedes' various works. The influence of Archimedes' principles of solid geometry is evident.
The frontispiece of the Vienna Dioscurides, which shows a set of seven famous physicians
Bas-relief plaque of Tribonian in the Chamber of the House of Representatives in the United States Capitol
Many refugee Byzantine scholars fled to North Italy in the 1400s. Here John Argyropoulos (1415–1487), born in Constantinople and who ended his days in north Italy.
Ceramic grenades that were filled with Greek fire, surrounded by caltrops, 10th–12th century, National Historical Museum, Athens, Greece
As a symbol and expression of the universal prestige of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, Justinian built the Church of the Holy Wisdom of God, Hagia Sophia, which was completed in the short period of four and a half years (532–537).
Mosaic of Jesus in Pammakaristos Church, Istanbul
Triumphal arch mosaics of Jesus Christ and the Apostles. In Basilica of San Vitale in Ravenna, Italy.
Earliest known depiction of a bowed lyra, from a Byzantine ivory casket (900–1100) (Museo Nazionale, Florence)
The double-headed eagle, a common Imperial symbol
Distribution of Greek dialects in Anatolia in the late Byzantine Empire through to 1923. Demotic in yellow. Pontic in orange. Cappadocian in green. (Green dots indicate Cappadocian Greek-speaking villages in 1910. )
A game of τάβλι (tabula) played by Byzantine emperor Zeno in 480 and recorded by Agathias in c. 530 because of a very unlucky dice throw for Zeno (red), as he threw 2, 5 and 6 and was forced to leave eight pieces alone.
Golden Solidus of Justinian I (527–565) excavated in India probably in the south, an example of Indo-Roman trade during the period
Christ Pantocrator mosaic in Hagia Sophia, circa 1261
Christ as the Good Shepherd; {{circa}} 425-430; mosaic; width: {{circa}} 3 m; Mausoleum of Galla Placidia (Ravenna, Italy)<ref>{{cite book |last1=Fortenberry|first1=Diane|title=THE ART MUSEUM |date=2017|publisher=Phaidon|isbn=978-0-7148-7502-6|page=108|language=en}}</ref>
Diptych Leaf with a Byzantine Empress; 6th century; ivory with traces of gilding and leaf; height: {{cvt|26.5|cm}}; Kunsthistorisches Museum (Vienna, Austria)<ref>{{cite book |last1=Fortenberry|first1=Diane|title=THE ART MUSEUM |date=2017|publisher=Phaidon|isbn=978-0-7148-7502-6|page=114|language=en}}</ref>
Collier; late 6th–7th century; gold, an emerald, a sapphire, amethysts and pearls; diameter: {{cvt|23|cm}}; from a Constantinopolitan workshop; Antikensammlung Berlin (Berlin, Germany)<ref>{{cite book |last1=Fortenberry|first1=Diane|title=THE ART MUSEUM |date=2017|publisher=Phaidon|isbn=978-0-7148-7502-6|page=115|language=en}}</ref>
Page of the Gospel Book with Commentaries: Portrait of Mark; 1000–1100; ink, tempera, gold, vellum and leather binding; sheet: {{cvt|28 x 23|cm}}; Cleveland Museum of Art (Cleveland, Ohio, US)
Icon of the New Testament Trinity; c. 1450; tempera and gold on wood panel (poplar); Cleveland Museum of Art

The Byzantine Empire,{{NoteTag|{{IPAc-en|b|I|"|z|{|n|%|t|aI|n|,_|b|aI|"|z|{|n|-|,_|"|b|I|z|@|n|-|,_|-|%|t|i:|n|,_|-|%|t|I|n}} {{respell|bih|ZAN|tyne|,_|by|-|,_|BIZ|ən|-|,_|-|teen|,_|-|tin}} }} also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinople. It survived the fragmentation and fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD and continued to exist for an additional thousand years until the fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Empire in 1453. During most of its existence, the empire remained the most powerful economic, cultural, and military force in Europe. The terms "Byzantine Empire" and "Eastern Roman Empire" were coined after the end of the realm; its citizens continued to refer to their empire simply as the Roman Empire, and to themselves as Romans{{NoteTag|{{Lang-gkm|Βασιλεία Ῥωμαίων|Basileía Rhōmaíōn}} (Roman Empire); {{Lang-gkm|Ῥωμανία|Rhōmaía}} (Romania); {{Lang-gkm|Ῥωμαῖοι|Rhōmaîoi}} (Romans)}}—a term which Greeks continued to use for themselves into Ottoman times.

Europe depicted by Antwerp cartographer Abraham Ortelius in 1595

History of Europe

Europe depicted by Antwerp cartographer Abraham Ortelius in 1595
The peasants preparing the fields for the winter with a harrow and sowing for the winter grain, from The Very Rich Hours of the Duke of Berry, c.1410
A Watt steam engine. The steam engine, fuelled primarily by coal, propelled the Industrial Revolution in 19th-century Northwestern Europe.
Map depicting the earliest human migration in prehistoric Europe.
The Treasury of Atreus, or Tomb of Agamemnon in Mycenae 1250 BC
The Parthenon, an ancient Athenian Temple on the Acropolis (hill-top city) fell to Rome in 176 BC
Europe in the year 301 BC
A mosaic showing Alexander the Great battling Darius III
The Roman republic and its neighbours in 58 BC.
Cicero addresses the Roman Senate to denounce Catiline's conspiracy to overthrow the Republic, by Cesare Maccari
The Roman Empire at its greatest extent in 117 AD, under the emperor Trajan
Map of the partition of the Roman Empire in 395, at the death of Theodosius I: the Western Roman Empire is shown in red and the Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantine Empire) is shown in purple
A simplified map of migrations from the 2nd to the 5th century. See also the [[:File:World 820.png|map of the world in 820 AD]].
Map showing Europe in 526 AD with the three dominating powers of the west
Constantine I and Justinian I offering their fealty to the Virgin Mary inside the Hagia Sophia
Europe in the Early Middle Ages
Europe in 1000, with most European states already formed
Europe in 1204.
Europe in 1097, as the First Crusade to the Holy Land commences
The Siege of Antioch, from a medieval miniature painting, during the First Crusade
"Christianization of Lithuania in 1387", oil on canvas by Jan Matejko, 1889, Royal Castle in Warsaw
The spread of the "Black Death" from 1347 to 1351 through Europe
Genoese (red) and Venetian (green) maritime trade routes in the Mediterranean and Black Sea
Portrait of Luca Pacioli, the founder of accounting, by Jacopo de' Barbari (Museo di Capodimonte).
Cantino planisphere, 1502, earliest chart showing explorations by Vasco da Gama, Columbus and Cabral
The Ninety-Five Theses of German monk Martin Luther, which criticized the Catholic Church
Map of Europe in 1648
Europa regina, 1570 print by Sebastian Münster of Basel
Alberico Gentili, the Father of international law.
Animated map showing the evolution of Colonial empires from 1492 to the present
Contemporary woodcut depicting the Second Defenestration of Prague (1618), which marked the beginning of the Bohemian Revolt, which began the first part of the Thirty Years' War.
Maria Theresa being crowned Queen of Hungary in the St. Martin's Cathedral, Pressburg (Bratislava)
After the Peace of Westphalia, Europe's borders were still stable in 1708
Map of Europe in 1794 Samuel Dunn Map of the World
Expansion of Russia (1300–1945)
The boundaries set by the Congress of Vienna, 1815.
London's chimney sky in 1870, by Gustave Doré
The storming of the Bastille in the French Revolution of 1789
Napoleon's army at the retreat from Russia at the Berezina river
Cheering the Revolutions of 1848 in Berlin
Beginning in 1821, the Greek War of Independence began as a rebellion by Greek revolutionaries against the ruling Ottoman Empire.
Breakup of Yugoslavia
Mikhail Bakunin speaking to members of the International Workingmen's Association at the Basel Congress in 1869
Paris Commune, 1871.
Giuseppe Garibaldi's redshirts during the Battle of Calatafimi, part of the Italian Unification.
Otto von Bismarck, Chancellor of Germany
The Berlin Conference (1884) headed by Otto von Bismarck that regulated European colonization in Africa during the New Imperialism period
The Fourth Estate (painting) by Giuseppe Pellizza da Volpedo.
Europe in 1916
Trenches and sand bags were defences against machine guns and artillery on the Western Front, 1914–1918
Detail from William Orpen's painting The Signing of Peace in the Hall of Mirrors, Versailles, 28 June 1919, showing the signing of the peace treaty by a minor German official opposite to the representatives of the winning powers.
Interwar Europe in 1923
People gathered at sport event in 1938 (Sweden).
Europeans from various countries relaxing in wave pool in Hungary in 1939 just before the Second World War. Visible inscriptions in numerous languages.
FAI milicia during Spanish Social Revolution
Starving Jewish children in Warsaw Ghetto (1940–1943).
The fight against German Nazis during the Warsaw Uprising in 1944.
American and Soviet troops meet in April 1945, east of the Elbe River.
Western European colonial empires in Asia and Africa disintegrated after World War II (mostly dominated by British and France.)
East German construction workers building the Berlin Wall, 20 November 1961
Remains of the "Iron curtain" in Devínska Nová Ves, Bratislava (Slovakia).
Marshall Plan dollar amounts
Germans standing on top of the Berlin Wall at the Brandenburg Gate, November 1989; it would begin to be torn apart in the following days.
Changes in national boundaries after the end of the Cold War

The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (800 BC to AD 500), the Middle Ages (AD 500 to AD 1500), and the modern era (since AD 1500).

Late 15th-century German woodcut depicting Saracens

Saracen

Late 15th-century German woodcut depicting Saracens
12th-century Reliquary of Saint Stanislaus in the Wawel Cathedral in Kraków is an example of Saracen art from Sicily or Palestine.
Saracens landing on a coast, 915
Maugis fighting the Saracen Noiron in Aigremont, in Renaud de Montauban. David Aubert, Bruges, 1462-1470

Saracen was a term used by Christian writers in Europe during the Middle Ages to refer to Muslims, primarily of Arab origin.

Ploughing on a French ducal manor in March from the manuscript, Les Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry, c.1410

Manorialism

Ploughing on a French ducal manor in March from the manuscript, Les Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry, c.1410
The great hall at Penshurst Place, Kent, built in the mid 14th century. The hall was of central importance to every manor, where the lord and his family ate, received guests, and conferred with dependents
260x260px
Generic map of a medieval manor. The mustard-colored areas are part of the demesne, the hatched areas part of the glebe. William R. Shepherd, Historical Atlas, 1923

Manorialism, also known as the manor system or manorial system, was the method of land ownership (or "tenure") in parts of Europe, notably England, during the Middle Ages.

Investiture of a knight (miniature from the statutes of the Order of the Knot, founded in 1352 by Louis I of Naples).

Feudalism

Investiture of a knight (miniature from the statutes of the Order of the Knot, founded in 1352 by Louis I of Naples).
Orava Castle in Slovakia. A medieval castle is a traditional symbol of a feudal society.
Herr Reinmar von Zweter, a 13th-century Minnesinger, was depicted with his noble arms in Codex Manesse.
Homage of Clermont-en-Beauvaisis
France in the late 15th century: a mosaic of feudal territories
Depiction of socage on the royal demesne in feudal England, c. 1310

Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was the combination of the legal, economic, military, and cultural customs that flourished in medieval Europe between the 9th and 15th centuries.

Young women offer berries to visitors to their izba home, 1909. Those who had been serfs among the Russian peasantry were officially emancipated in 1861. Photograph by Sergey Prokudin-Gorsky.

Peasant

Young women offer berries to visitors to their izba home, 1909. Those who had been serfs among the Russian peasantry were officially emancipated in 1861. Photograph by Sergey Prokudin-Gorsky.
A farm in 1794
Finnish Savonian farmers at a cottage in early 19th century; by Pehr Hilleström and J. F. Martin
"Feiernde Bauern" ("Celebrating Peasants"), artist unknown, 18th or 19th century
Portrait sculpture of 18th-century French peasants by artist George S. Stuart, in the permanent collection of the Museum of Ventura County, Ventura, California
The Peasant Wedding, by Flemish painter Pieter Brueghel the Elder, 1567 or 1568
"Peasants in a Tavern" by Adriaen van Ostade (c. 1635), at the Alte Pinakothek, Munich
Monument dedicated to Serbian peasant, Jagodina

A peasant is a pre-industrial agricultural laborer or a farmer with limited land-ownership, especially one living in the Middle Ages under feudalism and paying rent, tax, fees, or services to a landlord. In Europe, three classes of peasants existed: slave, serf, and free tenant.

From the Apocalypse in a Biblia Pauperum illuminated at Erfurt around the time of the Great Famine. Death sits astride a lion whose long tail ends in a ball of flame (Hell). Famine points to her hungry mouth.

Late Middle Ages

The period of European history lasting from AD 1250 to 1500.

The period of European history lasting from AD 1250 to 1500.

From the Apocalypse in a Biblia Pauperum illuminated at Erfurt around the time of the Great Famine. Death sits astride a lion whose long tail ends in a ball of flame (Hell). Famine points to her hungry mouth.
France in the late 15th century: a mosaic of feudal territories
Silver mining and processing in Kutná Hora, Bohemia, 15th century
Ruins of Beckov Castle in Slovakia
Ottoman miniature of the siege of Belgrade in 1456
Battle of Aljubarrota between Portugal and Castile, 1385
Peasants preparing the fields for the winter with a harrow and sowing for the winter grain. The background shows the Louvre castle in Paris, c. 1410; October as depicted in the Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry
Jan Hus
European output of manuscripts 500–1500. The rising trend in medieval book production saw its continuation in the period.
Urban dwelling house, late 15th century, Halberstadt, Germany.
Dante by Domenico di Michelino, from a fresco painted in 1465
A musician plays the vielle in a fourteenth-century Medieval manuscript.
Peasants in fields
Joan of Arc
Charles I

The changes brought about by these developments have led many scholars to view this period as the end of the Middle Ages and the beginning of modern history and of early modern Europe.

14th-century miniature of the Second Crusade battle from the Estoire d'Eracles

Crusades

14th-century miniature of the Second Crusade battle from the Estoire d'Eracles
The Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem
Miniature of Peter the Hermit leading the People's Crusade (Egerton 1500, Avignon, 14thcentury)
The Crusader States in 1135
Nūr-ad-Din's victory at the Battle of Inab, 1149. Illustration from the Passages d'outremer, c. 1490.
The Near East, c. 1190, at the inception of the Third Crusade
Richard the Lionheart on his way to Jerusalem, James William Glass (1850)
Conquest of the Orthodox city of Constantinople by the Crusaders in 1204 (BNF Arsenal MS 5090, 15th century)
Crusaders attack the tower of Damietta during the siege of Damietta in a painting by Cornelis Claesz van Wieringen
Holy Roman Emperor FrederickII (left) meets al-Kamil (right), illumination from Giovanni Villani's Nuova Cronica (Vatican Library ms. Chigiano L VIII 296, 14thcentury).
The defeat of the Crusaders at Gaza, depicted in the Chronica majora of Matthew Paris, 13th century.
Louis IX during the Seventh Crusade
Louis IX being taken prisoner at the Battle of Fariskur (Gustave Doré)
Miniature of the Siege of Acre (1291) (Estoire d'Oultre-Mer, BNF fr. 2825, fol 361v, c. 1300)
Map of the branches of the Teutonic Order in Europe around 1300. Shaded area is sovereign territory.
Miniatures showing Pope Innocent III excommunicating, and the crusaders massacring, Cathars (BL Royal 16 G VI, fol. 374v, 14thcentury)
13th-century miniature of Baldwin II of Jerusalem granting the captured Al Aqsa Mosque to Hugues de Payns
12th-century Knights Hospitaller castle of Krak des Chevaliers in Syria, one of the first castles to use concentric fortification, i.e. concentric rings of defence that could all operate at the same time. It has two curtain walls and sits on a promontory.
William of Tyre writing his history, from a 13th-century Old French translation, Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris, MS 2631, f.1r

The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period.

14th-century image of a university lecture

Scholasticism

14th-century image of a university lecture

Scholasticism was a medieval school of philosophy that employed a critical organic method of philosophical analysis predicated upon the Aristotelian 10 Categories.

World population, 10,000 BCE – 2,000 CE (vertical population scale is logarithmic)

Human history

Narrative of humanity's past.

Narrative of humanity's past.

World population, 10,000 BCE – 2,000 CE (vertical population scale is logarithmic)
Cave painting, Lascaux, France, c. 15,000 BCE
Monumental Cuneiform inscription, Sumer, Mesopotamia, 26th century BCE
Great Pyramids of Giza, Egypt
The Buddha
Persepolis, Achaemenid Empire, 6th century BCE
Pillar erected by India's Maurya Emperor Ashoka
Obelisk of Axum, Ethiopia
Maya observatory, Chichen Itza, Mexico
The Pantheon in Rome, Italy, originally a Roman temple, now a Catholic church
University of Timbuktu, Mali
Hagia Sophia, in Istanbul, is among the most recognizable symbols of the Byzantine civilization.
Great Mosque of Kairouan, Tunisia, founded 670 CE
Crusader Krak des Chevaliers, Syria
St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican City.
Notre-Dame de Paris in Paris, France: is among the most recognizable symbols of the civilization of Christendom.
A brass "Benin Bronze" from Nigeria
Chennakesava Temple, Belur, India
Battle during 1281 Mongol invasion of Japan
Angkor Wat temple, Cambodia, early 12th century
Moai, Rapa Nui (Easter Island)
Machu Picchu, Inca Empire, Peru
Gutenberg Bible, ca. 1450, produced using movable type
Leonardo da Vinci's Vitruvian Man (c. 1490), Renaissance Italy
1570 world map, showing Europeans' discoveries
Hagia Sophia, Istanbul (formerly Constantinople), Turkey
Taj Mahal, Mughal Empire, India
Ming dynasty section, Great Wall of China
Watt's steam engine powered the Industrial Revolution.
Empires of the world in 1898
The first airplane, the Wright Flyer, flew, 1903.
World War I trench warfare
Atomic bombings: Hiroshima, Nagasaki, 1945
Civilians (here, Mỹ Lai, Vietnam, 1968) suffered greatly in 20th-century wars.
Last Moon landing: Apollo 17 (1972)
China urbanized rapidly in the 21st century (Shanghai pictured).

Post-classical history (the "Middle Ages," c. undefined 500–1500 CE) witnessed the rise of Christianity, the Islamic Golden Age (c.