By Tim Lambert Early Monasteries One of the first Christian monasteries was founded in Egypt in the 4th century by St Pachomius. In Western Europe, early monasteries followed the pattern set by St Benedict of Nursia (c.480-c.550). In about 525 Benedict founded a monastery at Monte Cassino in Italy. He drew up a ‘rule, which… Continue reading A History of Monasteries
Category: Articles
A History of the Barbarians
By Tim Lambert In the 4th century, the Roman Empire split into two parts, east, and west. The western part eventually fell to the barbarians. They were people from central and northern Europe. Unfortunately, ‘barbarian’ is a biased term. In the 5th century, they invaded the declining Roman Empire and they gradually carved it up… Continue reading A History of the Barbarians
A Brief History of Greenland
By Tim Lambert The Inuit in Greenland The first inhabitants of Greenland were the Inuit. They lived in Greenland for long periods but there were also times when Greenland was uninhabited. The first people to live in Greenland were the Saqqaq people from about 2,500 BC to 900 BC. Greenland was then uninhabited until about… Continue reading A Brief History of Greenland
A History of the Etruscans
By Tim Lambert The first civilization in Italy was the Etruscan, which arose about 800 BC. The Etruscans built cities on a grid pattern. Some of these cities still exist (including Arezzo, Chiusi, Cortona, Perugia, and Cerveteri). The Etruscans were also engineers who drained marshes and built roads. They were also skilled artists. The Etruscans… Continue reading A History of the Etruscans
Life in Rome
By Tim Lambert Roman Society At its height, the population of the city of Rome was probably over one million. However, the Roman Empire was an agricultural society where most people made their living from farming (although there were many craftsmen). Only a small minority of the population lived in towns. In the Roman Empire… Continue reading Life in Rome
The Phoenicians
By Tim Lambert The Phoenicians were people who lived in what is now Lebanon. They were a great trading people and they were at their peak between about 1200 BC and 800 BC. The Phoenicians lived on a strip of fertile land between the sea and the Lebanon mountains. With the mountains as a natural… Continue reading The Phoenicians
A Short History of Cyprus
By Tim Lambert ANCIENT CYPRUS The first people in Cyprus were stone age farmers about 8,000 BC. By 4,000 BC they were making pottery and copper tools. By about 2,500 BC the people of Cyprus had learned to make bronze. The society of Cyprus gradually grew more sophisticated after 1,600 BC a form of writing… Continue reading A Short History of Cyprus
The Aztecs
By Tim Lambert The ancestors of the Aztecs settled on a marshy island in Lake Texcoco in either 1325 or 1345. According to legend, the Aztecs settled at a place where they saw an eagle perched on a cactus with a snake in its mouth. They took this as a sign from their god that… Continue reading The Aztecs
A Brief History of Mexico
By Tim Lambert The story of modern Mexico began with the conquistadores. In 1492 the Spaniards discovered the new world. The end of the Aztec Empire came when the governor of Cuba sent an army under Hernan Cortes (1485-1547) to conquer Mexico. Cortes only had about 600 men yet he managed to conquer the Aztecs.… Continue reading A Brief History of Mexico
A Brief History of Serbia
By Tim Lambert Early Serbia In the 7th century Slavs, ancestors of modern Serbs arrived in Serbia. At first, they were divided into clans but in the 8th century, a man named Vlastimir founded the first Serbian state called Rasica. Then in the 9th century, the Serbs were converted to Christianity. However, until the 13th… Continue reading A Brief History of Serbia