Category
War & Warriors
Armies, elite units, battles and the soldiers who fought them, and how war redrew the map.
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War & Warriors · Tsardom of Russia
The Time of Troubles (1598–1613): Famine, Pretenders and the Poles in the Kremlin
Russia's Time of Troubles, 1598–1613: the great famine, three False Dmitrys, the Poles in the Kremlin, Minin and Pozharsky and the first Romanov tsar.
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People · Golden Horde
Tokhtamysh: The Khan Who Burned Moscow and Fought Timur
Tokhtamysh reunited the Golden Horde, burned Moscow in 1382 and fought his former patron Timur. What the Russian, Persian and Arabic sources say.
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War & Warriors · Kingdom of Hungary
The Mongol Invasion of Europe (1241): Legnica, Mohi and the Withdrawal
In 1241 Mongol armies crushed the Poles at Legnica and the Hungarians at Mohi, then withdrew. What the eyewitnesses wrote, and why the Mongols turned back.
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People · Mongol Empire
Subutai: Genghis Khan's Greatest General, Fact and Fiction
Subutai (1176–1248) led Mongol armies from China to Hungary. What the Yuan shi, the Secret History and the chronicles say, and where the legend begins.
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People · Mongol Empire
Jochi: Genghis Khan's Eldest Son and the Question of His Father
Jochi, eldest son of Genghis Khan, gave his name to the Golden Horde. What the sources say about his birth, the succession quarrel, and his early death.
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Sources & Evidence · Principality of Chernigov
The Tale of Igor's Campaign: The 1185 Raid, the Lost Manuscript and the Forgery Debate
The Tale of Igor's Campaign and the failed raid of 1185: what the chronicles say, how the only manuscript was lost, and why scholars think it genuine.
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War & Warriors · Grand Principality of Moscow
The Battle of Kulikovo (1380): Dmitry Donskoy, Mamai and the Myth of Liberation
The Battle of Kulikovo on 8 September 1380: who fought, how many, what the earliest sources say, and why the victory did not end the Tatar yoke.
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War & Warriors · Kievan Rus'
The Mongol Invasion of Rus' (1237–1240): How the Cities Fell
How the Mongols conquered Rus' in 1237–1240, city by city from Ryazan and Vladimir to Kyiv, what chronicles and graves show, and where the "Tatar yoke" began.
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People · Mongol Empire
Batu Khan: Genghis Khan's Grandson and the Conquest of Rus'
Who Batu Khan was, how he led the Mongol conquest of Rus' and the invasion of Hungary, why he turned back in 1242, and what eyewitnesses saw at his court.
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War & Warriors · Teutonic Order
The Battle on the Ice (1242): What Really Happened on Lake Peipus
The Battle on the Ice of 5 April 1242 in the sources: who fought, how many died, where it happened, and how the drowning knights entered the story.
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People · Novgorod Republic
Alexander Nevsky: Warrior, Mongol Vassal, Saint
Who was Alexander Nevsky? The prince who beat Swedes and crusaders, served the Mongol khans, punished his own people and became Russia's warrior saint.
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War & Warriors · Rus'
The Rus' Attack on Constantinople (860): The Vikings' First Raid on Byzantium
In 860 a Rus' fleet raided the outskirts of Constantinople. What Patriarch Photios saw, who the attackers were, why they left and where the storm legend began.
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War & Warriors · Kievan Rus'
Sviatoslav I: The Warrior Prince
Who was Sviatoslav I of Kiev? The pagan prince who broke Khazaria, conquered Bulgaria, defied Byzantium and died at the Dnieper rapids in 972.
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People · Kievan Rus'
Igor of Kiev and the Drevlian Tribute
Igor of Kiev ruled the Rus' until the Drevlians killed him in AD 945. See how Greek fire, a costly treaty and a greedy tribute round sealed his fate.
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War & Warriors · Byzantine Empire
The Varangian Guard: The Viking and English Axemen Who Guarded Byzantium
Who were the Varangian Guard? Discover how Viking and English axemen guarded Byzantine emperors from AD 988 to c. 1400, what they earned and how it ended.