Most of my readers are quite familiar with the great rulers of the Renaissance: Henry VIII and his consecutive marital ...

Following the Fall of Constantinople and the conquest of Trebizond and Morea, the Ottoman Empire faced fierce resistance in the Balkans. In 1462, Vlad Tepes of Wallachia defied Sultan Mehmed II with a ...

Mehmed II, known as "The Conqueror," transformed the Ottoman Empire into a dominant Muslim superpower through military genius, administrative reform, and the monumental conquest of Constantinople.

Max Sligh on “Venice and the Ottoman Empire,” at the Frist Art Museum, Nashville.

The Ottoman Empire in the year of the Battle of Kahlenberg, under Mehmed IV (in light green, the vassal states). Credit: Chamboz / Wikimedia Commons The latter was one more episode in what is known as ...

There is more to a cup of Cyprus coffee than its strong, bitter taste. In a new book on the matter, Aspasia Papadima unfolds the secrets of the island’s national drink, looking at its roots, studying ...

What was the vitriolic report of Liutprand of Cremona, whose insults towards the Byzantines created a caricature of the ...

Every day, ferries of all shapes and sizes glide across the waters of Istanbul, their wakes intertwining to form intricate ...

In Italy too, during a July within Bein HaMetzarim, a decree was issued that would forever alter the life of a Jewish ...

The ancient Greek physician and botanist Dioscorides is considered by many to be the father of pharmacology for authoring De ...

Even Niall Ferguson, an apologist for the West’s colonial depredations, is forced to concede that the ‘decline of the West is ...

Billy Cotsis visited Psara, his 100th island visit. He brought back tales of an island full of heroes and a heart of ...