Browse Items (202 total)

Fort Bourtange (Vesting Bourtange in Dutch) is a textbook example of the “star fort” or “bastion” fortification type which grew to prominence in the later Renaissance. Construction began during the Dutch Revolt in 1580 under the orders of William of…

No exploration of maritime history in the early modern period would be complete without a look at the largest driver of maritime trade during the later part of this period, the trade in human slaves. The history of African slavery in the Americas…

An Introduction to "Maritime History in Early Modern Europe (1492-1807)."

This large architectural project took Michelangelo and many assistants four decades to complete from the date of its commissioning. In fact, it was completed in a radically different form than originally envisioned over thirty years after its…

Westminster Abbey is certainly not a structure built during the Protestant Reformation, nor the English Reformations, but its history is inextricably entangled with Protestantism and Anglicanism, so it has earned its spot in this era. The original…

In the 1600s the young Dutch Republic was the envy of Europe. Despite their small size and decentralized government structure, the United Provinces of the Netherlands managed to make themselves the middlemen of the world in the 17th century by…

The Monastery of San Lorenzo de El Escorial (usually referred to simply as “El Escorial”) might be seen as the physical embodiment of the Spanish Golden Age. At once austere and ornate, martial and scholarly, tradition-stamped and forward-looking, it…

This coin was a common currency for the Papal states during the mid to late 15th century. Politically currency was important to the Papal States so they could continue to hold sway over the italian city states and rest of Europe. However between…

In order to prevent the Catholic heir of King James II from the inheriting the throne and reuniting the Anglican Church with Rome, Parliament decided to offer the throne to Dutch noble William of Orange and his wife Mary. In exchange, they drew up a…

Any discussion on the impact of the Protestant reformation on the study of the body, and medicine as a whole, must begin with a discussion of Protestant education. Melanchthon, a contemporary and friend of Luther’s, is widely considered to be…