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Claude Monet
Claude Monet (1840-1926) was a French impressionist painter who transformed modern art with his emphasis on light brushstrokes, bright colours, and uncluttered nature. Famed for his landscapes and series of paintings that captured the same...
Definition
Isthmia
Isthmia is a genitive noun with the meaning 'of the Isthmus.' It generally refers to the site that held the famous Isthmian Games near Corinth on the Isthmus. A natural assembly place for many Greeks and travellers. Isthmia in Antiquity was...
Article
The Idea of the Sublime in the Enlightenment
During the European Enlightenment, a concept was developed in philosophy and aesthetics called the sublime. In the arts, literature, and the works of intellectuals, the sublime referred to the awe-inspiring capacity of nature and beauty...
Definition
Levant
Levant is the name applied widely to the eastern Mediterranean coastal lands of Asia Minor and Phoenicia (modern-day Turkey, Syria, and Lebanon). In a wider sense, the term can be used to encompass the entire coastline from Greece to Egypt...
Image
Herodian Tetrarchy in the Levant, c. 5 CE
A map illustrating the geopolitical situation in the Levant after Herod the Great's death (an ambitious ruler appointed as the King of Judea by the Roman Senate in 37 BCE ). The Herodian Tetrarchy, established by Herod the Great's will, divided...
Image
Muslim Invasion of the Levant, 634 CE
A map depicting the Muslim invasion into the Levant, then controlled by the Byzantine Empire, in 634 CE.
Definition
Knights Templar
The Knights Templar were established c. 1119 and given papal recognition in 1129. It was a Catholic medieval military order whose members combined martial prowess with a monastic life to defend Christian holy sites and pilgrims in the Middle...
Definition
Second Crusade
The Second Crusade (1147-1149 CE) was a military campaign organised by the Pope and European nobles to recapture the city of Edessa in Mesopotamia which had fallen in 1144 CE to the Muslim Seljuk Turks. Despite an army of 60,000 and the presence...
Definition
Astarte
Astarte is the Canaanite/Phoenician goddess of love, sex, war, and hunting who developed from the Mesopotamian deity Inanna/Ishtar. She is usually associated with the storm god Baal but seems to have been much more popular. She traveled to...
Definition
Eighth Crusade
The Eighth Crusade of 1270 CE was, like the Seventh Crusade (1248-1254 CE), led by the French king Louis IX (r. 1226-1270 CE). As previously, the idea was to attack and defeat the Muslims first in Egypt and then either reconquer or negotiate...