Jikji is the abbreviated title of a Korean Buddhist document whose title can be translated to "Anthology of Great Buddhist Priests' Zen Teachings". Jikji Simche means, "If you look at a person's heart correctly through the Zen meditation, y...

Filippo Brunelleschi was one of the foremost architects and engineers of the Italian Renaissance. He is perhaps most famous for his development of linear perspective and for engineering the dome of the Florence Cathedral, but his accomplish...

Thomas is the great author of the world famous book, "The Imitation of Christ." His name will be remembered until the end of time, because of this famous work. Priests, nuns, and lay people have used it for hundreds of years, and it has hel...

Geoffrey Chaucer (c.1342-1400) had a career in royal service as a member of the court and a diplomat. His literary work, notable for its range of genres, helped establish the English literary tradition. With their astonishing diversity...

The Peasants' Revolt, also called Wat Tyler's Rebellion or the Great Rising, was a major uprising across large parts of England in 1381. The revolt had various causes, including the socio-economic and political tensions generated by the Bla...

Eric of Pomerania was King Eric III of Norway (1389–1442) Norwegian Eirik, King Eric VII of Denmark (1396–1439), and King of Sweden (1396–1439) known there mainly as Erik av Pommern. He was the first King of the Nordic Kalmar Union, succeed...

Mehmed I Çelebi was a Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1413 to 1421. He was one of the sons of Bayezid I and Valide Sultan (1403) Devlet Hatun (who was the daughter of Yakub Shah of Germiyanids. He was also the descendant of Mevlana Celale...

Pope Eugene IV, born Gabriele Condulmer, was pope from 3 March 1431 until his death. Eugene IV was dignified in demeanour, but inexperienced and vacillating in action and excitable in temper. Bitter in his hatred of heresy, he nevertheless...

Anthony, Duke of Brabant, also known as Antoine de Brabant, Antoine de Bourgogne and Anthony of Burgundy, in the battle of Agincourt), was Duke of Brabant, Lothier and Limburg. Anthony was the son of Philip II, Duke of Burgundy and Margaret...

Jan van Eyck, the most famous and innovative Flemish painter of the 15th century. Van Eyck has been credited traditionally with the invention of painting in oils, and, although this is incorrect, there is no doubt that he perfected the tech...

Donatello (Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi), master of sculpture in both marble and bronze, one of the greatest of all Italian Renaissance artists. A good deal is known about Donatello's life and career, but little is known about his chara...

Henry V of England was one of the great warrior kings of the Middle Ages. He was born at Monmouth, Wales, and reigned as King of England from 1413 to 1422. Henry was son of Henry of Bolingbroke, later Henry IV, and Mary de Bohun, who die...

Cosimo di Giovanni de' Medici, called 'the Elder' and posthumously Father of the Nation (Latin pater patriae) was an Italian banker and politician, the first of the Medici political dynasty, de facto rulers of Florence during much of the It...

Edward, called the Philosopher or the Eloquent, was King of Portugal and the Algarve and second Lord of Ceuta from 1433 until his death. He was the son of John I of Portugal and his wife, Philippa of Lancaster, a daughter of John of Gaunt....

James I, King of Scots (reign: 1406 – 37), was the son of Robert III and Annabella Drummond. He was probably born in late July 1394 in Dunfermline as youngest of three sons. By the time he was eight years of age both of his elder brothers w...