The Order of the Dragon (Latin: Societas Draconistarum, lit. "Society of the Dragonists") was a monarchical chivalric order for selected nobility, founded in 1408 by Sigismund, King of Hungary (r. 1387–1437) and later Holy Roman Emperor (r....

Originating in Bruges, the Gruuthuse Manuscript is a very diverse collection of Middle Dutch rhyming literature which was compiled in about 1400. There are many reasons why it can be described as special. Perhaps the most important of these...

Isabella of Portugal was Duchess of Burgundy as the third wife of Duke Philip the Good. Born a Portuguese infanta of the House of Aviz, Isabella was the only surviving daughter of King John I of Portugal and his wife Philippa of Lancaster....

The Battle of Nicopolis took place on 25 September 1396 and resulted in the rout of an allied army of Hungarian, Bulgarian, Wallachian, French, Burgundian, German and assorted troops (assisted by the Venetian navy) at the hands of an Ottoma...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

Oswald von Wolkenstein was a poet, composer and diplomat. In the latter capacity, he traveled through much of Europe, even as far as Georgia (as recounted in "Durch Barbarei, Arabia"), and was inducted into the Order of the Dragon. He lived...

John the Fearless (French: Jean sans Peur, Dutch: Jan zonder Vrees), also John II, Duke of Burgundy, known as John of Valois and John of Burgundy, was Duke of Burgundy from 1404 to 1419. He was Regent for his mentally ill first cousin Charl...

Charles VI, called the Beloved and the Mad, was the King of France from 1380 to 1422, as a member of the House of Valois. His bouts with madness, which seem to have begun in 1392, led to quarrels among the French royal family, which were ex...

Richard II was the son of Edward the Black Prince, Prince of Wales, and Joan "The Fair Maid of Kent". He was born in Bordeaux and became his father's successor when his elder brother died in infancy. He was deposed in 1399 and died the next...