In 2006, the Seoul government announced that the Guksa Pyeonchan Wiwonhoe (National Institute of Korean History) had undertaken the digitization of the Joseon Wangjo Sillok, that is, the “Veritable Records of the Joseon Dynasty”, 1,893 books distributed across 888 volumes written in Chinese characters. These chronicles document the successive reigns of the monarchs of that […]
Kingdoms
Posted inMiddle Ages
Mujahid al-Amiri, the Slavic ruler of the taifa of Denia who gathered the best Andalusian intellectuals of the 11th century
In the Christian part of the Iberian Peninsula, the 11th century saw the rise of the kingdoms of Castile and Aragon, the birth of Portugal, the dominance of the county of Barcelona over the other Catalan counties, the adventures of El Cid, and the opening of the Way of St. James. In the Muslim zone, […]
Posted inAntiquity
Sealand, the Dark Mesopotamian Kingdom Determined to Remain Independent
Hammurabi, the sixth king of the First Dynasty of Babylon, is not only remembered for his famous legal code but also for being the creator of the Babylonian Empire. This empire extended from the territories controlled by the city to neighboring Mesopotamia, whose various kingdoms were absorbed. However, after his death, this empire began to […]
Posted inAncient Greece, Ancient Rome
Kingdom of the Bosporus, the Longest-Lasting Greek State of Antiquity
Greeks and Romans referred to the current Kerch Strait as the Cimmerian Bosporus, the strait that connects the Black Sea with the Sea of Azov, separating the Kerch and Taman peninsulas in the vicinity of Crimea. Today, this area is a war zone between Russia and Ukraine, but in antiquity, it was a region that, […]
Posted inMiddle Ages
Antiking, the Characteristic Medieval Figure Declared or Chosen Against the Reigning Monarch
What did figures from various periods in history such as Mithridates I of the Bosporus, William the Conqueror, Alfonso X of Castile, and Matthias Corvinus have in common? They were all kings, obviously, but there is another thing, paradoxically: before reaching the crown, they were what is called antikings. That term is not official, meaning […]
Posted inMiddle Ages
The History of the Small Kingdom of Najera, Precursor to the Kingdom of Navarra and Cradle of the Kingdoms of Castile and Aragon
If all of Spain’s history is inherently complex—much more than simplifications tend to suggest—perhaps the medieval period takes the cake in close competition with ancient times, both due to the scarcity of sources and the existence of numerous royal and noble domains—some Christian, some Muslim—that changed hands, borders, and names frequently. One of the lesser-known […]
