Early reign of Ivan the Terrible
Under his rule, Moscow resumes its bid for control of neighbouring Kazan, which is already weakened by decades of instability
Category Archives: Podcasts
Siege of Kazan 1552, Part 1
Muscovy and her Asiatic neighbours 1400s-early 1500s
The story of the complex relationship between the Russians and their southern and eastern neighbours in 1400s-early 1500’s. Those neighbours were the successor states of the once mighty Mongol-Tatar empire known as the Golden Horde; the khanates of Kazan, Crimea, Siberia, the Great Horde and Nogay Horde. These relationships were at least as important to Muscovy as those with her western neighbours. Pictured: QolSharif Mosque in the city of Kazan, Russia
Battle of Mohacs 1526, Background
Expansion of the Ottoman Empire in the early 1500’s. Conquest of the Balkans and Mamluk-controlled Egypt, and rivalry with Shia Persia. Also, the story of the kingdom of Hungary in the same period, leading up to the Battle of Mohacs 1526. Pictured – the coat of arms of Matthias Corvinus, King of Hungary 1458-1490
Battle of Diu Part 4
The Battle of Diu 1509
The fight for naval supremacy of the lucrative spice trade of the Indian Ocean between the Mamluk Sultanate based in Cairo and the Portuguese
Battle of Diu 1509 Part 3
Portuguese Conquests in India
The Portuguese begin to seize control of the spice trade of the Indian Ocean, by a mixture of diplomacy and brute force. For King Manuel of Portugal, his new maritime empire becomes not just an end in itself but a possible opportunity to weaken the Mamluk Sultanate, and perhaps even a means to recover the Holy Land for Christianity. Pictured: the Zamorin of Calicut
Battle of Diu 1509 Part 2
Portuguese Discovery of India
The epic voyage of Vasco Da Gama 1497-1499, who sailed from Portugal, around the southern tip of Africa, along the eastern coast of Africa and then onto India. The discovery of a sea route from Europe to India began the European age of exploration, with huge consequences for both Europe and the rest of the world
Battle of Diu 1509 Part 1
Portuguese Voyages of Discovery
Portugal, having established its position in Iberia, begins to make conquests in Morocco. At the same time the Portuguese prince Henry the Navigator (pictured) sponsors the beginning of a series of discoveries along the west coast of Africa. In 1487-88 Europeans, led by Bartolomeu Dias, circumnavigate the southern tip of Africa for the first time, and reach the Indian Ocean
Russo-Lithuanian Wars 1500-1503
Ivan III the Great (pictured) continues the expansion of Muscovy with the capture of Lithuanian territories
Conquest of Novgorod 1477
The Conquest of Novgorod by Ivan III the Great, Grand Prince of Moscow. A Prelude to the Russo-Lithuanian Wars 1500-1503
Battle of Fornovo 1495 Part 5
King Charles VIII of France, following his conquest of Naples, heads back through Italy to France but is attacked on his way back by a combined Venetian-Milanese army. The two sides meet near the village of Fornovo, near Parma. Although ultimately a failure, Charles’ expeditions had major repercussions for it triggered the decades long Italian Wars (1494-1559), when the Italian peninsula became a battleground between foreign powers. Pictured – ‘The Madonna of the Victory’, by Andrea Mantegna (1496), commissioned by Francesco Gonzaga, ruler of Mantua