16th Century

The Teutonic Knights were powerful and ferocious advocates of holy war. William Urban's narrative charts the rise and fall of the Order and, in an accessible and engaging style, throws light on a band of knights whose deeds and motives have long been misunderstood....

On the 500th anniversary of the Reformation comes this compelling, illuminating, and expansive religious history that examines the complicated and unintended legacies of Martin Luther....

A groundbreaking examination of the greatest event in history, the Scientific Revolution, and how it came to change the way we understand ourselves and our world....

Best-selling author Deborah E. Harkness explores the streets, shops, back alleys, and gardens of Elizabethan London....

The most profound characteristic of Western Europe in the Middle Ages was its cultural and religious unity, a unity secured by a common alignment with the Pope in Rome....

What was life like for Shakespeare's first audiences? In this fascinating series, Neil MacGregor attempts to answer these questions by examining 20 objects from that turbulent period....

Cabeza de Vaca was part of a 1527 Spanish expedition to explore the region north of the Gulf of Mexico. His group lost contact with their ships, and traveled on foot across Florida, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and northern Mexico for the next eight years....

Before the Reformation, in the eyes of the Roman Catholic Church, being a wife or mother was not a holy vocation. The only “spiritual” calling for women was to be found in a convent. The Reformers confronted the bad theology which led to this....

Mary Boleyn, ‘the infamous other Boleyn girl’, began her court career as the mistress of the king of France....

Una sera di settembre del 1533 Isabella d’Este, quasi sessantenne, rievoca la propria vicenda: dall’infanzia a Ferrara al matrimonio, sedicenne, con il marchese...