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The French King Prepares for Battle
On Sunday morning, the French king, eager to confront the English, began his day with mass in his pavilion. His four sons were with...
The Black Prince Approaches Poitiers
On that Saturday, the Black Prince and his army rode from morning until night, covering a long distance. By the end of the day,...
Uncertainty and Shortage Among the English
As the Black Prince and his army moved forward, they were unsure of the exact location of the French forces. They feared that the...
Smyrna in the Byzantine and Medieval Periods
The modern city of İzmir is built directly on top of ancient Smyrna. Because of this, only limited archaeological excavation is possible today. Many...
Ancient Smyrna The Beginnings of the City
The earliest settlement of Smyrna was located at the Tepekule tumulus in modern Bayraklı, on a small peninsula along the Aegean Sea. Archaeological evidence...
The Cemetery Above the Grotto of the Seven Sleepers
The ruins of a large cemetery can be seen above the Grotto of the Seven Sleepers in Ephesus. Together with the many graves around...
The Hebdomon as a Place of Rest and Transition
Several examples have already shown how the Hebdomon was used as a resting place before entering or leaving Constantinople. Earlier, we noted how Theodosius...
The Relic and the Fame of the Church
The great religious reputation of the Church of St. John the Baptist at the Hebdomon rested chiefly on its possession of the revered relic...
The Most Venerated Church of the Hebdomon
Among all the churches of the Hebdomon, the most deeply revered was the one dedicated to St. John the Baptist, known in Greek as...
From Vienna in Austria to Larissa in Thessaly
After spending the winter in the imperial city of Vienna, located in Austria, I decided to travel into Hungary. The main purpose of this...
