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Battle of Lyndanisse (Reval) 1219 – Scandinavian Wars In 1219, Valdemar II of Denmark continued the Danish conquest of the German Baltic Islands begun by his brother, Canute VI. At the Battle of Lyndanisse, near Reval, the Danes were battling the pagan Estonians. Weary and facing defeat, a critical turning point in the battle came when a red and white banner came in to the possession of Valdemar. Legend says the banner fell fr...

The Flemish, economically allied to England, was discontented with French rule. Burdened with heavy taxes during the reign of Charles VI, the people of Flanders took up arms under the leadership of Philip van Artevelde. During the uprising a large number of peasants and townspeople gathered en masse at Roosebeke in East Flanders. Here they were attacked by a strong force of mounted French knights commanded by the Count of Flanders, Louis II de Ma...

The Political System of Sparta The Spartan political mindset was war. Law forbade all Spartan males from any occupation other than that of being a soldier. Because of this, Sparta had the only full time army in all of Greece. Other Greek city states had an almost all militia army. They conducted war in a narrow season that was constructed around the planting and harvesting of crops as most men were farmers. Because of this, Sparta was able to ha...