Educated in Southern California with a Bachelors in History and a Juris Doctorate, Shahan has directed his passion for understanding the how the world works into a writing practice that aims to deliver entertaining and enlightening content for the inquiring mind.
In 1254 A.D., King Hethum I of Armenian Cilicia, a kingdom on the Mediterranean coast in the midst of the Crusades, sought an alliance with the world’s mightiest power of the time, the Mongol Empire. The overland journey was far flung and dangerous and many barbarian nations were encountered therein, but the result was a success and curious adventure.
The Maldives have long been regarded as a paradise on Earth, but legend has it that its islands are the birthplace of the coconut. See here why it is right properly considered “brain food.”
Aden was and still is an important port city on the southwestern coast of the Arabian Peninsula. Built up by medieval merchants, it was the home of many rich and eccentric traders. Click above to read more about a funny rivalry between two such men.
The Land of Darkness was a realm of pitch black in the northern reaches of Eurasia where a legendary race of spirit-people resided, guarded by tundra wolves. They opened their realm only to the richest and most adventurous of merchants. This is the history of the medieval Siberian fur trade.
Despite the pestilence of the plague, which ravaged the world for centuries, measures of social distancing and a desire for a new world sparked the genius in many of humanity’s greatest thinkers. Dreamers like Isaac Newton, Petrarch and Boccaccio, and Leonardo da Vinci were able to hone their mental energy toward their creative pursuits and lead humanity toward new planes of enlightenment.
By living a clean life devoted to his art and the gods, this mythological Cypriot from Greek and Roman mythology was able to build himself the perfect woman and make her come to life.
The naval battle off Tauris Island in the Adriatic Sea was fought between Caesarean and Pompeiian forces after the Great Roman Civil War. The opposing fleets clashed at such close quarters that melee combat essentially decided the battle.
Sniffing out the suspicious scent of a French officer encroaching on British Colonial forts, Washington engaged in his first full military skirmish, killing the enemy leader, and starting the French and Indian War.
In 1753, the French Canadiens began encroaching on land claimed by the Virginia Colony. So, a young Virginian gentleman was sent to deliver a letter to their commander and learn their plans.
If the Mongol dead could find love and get married in the afterlife, then it’s never too late for you.
