Violence is the exertion of physical force so as to injure or abuse. The word is used broadly to describe the destructive action of natural phenomena like storms and earthquakes. More frequently the word describes forceful human destruction of property or injury to persons, usually intentional, and forceful verbal and emotional abuse that harms others. Look up violence in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Barry Bonds batting Photo:Agência Brasil In baseball, batting is the act of facing the opposing pitcher and trying to produce offense for ones team. ... Boh Runga seen in the Violent music video, featuring drummer Andrew Maclaren behind her Violent is New Zealand band Stellar*s fourth single, and their third single from their debut album Mix. ... Categories: Stub ... Global earthquake epicenters, 1963–1998. ...

Psychology and Sociology

See also: Aggression

The causes of violent behavior in humans are often research topics in psychology and sociology. Neurobiologist Jan Volavka emphasizes that for those purposes, “violent behavior is defined as overt and intentional physically aggressive behavior against another person."^[1] In psychology and other social and behavioral sciences, aggression refers to behavior that is intended to cause harm or pain. ... Psychological science redirects here. ... Sociology (from Latin: socius, companion; and the suffix -ology, the study of, from Greek λόγος, lógos, knowledge [1]) is the systematic and scientific study of society, including patterns of social relationships, social action, and culture[2]. Areas studied in sociology can range from the analysis of brief contacts between anonymous...

Scientists disagree on whether violence is inherent in humans. Among prehistoric humans, there is archaeological evidence for both contentions of violence and peacefulness as primary characteristics.^[2]

Riane Eisler, who describes early matriarchal societies, and Walter Wink, who coined the phrase “the myth of redemptive violence,” suggest that human violence, especially as organized in groups, is a phenomenon of the last five to ten thousand years. Riane Eisler is an Austrian born American scholar, writer, and social activist. ... Dr. Walter Wink is Professor at Auburn Theological Seminary in New York City. ...

The “violent male ape” image is often brought up in discussions of human violence. Dale Peterson and Richard Wrangham in “Demonic Males: Apes and the Origins of Human Violence” write that violence is inherent in humans.^[3] However, William L. Ury, editor of a book called "Must We Fight? From the Battlefield to the Schoolyard--A New Perspective on Violent Conflict and Its Prevention” debunks the "killer ape" myth in his book which brings together discussions from two Harvard Law School symposiums. The conclusion is that “we also have lots of natural mechanisms for cooperation, to keep conflict in check, to channel aggression, and to overcome conflict. These are just as natural to us as the aggressive tendencies."^[4] Richard Wrangham is a professor in Biological Anthropology at Harvard University. ...

James Gilligan writes violence is often pursued as an antidote to shame or humiliation.^[5] The use of violence often is a source of pride and a defense of honor, especially among males who often believe violence defines manhood.^[6]

Stephen Pinker in a New Republic article “The History of Violence” offers evidence that on the average the amount and cruelty of violence to humans and animals has decreased over the last few centuries.^[7] For other uses, see New Republic. ...

Law

One of the main functions of law is to regulate violence and violent crimes. Sociologist Max Weber stated that state power is the monopoly on the legitimate use of physical force on a specific territory. Law enforcement is the main means of regulating nonmilitary violence in society. For other uses, see Law (disambiguation). ... for other uses please see Crime (disambiguation) A crime is an act that violates a political or moral law. ... For the politician, see Max Weber (politician). ... The monopoly on the legitimate use of physical force designs an essential attribute of the states sovereignty. ... For the band, see The Police. ...

Governments regulate the use of violence through legal systems governing individuals and political authorities, including the police and military. Most societies condone some amount of police violence to maintain the status quo and enforce laws. A legal system is the mechanism for creating, interpreting and enforcing the laws in a given jurisdiction. ...

However, German political theorist Hannah Arendt noted: "Violence can be justifiable, but it never will be legitimate ... Its justification loses in plausibility the farther its intended end recedes into the future. No one questions the use of violence in self-defence, because the danger is not only clear but also present, and the end justifying the means is immediate".^[8] Many governments do abuse their monopoly on power to engage in violence against citizens. In the twentieth century in acts of democide governments may have killed more than 260 million of their own people through police brutality, execution, massacre, slave labor camps, and through sometimes intentional famine.^[9] Hannah Arendt (October 14, 1906 – December 4, 1975) was a German Jewish political theorist. ... (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s The 20th century lasted from 1901 to 2000 in the Gregorian calendar (often from (1900 to 1999 in common usage). ... Democide is a term coined by political scientist R. J. Rummel for the murder of any person or people by a government, including genocide, politicide, and mass murder. Rummel created the term as an extended concept to include forms of government murder that are not covered by the legal definition... January 31 1919: David Kirkwood on the ground after being struck by batons of the Glasgow police Police brutality is a term used to describe the excessive use of physical force, assault, verbal attacks, and threats by police officers and other law enforcement officers. ... Execution is a synonym for the actioning of something, of putting something into effect. ... Look up massacre in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... A labor camp is a simplified detention facility where inmates are engaged in forced labor. ... This is an incomplete list of major famines, ordered by date. ...

Damage to property is usually considered a less serious offense unless the damage injures, or potentially could injure, others. Unpremeditated or small-scale acts of random violence or coordinated violence by unsanctioned private groups usually are prosecuted. While most societies condone the killing of animals for food and sport, increasingly they have adopted mores and laws against animal cruelty. Property damage is damage or destruction done to public or private property, caused either by a person who is not its owner or by natural phenomena. ... Cruelty to animals refers to treatment which causes unacceptable suffering to animals. ...

The Federal Bureau of Investigation classifies violence resulting in homicide, into criminal homicide and justifiable homicide (e.g. self defense).^[10] F.B.I. and FBI redirect here. ... Homicide (Latin homicidium, homo human being + caedere to cut, kill) refers to the act of killing another human being. ... This article is about fatal harm. ... The concept of justifiable homicide in criminal law stands on the dividing line between an excuse and an exculpation. ...

Below are some forms of violent crimes outlawed by governmental legal entities:

• Abuse - to use wrongly or improperly used; misuse
• Assault and battery - an assault involving actual bodily contact
  • Assault - an unlawful physical attack upon another or threat to do violence to another
    • Aggravated assault - assault with the use of weapons or in other circumstances beyond the realm of normal assault
  • Battery - an unlawful attack upon another person by beating or wounding, or by touching in an offensive manner
• Cruelty to animals - a cruel act upon an animal
• Child abuse - cruelty to children (people under the age of 18)
• Domestic violence - acts of violence against a person living in one's household or a member of one's immediate family
• Homicide - the killing of another human being
• Murder - homicide in certain proscribed conditions
• Property damage - damage to another's property (ie: breaking of things, burning, or harming in a devastating manner)
• Rape - the unlawful compelling of someone through physical force or duress to have sexual intercourse

Abuser redirects here. ... Assault and battery is the combination of two violent crimes: assault (the threat of violence) and battery (actual physical violence). ... Aggravated assault is a form of violent crime. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Cruelty to animals refers to the treatment or standards of care that cause unwarranted or unnecessary suffering or harm to animals. ... Child abuse is the physical, emotional or sexual abuse or neglect of children by parents, guardians, or others. ... Domestic disturbance redirects here. ... Homicide (Latin homicidium, homo human being + caedere to cut, kill) refers to the act of killing another human being. ... Property damage is damage or destruction done to public or private property, caused either by a person who is not its owner or by natural phenomena. ...

War

War is a state of prolonged violent, large-scale conflict involving two or more groups of people, usually under the auspices of government. War is fought as a means of resolving territorial and other conflicts, as war of aggression to conquer territory or loot resources, in national self-defense, or to suppress attempts of part of the nation to secede from it. For other uses, see War (disambiguation). ... In international law, a war of aggression is generally considered to be any war for which the purpose is not to repel an invasion, or respond to an attack on the territory of a sovereign nation. ... For other uses, see Secession (disambiguation). ...

Since the Industrial Revolution, the lethality of modern warfare has steadily grown. World War I casualties were over 40 million and World War II casualties were over 70 million. A Watt steam engine, the steam engine that propelled the Industrial Revolution in Britain and the world. ... Pie chart showing deaths by alliance and military/civilian. ... Military and civilian deaths during World War II for the Allied and the Axis Powers. ...

Nevertheless, some hold the actual deaths from war have decreased compared to past centuries. Lawrence H. Keeley, a professor at the University of Illinois, calculates that 87 per cent of tribal societies were at war more than once per year, and some 65 per cent of them were fighting continuously. The attrition rate of numerous close-quarter clashes, which characterize endemic warfare, produces casualty rates of up to 60%, compared to 1% of the combatants as is typical in modern warfare.^[11] Stephen Pinker agrees, writing that “in tribal violence, the clashes are more frequent, the percentage of men in the population who fight is greater, and the rates of death per battle are higher.”^[12] A tribe, viewed historically or developmentally, consists of a social group existing before the development of, or outside of, states, though some modern theorists hold that contemporary tribes can only be understood in terms of their relationship to states. ... Endemic warfare is the state of continual, low-threshold warfare in a tribal warrior society. ...

Jared Diamond in his award-winning books, Guns, Germs and Steel and The Third Chimpanzee provides sociological and anthropological evidence for the rise of large scale warfare as a result of advances in technology and city-states. The rise of agriculture provided a significant increase in the number of individuals that a region could sustain over hunter-gatherer societies, allowing for development of specialized classes such as soldiers, or weapons manufacturers. On the other hand, tribal conflicts in hunter-gatherer societies tend to result in wholesale slaughter of the opposition (other than perhaps females of child-bearing years) instead of territorial conquest or slavery, presumably as hunter-gatherer numbers could not sustain empire-building.^{[citation needed]} Jared Mason Diamond (b. ... Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies cover Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies is a 1997 book by Jared Diamond, professor of physiology at UCLA. It won the Pulitzer Prize for 1998, as well as the Aventis Prize for best science book in the... The Third Chimpanzee: The Evolution and Future of the Human Animal (ISBN 0-06-098403-1), originally published in English in 1992, is the first book-length work of non-fiction from Jared Diamond, evolutionary biologist, physiologist and award-winning author. ...

Religious and Political Ideology

Many Ahmedabad's buildings were set on fire during 2002 Gujarat violence

Religious and political ideologies have been the cause of interpersonal violence, and violent riots, political repression, ethnic cleansing and genocide through out history.^[13] Ideologues often falsely accuse others of violence, such as the ancient blood libel against Jews, the medieval accusations of casting witchcraft spells against women, caricatures of black men as “violent brutes” that helped excuse the late nineteenth century Jim Crow laws in the United States,^[14] and modern accusations of satanic ritual abuse against day care center owners and others.^[15] Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (1184x800, 325 KB) Summary This is a scan of a photograph taken by me during the Communal riots on Ahmedabad in February/March 2002. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (1184x800, 325 KB) Summary This is a scan of a photograph taken by me during the Communal riots on Ahmedabad in February/March 2002. ... , Ahmedabad (Gujarati: , Hindi: अहमदाबाद ) is the largest city in the state of Gujarat and the seventh-largest urban agglomeration in India, with a population of almost 51 lakhs (5. ... The skyline of Ahmedabad filled with smoke as buildings and shops are set on fire by rioting mobs. ... Categories: Stub | Riots ... Political repression is the oppression or persecution of an individual or group for political reasons, particularly for the purpose of restricting or preventing their ability to take part in the political life of society. ... For the video game, see Ethnic Cleansing (computer game). ... For other uses, see Genocide (disambiguation). ... Blood libels are unfounded allegations that a particular group eats people as a form of human sacrifice, often accompanied by the claim of using the blood of their victims in various rituals. ... The Middle Ages formed the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three ages: the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and modern times. ... Witch redirects here. ... Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ... The term Jim Crow laws refers to a series of laws enacted mostly in the Southern United States in the later half of the 19th century that restricted most of the new privileges granted to African-Americans after the Civil War. ... Satanism Associated organizations The Church of Satan First Satanic Church Prominent figures Anton LaVey | Blanche Barton | Peter H. Gilmore | Peggy Nadramia | Karla LaVey Associated concepts Left-Hand Path | Pentagonal Revisionism | Suitheism | Might is Right Books and publications The Satanic Bible | The Satanic Rituals | The Satanic Witch | The Devils Notebook...

Both supporters and opponents of the twenty-first century war on terrorism regard it largely as an ideological and religious war.^[16] (20th century - 21st century - 22nd century - other centuries) Definition In calendars based on the Christian Era or Common Era, such as the Gregorian calendar, the 21st century is the current century, as of this writing, lasting from 2001-2100. ... This article is about U.S. actions, and those of other states, after September 11 2001. ...

Vittorio Bufacchi describes two different modern concepts of violence, one the “minimalist conception” of violence as an intentional act of excessive or destructive force, the other the “comprehensive conception” which includes violations of rights, including a long list of human needs.^[17] These concepts are reflected in conflicts between “left wing” anti-capitalists and “right wing’” pro-capitalists. In politics, left-wing, political left, leftism, or simply the left, are terms that refer (with no particular precision) to the segment of the political spectrum typically associated with any of several strains of socialism, social democracy, or liberalism (especially but not exclusively in the American sense of the word... An anti-capitalist poster printed by the Industrial Workers of the World in 1911. ... In politics, right-wing, the political right, or simply the right, are terms which refer, with no particular precision, to the segment of the political spectrum in opposition to left-wing politics. ...

Anti-capitalists assert that “capitalism is violent.” They believe private property, trade, interest and profit survive only because police violence defends them and that capitalist economies need war to expand.^[18] Many contest calling any form of property damage “violent.”^[19] Similarly, many anti-capitalists lambast what they call “structural violence” which denotes a form of violence in which social institutions kill people slowly by preventing them from meeting their basic needs, often leading further to social conflict and violence. Anti-capitalism is any and all opposition to capitalism. ... For other uses, see Capitalism (disambiguation). ... This page deals with property as ownership rights. ... This article is about economic exchange. ... For other senses of this word, see interest (disambiguation). ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... Structural violence, a term which was first used in the 1970s and which has commonly been ascribed to Johan Galtung, denotes a form of violence which corresponds with the systematic ways in which a given social structure or social institution kills people slowly by preventing them from meeting their basic... A social institution is any institution in a socity that works to socialize the groups or people in it. ...

Supporters of capitalism are wary of a wide definition of violence that requires the state and its violent enforcement agencies to fulfill all needs denied by structural violence. However, unlike those critics who support state capitalism^[20], free market supporters argue that it is violently enforced state laws intervening in markets which cause many of the problems anti-capitalists attribute to structural violence.^[21] There are multiple definitions of the term state capitalism. ... A free market is an idealized market, where all economic decisions and actions by individuals regarding transfer of money, goods, and services are voluntary, and are therefore devoid of coercion and theft (some definitions of coercion are inclusive of theft). Colloquially and loosely, a free market economy is an economy...

Throughout history, some religions like Jainism, Buddhism, Quakerism and individuals like Mahatma Gandhi have preached that humans are capable of eliminating individual violence and organizing societies through purely nonviolent means. Gandhi himself once wrote: “A society organized and run on the basis of complete non-violence would be the purest anarchy.”^[22] Modern political ideologies which espouse similar views include pacifist varieties of voluntarism, mutualism, anarchism and libertarianism. Jain and Jaina redirect here. ... A statue of the Sakyamuni Buddha in Tawang Gompa, India. ... The Religious Society of Friends, commonly known as Quakers, or Friends, is a religious community founded in England in the 17th century. ... “Gandhi” redirects here. ... Nonviolence (or non-violence) is a set of assumptions about morality, power and conflict that leads its proponents to reject the use of violence in efforts to attain social or political goals. ... Voluntarism (lat. ... Theory and practice Issues History Culture By region Lists Related Anarchism Portal Politics Portal ·        Mutualism is a political and economic theory or system, largely associated with Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, based on a labor theory of value which holds that when labor or its product is sold, it ought to receive... Anarchist redirects here. ... This article is about the political philosophy based on private property rights. ...

Health and prevention

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) defines violence as "Injury inflicted by deliberate means", which includes assault, as well as "legal intervention, and self-harm".^[23] The World Health Organization ( “WHO”) in its first World Report on Violence and Health defined violence as "the intentional use of physical force or power, threatened or actual, against oneself, another person or against a group or community, that either results in or has a high likelihood of resulting in injury, death, psychological harm, maldevelopment or deprivation."^[24] The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, Georgia, is recognized as the leading United States agency for protecting the public health and safety of people. ... WHO redirects here. ...

WHO estimates that each year around 1.6 million lives are lost world-wide due to violence. It is among the leading causes of death for people ages 15-44, especially of males.^[25]

Recent estimates for murders per year in various countries include: 55,000 murders in Brazil^[26], 30,000 murders in Russia, 25,000 murders in Colombia,^[27], 20,000 murders in South Africa, 15,000 murders in Mexico, 14,000 murders in the United States,^[28], 11,000 murders in Venezuela, 6,000 murders in El Salvador, 1,600 murders in Jamaica^[29], 1000 murders in France, 500 murders in Canada, and 200 murders in Chile.^[30]

Violence in the media

Main article: Media violence research

The topic of violence in popular media is controversial. This includes violence in films, television, music, comic books, and video games and televised sports. Violence in the media has led to government censorship and regulation. In the United States the FCC regulates television and radio, as does the CRTC in Canada. Media also self-regulate, as through many movie rating systems and the Entertainment Software Rating Board for video games.^[31] Media violence research attempts to determine whether a link between consuming media violence and subsequent aggressive and violent behavior exists. ... This article is about motion pictures. ... For other uses, see Music (disambiguation). ... A comic book is a magazine or book containing the art form of comics. ... This article is about computer and video games. ... For other uses, see Censor. ... FCC redirects here. ... The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC, in French Conseil de la radiodiffusion et des télécommunications canadiennes) was established in 1968 by the Canadian Parliament to replace the Board of Broadcast Governors. ... The ESRBs logo. ...

Violent content has been a central part of video game controversy. Critics like Dave Grossman and Jack Thompson argue that violence in games (some of which they both call "murder simulators") hardens children to unethical acts.^[32] Video games have been the subject of controversy and censorship, due to the depiction of graphic violence, sex themes, consumption of illegal drugs, consumption of alcohol or tobacco, or profanity in some games. ... Lieutenant Colonel Dave Grossman is an author who has specialized in the study of the psychology of killing. ... Jack Thompson is the name of several persons: Jack Thompson (actor) (born 1940), Australian film and television star Jack Thompson (attorney) (born 1951), American lawyer Jack Thompson (boxer) (1904–1946), American boxer Jack Thompson (football player) (born 1956), American football quarterback from Samoa Jack E. Thompson, British scientist Category: ...

Historical examples of violence

Acts of violence are commonly found in historical record. The following is an incomplete list of some of the more large-scale examples of violence in history.

- Caesar's campaigns. As many as 1 million people (probably 1 in 4 of the Gauls) died, another million were enslaved, 300 tribes were subjugated and 800 cities were destroyed during the Gallic Wars (present-day France). The entire population of city of Avaricum (Bourges) (40,000 in all) was slaughtered.^[33] During Julius Caesar's campaign against the Helvetii (modern-day Switzerland) approximately 60% of the tribe was destroyed, and another 20% was taken into slavery.^[34] The institution of slavery in ancient Rome made many people non-persons before their legal system. ... Combatants Roman Republic Several Gallic tribes Commanders Julius Caesar Titus Labienus Mark Antony Quintus Cicero Vercingetorix, Ambiorix, Commius, among other The Gallic Wars were a series of military campaigns by several invading Roman legions under the command of Julius Caesar into Gaul, and the subsequent uprisings of the Gallic tribes. ... Avaricum was a city in ancient Gaul, on the site of what is now the city of Bourges. ... For other uses, see Julius Caesar (disambiguation). ... A map of Gaul showing the northern Alpine position of the Helvetii. ... Slave redirects here. ...

- Boudica's uprising. Boudica (d. 60/61AD) was a queen of the Celtic Iceni people of Norfolk in Roman-occupied Britain who led a major uprising of the tribes against the occupying forces of the Roman Empire. They destroyed Camulodunum (Colchester, a settlement for discharged Roman soldiers), Londinium (London) and Verulamium (St Albans). In the three cities destroyed, between 70,000 and 80,000 people are said to have been killed. Tacitus says the Britons had no interest in taking or selling prisoners, only in slaughter by gibbet, fire or cross. Cassius Dio's account gives more prurient detail: that the noblest women were impaled on spikes and had their breasts cut off and sewn to their mouths, "to the accompaniment of sacrifices, banquets, and wanton behaviour" in sacred places, particularly the groves of Andraste.^[35][36] A sculpture depicting Boudica, the warrior queen of the Iceni who led the revolt against the Romans in AD 61, and her daughters, commissioned by Prince Albert and executed by Thomas Thornycroft, stands near Westminster Pier, London Boudica (also spelt Boudicca, formerly better known as Boadicea) (d. ... Cleopatra is one of the most well-known queens regnant A queen regnant (plural queens regnant) is a woman monarch possessing and exercising all of the monarchal powers of a king, in contrast with a queen consort, who is the wife of a reigning king, and in and of her... This article is about the European people. ... The Iceni or Eceni were a Brythonic tribe who inhabited an area of Britain corresponding roughly to the modern-day county of Norfolk between the 1st century BC and 1st century AD. The Cenimagni, who surrendered to Julius Caesar during his second expedition to Britain in 54 BC, may have... Norfolk (IPA: //) is a low-lying county in East Anglia in the east of southern England. ... Roman Britain refers to those parts of the island of Great Britain controlled by the Roman Empire between 43 and 410. ... For other uses, see Roman Empire (disambiguation). ... This article is about the town in England. ... For other places with the same name, see Colchester (disambiguation). ... Londinium may refer to: An ancient Roman name for London (see History of London) Londinium (movie) A song by Catatonia A fictional planet in the TV show Firefly, (see moons and planets in Firefly) Londinivm, a free MMORPG. Londinium (album), an album by the band Archive This is a disambiguation... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... Remains of the city walls Verulamium was the third largest city in Roman Britain. ... , St Albans is the main urban area of the City and District of St Albans in southern Hertfordshire, England, around 22 miles (35km) north of central London. ... For other uses, see Tacitus (disambiguation). ...

- Albigensian Crusade. The Albigensian Crusade or Cathar Crusade (1209–1229) was a 20-year military campaign initiated by the Pope Innocent III of the Roman Catholic Church to eliminate the heresy of the Cathars of Languedoc. Béziers was a Languedoc stronghold of Catharism and the first city to be sacked, on July 22, 1209. In the bloody massacre which followed, no one was spared, not even those who took refuge in the churches. The commander of the Crusade was the Papal Legate Arnaud-Amaury (or Arnald Amalaricus, Abbot of Citeaux). When asked by a Crusader how to distinguish between the Catholics and Cathars once they'd taken the city, the abbot famously replied, "Kill them all, God will know His own" - "Neca eos omnes. Deus suos agnoscet".^[37] According to "Caesarius of Heisterbach: Medieval Heresies," after the city was taken, at a cost in life of thousands of defenders, about 450 heretics were "examined" by the inquisitors and many of them claimed to be good Catholicss rather than being heretics. Fearing the possibility that these were lying, must have caused the infamous phrase to first be uttered.^[38] In the end, the Albigensian Crusade killed an estimated 1,000,000 people, not only Cathars but much of the population of southern France.^[39] The Albigensian Crusade or Cathar Crusade (1209 - 1229) was a 20-year military campaign initiated by the Roman Catholic Church to eliminate the heresy of the Cathars of Languedoc. ... Events Albigensian Crusade against Cathars (1209-1218) the Franciscans are founded. ... Events February 18 - The Sixth Crusade: Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor signs a ten-year truce with al-Kamil, regaining Jerusalem, Nazareth, and Bethlehem with neither military engagements nor support from the papacy. ... Pope Innocent III (c. ... The Roman Catholic Church, most often spoken of simply as the Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with over one billion members. ... For other uses, see Heresy (disambiguation). ... Cathars being expelled from Carcassonne in 1209. ... For the language called Langue doc, see Occitan language. ... Béziers (Besièrs in Occitan, and Besiers in Catalan) is a town in Languedoc, in the southwest of France. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Catharism. ... is the 203rd day of the year (204th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Events Albigensian Crusade against Cathars (1209-1218) the Franciscans are founded. ... Arnaud Amalric, or Arnau Amalric, (d. ... 16th century Citeaux, perspective view (engraving) Cîteaux Abbey (abbaye de Cîteaux) is a Catholic abbey located in Saint-Nicolas-les-Cîteaux, south of France. ... Statue of Caesarius made by Ernemann Sander in Königswinter-Oberdollendorf Caesar of Heisterbach, also known as Caesarius of Heisterbach ca. ...

- Mongol Empire. Quoting Eric Margolis, Adam Jones observes, in his book Genocide: A Comprehensive Introduction, that in the 13th century the Mongol horsemen of Genghis Khan were genocidal killers (génocidaires) who were known to kill whole nations leaving nothing but empty ruins and bones.^[40] Many ancient sources described Genghis Khan's conquests as wholesale destruction on an unprecedented scale in their certain geographical regions, and therefore probably causing great changes in the demographics of Asia. For example, over much of Central Asia speakers of Iranian languages were replaced by speakers of Turkic languages. The eastern part of the Islamic world experienced the terrifying holocaust of the Mongol invasions, which turned northern and eastern Iran into a desert. Between 1220 and 1260, the total population of Persia may have had dropped from 2,500,000 to 250,000 as a result of mass extermination and famine.^[41] (12th century - 13th century - 14th century - other centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 13th century was that century which lasted from 1201 to 1300. ... Expansion of the Mongol Empire Historical map of the Mongol Empire (1300~1405), the gray area is Timurid dynasty. ... This article is about the person. ... For other uses, see Asia (disambiguation). ... Map of Central Asia showing three sets of possible boundaries for the region Central Asia located as a region of the world Central Asia is a vast landlocked region of Asia. ... The Iranian languages are a branch of the Indo-European language family. ... The Turkic languages constitute a language family of some thirty languages, spoken across a vast area from Eastern Europe and the Mediterranean to Siberia and Western China, and are traditionally considered to be part of the proposed Altaic language family. ... The Islamic world is the world-wide community of those who identify with Islam, known as Muslims, and who number approximately one-and-a-half billion people. ... Mongol invasions can refer to: 1205–1209 invasion of Western China 1211–1234 invasion of Northern China 1218–1220 invasion of Central Asia 1220-1223, 1235-1330 invasions of Georgia and the Caucasus 1220–1224 of the Cumans 1223–36 invasion of Volga Bulgaria 1231–1259 invasion of Korea 1237... This article is about fatal harm. ... <nowiki>Insert non-formatted text hereBold text</nowiki>A famine is a social and economic crisis that is commonly accompanied by widespread malnutrition, starvation, epidemic and increased mortality. ...

Before the Mongol invasion, Chinese dynasties reportedly had approximately 120 million inhabitants; after the conquest was completed in 1279, the 1300 census reported roughly 60 million people.^[42] About half of the Russian population died during the Mongol invasion of Rus.^[43] Historians estimate that up to half of Hungary's two million population at that time were victims of the Mongol invasion of Europe.^[44] The Mongol Invasion of Rus was heralded by the Battle of the Kalka River (1223) between Subutais reconnaissance unit and the combined force of several princes of Rus. After fifteen years of peace, it was followed by Batu Khans full-scale invasion in 1237-40. ... The Mongol invasions of Europe were centered in their destruction of the Ruthenian states, especially Kiev, under the leadership of Subutai. ...

The Pope Innocent IV’s envoy to the Mongol Khan, who passed through Kiev in February 1246, wrote: Innocent IV, né Sinibaldo de Fieschi ( 1180/90 - December 7, 1254), pope from 1243 to 1254, belonged to one of the first families of Genoa, and, educated at Parma and Bologna, passed for one of the best canonists of his time. ... Map of Ukraine with Kiev highlighted Coordinates: , Country Ukraine Oblast Kiev City Municipality Raion Municipality Government  - Mayor Leonid Chernovetskyi Elevation 179 m (587 ft) Population (2006)  - City 4,450,968  - Density 3,299/km² (8,544. ...

"They [the Mongols] attacked Russia, where they made great havoc, destroying cities and fortresses and slaughtering men; and they laid siege to Kiev, the capital of Russia; after they had besieged the city for a long time, they took it and put the inhabitants to death. When we were journeying through that land we came across countless skulls and bones of dead men lying about on the ground. Kiev had been a very large and thickly populated town, but now it has been reduced almost to nothing, for there are at the present time scarce two hundred houses there and the inhabitants are kept in complete slavery."^[45]

- Timur’s conquests. Timur Lenk was a 14th century conqueror of much of Middle East and Central Asia, and founder of the Timurid dynasty. He thought of himself as a ghazi, but his biggest wars were against Muslim states. In 1383 Timur started the military conquest of Persia. He captured Herat, Khorasan and all eastern Persia to 1385 and massacred almost all inhabitants of Neishapur and other Iranian cities. When revolts broke out in Persia, he ruthlessly suppressed them, massacring the populations of whole cities. When Timur entered Delhi (India), the city was sacked, destroyed, and left in ruins. When Timur conquered Persia, Iraq and Syria, the civilian population was decimated. In the city of Isfahan he ordered the building of a pyramid of 70,000 human skulls, from those that his army had beheaded,^[46] and a pyramid of some 20,000 skulls was erected outside the Aleppo.^[47] Timur herded thousands of citizens of Damascus into the Cathedral Mosque before setting it aflame,^[48] and had 70,000 people beheaded in Tikrit, and another 90,000 more in Baghdad.^[49] After the capture of Bagdad, Timur ordered that every soldier should return with at least two severed human heads to show him (many warriors were so scared they killed prisoners captured earlier in the campaign just to ensure they had heads to present to Timur). Nestorian Christians east of Iraq were almost entirely eliminated by Timur.^[50] As many as 17 million people may have died from his conquests.^[51] For the chess engine Tamerlane, see Tamerlane. ... This 14th-century statue from south India depicts the gods Shiva (on the left) and Uma (on the right). ... Timurid Dynasty at its Greatest Extent The Timurids were a Central Asian Sunni Muslim Turco-Mongol dynasty whose empire included the whole of Central Asia and parts of modern Iran and modern Turkey, as well as large parts of Mesopotamia and Caucasus. ... This article is about the history and concept of ghazw and ghāzÄ«. For other meanings of gazi, see Gazi (disambiguation). ... Islam in the world. ... There is also a collection of Hadith called Sahih Muslim A Muslim (Arabic: مسلم, Persian: Mosalman or Mosalmon Urdu: مسلمان, Turkish: Müslüman, Albanian: Mysliman, Bosnian: Musliman) is an adherent of the religion of Islam. ... Herāt (Persian: ‎ ) is a city in western Afghanistan, in the province also known as Herāt. ... The word massacre has a number of meanings, but most commonly refers to individual events of deliberate and direct mass killing, especially of noncombatant civilians or other innocents without any reasonable means of defense, that would often qualify as war crimes or atrocities. ... Nishapur (or Neyshâbûr; نیشابور in Persian) is a town in the province of Khorasan in northeastern Iran, situated in a fertile plain at the foot of the Binalud Mountains, near the regional capital of Mashhad. ... , For other uses, see Delhi (disambiguation). ... Naghsh-i Jahan Square, Isfahan This article is about the city of Isfahan. ... Location of the governorate of Aleppo within Syria Aleppo (Arabic: [ḥalab], ) is a city in northern Syria, capital of the Aleppo Governorate. ... For other uses, see Damascus (disambiguation). ... Looking north along the Tigris towards Saddams Presidential palace in April 2003 Tikrit (تكريت, TikrÄ«t also transliterated as Takrit or Tekrit) is a town in Iraq, located 140 km northwest of Baghdad on the Tigris river (at 34. ... Baghdad (Arabic: ) is the capital of Iraq and of Baghdad Governorate. ... For other uses, see Warrior (disambiguation). ... Topics in Christianity Movements · Denominations Ecumenism · Preaching · Prayer Music · Liturgy · Calendar Symbols · Art · Criticism Important figures Apostle Paul · Church Fathers Constantine · Athanasius · Augustine Anselm · Aquinas · Palamas · Luther Calvin · Wesley Arius · Marcion of Sinope Pope · Archbishop of Canterbury Patriarch of Constantinople Christianity Portal This box:      The Assyrian Church of the East...

- Aztec human sacrifice. The Aztecs sacrificed thousands of victims (often slaves or prisoners of war) annually to the sun god Huitzilopochtli; an offering to Huitzilopochtli would be made to restore the blood he lost, as the sun was engaged in a daily battle. Human sacrifices would prevent the end of the world that could happen on each cycle of 52 years. For the re-consecration of Great Pyramid of Tenochtitlan in 1487, the Aztecs reported that they sacrificed about 80,400 people over the course of four days. According to Ross Hassing, author of Aztec Warfare, "between 10,000 and 80,400 persons" were sacrificed in the ceremony.^[52][53] The word Aztec is usually used as a historical term, although some contemporary Nahuatl speakers would consider themselves Aztecs. ... Slave redirects here. ... Geneva Convention definition A prisoner of war (POW) is a soldier, sailor, airman, or marine who is imprisoned by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict. ... // Huitzilopochtli, as depicted in the Codex Telleriano-Remensis. ... Sol redirects here. ... Human sacrifice was practiced in many ancient cultures. ... Tenochtitlan, looking east. ... The word Aztec is usually used as a historical term, although some contemporary Nahuatl speakers would consider themselves Aztecs. ...

- Vlad the Impaler. Vlad the Impaler, also known as Vlad Dracula, the 15th century ruler of Wallachia in present-day Romania, has been characterized as exceedingly cruel. Impalement was his preferred method of torture and execution. As expected, death by impalement was slow and painful. Victims sometimes endured for hours or days. Impalement was Vlad's favourite method of torture but was by no means his only one. The list of tortures he is alleged to have employed is extensive: nails in heads, cutting off of limbs, blinding, strangulation, burning, cutting off of noses and ears, mutilation of sexual organs (especially in the case of women), scalping, skinning, exposure to the elements or to animals, and boiling alive. No one was immune to Vlad the Impaler's attentions. His victims included women and children, peasants and great lords, ambassadors from foreign powers and merchants.^[54] In 1459, he had 30,000 of the Saxon merchants and officials of the Transylvanian city of Kronstadt who were transgressing his authority impaled.^[55][56] In 1462 Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror, during his campaign against Wallachia, was “greeted” by the sight of veritable forest of stakes on which Vlad the Impaler had impaled 20,000 Turkish prisoners.^[57] Dracula was probably killed in battle against the Ottoman Empire near Bucharest in December of 1476. Vlad Tepes redirects here. ... (14th century - 15th century - 16th century - other centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 15th century was that century which lasted from 1401 to 1500. ... Map of Romania with Wallachia in yellow. ... For other uses, see impale. ... For other uses, see Torture (disambiguation). ... Execution is a synonym for the actioning of something, of putting something into effect. ... The Transylvanian Saxons (German: ; Hungarian: ; Romanian: ) are a people of German origin who settled in Transylvania (German: ) from the 12th century onwards. ... This article is about the region in Romania. ... Location of BraÅŸov Coordinates: , Country County Status County capital Government  - Mayor George Scripcaru (Democratic Party) Area  - County capital 267. ... Mehmed II (Ottoman Turkish: محمد ثانى Meḥmed-i sānÄ«, Turkish: ), (also known as el-Fatih (الفاتح), the Conqueror, in Ottoman Turkish, or, in modern Turkish, Fatih Sultan Mehmet) (March 30, 1432 – May 3, 1481) was Sultan of the Ottoman Empire for a short time from 1444 to 1446, and later from... // Combatants Wallachia Ottoman Empire Commanders Vlad III Dracula Mehmed II Strength up to 30,000[1] most realistic source mentions 60,000 regulars and 20-30,000 irregulars (90,000); 120 cannons[2] Casualties 5,000 [3] 15,000 [3] The Night Attack (Romanian: ) was a skirmish fought between Vlad... Ottoman redirects here. ...

- Thirty Years' War. The Thirty Years' War was fought between 1618 and 1648, primarily on the territory of Holy Roman Empire. Virtually all of the major European powers were involved. The Thirty Years' War was the most destructive conflict in Europe prior to World War I. Atrocities and massacres, such as Sack of Magdeburg, became standard methods of warfare. During the war, Germany's population was reduced by 30% on average; in the territory of Brandenburg, the losses had amounted to half, while in some areas an estimated two thirds of the population died. Germany’s male population was reduced by almost half. The population of the Czech lands declined by a third. The Swedish armies alone destroyed 2,000 castles, 18,000 villages and 1,500 towns in Germany, one-third of all German towns.^[58][59][60] Combatants Sweden  Bohemia Denmark-Norway[1] Dutch Republic France Scotland England Saxony  Holy Roman Empire Catholic League Austria Bavaria Spain Commanders Frederick V Buckingham Leven Gustav II Adolf â€  Johan Baner Cardinal Richelieu Louis II de Bourbon Vicomte de Turenne Christian IV of Denmark Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar Johann Georg I... This article is about the medieval empire. ... “The Great War ” redirects here. ... During the Thirty Years War the city of Magdeburg was besieged by the Holy Roman Empires Imperial Army from November 1630 to 20 May 1631 in the Sack of Magdeburg. ... For the similarly spelled Brandenberg, see Brandenberg (Austria) or Brandenburg (disambiguation) Location Coordinates , , Time zone CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2) Administration Country NUTS Region DE4 Capital Potsdam Minister-President Matthias Platzeck (SPD) Governing parties SPD / CDU Votes in Bundesrat 4 (of 69) Basic statistics Area  29,479 km² (11,382... Bohemia, Moravia, Austrian Silesia - 1892, then part of Austria-Hungary Bohemia and Moravia-Silesia within Czechoslovakia in 1928 The Czech lands (Czech: ÄŒeské zemÄ›) is an auxiliary term used mainly to describe the combination of Bohemia, Moravia and Czech Silesia. ...

- Reconquest of Ireland. It is estimated that as much as a third of the entire population of Ireland perished during the civil wars and subsequent Cromwellian conquest in the mid-17th century. Since the Irish Rebellion of 1641, Ireland had been mainly under the control of the Irish Confederate Catholics. The Cromwellian reconquest of Ireland was extremely brutal, and it has been alleged that many of the army's actions during the reconquest would today be called war crimes or even genocide. William Petty who conducted the first scientific land and demographic survey of Ireland in the 1650s (the Down Survey), concluded that at least 400,000 people and maybe as many as 620,000 had died in Ireland between 1641 and 1653, many as a result of famine and plague. At the time, Ireland had around 1.5 million inhabitants.^[61] The Wars of the Three Kingdoms were an intertwined series of conflicts that took place in Scotland, Ireland, and England between 1639 and 1651 at a time when these countries had come under the Personal Rule of the same monarch. ... Unfinished portrait miniature of Oliver Cromwell by Samuel Cooper, 1657. ... (16th century - 17th century - 18th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 17th century was that century which lasted from 1601-1700. ... The Irish Rebellion of 1641 began as an attempted coup détat by Irish Catholic gentry, but rapidly degenerated into bloody intercommunal violence between native Irish Catholics and English and Scottish Protestant settlers. ... Motto Pro Deo, Rege et Patria, Hibernia Unanimis(Latin) For God, King and Country, Ireland is United Capital Kilkenny Language(s) English, Latin, Irish Religion Government Monarchy King  - 1642–49 Charles I  - 1649–53 Charles II1 Historical era Wars of the Three Kingdoms  - Rebellion October 1641  - Established Summer 1642  - Cessation... Combatants English Royalists and Irish Catholic Confederate troops English Parliamentarian New Model Army troops and allied Protestants in Ireland Commanders James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormonde (1649 - Dec. ... Presentism is a mode of historical analysis in which present-day ideas and perspectives are anachronistically introduced into depictions or interpretations of the past. ... In the context of war, a war crime is a punishable offense under International Law, for violations of the laws of war by any person or persons, military or civilian. ... Sir William Petty (May 27, 1623 – December 16, 1687) was an English economist, scientist and philosopher. ... A demographic or demographic profile is a term used in marketing and broadcasting, to describe a demographic grouping or a market segment. ... The Down Survey, also known as the Civil Survey, is the title of the mapping of Ireland carried out by William Petty, English scientist in 1655 and 1656. ... <nowiki>Insert non-formatted text hereBold text</nowiki>A famine is a social and economic crisis that is commonly accompanied by widespread malnutrition, starvation, epidemic and increased mortality. ... This article concerns the mid fourteenth century pandemic. ...

- The Deluge. During the 1640s and 1650s the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was devastated by several conflicts, in which the Commonwealth lost over a third of its populations (over 3 million people).^[62] First, the Chmielnicki Uprising when Bohdan Khmelnytsky's Cossacks massacred tens of thousands of Jews and Poles in the eastern and southern areas he controlled (today's Ukraine). It is recorded that Khmelnytsky told the people that the Poles had sold them as slaves "into the hands of the accursed Jews". It is estimated that 100,000 Jews were massacred and 300 of their communities destroyed. The decrease of the Jewish population during that period (referred to in Polish history as The Deluge) is estimated at 100,000 to 200,000, which also includes emigration, deaths from diseases and jasyr (captivity in the Ottoman Empire).^[63] Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Chmielnicki Uprising or Chmielnicki Rebellion is the name of a civil war in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the years 1648–1654. ... Bohdan Zynovii Mykhailovych Khmelnytskyi (Ukrainian: , commonly transliterated as Khmelnytsky; known in Polish as Bohdan Zenobi Chmielnicki; in Russian as Богда́н Хмельни́цкий, translit. ... For other uses, see Cossack (disambiguation). ... Languages Historical Jewish languages Hebrew, Yiddish, Ladino, others Liturgical languages: Hebrew and Aramaic Predominant spoken languages: The vernacular language of the home nation in the Diaspora, significantly including English, Hebrew, Yiddish, and Russian Religions Judaism Related ethnic groups Arabs and other Semitic groups For the Jewish religion, see Judaism. ... Slave redirects here. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Ottoman redirects here. ...

- Revolt in the Vendée. Vendée is remembered as the place where the peasants revolted against the French Revolutionary government in 1793. They resented the changes imposed on the Roman Catholic Church by the Civil Constitution of the Clergy (1790) and broke into open revolt in defiance of the Revolutionary government's military conscription. This guerrilla war became known as the Revolt in the Vendée, led at the outset by an underground faction called the Chouans. Vendée is a department in west central France, on the Atlantic Ocean . ... The French Revolution (1789–1815) was a period of political and social upheaval in the political history of France and Europe as a whole, during which the French governmental structure, previously an absolute monarchy with feudal privileges for the aristocracy and Catholic clergy, underwent radical change to forms based on... Catholic Church redirects here. ... The law of the Civil Constitution of the Clergy (Fr. ... Year 1790 (MDCCXC) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Monday of the 11-day slower Julian calendar). ... Guerrilla redirects here. ... Flag of the so-called Armée Royale et Catholique (Royal and Catholic Army) from Vendée Insigna of the royalist insurgents During the French Revolution, the 1793-1796 uprising in the Vendée, variously known as the Uprising, Insurrection, Revolt, Vendéan Rebellion, or Wars in the Vendée... Chouans were insurrectionary royalists in France, in particular Brittany, during the French Revolution, and even for a time under the Empire, when their head-quarters were in London Their names derive from their muster by night at the sound of the chat-huant, the screech owl, a nocturnal bird of...

Initially the Vendée rebels gained the upper hand, so on August 1 1793 the Committee of Public Safety ordered General Jean-Baptiste Carrier to carry out a pacification of the region. The Republican army was reinforced and the Vendéan army was eventually defeated. The Reign of Terror, seen elsewhere in France, was extraordinarily brutal in the Vendée. There was a massacre of 6,000 Vendée prisoners, many of them women, after the battle of Savenay. Subsequently, there was the drowning of 3,000 Vendée women at Pont-au-Baux. This was followed by 5,000 Vendée priests, old men, women, and children killed by drowning at the Loire River at Nantes in what was called the "national bath" - tied in groups in barges and then sunk into the Loire. Under orders from Committee of Public Safety in February 1794 the Republican forces launched their final "pacification" (the Vendée-Vengé or "'Vendée Avenged") - twelve columns, the colonnes infernales ("infernal columns") under Louis-Marie Turreau, were marched through the Vendée, indiscriminately targeting not only the remaining rebels and the people who had given them support, but the innocent as well.^[64][65] is the 213th day of the year (214th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... The Committee of Public Safety (French: Comité de salut public), set up by the National Convention on April 6, 1793, formed the de facto executive government of France during the Reign of Terror (1793-4) of the French Revolution. ... Jean-Baptiste Carrier (1756 -