History Trivia

November 30, Saint Andrew, one of the Twelve Disciples of Christ was martyred on an X-shaped cross during the reign of Vespasian. The day is celebrated as St. Andrew's feast day. In 1016 Cnut, king of Denmark, claimed the throne of all England after Edmund 'Ironside', king of England, died. In 1406 Gregory XII became Pope. Gregory was the last of the Roman line of popes during the Western Schism. In 1700 at the Battle of Narva, a Swedish army of 8,500 men under Charles XII defeated a much larger Russian army at Narva and in 1718 Swedish king Charles XII died during a siege of the fortress Fredriksten in Norway.

History Trivia

November 29, 800 Charlemagne arrived at Rome to investigate the alleged crimes of Pope Leo III. In 939 Edmund was crowned as king of England as his half-brother Aethelstan died. 1268 Clement IV died. Upon the death of Clement, no new pope was elected for almost three years. In 1314 Philip IV of France died. In 1394 the Korean King Yi Song-gye, founder of the Joseon-Dynasty, moved the capital from Kaesŏng to Hanyang, today known as Seoul.

November 28

November 28, 1291 Edward I's wife, Eleanor of Castile, diee. 1095 – On the last day of the Council of Clermont, Pope Urban II appointed Bishop Adhemar of Le Puy and Count Raymond IV of Toulouse to lead the First Crusade to the Holy Land. In 1443 Skanderbeg and his forces liberate Kruja in Middle Albania and raise the Albanian flag.

History Trivia

November 29, 800 Charlemagne arrived at Rome to investigate the alleged crimes of Pope Leo III. In 939 Edmund was crowned as king of England as his half-brother Aethelstan died. 1268: Clement IV died. Upon the death of Clement, no new pope was elected for almost three years. In 1314 Philip IV of France died. 1394 the Korean king Yi Song-gye, founder of the Joseon-Dynasty, moved the capital from Kaesŏng to Hanyang, today known as Seoul.

History Trivia

November 27, 8 BC, Horace (Quintus Horatius Flaccus) the great Roman lyric poet, died at Venusia, in Apulia at age 56. In 176 Emperor Marcus Aurelius granted his son Commodus the rank of Imperator and made him Supreme Commander of the Roman legions. In 511 Clovis, King of the Franks (Merovingian Dynasty)died. In 1095 Pope Urban II declared the First Crusade at the Council of Clermont and in 1295 the first elected representatives from Lancashire are called to Westminster by King Edward I to attend what later became known as "The Model Parliament".

History Trivia

November 26, 43 BC – The Second Triumvirate alliance of Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus ("Octavian", later "Caesar Augustus"), Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, and Mark Antony was formed. 579 Pelagius II became Pope. When assistance from Emperor Tiberius II of Byzantium was not forthcoming, Pelagius convinced the Christian Franks to defend Rome from encroaching Lombards. He attempted to end a schism in the Church over the Three Chapters Controversy and began a controversy of his own when St. John IV the Faster, Bishop of Constantinople, assumed the title of "ecumenical patriarch" (a position that made him the equal of Pelagius, if not his superior). Pelagius was also responsible for building projects in Rome and turned his home into a hospital that was of great assistance when the city was struck by a disastrous flood. He himself died of the plague. In 783 the Asturian queen Adosinda was put up in a monastery to prevent her kin from retaking the throne from Mauregatus. In 885 AD, Danish Vikings attacked Paris and were paid by the Frankish emperor Charles the Fat not to destroy the city as they had in 845 and 856 AD. In 1476 Vlad III Dracula defeated Basarab Laiota with the help of Stephen the Great and Stephen V Bathory and became the ruler of Wallachia for the third time.

History Trivia

November 25, 1034 – Máel Coluim mac Cináeda, King of Scots died. Donnchad, the son of his daughter Bethóc and Crínán of Dunkeld, inherits the throne. In 1120 The White Ship sank in the English Channel, drowning William Adelin, son of Henry I of England. In 1177 Baldwin IV of Jerusalem and Raynald of Chatillon defeated Saladin at the Battle of Montgisard. In 1185 Urban III became Pope. Urban inherited a tense diplomatic relationship with the Holy Roman Emperor, Frederick Barbarossa, from his predecessor Lucius III. In 1276 The Habsburg dynasty was founded as Rudolf of Habsburg seized Vienna and made it his capital. 1277 Nicholas III was elected Pope
Nicholas began an administrative reform of the Papal States, inducing Rudolf I to acknowledge that the Italian province of the Romagna belonged to the church. In 1343 a tsunami, caused by an earthquake in the Tyrrhenian Sea, devastated Naples (Italy) and the Maritime Republic of Amalfi. In 1491 The siege of Granada, the last Moorish stronghold in Spain, began.

History Trivia

November 24, 380 Theodosius I made his adventus, or formal entry, into Constantinople. In 1429 Joan of Arc unsuccessfully besieged La Charité and in 1542 at the Battle of Solway Moss: The English army defeated the Scots.

History Trivia

November 23, 534 BC – Thespis of Icaria became the first actor to portray a character onstage. In 912 AD, Otto I (The Great) was born. He was King of Germany from 936-983 AD and was the first king to become Holy Roman Emperor in 961 AD. In 955King Eadred died. Eadred brought Northumbria permanently under English rule. In 1227 Polish Prince Leszek I the White was assassinated at an assembly of Piast dukes at Gąsawa. In 1248 Conquest of Seville by the Christian troops under King Ferdinand III of Castile and in 1499 Pretender to the throne Perkin Warbeck was hanged for reportedly attempting to escape from the Tower of London. He had invaded England in 1497, claiming to be the lost son of King Edward IV of England.

History Trivia

November 22, 498: After the death of Anastasius II, Symmachus was elected Pope in the Lateran Palace, while Laurentius was elected Pope in Santa Maria Maggiore. In 845 the first King of all Brittany, Nominoe, defeated the Frankish king Charles the Bald at the Battle of Ballon near Redon. In 1307 Pope Clement V issued the papal bull Pastoralis Praeeminentiae which instructed all Christian monarchs in Europe to arrest all Templars and seize their assets and in 1428 Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick and also known as known as Warwick the Kingmaker, was born.

History Trivia

On November 21, 164 BC Judas Maccabaeus, son of Mattathias of the Hasmonean family, restored the Temple in Jerusalem. This event is commemorated each year by the festival of Hanukkah. In 235 AD, St. Anterus became Roman Catholic pope and in 1272, following Henry III of England's death on November 16, his son Prince Edward became King of England.

History Trivia

On November 20 284 – Diocletian was chosen as Roman Emperor. In 870 Edmund the Martyr died. Saint Edmund was king of East Anglia. His gruesome death at the hands of the Danes led to legends and a shrine at what is now Bury St. Edmund's, West Suffolk. In 1194 Palermo was conquered by Emperor Henry VI. In 1272 Barons Swear Fealty to Edward I. Upon the death of his father, King Henry III, Edward received the fealty of the English barons and succeeded to the throne and in 1407 a truce between John the Fearless, Duke of Burgundy and Louis of Valois, Duke of Orléans was agreed under the auspices of John, Duke of Berry. Orléans would be assassinated three days later by Burgundy.

History Trivia

November 8, 1097: Anselm, Archbishop of Canterbury, went into exile after a breach with William II over papal supremacy and 1520 – Stockholm Bloodbath began: A successful invasion of Sweden by Danish forces resulted in the execution of around 100 people.

History Trivia

November 7, 680, The Sixth Ecumenical Council commenced in Constantinople. In 1492 The Ensisheim Meteorite, the oldest meteorite with a known date of impact, struck the earth around noon in a wheat field outside the village of Ensisheim, Alsace, France. In 1619 Elizabeth Stuart of Scotland and England was crowned Queen of Bohemia and in 1665 The London Gazette, the oldest surviving journal, was first published.

History Trivia

November 6, 355 Roman Emperor Constantius II promoted his cousin Julian to the rank of Caesar, entrusting him with the government of the Prefecture of the Gauls and in 1429 Henry VI was crowned King of England.

Guy Fawkes Day

November 5 - Guy Fawkes Day - in 1605 the Catholic convert conspired to blow up Parliament and the British royal family. The gunpowder plot was discovered and Fawkes was arrested before the event was to take place.

Guy Fawkes Night, also known as Bonfire Night, is an annual celebration, primarily in Great Britain, traditionally and usually held on the evening of 5 November. Festivities are centered on the use of fireworks and the lighting of bonfires. It is also celebrated in former British Colonies such as Australia and New Zealand.

History Trivia

On November 4,1333 The River Arno flooding caused massive damage in Florence as recorded by the Florentine chronicler Giovanni Villani. In 1429 Joan of Arc liberated Saint-Pierre-le-Moûtier. In 1501 – Catherine of Aragon (later Henry VIII's first wife) met Arthur Tudor, Henry VIII's older brother – they would later marry. In 1576 Eighty Years' War: In Flanders, Spain captured Antwerp (after three days the city was nearly destroyed) and in 1677 the future Mary II of England married William, Prince of Orange. They would later jointly reign as William and Mary.

History Trivia

On November 3, 1468 Liège was sacked by Charles I of Burgundy's troops and in 1493 Christopher Columbus first sighted the island of Dominica in the Caribbean Sea.

All Souls Day

The origins of All Souls' Day (Day of the Dead) in European folklore and folk belief are related to customs of ancestor veneration practiced worldwide, such as the Chinese Ghost Festival or the Latin American Day of the Dead. The Roman custom was that of the Lemuria.

The theological basis for the feast is the doctrine that the souls which, on departing from the body, are not perfectly cleansed from venial sins, or have not fully atoned for past transgressions, are debarred from the Beatific Vision, and that the faithful on earth can help them by prayers, almsdeeds and especially by the sacrifice of the Mass.

History Trivia

On November 1, 193 Pertinax became emperor and in 866 the Vikings seized control of Eboracum (York), the first major city to fall in their conquest of England.

All Saints Day

All Saints' Day: The origins of the holiday commemorating all the saints of the church are obscure, but by the mid-eighth century, November 1st was the day to honor all known and unknown saints in the Catholic Church. In 837, its general observance was ordered by Pope Gregory IV. The date may have been selected for its coincidence with pagan observations of the harvest, including the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain and the ancient Finnish celebration of Kekri.