History Trivia

February 5, 46 BC, Marcus Cato, the Roman philosopher, committed suicide by stabbing himself,after learning of the victory of his enemy, Julius Caesar, over Pompey at Thapsus. 62 AD, there was an earthquake in Pompeii Italy. 1204 Alexius V was proclaimed Eastern Roman Emperor. 1265 Pope Clement IV was elected. Before Gui Folques became a priest in 1256, after the death of his wife,he had been a respected
jurist in the service of King Louis IX. Once ordained, he rose quickly through the Church hierarchy, became a bishop in 1257, an archbishop two years later, and cardinal two years after that. As pope, Clement carried out the plans of his predecessor, Urban IV, nearly eradicating the powerful Hohenstaufen family of Germany (rulers of the Holy Roman Empire) with the help of Charles of Anjou. After he died, it took almost three years before another pope was consecrated. 1576 Henry of Navarre abjured Catholicism at Tours and rejoined the Protestant forces in the French Wars of Religion.