History Trivia

April 2, 68 the Emperor Galba was declared Imperator by his legion. 742 Charlemagne, King of the Franks from 768-814, first Holy Roman Emperor, from 800-814, was born. 999 Sylvester II was elected pope. He was the first French pope, and was said to have played a major role in popularizing Arabic numerals in the West. 1234 Edmund Rich became Archbishop of Canterbury. Raised to the Archbishopric by Pope Gregory IX, Edmund was an outspoken figure who clashed with King Henry III of England and preached for the Sixth Crusade. 1285 Honorius IV elected pope. Honorius was old and crippled when elected but in his brief two years as pope he worked toward reuniting the Western and Eastern churches and supported the mendicant orders.

History Trivia

April 1,374 Comet 1P/374 E1 (Halley) approached within 0.0884 AUs of Earth. 527 Byzantine Emperor Justin I named his nephew Justinian I as co-ruler and successor to the throne. 705 Greek pope John VII was chosen to succeed John VI. 1204 Eleanor of Aquitaine died. 1293 Robert Winchelsey left England for Rome, to be consecrated as Archbishop of Canterbury. 1318 Berwick-upon-Tweed was captured by the Scottish from the English. 1340 Niels Ebbesen killed Gerhard III of Holstein in his bedroom, ending the 1332-1340 interregnum(period of discontinuity)in Denmark. 1578 William Harvey of England discovered blood circulation.

History Trivia

March 31, 307 after divorcing his wife Minervina, Constantine married Fausta, the daughter of the retired Roman Emperor Maximian. 1084 Henry VI of Germany, after deposing Pope Gregory VII, was crowned Holy Roman Emperor by Gregory's successor, Pope Clement III. 1146 Bernard of Clairvaux preached his famous sermon in a field at Vézelay, urging the necessity of a Second Crusade. 1657 Parliament offered Oliver Cromwell the title of king in the Humble Petition and Advice, but he rejected the title.

History Trivia

March 30,317 BC, Phocion, the great Athenian general and statesman, died at an approximate age of 85. 240 BC first recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet. 1135 Maimonides was born. He was a Jewish philosopher who tried to harmonize Judaism with the teachings of Aristotle in his principal work, The Guide of the Perplexed, in 1190. 1191 Celestine III elected Pope. During his pontificate, he confirmed the order of Teutonic Knights. 1296 Edward I sacked Berwick-upon-Tweed, during armed conflict between Scotland and England. 1603 The Nine Years' War between England and Irish rebel Hugh O'Neill ended with the surrender of the Irish.1533 Henry VIII divorced his first wife, Catherine of Aragon. 1533 Thomas Cranmer became archbishop of Canterbury.

History Trivia

March 29, 1461 - Battle near Towton Field, death toll about 33,000 in the deadliest battle of the War of the Roses, where Edward of York defeated Queen Margaret to become King Edward IV of England. 1561 Santorio Santorio, the first physician to employ instruments of precision to medical practice, was born.

Booksessed: Briton and the Dane Trilogy Summation and Giveaway...

Booksessed: Briton and the Dane Trilogy Summation and Giveaway...: You may have seen on the blog yesterday that I posted a review for The Briton and the Dane: Legacy, the final book in the trilogy. The ser...

History Trivia

March 28, 37 Roman Emperor Caligula accepted the titles of the Principate, entitled to him by the Senate. 193 Roman Emperor Pertinax was assassinated by Praetorian Guards, who then sold the throne in an auction to Didius Julianus. 364 Roman Emperor Valentinian I appointed his brother Flavius Valens co-emperor. 845 Paris was sacked by Viking raiders, probably under Ragnar Lodbrok, who collected a huge ransom in exchange for leaving. 1515 St. Teresa of Ávila was born. Teresa was a mystic, a reformer of the Carmelite order, and author of spiritual literature. She was the first woman to be named a doctor of the Church.

Booksessed: Review: The Briton and the Dane: Legacy by Mary An...

Booksessed: Review: The Briton and the Dane: Legacy by Mary An...: Book: The Briton and The Dane: Legacy by Mary Ann Bernal (The Briton and The Dane Book 3) Published January 2012 384 pages Form...

History Trivia

March 27, 196 BC Ptolemy V ascended to the throne of Egypt. 1309 Pope Clement V excommunicated Venice and all its population. 1329 Pope John XXII issued his In Agro Dominico condemning some writings of Meister Eckhart as heretical. 1599 Robert Devereux, second Earl of Essex and a favorite of Elizabeth I, became Lord Lieutenant General of Ireland during the Nine Years War. However, he was unsuccessful in defeating the rebel forces and returned to England in disgrace. 1625 Charles I, King of England, Scotland & Ireland, ascended to the English throne.

History Trivia

March 26, 752 Pope Stephen (II) III elected; he was the first sovereign of the Papal States, crowned Pepin as King of the Franks, corresponded with the Emperor Constantine on the subject of the restoration of the sacred images, restored many of the ancient churches of the city, and built hospitals specifically for the poor near St. Peter's church where he is buried. 1026 Pope John XIX crowned Conrad II as Holy Roman Emperor. 1484 William Caxton printed his translation of Aesop's Fables.

History Trivia

March 25,196 BC Ptolemy V ascended to the throne of Egypt. 47 BC Ptolemy XII, King of Egypt and brother of Cleopatra, drowned in the Nile, probably with an assist by Julius Caesar, who thereby made Cleopatra queen. 1 Origin of Dionysian Incarnation of the Word. 31 First Easter, according to calendar-maker Dionysius Exiguus. 421 City of Venice founded. 708 Constantine I began his reign as Catholic Pope. 1199 Richard I was wounded by a crossbow bolt while fighting France which led to his death on April 6. 1306 Robert the Bruce was crowned King of Scotland.

History Trivia

March 24, 1208 King John of England opposed Innocent III on his nomination for archbishop of Canterbury. 1550 France, England and Scotland signed the Peace of Boulogne, ending the War of the Rough Wooing (conflict between England and Scotland with the Scots receiving French military aid). 1603 Elizabeth I died and James VI of Scotland became James I of England, unifying the English and Scottish crowns.

History Trivia

March 23, 752 Stephen's two-day pontificate began. Elected to succeed Zachary, Stephen II died before he died before his consecration; earlier writers do not appear to have included him in the list of the popes; but, in accordance with the long standing practice of the Roman Church, he is now generally counted among them. This divergent practice has introduced confusion into the way of counting the Popes Stephen. 1066: 18th recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet. 1657 France and England formed an alliance against Spain. 1743 Handel's Messiah was performed for the first time in London.

History Trivia

March 22, 238 Gordian I and his son Gordian II were proclaimed Roman Emperors. 1312Order of the Knights Templar was suppressed. 1349 Townspeople of Fulda Germany massacred Jews who were blamed for the Black Death. 1429 Joan of Arc dictated a warning to the English. 1457 Gutenberg Bible became the first printed book. 1556 Cardinal Reginald Pole became archbishop of Canterbury.

History Trivia

March 21, 47 BC, Julius Caesar defeated Ptolemy XII, Cleopatra's brother and rival, at Alexandria, Egypt, thus restoring Cleopatra to the throne. 630 Byzantine emperor Heraclius restored the True Cross to Jerusalem. 717 Battle of Vincy between Charles Martel and Ragenfrid. 1152 Annulment of the marriage of King Louis VII of France and Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine. Eleanor retained control of Aquitaine and shortly thereafter wed Henry Plantagenet, who would become the next king of England. 1413 Henry V crowned King of England. 1474 Saint Angela Merici, founder of the Ursulines, was born. 1556 The first Protestant archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Cranmer, was burned at the stake for heresy.

History Trivia

March 20, 43 BC, Ovid (Publius Ovidius Naso), the most versatile of the Roman poets, was born. 141 Sixth recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet. 235 Maximinus Thrax was proclaimed emperor. He was the first foreigner to hold the Roman throne. 687 Saint Cuthbert, a shepherd and hermit who achieved fame as a holy man, healer, and bishop, died. 851 Ebbo of Reims, Bishop in the Carolingian empire and evangelist to Denmark, died. 1345 Saturn/Jupiter/Mars-conjunction was thought to have caused the plague epidemic. 1413 King Henry IV of England died and was succeed by his son Henry V. 1549 Thomas Seymour was executed. Seymour had married Henry VIII's widow Katherine Parr and pursued the young princess Elizabeth without success. When his piratical activities were discovered he was arrested, tried, and executed.

History Trivia

March 19, 235 Maximinus Thrax was proclaimed Emperor of Rome. 1179 The Third Lateran Council of the Catholic Church called a crusade against Cathar heretics in Toulouse. 1307 The Douglas Larder raid - Sir James Douglas was a Scot who returned home from school in Paris to find his estates had been claimed and occupied by an Englishman, Robert de Clifford. Joining with Robert the Bruce for a time, he returned in an attempt to take back his land, attacking his own castle three times. After his final assault, known as the Douglas Larder, he razed the castle to the ground. 1330 King Edward II of England's younger brother, Edmund Plantagenet, Earl of Kent died.

History Trivia

March 18, 37 The Roman Senate annulled Tiberius's will and proclaimed Caligula emperor. 235 Emperor Alexander Severus and his mother Julia Mamaea were murdered by legionaries near Moguntiacum (modern Mainz), ending the Severan dynasty. 1190 Crusaders killed 57 Jews in Bury St Edmonds England. 1227 Pope Honorius III Died. His pontificate concentrated on church reform and the crusades. 1229 Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor declared himself King of Jerusalem during the Sixth Crusade. 1314 Jacques de Molay, the 23rd and the last Grand Master of the Knights Templar, was burned at the stake. 1438 Albert II of Habsburg became Holy Roman Emperor.

History Trivia

March 17, 45 BC In his last victory, Julius Caesar defeated the Pompeian forces of Titus Labienus and Pompey the Younger in the Battle of Munda. 44 BC, the conspirators in Julius Caesar's murder were granted amnesty in a short-lived reprieve before Mark Antony stirred the people to take revenge on them. 180 AD, Marcus Aurelius died in his camp-bed during a campaign along the Danube frontier, and Commodus became the sole emperor of the Roman Empire. 461 St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, died in Ireland at an approximate age of 72. 1337 Edward, the Black Prince was made Duke of Cornwall, the first Duchy made in England. 1473 King James IV of Scotland was born. His marriage to Margaret Tudor, daughter of King Henry VII, helped stabilize relations between the two countries.

History Trivia

March 16, 597 BC Babylonians captured Jerusalem, replaced Jehoiachin with Zedekiah as king. 37 AD the emperor Tiberius died at the age of 78 and was succeeded by Caligula. 1072 Adalbert, archbishop of Hamburg-Bremen and guardian and tutor to Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV, died. 1190 Massacre of the Jews at York, England.

History Trivia

March 15, 351 Constantius II elevated his cousin Gallus to Caesar, and put him in charge of the Eastern part of the Roman Empire. 493 Theodorik the Great defeated Odoaker of Italy. 933 Battle at Riade: German King Henry I defeated Magyaren. 1311 Battle of Halmyros: The Catalans defeated Walter V of Brienne to take control of the Duchy of Athens, a Crusader state in Greece. 1360 France invasion army landed on England's southern coast, conquering Winchel.

Beware the Ides of March

March 15, 44 BC – Julius Caesar, Dictator of the Roman Republic, was stabbed to death by Marcus Junius Brutus, Gaius Cassius Longinus, Decimus Junius Brutus and several other Roman senators on the Ides of March. He had appointed his great-nephew, Octavian, as his heir. Civil war broke out between Caesar's assassins and his successors (Mark Antony and Octavian).

History Trivia

March 14, On this day the Equirria took place, which consisted of horse-racing in Campus Martius ("Field of Mars", Italian Campo Marzio; which was a publicly owned area of ancient Rome, about 490 acres) In 221 BC, the Circus Flaminius was built on the southern side of the Campus Martius, near the Tiber. This large track for chariot racing was named after Gaius Flaminius Nepos, who also constructed the Via Flaminia. 840 Einhard, historian and court scholar, and a friend of Charlemagne as well as his biographer, died. 1471 Sir Thomas Malory died. It is believed that Thomas Malory of Newbold Revell, Warwickshire, is the "Syr Thomas Maleore knyght" mentioned in the colophon to Le Morte Darthur, although there is no certain proof.

History Trivia

March 13, 483 Felix III became pope. He repudiated the Henoticon, a deed of union originating with Patriarch Acacius of Constantinople and published by Emperor Zeno with the view of allaying the strife between the Miaphysite Christians and Chalcedonian Christians. This renunciation initiated the Acacian schism between the Eastern and Western Christian Churches that lasted thirty-five years. 607,12th recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet.

History Trivia

March 12, 538 Witiges, king of the Ostrogoths ended his siege of Rome and retreated to Ravenna, leaving the city in the hands of the victorious Roman general, Belisarius. 604 Pope Gregory I died. Saint Gregory was the foremost influence in shaping the medieval papacy, and also reformed the mass, which enabled the development of the Gregorian Chant. 1088 Pope Urban II elected. He is perhaps best known for beginning the Crusade movement. 1507 Cesare Borgia was killed while fighting for the Navarrese king in the city of Viana, Spain.

History Trivia

March 11 222 Emperor Elagabalus was assassinated, along with his mother, Julia Soaemias, by the Praetorian Guard during a revolt. Their mutilated bodies were dragged through the streets of Rome before thrown into the Tiber. 537 Goths laid siege to Rome. 1302 Romeo & Juliet's wedding day, according to Shakespeare
1513 Giovanni de'Medici (Pope Leo X) was elected to the papacy. During his pontificate, he raised the papacy to significant political power and excommunicated Martin Luther. 1669 Mount Etna (Sicily) erupted. 990,000,000 cubic yards of lava were thrown out over four months, destroying a dozen villages. Ashes formed a double cone more than 150 ft high, now called Monti Rossi.

History Trivia

March 10, 241 BC A crushing Roman naval victory over the Carthaginians in the Battle of Aegus ended the First Punic War. 49 BC Julius Caesar crossed the Rubicon and invaded Italy. 418 Jews were excluded from public office in the Roman Empire. 1452 Ferdinand II of Aragon was born. The marriage of Ferdinand to Isabella of Castile eventually resulted in a united Spain. 1624 England declared war on Spain. 1629 Charles I began the Eleven Years Tyranny when he dissolved parliament.

History Trivia

March 9 1074 Reforming Pope Gregory VII excommunicated all married Roman Catholic priests. 1440 Saint Frances of Rome, founder of the Oblates of Mary, died. 1566 David Riccio, secretary and advisor to Mary, Queen of Scots, was murdered in the Palace of Holyroodhouse, Edinburgh, Scotland.

History Trivia

March 8,1144 Pope Celestine III, whose pontificate lasted six months, died. 1495 Saint John of God, patron of hospitals and the dying, was born. 1702 Anne Stuart, sister of Mary II, became Queen regnant of England, Scotland, and Ireland.

History Trivia

March 7, 322 BC The Greek philosopher Aristotle died. 161, the emperor Antoninus Pius died peacefully of fever and was succeeded by his adopted sons Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus. 238 Roman subjects in Africa revolted against Maximinus Thrax and elected Gordian I as emperor. 321 Emperor Constantine I decreed that the dies Solis Invicti (sun-day) was the day of rest in the Empire. 1111 Bohemond I of Tarente, leader of the First Crusade and a prince of Antioch, died. 1274 Thomas Aquinas died. 1530 King Henry VIII's divorce request was denied by the Pope, which prompted Henry to declare himself as supreme head of England's church.

History Trivia

March 6, 1475 Michelangelo Buonarrotti was born. 1619 Cyrano de Bergerac was born. The real Cyrano was a soldier, duelist, dramatist and satirist, and inspired several romantic legends, the most famous of them Edmund Rostand's play.

History Trivia

March 5,363 Roman Emperor Julian attacked the Sassanid (Persian) Empire with an army of 90,000in a campaign which would bring about his own death. 493 the German barbarian leader Odovacar (Odocacer), who had ended the Western Roman Empire in 476, was executed at age 59 by the Ostrogoths. 1133 King Henry II of England was born. 1461 Henry VI was deposed by Duke of York during the War of the Roses.

History Trivia

March 4, 51 Nero, later to become Roman Emperor, was given the title princeps iuventutis (head of the youth). 1152 Frederick Barbarossa was elected Holy Roman Emperor. 1193 Saladin died. 1215 King John of England made an oath to Pope Innocent III as a crusader to gain his support. 1461 Battle at Towton: Yorkists defeated the Lancastrians and Edward IV was recognized as king of England. 1492 King James IV of Scotland concluded an alliance with France against England.

March 3, 493 Ostrogoten King Theodorik the Great and viceroy of the Eastern Roman Empire beat German usurper Odoaker who had made himself King of Italy. 1046 antipope Sylvester III died. 1284 The Statute of Rhuddlan (Statute of Wales) incorporated the Principality of Wales into England, and provided the constitutional basis for the government of the Principality of North Wales from 1284 until 1536.

History Trivia

March 2, 462 Total Lunar Eclipse. 672 Saint Caedda died. He was educated at Lindisfarne and spent time in Ireland before succeeding his brother as Abbot of Laestingaeu in Yorkshire. 871 Battle at Marton: Ethelred of Wessex beat the Danish invasion army. 986 Louis V became King of the Franks. 986 Lothair, King of France, died. 1127 Charles the Good, Count of Flanders, was murdered while at prayer in the church of St. Donat at Bruges. 1316 King Robert II of Scotland, the first Stewart King, was born.

History Trivia

March 1, 752 BC Romulus, first king of Rome, celebrated the first Roman triumph after his victory over the Caeninenses, following the Rape of the Sabine Women. 86 BC Lucius Cornelius Sulla, at the head of a Roman Republic army, entered Athens, and removed the tyrant Aristion who was supported by troops of Mithridates VI of Pontus. 286 Roman Emperor Diocletian raised Maximian to the rank of Caesar. 317 Crispus and Constantine II, sons of Roman Emperor Constantine I, and Licinius Iunior, son of Emperor Licinius, were made Caesares. 492 St. Felix III ended his reign and St. Gelasius I began his reign as Pope. 743 Slave export by Christians to heathen areas was prohibited. 918 Balderik became Bishop of Utrecht. He was the son of Count Ricfried in the Betuwe, who expelled the Vikings from Utrecht.

History Trivia

February 29, leap day, which is the 60th day of the Gregorian calendar, with 306 days remaining in the year. 992 St. Oswald, Archbishop of York died. He was a leading force in the reform of monasticism, and founded several Benedictine monasteries. 1528 Patrick Hamilton was the first Protestant martyr to be burned at the stake in Scotland.

History Trivia

February 28, 364 Valentinian I became Roman Emperor. 870 Ecumenical council ended in Constantinople. 1066 Westminster Abbey opened. 1574 Two Englishmen and an Irishman were burnt for heresy on the orders of the Holy Office of the Inquisition. 1694 Queen Mary II of England died after five years of joint rule with her husband, King William III.

History Trivia

February 27, 280 Constantine I (The Great) was born. 380 Roman emperor Theodosius declared the orthodoxy of the Nicene Creed, and made Christianity the sole religion of the empire. 837 The 15th recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet. 1560 The Treaty of Berwick, which expelled the French from Scotland, was signed by England and the Congregation of Scotland. 1594 Henry IV was crowned King of France.

History Trivia

February 26,364 Valentinian I, founder of the Valentinian Dynasty and considered to be the last great Western Emperor, was proclaimed Roman Emperor. 1266 Battle of Benevento was fought between Charles of Anjou and Manfred of Sicily. Charles' victory resulted in the collapse of Hohenstaufen rule in Italy. 1616 Spanish Inquisition delivered an injunction to Galileo.

History Trivia

February 25,777 Saint Walburga, patroness of sailors because her prayers calmed a stormy sea, and thereby saving a ship caught in its wake, died. 1570 Elizabeth I was declared a heretic by Pope Pius V.1601 Robert Devereux, the second Earl of Essex and former favorite of Elizabeth I, was beheaded in the Tower of London for high treason.

History Trivia

February 24, 30 According to tradition, Matthias was elected as the apostle to fill the place of Judas after his suicide. 303 the first Roman edict for persecution of the Christians was published on the order of the Emperor Diocletian. 616 King Aethelbehrt of Kent died. Aethelbehrt was the first Christian king of England and was converted by St. Augustine of Canterbury. 786 Pepin the Short of Gaul died. His dominions were divided between his sons Charles (Charlemagne) and Carloman. 1208 St Francis of Assisi, 26, received his vocation in Portiuncula Italy. 1303 The Scots defeated the English at the Battle of Roslin, the First War for Scottish Independence. 1389 Battle at Falköping: Danes defeated King Albert of Sweden.1496 England's Henry VII ended a commercial dispute with Flanders. 1582 Pope Gregory XIII published his plans for calendar reform (Gregorian Calendar) in a papal bull.

History Trivia

February 23,303, Roman Emperor Diocletian ordered a general persecution of the Christians. 532 work began on the third Cathedral of Santa Sophia in Constantinople.1447 Humphrey Plantagenet, Duke of Gloucester and fourth son of Henry IV died.

History Trivia

February 22, 1071 Battle of Cassel: Robert I the Frisian defeated Arnulf III who was killed in the battle. Robert became count of Flanders and ruled until 1093. 1276 Innocent V was crowned Roman Catholic pope. He is noted for his commentaries on the Pauline epistles (Letters of St. Paul - 13 New Testament books). 1495 King Charles VIII of France entered Naples to claim the city's throne.

History Trivia

February 21, 1173 Thomas Becket was canonized. The Archbishop of Canterbury, one-time friend and opponent to King Henry II of England, had been murdered less than three years earlier, and the swift canonization by Pope Alexander III was a clear message of rebuke to the king. 1431 Public trial of Joan of Arc began. 1437 King James I of Scotland was murdered in the Dominican Friary at Perth, which sparked a civil war.

History Trivia

February 20, 1071 William FitzOsbern, a staunch support of William the Conqueror, died.1472 Norway gave the Orkney and Shetland islands to Scotland in lieu of a dowry for Margaret of Denmark. 1513 Pope Julius II died and was buried in a tomb sculptured by Michelangelo. 1547 Edward VI of England was crowned King of England at Westminster Abbey. 1673 First recorded wine auction was held in London.

History Trivia

February 19,197 Roman Emperor Septimius Severus defeated usurper Clodius Albinus in the Battle of Lugdunum, the bloodiest battle between Roman armies. 356 The Christian Roman emperor Constantius II issued a decree closing all pagan temples.607 Boniface III was elected Pope. 1408 The revolt of Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland, against King Henry IV, ended with his defeat and death at Bramham Moor. 1473 Nicolau Copernicus, the father of modern astronomy, was born.

History Trivia

February 18, 1229 The Sixth Crusade: Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor signed a ten-year truce with al-Kamil, regaining Jerusalem, Nazareth, and Bethlehem with neither military engagements nor support from the papacy. 1478 George, Duke of Clarence, convicted of treason against his older brother Edward IV of England, was executed. 1503 Henry Tudor (Henry VIII) was created Prince of Wales. 1516 Mary Tudor, daughter of King Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon, was born. 1546 Martin Luther died. 1564 Michelangelo Buonarrotti died.

History Trivia

February 17, 1370 The Battle of Rudau - Teutonic knights defeated the Lithuanians in their attempt to Christianize the country. 1461 Second Battle of Saint Albans where the Lancastrians were victorious, and were able to free King Henry VI who had been imprisoned by the Earl of Warwick. 1779 British historian Edward Gibbon published the The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.

History Trivia

February 16, 116 Emperor Trajan sent laureatae (word of military glory) to the Roman Senate at Rome on account of his victories and being conqueror of Parthia. 374 The ninth recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet. 600 Pope Gregory the Great decreed the saying "God bless you" is the correct response to a sneeze. 1646 The Battle of Great Torrington, Devon was the last major battle of the first English Civil War.