History Trivia

April 17,69 After the First Battle of Bedriacum, Vitellius became Roman Emperor.858 Pope Benedict III died. 1397 Geoffrey Chaucer told the Canterbury Tales for the first time at the court of Richard II. 1492 Spain and Christopher Columbus signed the Capitulations of Santa Fe for his voyage to Asia to acquire spices. 1521 Martin Luther spoke to the assembly at the Diet of Worms where he refused to recant his teachings. Luther had been excommunicated, but Prince Frederick the Wise had refused to take any action against him. Instead he negotioated with Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, who gave Luther safe conduct to appear before the assembly in Worms, Germany. When Luther appeared, he took a day to consider the charges against him, then refused to repudiate his works unless convinced of error by Scripture or reason.

History Trivia

April 16, 1178 BC The calculated date of the Greek king Odysseus' return home from the Trojan War. 778 Louis the Pious was born. 1209 Franciscan order founded. 1521 Martin Luther made his first appearance before the Diet of Worms to be examined by the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V. Also, according to tradition, April 16th was the day that Pope Innocent III gave his oral approbation to the rule of the order founded by St. Francis of Assisi.

History Trivia

April 15,1450 Battle of Formigny: Toward the end of the Hundred Years' War, the French attacked and nearly annihilated English forces, ending English domination in Northern France. 1452 Leonardo da Vinci was born.

History Trivia

April 14, 43 BC Battle of Forum Gallorum: Mark Antony, besieged Julius Caesar's assassin Decimus Junius Brutus Albinus in Mutina and defeated the forces of the consul Pansa, who was wounded. 69 Vitellius, commander of the Rhine armies, defeated Emperor Otho in the Battle of Bedriacum and seized the throne. 70 Siege of Jerusalem: Titus, son of emperor Vespasian, surrounded the Jewish capital, with four Roman legions. 73 after two years of defending the fortress of Masada, the Jews committed mass suicide rather than surrender to the Roman Tenth Legion. 966 Christianisation of Poland. 1028 Henry III, son of Conrad, was elected king of the Germans.1205 Battle of Adrianople between Bulgarians and Crusaders. 1434 The foundation stone of Cathedral St. Peter and St. Paul in Nantes, France was laid. 1471In England, the Yorkists under Edward IV defeated the Lancastrians under the Earl of Warwick at the Battle of Barnet; the Earl was killed and Edward IV resumed the throne.

History Trivia

April 13, 1111 Henry V was crowned Holy Roman Emperor.Henry restored,for the most part,peace within the empire and was successful in wars with Bohemia,Flanders, Hungary and Poland. He also perpetuated the Investiture Controversy, striving for the rights of the crown over the papacy.1204 Constantinople fell to the Crusaders of the Fourth Crusade, temporarily ending the Byzantine Empire. 1250 The Seventh Crusade was defeated in Egypt, Louis IX of France was captured. 1256 The Grand Union of the Augustinian order formed when Pope Alexander IV issues a papal bull Licet ecclesiae catholicae. 1598 Henry IV of France issued the Edict of Nantes, allowing freedom of religion to the Huguenots. (Edict repealed in 1685.)

History Trivia

April 12, 238 Gordian II lost the Battle of Carthage against the Numidian forces loyal to Maximinus Thrax and was killed. Gordian I, his father, committed suicide. 467 Anthemius was elevated to Emperor of the Western Roman Empire. 1204 The Crusaders of the Fourth Crusade breached the walls of Constantinople and entered the city, which they completely occupied the following day.

History Trivia

April 11, 146 Lucius Septimius Severus, Emperor of Rome 193-211, was born. 491 Flavius Anastasius became Byzantine Emperor, with the name of Anastasius I.1240Llywelyn ap Iorweth died. Prince of Gwynedd, Llywelyn the Great managed to unite most of Wales under his control, developed castle building and supported abbeys in the process. Much of his reign was marked by conflict with King John of England, whose illegitimate daughter Joan was Llywelyn's wife. 1689 William III and Mary II were crowned as joint sovereigns of Britain.