History TRivia

October 13, 54 Emperor Claudius died from poison given him by his physician Xenophon and his empress Agrippina, and Nero became emperor of Rome. 409 Vandals (East Germanic tribe) and Alans (group of Sarmatian tribes) crossed the Pyrenees and appear in Hispania (Iberian Peninsula, modern day Spain, Portugal, Andorra, and Gibraltar). 1307, on Friday the 13th, Hundreds of Knights Templar in France were simultaneously arrested by agents of Phillip the Fair, and were later tortured into a confession of heresy. 1399 Henry IV of England was crowned.

History Trivia

October 12, 539 BC The army of Cyrus the Great of Persia (founder of the Achaemenid Empire) seized Babylon. 1216 King John of England lost the crown jewels in The Wash, possibly near Fosdyke or near Sutton Bridge. 1428 the Siege of Orleans began which lasted until Joan of Arc persuaded King Charles VII of France to send an army to relieve the city in April. 1537 King Edward VI was born; he was the only son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour (third wife); he became King at the age of 9 and died in his early teens.

History Trivia

October 11, 732, Charles Martel (Charles the Hammer), the great Frankish leader, defeated an army of 90,000 Saracens in the famous Battle of Tours, ending the Moorish Islamic advance into Europe. In 1303 Pope Boniface VIII died. He instituted the first Jubilee (special year of remission of sins and universal pardon). 1521 Pope Leo X granted Henry VIII the title Defender of the Faith for a tract defending Catholicism. 1542 Thomas Wyatt died. The English lyrical poet is credited with introducing the sonnet into English. 1551 John Dudley, Earl of Warwick was made the Duke of Northumberland. 1537 Lady Jane Grey, Britain's nine day queen, was born, the exact date is not known.

Interesting 20th Century fact: 1982 Henry VIII's flagship Mary Rose was raised to the surface after 437 years at the bottom of the Solent.

History Trivia

October 10, 732 Battle of Tours: Near Poitiers, France, the leader of the Franks, Charles Martel and his men, defeated a large army of Moors, stopping the Muslims from spreading into Western Europe. The governor of Cordoba, Abdul Rahman Al Ghafiqi, was killed during the battle. 1361 Prince Edward (Black Prince) married Joan Plantagenet. The "Fair Maid of Kent" was not considered the ideal wife for the heir of the English throne. Joan was the mother of Richard II. 1471 Battle of Brunkeberg in Stockholm: Sten Sture the Elder, the Regent of Sweden, with the help of farmers and miners, repelled an attack by Christian I, King of Denmark. 1575 Battle of Dormans (battle during the 5th war of religion in France): Roman Catholic forces under Duke Henry of Guise defeated the Protestants, capturing Philippe de Mornay among others. 1580 After a three-day siege, the English Army beheaded over 600 Irish and Papal soldiers and civilians at Dún an Óir, Ireland. 1631 During the Thirty Years War a Saxon army successfully entered Prague (capital and largest city of the Czech Republic). The war was fought primarily in what is now Germany, and at various points involved most countries in Europe, and was was one of the most destructive conflicts in European history.

History Trivia

October 9, 28 BC The Temple of Apollo was dedicated on the Palatine Hill in Rome. 768 Carloman I and Charlemagne were crowned Kings of The Franks. 1000 Leif Ericson, the great Norse explorer, became the first European to land in North America, which he called Vinland. The date is celebrated as Leif Ericson Day in Norway. 1047 Pope Clement II died. 1390 King John I of Castile was killed in a fall from his horse while riding in a fantasia (equestrian performance) with some of the light horsemen known as the farfanes, who were mounted and equipped in the Arab style. 1192 Richard the Lionheart left Jerusalem in disguise. 1470 Henry VI of England restored to the throne. 1514 Marriage of Louis XII of France and Mary Tudor. 1529 Cardinal Thomas Wolsey was indicted for using his power illegally. His failure to secure the annulment of Henry VIII to Catherine of Aragon is widely perceived to have directly caused his downfall and arrest. 1536 The Pilgrimage of Grace, popular rising in York, Yorkshire, in protest against Henry VIII's break with the Roman Catholic Church and the Dissolution of the Monasteries, as well as other specific political, social and economic grievances, began.

History Trivia

October 8, 314 Roman Emperor Licinius was defeated by Constantine I at the Battle of Cibalae, losing his European territories. Co-author of the Edict of Milan that granted official toleration to Christians in the Roman Empire, for the majority of his reign he was the rival of Constantine I until he was finally defeated at the Battle of Adrianople, and was executed on Constantine's orders. 451 the fourth Ecumenical Council of the Roman Catholic Church ruled that Jesus Christ is "in two natures" in opposition to the doctrine of Monophysitism. 1200 Isabella of Angoulême, second wife of King John, was crowned Queen consort of England. Isabella had five children by the king including his heir Henry who succeeded John as Henry III of England. In 1220 Isabella married Hugh X of Lusignan, Count of La Marche, by whom she had another nine children.

October 7, 336 Pope Saint Mark (Marcus) died of natural causes, ending his reign as Catholic Pope which lasted under a year. 1571 The Holy League of the Papal States, Spain and Venice routed the Ottoman navy at the Battle of Lepanto. This was the defining battle of the crusades between the Christian nations on the Mediterranean and the Muslim Turks where the outnumbered Christians were victorious.