History Trivia

January 18, 350 Flavius Julius Constans was assassinated. 1486 King Henry VII of England married Elizabeth of York, daughter of Edward IV. 1520 King Christian II of Denmark and Norway defeated the Swedes at Lake Åsunden. 1562 Pope Pius IV reopened the Council of Trent for its third and final session, which defined the mass as a true sacrifice and issued statements on several other doctrinal issues. By the end of the 16th century, many of the abuses that had motivated the Protestant Reformation had disappeared, and the church had reclaimed many of its European followers.

History Trivia

January 17, 38 BC Octavian married Livia Drusilla. 69 Etruscan Roman Emperor Otho committed suicide after a night of meditation in his tent. A companion of Nero, it is believed that he died to prevent civil war. 395 the Roman Empire was split into eastern and western parts upon the death of Emperor Theodosius I, whose will provided that his two sons would inherit the two parts. 1377 Pope Gregory XI moved the Papacy back to Rome from Avignon. 1501 Cesare Borgia returned in triumph to Rome from Romagna. 1648 England's Long Parliament passed the Vote of No Addresses, which broke off negotiations with King Charles I, setting the scene for the second phase of the English Civil War.

History Trivia

January 16, 27 BC – The title Augustus was bestowed upon Gaius Julius Caesar Octavian by the Roman Senate. 550 during the Gothic War (535–552), the Ostrogoths conquered Rome after a long siege, by bribing the Isaurian garrison. 1120 The Council of Nablus was held, establishing the earliest surviving written laws of the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem. 1219 Floods in Northern Netherlands after a storm, killing thousands. 1245 Edmund Lancaster was born. Edmund was the founder of the House of Lancaster and son of King Henry III of England and Eleanor of Provence. 1362a storm tide in the North Sea destroyed the German city of Rungholt on the island of Strand (North Frisian Islands). 1412 the Medici family was appointed official banker of the Papacy. 1572 Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk was tried for treason for his part in the Ridolfi plot to restore Catholicism in England. 1581 The English Parliament outlawed Roman Catholicism. 1605 The first edition of El ingenioso hidalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha (Book One of Don Quixote) by Miguel de Cervantes was published in Madrid.

History Trivia

January 15, 69 the Emperor Galba was murdered in the streets of Rome. Otho (Marcus Salvius Otho Caesar Augustus) seized power and proclaimed himself Emperor of Rome, but ruled for only three months before he committed suicide. 1535 Henry VIII declared himself head of English Church.1559 Elizabeth I was crowned Queen of England in Westminster Abbey, London by Owen Oglethorpe, Bishop of Carlisle. 1759 British Museum opened in Montague House, London.

History Trivia

January 14, 1131 King Valdemar I of Denmark was born. In addition to winning independence from the Holy Roman Empire, he also gained the approval of the church for the dynastic rule of his family, the Valdemars. 1236 Henry III of England married Eleonora of Provence. 1501 Martin Luther (age 17) entered the University of Erfurt (founded in 1379, it was the first university in modern day Germany, and for some time was the largest university in the country). 1514 Pope Leo X issued a papal bull against slavery.

History Trivia

January 13, 888 Odo, Count of Paris became King of the Franks. 1099 Crusaders set Mara Syria ablaze. 1128 Knights Templar (warrior monks) received the rules of their order, which was to police the Pilgrimage route to the Holy Land and provide services to the patriarch of Jerusalem. 1328 Edward III of England married Philippa of Hainault (northern France). 1547 Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey was sentenced to death. He was imprisoned with his father by Henry VIII and executed for treason on January 19. 1605 The controversial Jacobean era stage play Eastward Hoe by Ben Jonson, George Chapman, and John Marston was performed. The satire offended King James I with its anti-Scottish comedy, which caused Jonson and Chapman to be arrested for a time, which made their play one of the famous dramatic scandals of its era. 1607 The Bank of Genoa failed after the announcement of a national bankruptcy in Spain.

History Trivia

January 12, On some calendars, it was on this day that Jesus returned from Egypt when He was a child. 475 Basiliscus became Byzantine Emperor, with a coronation ceremony in the Hebdomon palace in Constantinople. 532 the second Cathedral of Santa Sophia in Constantinople was destroyed by fire in the Nika insurrection. 1539 the Treaty of Toledo was signed by King Francis I of France and Holy Roman Emperor Charles V whereby both parties agreed to make no further alliances with England. The treaty came after Henry VIII of England split with Rome and Pope Paul III.