April 11 in History 491 – Flavius Anastasius becomes Byzantine emperor, with the name of Anastasius I. 1241 – Batu Khan defeats Béla IV of Hungary at the Battle of Mohi. 1512 – War of the League of Cambrai: French forces led by Gaston de Foix win the Battle of Ravenna.…
March 30 in History 598 – Balkan Campaign: The Avars lift the siege at the Byzantine stronghold of Tomis. Their leader Bayan I retreats north of the Danube River after the Avaro-Slavic hordes are decimated by the plague. 1282 – The people of Sicily rebel against the Angevin king Charles I, in what becomes known as the Sicilian Vespers. 1296 – Edward I sacks Berwick-upon-Tweed, during armed…
March 18 in History 1068 – An earthquake in the Levant and the Arabian Peninsula, leaves up to 20,000 dead. 1229 – Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor, declares himself King of Jerusalem in the Sixth Crusade. 1241 – First Mongol invasion of Poland: Mongols overwhelm Polish armies in Kraków in the Battle of Chmielnik and plunder the city. 1314 – Jacques de Molay,…
March 16 in History 934 – Meng Zhixiang declares himself emperor and establishes Later Shu as a new state independent of Later Tang. 1190 – Massacre of Jews at Clifford’s Tower, York. 1244 – Over 200 Cathars who refuse to recant are burned to death after the Fall of Montségur. 1322 – The Battle of Boroughbridge takes place…
March 12 in History 538 – Vitiges, king of the Ostrogoths ends his siege of Rome and retreats to Ravenna, leaving the city in the hands of the victorious Byzantine general, Belisarius. 1622 – Ignatius of Loyola and Francis Xavier, founders of the Society of Jesus, are canonized by the Roman Catholic Church. 1689 – James II of England landed at Kinsale,…
March 4 in History AD 51 – Nero, later to become Roman emperor, is given the title princeps iuventutis (head of the youth). 306 – Martyrdom of Saint Adrian of Nicomedia. 852 – Croatian Knez Trpimir I issues a statute, a document with the first known written mention of the Croats name in Croatian sources. 938 –…
February 27 in History 380 – Edict of Thessalonica: Emperor Theodosius I and his co-emperors Gratian and Valentinian II declare their wish that all Roman citizens convert to Nicene Christianity. 425 – The University of Constantinople is founded by Emperor Theodosius II at the urging of his wife Aelia Eudocia. 907 – Abaoji, a Khitan chieftain, is enthroned…
February 26 in History 747 BC – Epoch (origin) of Ptolemy’s Nabonassar Era. 364 – Valentinian I is proclaimed Roman emperor 1233 – Mongol–Jin War: The Mongols capture Kaifeng, the capital of the Jin dynasty, after besieging it for months. 1266 – Battle of Benevento: An army led by Charles, Count of Anjou, defeats a combined German and Sicilian force…
February 13 in History 951 – Guo Wei, a court official, leads a military coup and declares himself emperor of the new Later Zhou. 962 – Emperor Otto I and Pope John XII co-sign the Diploma Ottonianum, recognizing John as ruler of Rome. 1322 – The central tower of Ely Cathedral falls on…
February 12 in History 1429 – English forces under Sir John Fastolf defend a supply convoy carrying rations to the army besieging Orléans in the Battle of the Herrings. 1502 – Isabella I issues an edict outlawing Islam in the Crown of Castile, forcing virtually all her Muslim…