March 19 in History 1277 – The Byzantine–Venetian treaty of 1277 is concluded, stipulating a two-year truce and renewing Venetian commercial privileges in the Byzantine Empire. 1279 – A Mongol victory at the Battle of Yamen ends the Song dynasty in China. 1284 – The Statute of Rhuddlan incorporates the Principality of Wales into England.…
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 5 in History 363 – Roman Emperor Julian moves from Antioch with an army of 90,000 to attack the Sasanian Empire, in a campaign which would bring about his own death. 1046 – Nasir Khusraw begins the seven-year Middle Eastern journey which he will later describe in his book Safarnama. 1279 – The Livonian…
February 23 in History 303 – Roman emperor Diocletian orders the destruction of the Christian church in Nicomedia, beginning eight years of Diocletianic Persecution. 532 – Byzantine emperor Justinian I orders the building of a new Orthodox Christian basilica in Constantinople – the Hagia Sophia. 1455 – Traditional date for the publication of the Gutenberg Bible, the first Western book printed…
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 10 in History 1258 – Mongol invasions: Baghdad falls to the Mongols, bringing the Islamic Golden Age to an end. 1306 – In front of the high altar of Greyfriars Church in Dumfries, Robert the Bruce murders John Comyn sparking the revolution in the Wars of Scottish Independence. 1355 – The St Scholastica Day…
February 7 in History 457 – Leo I the Thracian becomes emperor of the Byzantine Empire. 987 – Bardas Phokas the Younger and Bardas Skleros, Byzantine generals of the military elite, begin a wide-scale rebellion against Emperor Basil II. 1301 – Edward of Caernarvon (later king Edward II of England) becomes the first English Prince of…
February 5 in History AD 62 – Earthquake in Pompeii, Italy. 756 – An Lushan, leader of a revolt against the Tang Dynasty, declares himself emperor and establishes the state of Yan. 789 – Idris I reaches Volubilis and founds the Idrisid dynasty, ceding Morocco from the Abbasid caliphate and founding the first Moroccan state. 1576 – Henry of Navarre abjures Catholicism at Tours and rejoins…