May 23 in History 1430 – Joan of Arc is captured by the Burgundians while leading an army to raise the Siege of Compiègne. 1498 – Girolamo Savonarola is burned at the stake in Florence, Italy. 1533 – The marriage of King Henry VIII to Catherine of Aragon is declared null and void. 1568 – Dutch rebels…
April 26 in History 1336 – Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch) ascends Mont Ventoux. 1478 – The Pazzi family attack Lorenzo de’ Medici and kill his brother Giuliano during High Mass in Florence Cathedral. 1564 – Playwright William Shakespeare is baptized in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England (date of actual birth is unknown). 1607 – English colonists make landfall at Cape Henry, Virginia. 1721 – A…
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,…
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 2 in History 506 – Alaric II, eighth king of the Visigoths promulgates the Breviary of Alaric (Breviarium Alaricianum or Lex Romana Visigothorum), a collection of “Roman law”. 880 – Battle of Lüneburg Heath: King Louis III is defeated by the Norse Great Heathen Army at Lüneburg Heath in Saxony. 962 – Translatio imperii: Pope John XII crowns Otto I, Holy…
January 1 in History During the Middle Ages under the influence of the Catholic Church, many countries in western Europe decided to move the start of the year to one of several important Christian festivals – December 25 (the Nativity of Jesus), March…