March 8 in History 1010 – Ferdowsi completes his epic poem Shahnameh. 1126 – Following the death of his mother Urraca, Alfonso VII is proclaimed king of Castile and León. 1262 – Battle of Hausbergen between bourgeois militias and the army of the bishop of Strasbourg. 1576 – Spanish explorer Diego García de…
March 1 in History 509 BC – Publius Valerius Publicola celebrates the first triumph of the Roman Republic after his victory over the deposed king Lucius Tarquinius Superbus at the Battle of Silva Arsia. 86 BC – Lucius Cornelius Sulla, at the head of a Roman Republic army, enters Athens, removing the tyrant Aristion who was supported by…
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 18 in History 1229 – The Sixth Crusade: Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor, signs a ten-year truce with al-Kamil, regaining Jerusalem, Nazareth, and Bethlehem with neither military engagements nor support from the papacy. 1268 – The Battle of Wesenberg is fought between the Livonian Order and Dovmont of Pskov. 1332 – Amda Seyon I, Emperor of Ethiopia begins his campaigns in the…
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…
February 9 in History 474 – Zeno is crowned as co-emperor of the Byzantine Empire. 1003 – Boleslaus III is restored to authority with armed support from Bolesław I the Brave of Poland. 1555 – Bishop of Gloucester John Hooper is burned at the stake. 1621 – Gregory XV becomes Pope, the last Pope elected by acclamation. 1654 – The Capture of Fort Rocher takes…
This day marks the approximate midpoint of winter in the Northern Hemisphere and of summer in the Southern Hemisphere (starting the season at the December solstice). February 4 in History 211 – Following the death of Rome’s Emperor Septimius Severus…
February 3 in History 1112 – Ramon Berenguer III, Count of Barcelona, and Douce I, Countess of Provence, marry, uniting the fortunes of those two states. 1451 – Sultan Mehmed II inherits the throne of the Ottoman Empire. 1488 – Bartolomeu Dias of Portugal lands in Mossel Bay after rounding the Cape of Good…
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 29 in History 904 – Sergius III is consecrated pope, after coming out of retirement to take over the papacy from the deposed antipope Christopher. 946 – Caliph Al-Mustakfi is blinded and deposed by Emir Mu’izz al-Dawla, ruler of the Buyid Empire. He is succeeded by Al-Muti as caliph of the Abbasid Caliphate.…