09 MAY: WHAT HAPPENED ON THIS DAY?

1009 – Lombard Revolt: Lombard forces led by Melus revolt in Bari against the Byzantine Catepanate of Italy. 1271 – Ninth Crusade, Edward I of England disembarks at Acre. 1386 – England and Portugal formally ratify their alliance with the signing of the Treaty of Windsor, making it the oldest diplomatic alliance in the world which is still in force. 1450 – ‘Abd al-Latif (Timurid monarch) is assassinated. 1540 – Hernando de Alarcón sets sail on an expedition to the Gulf of California. […]

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08 MAY: WHAT HAPPENED ON THIS DAY?

453 BC – Spring and Autumn period: The house of Zhao defeats the house of Zhi, ending the Battle of Jinyang, a military conflict between the elite families of the State of Jin. 413 – Emperor Honorius signs an edict providing tax relief for the Italian provinces Tuscia, Campania, Picenum, Samnium, Apulia, Lucania and Calabria, which were plundered by the Visigoths.[1] 589 – Reccared I opens the Third Council of Toledo, marking the entry of Visigothic Spain into the Catholic Church.[2] 1429 – Joan […]

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07 MAY: WHAT HAPPENED ON THIS DAY?

351 – The Jewish revolt against Constantius Gallus breaks out after his arrival at Antioch.[1] 558 – In Constantinople, the dome of the Hagia Sophia collapses, twenty years after its construction.[2] Justinian I immediately orders that the dome be rebuilt. 1274 – In France, the Second Council of Lyon opens to regulate the election of the Pope. 1487 – The Siege of Málaga commences during the Spanish Reconquista. 1664 – Louis XIV of France begins construction of the Palace […]

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06 MAY: WHAT HAPPENED ON THIS DAY?

1527 – Spanish and German troops sack Rome; many scholars consider this the end of the Renaissance.[1] 1536 – The Siege of Cuzco commences, in which Incan forces attempt to retake the city of Cuzco from the Spanish. 1536 – King Henry VIII orders English-language Bibles be placed in every church. In 1539 the Great Bible would be provided for this purpose. 1542 – Francis Xavier reaches Old Goa, the capital of Portuguese India at […]

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05 MAY: WHAT HAPPENED ON THIS DAY?

553 – The Second Council of Constantinople begins.[1] 1215 – Rebel barons renounce their allegiance to King John of England — part of a chain of events leading to the signing of the Magna Carta. 1260 – Kublai Khan becomes ruler of the Mongol Empire.[2] 1494 – Christopher Columbus lands on the island of Jamaica and claims it for Spain.[3] 1640 – King Charles I of England dissolves the Short Parliament.[4] 1654 – Cromwell’s Act of Grace, […]

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04 MAY: WHAT HAPPENED ON THIS DAY?

1256 – The Augustinian monastic order is constituted at the Lecceto Monastery when Pope Alexander IV issues a papal bull Licet ecclesiae catholicae. 1415 – Religious reformers John Wycliffe and Jan Hus are condemned as heretics at the Council of Constance. 1436 – Assassination of the Swedish rebel (later national hero) Engelbrekt Engelbrektsson 1471 – Wars of the Roses: The Battle of Tewkesbury: Edward IV defeats a Lancastrian Army and kills Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales. 1493 – Pope Alexander VI divides the New World between Spain […]

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03 MAY: WHAT HAPPENED ON THIS DAY?

  752 – Mayan king Bird Jaguar IV of Yaxchilan in modern-day Chiapas, Mexico assumes the throne. 1294 – John II becomes Duke of Brabant, Lothier and Limburg. 1481 – The largest of three earthquakes strikes the island of Rhodes and causes an estimated 30,000 casualties. 1491 – Kongo monarch Nkuwu Nzinga is baptised by Portuguese missionaries, adopting the baptismal name of João I. 1616 – Treaty of Loudun ends French civil war. 1715 – A total solar eclipse was visible across northern […]

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02 MAY: WHAT HAPPENED ON THIS DAY?

1194 – King Richard I of England gives Portsmouth its first Royal Charter.[1] 1230 – William de Braose is hanged by Prince Llywelyn the Great. 1335 – Otto the Merry, Duke of Austria, becomes Duke of Carinthia. 1536 – Anne Boleyn, Queen of England, is arrested and imprisoned on charges of adultery, incest, treason and witchcraft. 1559 – John Knox returns from exile to Scotland to become the leader of the nascent Scottish Reformation. 1568 – Mary, Queen of Scots, escapes from Loch […]

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01 MAY: WHAT HAPPENED ON THIS DAY?

475 BC – Roman consul Publius Valerius Poplicola celebrates a Roman triumph for his victory over Veii and the Sabines. 305 – Diocletian and Maximian retire from the office of Roman emperor. 524 – King Sigismund of Burgundy is executed at Orléans after an 8-year reign and is succeeded by his brother Godomar. 880 – The Nea Ekklesia is inaugurated in Constantinople, setting the model for all later cross-in-square Orthodox churches. 1169 – Norman mercenaries land at Bannow Bay in Leinster, marking the beginning of the Norman invasion of Ireland. 1328 – Wars […]

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30 APRIL: WHAT HAPPENED ON THIS DAY?

311 – The Diocletianic Persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire ends. 313 – Battle of Tzirallum: Emperor Licinius defeats Maximinus II and unifies the Eastern Roman Empire. 642 – Chindasuinth is proclaimed king by the Visigothic nobility and bishops. 1315 – Enguerrand de Marigny is hanged at the instigation of Charles, Count of Valois. 1492 – Spain gives Christopher Columbus his commission of exploration. 1513 – Edmund de la Pole, Yorkist pretender to the English throne, is executed on the […]

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