MaryAnn Bernal's Blog, page 576

History Trivia

April 6, 46 BC – Julius Caesar defeated Caecilius Metellus Scipio and Marcus Porcius Cato (Cato the Younger) in the battle of Thapsus. 402 Stilicho stymied the Visigoths under Alaric in the Battle of Pollentia. 1199 32 year old King Richard I (the Lion-Hearted) of England died from an infection following the removal of an arrow from his shoulder. 1320 The Scots reaffirmed their independence by signing the Declaration of Arbroath.1327 The poet Petrarch first saw his idealized love, Laura, in the church of Saint Clare in Avignon. 1385 John, Master of the Order of Aviz, was made king John I of Portugal.1453 Mehmed II began his siege of Constantinople (Istanbul), which fell on May 29. 1453 Siege of Constantinople began. Over the centuries, the Byzantine Empire had shrunk from its former glory to little more than the city of Constantinople itself. Sultan Mehmed II of the Ottoman Empire would be the military genius who would at last breach the walls after besieging the city for more than 50 days. 1483 Raphael was born.

History Trivia

April 5, 456 St. Patrick returned to Ireland as a missionary bishop.1242: Battle on the Ice.The Teutonic Knights had invaded Russia and were poised to take Pskov. Alexander Nevsky led his forces in a fierce battle on the frozen channel between Lakes Chud and Pskov (the upper and lower parts of Lake Peipus). This victory would ultimately stop the knights from further encroachment on Russian territory. 1254 Willen van Rubroeck, a Flemish Franciscan, met the Mongolian Möngke Khan. 1291, a Muslim army attacked Acre in the tiny Latin kingdom of Jerusalem, beginning the end of the history of the Crusader states in the East.

History Trivia

April 4,186 Caracalla, Emperor of Rome, (211-217) was born. 527 Justinian I was created co-emperor. Justinian was the nephew of the Emperor of the Eastern Roman empire, and with the help of his ambitious wife Theodora, he gained the trust of his uncle and was named co-emperor barely 4 months before the older man died. 1081 Alexius Comnenus crowned emperor. Alexius seized the throne from Nicephorus III. During his reign, he would succeed in reviving the Eastern Roman Empire after half a century of ineffective rule. 1081 Alexios I Komnenos was crowned Byzantine emperor at Constantinople, beginning the Komnenian dynasty. 1581 Francis Drake was knighted for completing a circumnavigation of the world.

History Trivia

April 3, 1043 Edward the Confessor was crowned King of England. Elected by popular acclamation, Edward (known as "the Confessor" for his piety) had Norman sympathies and had supposedly named William the Conqueror his successor, before choosing Harold Godwinson on his death-bed.

History Trivia

April 2,68 the Emperor Galba was declared Imperator by his legion. He then made a quick retreat away from Nero's forces. 742 Charlemagne, King of the Franks from 768-814, first Holy Roman Emperor, from 800-814, was born. 999 Sylvester II was elected pope. He was the first French pope, and was said to have played a major role in popularizing Arabic numerals in the West. 1234 Edmund Rich became Archbishop of Canterbury. Raised to the Archbishopric by Pope Gregory IX, Edmund was an outspoken figure who clashed with King Henry III of England and preached for the Sixth Crusade. 1285 Honorius IV elected pope.Honorius was old and crippled when elected but in his brief two years as pope he worked toward reuniting the Western and Eastern churches and supported the mendicant orders.

History Trivia

April 1,527 Byzantine Emperor Justin I named his nephew Justinian I as co-ruler and successor to the throne. 1204 Eleanor of Aquitaine died 1293 Robert Winchelsey left England for Rome, to be consecrated as Archbishop of Canterbury.1318 Berwick-upon-Tweed was captured by the Scottish from the English.1340 Niels Ebbesen killed Gerhard III of Holstein in his bedroom, ending the 1332-1340 interregnum in Denmark.

History Trivia

March 31, 307 After divorcing his wife Minervina, Constantine married Fausta, the daughter of the retired Roman Emperor Maximian. 1084 Henry VI of Germany, after deposing Pope Gregory VII, was crowned Holy Roman Emperor by Gregory's successor, Pope Clement III. 1146 Bernard of Clairvaux preached his famous sermon in a field at Vézelay, urging the necessity of a Second Crusade. Louis VII was present, and joined the Crusade. 1492 Queen Isabella of Castile issued the Alhambra decree, ordering her 150,000 Jewish subjects to convert to Christianity or face expulsion. 1547 King Francis I died. 1596 René Descartes was born. French scientist, mathematician and philosopher, Descartes was one of the most influential thinkers in history, and is best known for his statement: "I think; therefore, I am." 1657 Parliament offered Oliver Cromwell the title of king in the 'Humble Petition and Advice'. He rejected it.

History Trivia

March 30,317 BC, Phocion, the great Athenian general and statesman, died at an approximate age of 85. 240 BC 1st recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet.1135 AD Maimonides was born. He was a Jewish philosopher who tried to harmonize Judaism with the teachings of Aristotle in his principal work, The Guide of the Perplexed, in 1190. 1191 Celestine III elected Pope. Student and friend of Pierre Abélard, Giacinto Bobone was 85 years old and only a Deacon when he became Pope Celestine III. He confirmed the order of Teutonic Knights, and his pontificate was marked by problems with Emperor Henry VI. 1282 The people of Sicily rebelled against the Angevin king Charles I, in what became known as the Sicilian Vespers. 1296 Edward I sacked Berwick-upon-Tweed, during armed conflict between Scotland and England. 1603 The Nine Years' War between England and Irish rebel Hugh O'Neill ended with the surrender of the Irish.

History Trivia

March 29, 1461 The Battle of Towton. Edward of York defeated Queen Margaret to become King Edward IV of England. The deadliest battle of the Wars of the Roses, Towton secured the throne of England for the recently-crowned King Edward IV. The Lancastrians, having failed to take London and prevent the coronation, retreated before the armies of Edward and Warwick. The Yorkists caught up with them on Palm Sunday. The battle raged for 10 hours in a snowstorm until John Mowbray, duke of Norfolk, arrived with fresh troops and the Lancastrians fled. The fugitives were hunted down and slaughtered. 1561 Santorio Santorio was born. Santorio was the first physician to employ instruments of precision to medical practice. His philosophy of using sensory experience before consulting the classical authorities and his experimental procedures contributed greatly to the development of medical science.

History Trivia

March 24, 1494 Georgius Agricola was born. Considered the father of geology and mineralogy as scientific disciplines, Agricola was among the first to found a natural science upon observation, free of ancient scientific authority. 1603 Elizabeth I died and was succeeded by James VI of Scotland, unifying the English and Scottish crowns.