MaryAnn Bernal's Blog, page 587

History Trivia

December 16, 882 AD Marinus I was elected Roman Catholic pope, replacing the murdered John VIII. 955,18-year-old Ottaviano, the only son of Duke Alberic II of Spoleto, who ruled Rome, became Pope John XII when his father ordered his election. John's pontificate lasted nine years, and he is said to have died in the arms of his mistress. 1431 Henry VI of England was crowned King of France at Notre Dame in Paris. Though young Henry had been proclaimed king at age ten months, it was not until he was ten years old that he was officially crowned at Notre Dame Cathedral. 1485 Catherine of Aragon was born. The first wife of King Henry VIII of England, Catherine was the daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain. 1497 Vasco da Gama rounded the Cape of Good Hope, the point where Bartolomeu Dias had previously turned back to Portugal. 1653 Parliamentarian general Oliver Cromwell became 'lord protector' of England, Scotland and Ireland.

History Trivia

December 15, 37 AD, Nero was born. He was the Roman emperor who is alleged to have fiddled while Rome burned. 533 Byzantine general Belisarius defeated the Vandals, commanded by King Gelimer, at the Battle of Ticameron. In 687, Sergius I (Saint Sergius) was elected Roman Catholic pope. A significant pontiff of the 7th century, Sergius showed a particular interest in the Anglo-Saxons and the Franks. 1167Sicilian chancellor Stephen du Perche moved the royal court to Messina to prevent a rebellion. In 1256 Hulagu Khan captured and destroyed the Hashshashin stronghold at Alamut in present-day Iran as part of the Mongol offensive on Islamic southwest Asia.
In 1467 Stephen III of Moldavia defeated Matthias Corvinus of Hungary, with the latter being injured thrice, at the Battle of Baia.

History Trivia

December 14, 867 AD Adrian II was elected Roman Catholic pope. Adrian had difficulties with international politics. The eighth ecumenical council and the fourth Council of Constantinople took place during his reign. He died on this date in 872. In 872 AD John VIII was elected Roman Catholic pope on the very day Pope Adrian II died. His pontificate was marked with political intrigue, and he is believed to have been murdered by conspirators involved in a plot of local politics.

History Trivia

December 13 1294 Saint Celestine V resigned the papacy after only five months; Celestine, who founded the Celestine order, was the first pope to abdicate. He had accepted the position only because the papacy had been vacant for years and needed a leader. In his eighties when elected, the work proved too problematic, and he resigned. 1545 Council of Trent began. The council would pass legislation dealing with the doctrinal challenges of the Protestant Reformation.

History Trivia

December 12 627 Battle of Nineveh: A Byzantine army under Emperor Heraclius defeated Emperor Khosrau II's Persian forces, commanded by General Rhahzadh. 884 Charles the Fat inherited the West Frankish lands and briefly reunited the empire of his ancestor Charlemagne. 1098 First Crusade: Massacre of Ma'arrat al-Numan – Crusaders breached the town's walls and massacred about 20,000 inhabitants. After finding themselves with insufficient food, they resorted to cannibalism. 1112 Tancred of Antioch died. 1189 Richard I left England, where he spent less than six months of his reign, to join the Third Crusade. 1408, The Order of the Dragon a monarchical chivalric order was created by Sigismund of Luxembourg, then King of Hungary.

History Trivia

December 11, The Ancient Roman religious festival Agonalia was held. The festival was also celebrated on January 9th, March 17th and May 21st. On each day a ram was sacrificed, probably as an offering to deities Janus and Angonius. In 359 Honoratus, the first known Prefect of the City of Constantinople, took office. In 969 Byzantine Emperor Nikephoros II was assassinated by his wife Theofano and her lover, the later Emperor John I Tzimiskes. In 1192 Richard I was captured by Leopold, Duke of Austria, as he returned from the Third Crusade. In 1282 Llywellyn the Last, the last native Prince of Wales, was killed at Cilmeri, near Builth Wells, south Wales. In 1475 Pope Leo X (Giovanni de' Medici) was born. Leo contributed strongly to the power of the papacy, made Rome a center of culture, and excommunicated Martin Luther.

History Trivia

December 10, 1041 Empress Zoe of Byzantium elevated her adopted son to the throne of the Eastern Roman Empire as Michael V. In 1508 the League of Cambrai Formed. Ostensibly created as an alliance against the Turks, the true goals of the League, formed by Pope Julius II, Emperor Maximilian I, Louis XII of France and Ferdinand II of Aragon, were to launch a campaign against the Republic of Venice and divide its possessions among the allies. The allies were unable to act together because of their individual ambitions, and the league collapsed in 1510, when the pope joined with Venice, while Ferdinand became neutral. In 1520 Martin Luther burned his copy of the papal bull Exsurge Domine outside Wittenberg's Elster Gate. In 1541 Thomas Culpeper and Francis Dereham are executed for having affairs with Catherine Howard, Queen of England and wife of Henry VIII.

History Trivia

December 9, 536 The Byzantine general Belisarius conquered Rome, claiming Italy for the Byzantine empire. In 730 at the Battle of Marj Ardabil the Khazars annihilated an Umayyad army and killed its commander, al-Djarrah ibn Abdullah. In 1165 King Malcolm IV of Scotland died. Known as the "maiden," Malcolm died young, and his short reign was marked by rebellion and tension with his cousin Henry II of England. In 1425 The Catholic University of Leuven, the the largest, oldest and most prominent university in Belgium was founded by John IV, Duke of Brabant and approved by a Papal bull by Pope Martin V.

History Trivia

December 8,65 BC Horace (Quintus Horatius Flaccus) was born. He was one of the most familiar and admired of the Roman poets and in 1542 Mary, Queen of Scots was born.
A Catholic queen in a land of Protestants, Mary posed a threat to her cousin Elizabeth of England, as well.

History Trivia

December 7, 43 BC Roman orator and advocate Cicero was executed on the orders of the Mark Antony. In 909 Sa'id ibn Hussein, the 'divinely guided one', established a Shiite caliphate in Tunis, rival to Baghdad. 1254 Pope Innocent IV died. The pontificate of Innocent was marked by a long struggle with Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II, characteristic of the conflict between empire and papacy.