On November 6th

I have many friends and readers in California and I hope and pray they—and everyone else in the path of those hellish fires—stay safe. From outer space, it almost seems as if the entire state is on fire. The stories we are hearing are terrifying and tragic. For those who would like to help people rebuild their lives, donations can always be made to the Red Cross and to local California charities.
I am finding it hard to focus on the past when the present is so troubling, but I’ll give it a try. On Tuesday, I’d urged all my American friends and readers to vote. But here is what happened on the historical front on that date.
On November 6, 1153, the Treaty of Wallingford was signed, providing that Stephen would hold onto his crown until his death, but Henry (and not Stephen’s surviving son) would be recognized as his heir. Napoleon asked of a general not “Is he good?” but “Is he lucky?” Well, Henry was both good and lucky. Stephen was 57, could easily have lived for another decade. But Henry had less than a year to wait, for Stephen died on October 25, 1154. Henry and Eleanor sailed in a storm to claim his crown and the Angevin dynasty began.
On November 6, 1479, the sad Queen of Castile, Juana, was born. She has gone down in history as Juana la Loca; she was betrayed by the men whom she had most reason to trust—her father, her husband, and then her son. But Christopher Gortner has done her justice in his novel, The Last Queen, which I recommend.
On a non-medieval note, America’s greatest president, Abraham Lincoln, was elected to that office on November 6, 1860.