September 2nd in history

I hope all of my American readers and friends are enjoying the Labor Day holiday and that it is a nice weekend in the UK, which I think is enjoying a bank holiday. Please pray for the people in the Bahamas, now experiencing the worst of Dorian’s wrath, and for others unlucky enough to be in its path. My chiropractor says my back injury should have improved enough to allow me to use the computer again this week. Meanwhile, I’ll cut and paste an old post about the historical events for tomorrow’s date.

On September 2nd in 31 BC, the battle of Actium was fought in the Ionian Sea between the fleets of Octavian and Antony and Cleopatra. Antony’s crews were already undermanned because of a malaria epidemic and his chances were certainly not helped when one of his general s defected to Octavian with his battle plan. When Cleopatra fled, he concluded all was lost and followed. They both escaped, but they were already on borrowed time and I suspect they knew it. Octavian is one of those historical figures who seem to have had ice rather than blood flowing through their veins, but to his credit, he did his best to save the men on the burning ships. This is not at all medieval, of course, but who isn’t interested in the death throes of the Roman Republic and the enigma that was Cleopatra? Margaret George has written an excellent novel about Cleopatra and Michelle Moran has written one about the fates of Cleopatra and Antony’s children, Cleopatra’s Daughter.

On September 2nd, 1192, the Third Crusade came to an end with a peace treaty between Saladin and Richard I. It was actually a truce, to last for three years and eight months, and Richard hoped to come back and fulfill his vow to retake Jerusalem. But he’d not bargained upon his German captivity. One of the first things he did upon regaining his freedom was to send a message to his nephew, Henri of Champagne, assuring him that he still intended to return, but it was not to be. He spent the last five years of his life in a bitter war with the French king, unable to leave his lands for another crusade. And of course peace in the Middle East was as elusive and ephemeral then as it remains today. But on that September day 820 years ago, there was genuine joy that the war was over. Baha al-Din, a member of Saladin’s inner circle, reported that “It was a day of rejoicing. God alone knows the boundless joy of both peoples.”

And lastly, another non-medieval event—on September 2, 1666, the Great Fire of London started. It would burn for four days, and destroyed all of the medieval sections of the city. While the casualties were surprisingly light for a catastrophe of this magnitude, the damage was extensive. Over 13,000 houses and 80 parish churches were burned, including the great cathedral of St Paul’s, scene of some dramatic episodes in my novels. Human nature being what it is, the panicked people looked for scapegoats and there were lynchings of French and Dutch immigrants. The Museum of London has an inter-active scale model of 17th century London, showing the path of the fire, which broke out in a bakery shop. It also has a website devoted to the fire, but it is aimed at a student audience. Here is a link to a BBC radio program about the fire that is quite interesting. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00ft63q