August 24th, one of history's busiest dates

So many important historical events occurred on an August 24th that I’ll practically have to write a novella to mention them all. In chronological order, here they are
August 24, 79 BC Mt Vesuvius erupted and destroyed the towns of Pompeii and Herculaneum, on the day after the festival of the Roman god of fire, Vulcan. For years, it was thought that Mt Vesuvius erupted on August 24th, 79 AD, destroying Pompeii and two other towns, but some historians now think it occurred in October. I don’t know which date is correct, but here is an eye-witness account of the tragedy. http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/po...
August 24, 410 AD The Visigoths sacked the city of Rome. And on August 24th, 455 AD, it happened again, or almost did; this time it was the Vandals who were about to sack the city. But after their king met with Pope Leo, the Vandals turned around and left Rome in their dust I saw a movie about this as a child and I remember being fascinated, wanting so much to know what the pope could have said to convince the Vandal king to spare the city. It was disillusioning years later to learn that this mystery was so easily solved—the mother of all bribes.
August 24, 1113 Geoffrey le Bel, Count of Anjou, reluctant husband of the Empress Maude, father of Henry II, was born.
August 24, 1200 King John wed 12 year old Isabelle d’Angouleme
August 24, 1215 Pope Innocent III obligingly annulled the Magna Carta, unwillingly signed by John barely two months earlier
August 24, 1217 In a sea battle fought off the coast of Sandwich, the English prevailed over the French. The pirate chieftain Eustace the Monk was captured and beheaded on the deck of his own ship. John’s illegitimate son, Richard, an important character in Here be Dragons, was one of the heroes of this battle—and am I the only fascinated by the fact that John would have named not one, but two sons after the brother he’d tried to destroy? An interesting aside; if my memory serves, the English sailors threw powdered lime into the French ships, blinding some of the crew.
August 24, 1349 In a panic as the bubonic plague swept across Europe, people looked for scapegoats and, sadly to be expected, blamed the Jews. Over six thousand men, women, and children died in the German town of Mainz. In a scenario reminiscent of the massacre of the Jews of York in 1191, the Mainz Jews, trapped in their barricaded houses and knowing they were doomed, set fire to their homes and died in the inferno. It was never easy to be a Jew in the MA, but it was particularly dangerous to be a German Jew, for the worst pogroms occurred in the German cities, starting with the First Crusade.
Lastly, on August 24, 1572, the St Barnabas Day massacre began in Paris, with the slaughter of at least two thousand French Huguenots. The killing then spread into the countryside; it is impossible to be sure of the number of people who lost their lives, with 10,000 often given as the most likely figure. The man who would become my favorite French king, the 19 year old Henri of Navarre, who’d just wed the king’s sister, Marguerite of Valois, was saved by his bride, although he was then forced to embrace the Catholic faith. He was held at the royal court, but when he was able to escape in 1576, he at once renounced his forced baptism and proclaimed himself still a Huguenot. His marriage to Marguerite failed and ironically he would later voluntarily become a Catholic when that was price of kingship, supposedly saying “Paris is worth a Mass.” These bloody events are dramatized by C.W. Gortner in his novel, The Confessions of Catherine de Medici,, which I recommend.
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Published on August 24, 2015 09:57
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message 1: by Therese (new)

Therese No, you are not the only one who found it ironic that John named 2 of his sons after his much hated brother, Richard.


message 2: by Sharon (new)

Sharon All of the Angevin males could probably have used some time on a therapist's couch, Therese. At the very least, they needed some anger management classes.


message 3: by Therese (new)

Therese Now that is putting it mildly! You literally made me LOL while I was drinking water, and that can be a little dangerous :-) I also wonder about the women of the family, although not as much about Eleanor since so much has been written about her. Still what about the sisters? What was it like for them growing up in that household? Households were not the same back then as they are today, but… I also think it is ironic and somewhat funny that Eleanor and Henry's granddaughter(?) married the king of France, Philip's (that snake) son. I'm sure they were chuckling somewhere, in between comparing who has the most books written about them, etc.


message 4: by Sharon (new)

Sharon All three of their sisters seem to have been more reasonable than their hot-headed brothers. Joanna was the one the most like her mother, very spirited and strong-willed. But Matilda and Leonora seem to have been gentle souls--maybe they were foundlings!
You made me laugh with your comment about Henry and Eleanor as fame rivals!


message 5: by Therese (new)

Therese How did the sisters turn out so normal? I guess they got sent away soon to enough prospective husbands. I also wondered where Henry III came from. How could he be the grandson of Henry II and the famed Eleanor of Aquitaine?

Isn't it wonderful to create laughter just with a few words as this is such a limited way of communication?! By the way, I know Richard is in on that discussion as well :-) Geoffrey is sulking somewhere, and John is saying, "It's not fair" as he seemed to think everything was not fair to him.

I have loved learning about this family from you, and I have a friend who gets to retire next year. I'm going to give her one book a month of yours so she can enjoy (and learn) about these crazy Plantagenets!


message 6: by Sharon (new)

Sharon I think you nailed it, Therese. All three were sent off as child brides, so they in effect grew into womanhood at their husbands' courts.
What a wonderful idea for your friend. If you would like, I'd be happy to provide you with signed book plates for each gift.


message 7: by Therese (new)

Therese That would be lovely! I gave her Lionheart for Christmas because it made a good way to present a gift card. If I have read one of your books, she will get it. This will be fun :-)


message 8: by Therese (new)

Therese BTW, she is learning which authors to avoid, but she knows anything and everything Penman is A+!

I'm also going to get her books by Elizabeth Chadwick since I really enjoyed reading about William Marshal. I want her to know about him as well.

I just haven't gotten around to reading the Justin de Quincy books yet. With another friend of mine, we started reading about the British monarchy beginning with William the Conqueror. I'm now reading about Simon through another author, but she is severely lacking. I hope to start on Edward's reign beginning in January, although I'm dreading finishing the last book of the Welsh Princes Trilogy.


message 9: by Sharon (new)

Sharon Apologies for the typo in my above post. It should, of course, have been St Bartholomew's Day!


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