slug: rhodes

label: Rhodes

description: island in Aegean sea, Greece

year_label: 650 BCE

section: Culture & Society

text: Wine pitcher (oenochoe) from Rhodes is begun, finished in 625 BC. It is now at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

title: 650 BC

section: Events

year_label: 408 BCE

text: In 408 BC, the three city-states of the island of Rhodes (Ialysos, Kamiros, Lindos) unite and create the homonymous city on the northernmost part of the island.

title: 408 BC

section: Events › By place › Greece

year_label: 396 BCE

section: Exploration & Expansion

text: The Persians assemble a joint Phoenician, Cilician, and Cypriot fleet, under the command of the experienced Athenian admiral, Conon, and seize Rhodes.

title: 396 BC

section: Events › By place › Persian Empire

year_label: 394 BCE

text: The Athenian general Conon, the Persian satrap Pharnabazus and Evagoras, King of Salamis, win an overwhelming naval victory over the Spartans under Peisander in the Battle of Cnidus (near Rhodes). Following this victory, Conon and Pharnabazus sail along the coast of Ionia, expelling Spartan governors and garrisons from the cities, although they fail to reduce the Spartan bases at Abydos and Sestos. With the Spartan bid for building an empire crumbling, Persia gains mastery of the Aegean.

title: 394 BC

year_label: 389 BCE

text: The Athenian general, Thrasybulus, leads a force of triremes to levy tribute from cities around the Aegean and support Rhodes, where a democratic government is struggling against Sparta. On this campaign, Thrasybulus captures Byzantium, imposes a duty on ships passing through the Hellespont, and collects tribute from many of the Aegean Islands.

title: 389 BC

year_label: 357 BCE

text: Rhodes falls to the Persian satrap Mausolus of Halicarnassus.

title: 357 BC

year_label: 356 BCE

text: The Achaemenid King Artaxerxes III orders all the satraps (governors) of his empire to dismiss their mercenaries. The Athenians, who have originally approved their mercenaries' collaboration with Artabazus of Phrygia, order them to leave due to their fear of Achaemenid support for the rebellion of Chios, Rhodes, and Cos. Thebes follows suit and withdraws its mercenaries.

title: 356 BC

text: The Social War begins between the Second Athenian League, led by Athens, and its revolting allies of Chios, Rhodes, and Kos as well as the independent state Byzantium. Mausolus, the tyrant of Caria, instigates the rebellion against the Athenian control of these states. The revolting allies ravage the islands of Lemnos and Imbros which are loyal to Athens.

title: 356 BC

year_label: 354 BCE

text: Athens recognises the independence of Chios, Kos and Rhodes and makes peace with Mausolus of Caria.

title: 354 BC

year_label: 340 BCE

text: Rhodes falls to Persian forces.

title: 340 BC

year_label: 332 BCE

text: Alexander founds the city of Alexandria near the western arm of the Nile on a site between the sea and Lake Mareotis, protected by the island of Pharos, and has the city laid out by the Rhodian architect Deinocrates.

title: 332 BC

section: Events › By place › Macedonia

year_label: 330 BCE

text: Following his defeat in the courts by Demosthenes, Aeschines leaves Athens for Rhodes, to teach rhetoric.

title: 330 BC

year_label: 280 BCE

text: Rhodes, rising in prosperity, becomes head of an Island League and helps to keep the peace and freedom of the Greek islands in the Aegean Sea.

title: 280 BC

year_label: 226 BCE

section: Climate & Environment

text: An earthquake destroys the city of Camirus and the Colossus of Rhodes on the island of Rhodes.

title: 226 BC

year_label: 201 BCE

text: Rhodes and its allies Pergamum, Cyzicus, and Byzantium combine their fleets and defeat Philip V in the Battle of Chios. His flagship is trapped and rammed by two enemy ships.

title: 201 BC

year_label: 200 BCE

text: Philip V of Macedon's fleet defeat the Rhodians at Lade. His forces then advance into Pergamum, plundering Pergamese territory and attacking cities in Caria.

title: 200 BC

year_label: 194 BCE

text: Philip V of Macedon, along with Rhodes, Pergamum, and the Achaean League, join Rome against Antiochus III.

title: 194 BC

section: Events › By place › Seleucid Empire

year_label: 190 BCE

text: The Battle of the Eurymedon is fought between a Seleucid fleet and ships from Rhodes and Pergamum, who are allied with the Roman Republic. The Seleucids are led by the famous Carthaginian general Hannibal. The Rhodians and their allies are victorious and Hannibal's fleet is forced to flee.

title: 190 BC

year_label: 170 BCE

text: Dionysios Thrax, a Hellenic grammarian who will live and work in Alexandria and later on Rhodes (d. 90 BC)

title: 170 BC

year_label: 164 BCE

text: Rhodes signs a treaty with Rome and becomes its ally.

title: 164 BC

section: Events › By place › Roman Republic

year_label: 120 BCE

section: Deaths

text: Hipparchus, Greek astronomer and mathematician, on Rhodes (approximate date) (b. c. 190 BC)

title: 120 BC

year_label: 100 BCE

text: Lucius Appuleius Saturninus, a tribune, passes a law to redistribute land to military veterans. The law requires that all senators swear to abide by it. Quintus Caecilus Metellus Numidicus refuses and is exiled. He goes to Rhodes to study philosophy.

title: 100 BC

year_label: 79 BCE

text: Cicero travels to Athens and then to Rhodes to continue his studies of philosophy and oratory.

title: 79 BC

section: Events › By place › Roman republic

year_label: 75 BCE

text: Julius Caesar travels to Rhodes and is taken captive by pirates

title: 75 BC

section: Crime & Justice

text: Julius Caesar travels to Rhodes to study under Apollonius Molon. On his way across the Aegean Sea, he is kidnapped by Cilician pirates and held prisoner in the Dodecanese islet of Pharmacusa. The young Caesar is held for a ransom of twenty talents, but he insists they ask for fifty. After his release Caesar raises a fleet at Miletus, pursues and crucifies the pirates in Pergamon.

title: 75 BC

year_label: 69 BCE

text: Rhodes becomes a bulwark against pirates, the Rhodians are unable to suppress piracy in the Aegean Sea. Delos gets the status of a free port.

title: 69 BC

year_label: 43 BCE

text: Summer – Gaius Cassius captures Rhodes after they refuse to pay tribute. Their fleet is defeated by Roman galleys in the Aegean Sea. He lands a military force on the island and plunders the city. Cassius puts to death 50 of the leading citizens and seizes all the gold he can lay hands on.

title: 43 BC

year_label: 42 BCE

text: The confederation of Lycia sends ambassadors to Brutus, promising to form a military league and contribute money for building ships. Gaius Cassius Longinus occupies Rhodes, and orders all the other cities of Asia to pay a tribute for 10 years.

title: 42 BC

year_label: 6 BCE

text: Tiberius retires to Rhodes, to the inconvenience of Emperor Augustus. He is recalled to Rome years later in AD 4, becoming Augustus' adopted son and heir following the deaths of Lucius and Gaius Caesar.

title: 0s BC

section: Events › 6 BC › Roman Empire

year_label: 2 CE

text: AD 2 – Following the death of Lucius Caesar, Augustus allows his stepson Tiberius back into Rome as a private citizen, after six years of enforced retirement on Rhodes.

title: 0s

section: Events › Roman Empire

year_label: 44 CE

text: The Isle of Rhodes returns to the Roman Empire.

title: 40s

section: Timeline › AD 44

text: The 141 Lycia earthquake affects most of the Roman provinces of Lycia and Caria and the islands of Rhodes, Kos, Simi and Serifos. It triggers a severe tsunami, which causes major inundation.

title: AD 141

section: Events › By place › Asia

text: The Heruli capture Athens and raid the Aegean Islands as far as Crete and Rhodes.

title: 269

section: Events › By place › Roman Empire

text: September – The Byzantine Senate turns against Martina and her son Heraklonas, who are both mutilated, and exiled to Rhodes. Supported by general Valentinus, Constantine's son Constans II, age 10, succeeds to the throne.

title: 641

text: Arab-Byzantine War: The Arab fleet dominates the Aegean Sea and conquers the strategic islands, Rhodes, Cos and Chios. The shore on the southern part of Sea of Marmara is taken, providing an excellent base at Cyzicus to begin the blockade of Constantinople by sea.

title: 670

text: An Abbasid fleet under Humayd ibn Ma'yuf al-Hajuri raids the Peloponnese, Rhodes and Myra.

title: 807

section: Events › By place › Abbasid Empire and Byzantine Empire

text: The Republic of Venice pillages the islands of Rhodes, ravages Samos and Lesbos, and occupies Chios (controlled by the Byzantine Empire). The Republic of Florence sacks and conquers the neighboring independent republic of Fiesole in Italy.

title: 1125

text: May – Nicaean–Latin Wars: Latin forces led by William of Villehardouin, arrive on the island of Rhodes on their way to join the Seventh Crusade. This causes the Nicaeans to raise the siege of Rhodes. William concludes an agreement with the Genoese and leaves behind some 100 knights before departing for the Holy Land.

title: 1249

text: June 23 – The Knights Hospitaller, led by Grand Master Foulques de Villaret, land with 600 men on the island of Rhodes, one of the Dodecanese Islands off of the coast of Byzantium, and begin a four-year long war to capture the fortified city of Rhodes (which will not fall until August 15, 1310).

title: 1306

text: September 20 – The Knights Hospitaller, besieging on the island of Rhodes, capture the Feraklos Castle.

title: 1306

text: September 5 – Pope Clement V issues a papal bull confirming that the island of Rhodes, now one of the Dodecanese islands of Greece, will be the property of the Knights Hospitaller.

title: 1307

text: August 15 – Conquest of Rhodes: The Byzantine garrison of the city of Rhodes surrenders to the Crusader forces of the Knights Hospitaller under Grand Master Foulques de Villaret – completing their conquest of Rhodes. The knights establish their headquarters on the island and rename themselves as the Knights of Rhodes.

title: 1309

text: November 19 – Pope Clement V reverses the excommunication of Flemish hero Willem van Saeftinghe and grants him absolution, but requires him to join the Knights Hospitaller in their crusade at the island of Rhodes.

title: 1309

text: Battle of Rhodes: The Knights Hospitaller defeat an attempt by the Turks of Menteshe to capture Rhodes. During the battle, a Turkish invasion fleet (some 80 ships) is destroyed by a smaller Hospitaller-Genoese fleet.

title: 1320

text: September 24 – The Spanish Aragonese knight Juan Fernández de Heredia becomes the new Grand Master of the Knights Hospitaller, who control the island of Rhodes, one of the Dodecanese islands of Greece and the island of Cyprus. Fernandez is elected by his fellow Knights to replace the late Grand Master Robert de Juilly, who had died on July 29.

title: 1377

text: Forces of the Sultan of Egypt fail to take Rhodes from the Knights of Rhodes.

title: 1444

text: March 15 – The first of a series of earthquakes to affect the island of Rhodes occurs, leading up to the deadly earthquake in May.

title: 1481

text: May 3 – The 1481 Rhodes earthquake, the largest of a series, strikes the island of Rhodes, causing an estimated 30,000 casualties.

title: 1481

text: July 29 – Cem Sultan of the Ottoman Empire flees to the island of Rhodes after having turned down two offers from his half-brother, Sultan Bayezid II, to give up all claims to the Ottoman throne.

title: 1482

text: June 10 – Pope Alexander VI informs the Roman Catholic cardinals that the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire has amassed a fleet of 300 ships to lay siege to the city of Rhodes.

title: 1499

text: December 18 – The Ottomans finally break into Rhodes, but the Knights continue fierce resistance in the streets.

title: 1522

text: July 28 – Ottoman Sultan Suleiman I begins his siege to expel the Knights of St. John in Rhodes.

title: 1522

text: February 22 – After being falsely accused of various charges, Jeremias II Tranos, leader of the Eastern Orthodox Church as Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, is deposed by his fellow bishops and exiled to the island of Rhodes. Jeremias is replaced by Pachomius II Patestos.

title: 1584

text: February – The Rhodes blood libel is made against the Jews of Rhodes.

title: 1840


slug: rhodesia

label: Rhodesia

description: unrecognised state in Southern Africa (1965–1979)

section: Economy & Finance

date: December 8

text: December 8 – Rhodesian prime minister Ian Smith warns that Rhodesia will resist a trade embargo by neighboring countries with force.

title: 1965

section: Events › November–December

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

date: November 11

text: November 11 – In Rhodesia (modern-day Zimbabwe), the white-minority government of Ian Smith unilaterally declares de facto independence ('UDI').

title: 1965

section: Conflict & Security

date: November 5

text: November 5 – Martial law is announced in Rhodesia. The United Nations General Assembly accepts British intent to use force against Rhodesia if necessary by a vote of 82–9.

title: 1965

date: October 4

text: October 4 – Prime minister Ian Smith of Rhodesia and Arthur Bottomley of the Commonwealth of Nations begin negotiations in London.

title: 1965

section: Events › September–October

date: April 7

text: April 7 – The United Kingdom asks the United Nations Security Council for authority to use force to stop oil tankers that violate the embargo against Rhodesia (authority is given April 10).

title: 1966

section: Events › April

date: December 17

text: December 17 – South Africa does not join the trade embargo against Rhodesia.

title: 1966

section: Events › December

date: March 6

text: March 6 – Un-recognized Rhodesia executes 3 black citizens, the first executions since UDI, prompting international condemnation.

title: 1968

section: Events › March–April

date: June 24

text: June 24 – The United Kingdom and Rhodesia sever diplomatic relations, after the Rhodesian constitutional referendum.

title: 1969

section: Events › June

date: August 22

text: August 22 – Rhodesia is expelled by the International Olympic Committee for its racist policies.

title: 1972

section: Events › August

date: December 21

text: December 21 – Rhodesian Bush War: ZANLA troopers attack Altera Farm in north-east Rhodesia.

title: 1972

date: December 14

text: December 14 – Rhodesia executes two Blacks at Salisbury Central Prison for murder.

title: 1973

date: February 15

text: February 15 – Rhodesia, one of only two remaining white-ruled African nations (the other being South Africa), announces that it will accept multiracial democracy within 2 years.

title: 1978

section: Events › February

date: March 3

text: March 3 – Rhodesian Bush War: Rhodesia attacks Zambia.

title: 1978

section: Events › March

date: December 26

text: December 26 – In Rhodesia, 96 Patriotic Front guerrillas enter the capital Salisbury to monitor a ceasefire that begins December 28.

title: 1979

date: June 1

text: June 1 – The first black-led government of Rhodesia in 90 years takes power, in succession to Ian Smith and under his power-sharing deal, in the unrecognized republic of Zimbabwe Rhodesia.

title: 1979


slug: rhone

label: Rhône

description: river in Switzerland and France

year_label: 109 BCE

text: A Roman army under Marcus Junius Silanus is defeated by the Cimbri and Teutones near the river Rhône.

title: 109 BC

section: Events › By place › Roman Republic

text: Battle of Arelate: Majorian defeats the Visigoths under King Theodoric II at Arles (Southern Gaul), near the Rhone River. Theodoric is forced to sign a peace treaty and becomes a foederatus (pl. foederati) of the Western Roman Empire.

title: 458

section: Religion & Belief

text: Caesarius becomes bishop of Arles. His episcopal see, near the mouth of the Rhone River and close to Marseille, retains its ancient importance in the social and commercial life of Gaul for forty years.

title: AD 502

section: Events › By topic › Religion

section: Climate & Environment

text: Tauredunum event: A mountain landslide into the Rhone river destroys a fort and two villages, and creates a tsunami in Lake Geneva. The wave which reaches Lausanne is thirteen metres high, and eight metres high by the time it hits Geneva. Describing the event, Marius Aventicensis writes that the tsunami "devastated very old villages with their men and cattle, it even destroyed many sacred places", and swept away "the bridge in Geneva, windmills and men".

title: 563

section: Events › By place › Europe

section: Exploration & Expansion

text: King Pepin III ("the Short") begins a Frankish military expedition down the Rhône Valley, and receives the submission of eastern Septimania (i.e. Nîmes, Melguelh, Agde and Béziers), after securing Count Ansemund's allegiance.

title: 752

text: Spring – Emperor Conrad II (the Elder) leads a German military expedition via the Rhone River into Burgundy, while two Italian armies led by Archbishop Aribert and Boniface III (margrave of Tuscany) head over the Alps and join with Count Humbert I at Great St. Bernard Pass.

title: 1034

date: August 8

text: August 8 – Siege of Avignon: After two months without forcing the defenders of Avignon to surrender from lack of food, King Louis VIII gives the order to assault the walls of the city and Guy II, Count of Saint-Pol, begins the second phase of the siege, digging trenches facing the city walls – which are connected on both sides of the Rhône with pontoon bridges. Firing from the fortress towers, the defenders repulse the attack and Count Guy is killed by a catapulted stone on the same day.

title: 1226

section: Events › July – September

section: Disasters & Accidents

date: October 11

text: October 11 – Panic kills 241 people in the stampede on the Guillottière bridge in France near Lyon. Revelers returning from a festival on the other side of the Rhône river are blocked by from crossing after a collision between a carriage and a cart. At least 25 fall off the bridge and into the river, while 216 are trampled by people behind them.

title: 1711

section: Events › October–December


slug: richard-i-of-england

label: Richard I of England

description: King of England from 1189 to 1199 (1157–1199)

section: Births

date: September 8

text: September 8 – King Richard I of England (d. 1199)

title: 1157

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

text: King Henry II of England and Louis VII of France sign a peace treaty which includes the betrothal of their respective heirs, the 11-year-old Richard of England and the 8-year-old Alys of France (or Alice).

title: 1169

section: Culture & Society

text: Summer – The 14-year-old Richard (later Richard I of England) is formally recognized as duke of Aquitaine. The ceremony takes place at the church of St. Hilary in Poitiers.

title: 1172

section: Conflict & Security

date: September 30

text: September 30 – The Revolt of 1173–1174: After a year and a half of rebellion, Henry II achieves peace agreements with his sons Henry the Young King, Richard, Geoffrey, and John at Montlouis, on the basis of the pre-war status quo. Before he returns to Normandy, Henry orders the rebel castles in England and Aquitaine to be destroyed.

title: 1174

section: Events › By place › Britain

section: Crime & Justice

text: King Henry II of England encourages his youngest (and favorite) son John to seize Aquitaine from his brother Richard.

title: 1184

section: Events › By place › England

date: November

text: November – Richard of Poitou, son of King Henry II, take the Cross to help capture Jerusalem from the Muslims. He empties his coffers for the mission and makes a deal with King William the Lion of Scotland, giving him full feudal autonomy in return for cash.

title: 1187

text: November – Richard of Poitou, son of Henry II, allies himself with Philip II and pays him homage. He promises to concede his rights to both Normandy and Anjou. Henry is overpowered by Richard's supporters, who chase him from Le Mans to Angers. They force him to accept peace by conceding to all demands, including the recognition of Richard as his successor.

title: 1188

section: Deaths

date: July 6

text: July 6 – King Henry II of England ("Curtmantle") dies at the Château de Chinon, near Tours, after doing homage to Philip II (Augustus), and surrendering the territories around Issoudun in the Centre-Val de Loire. He ends the hostilities against Philip, by agreeing to the peace terms and pays him 20,000 marks in tribute. Henry is succeeded by his son, Richard I ("the Lionheart"), as ruler of England and his remaining territories in France.

title: 1189

section: Events › By place › Continental Europe

date: July 4

text: July 4 – King Richard I (the Lion Heart) and Philip II (Augustus), meet at Vézelay and agree to divide the spoils of the Crusade equally between themselves. They march to the coast and then make their way across the Mediterranean, taking different routes. Richard travels with an expeditionary force (some 17,000 men) via Marseille and Philip travels with a smaller contingent (some 15,000 men) via Genoa. Richard has some 100 ships at his disposal, several of which are from Norman ports, others from Shoreham and Southampton.

title: 1190

date: August 5

text: August 5 – Battle of Jaffa: Richard I of England defeats the forces of Saladin and ends hostilities, paving the way for a truce.

title: 1192

section: Events › The Third Crusade

date: December 11

text: December 11 – Returning from the Third Crusade, Richard I of England is taken prisoner by Leopold V, Duke of Austria, and secured at Dürnstein.

title: 1192

date: February 14

text: February 14 – King Richard I (the Lionheart), previously imprisoned on his return from the Third Crusade by Leopold V (the Virtuous), duke of Austria is handed over to Emperor Henry VI, and moved to Trifels Castle.

title: 1193

date: February 4

text: February 4 – King Richard I of England ("the Lionheart") is ransomed for an amount of 150,000 marks (demanded by Emperor Henry VI), raised by his mother Eleanor of Aquitaine – who travels to Austria to gain his release. Henry will never receive the full amount he demanded.

title: 1194

section: Technology & Infrastructure

text: King Richard I of England (the Lionheart) has Château Gaillard (Normandy) built on the Seine River as he fights to restore Angevin power in northern France (approximate date).

title: 1197

text: John of England captures a party of 18 French knights and many men-at-arms, in the ongoing conflict against France. His brother, King Richard I (the Lionheart) introduces a new Great Seal – in an attempt to keep the war against France funded. The government proclaims that charters previously struck with the old seal are no longer valid and must be renewed with a fresh payment. The office of Lord Warden of the Stannaries is also introduced, to tax the produce of tin mines in Cornwall and Devon.

title: 1198

date: January 13

text: January 13 – A short-lived truce is declared, between the Kings Richard I (the Lionheart) and Philip II (Augustus). Two of Europe's most powerful rulers meet on the banks of the Seine River, while shouting terms to one another. With a peace secured, Richard is able to refocus on bringing internal order to the south of the Angevin Empire.

title: 1199


slug: richard-ii-of-england

label: Richard II of England

description: King of England from 1377 to 1399

date: May 11

text: May 11 – Anne of Bohemia, queen of Richard II of England (d. 1394)

title: 1366

date: January 6

text: January 6 – King Richard II of England (d. 1400)

title: 1367

date: June 7

text: June 7 – The day before his death, Prince Edward of Wales, heir to the English throne and known as "The Black Prince" summons his father, King Edward III, and brother, John of Gaunt, and makes them swear to uphold the claim to the throne of his son Richard. Edward is the first "English" Prince of Wales (as opposed to Welsh) not to become King of England.

title: 1376

section: Events › April–June

date: November 20

text: November 20 – Richard of Bordeaux, son of the Black Prince, is created Prince of Wales in succession to his father.

title: 1376

section: Religion & Belief

date: October 7

text: October 7 – King Edward III of England makes out his Last Will and Testament, formally declaring his grandson Prince Richard as his successor, describing him as "Next we give and leave to our future heir, on whom may God confer his saving Grace, Richard, namely the son of Edward of honoured memory lately prince of Wales our firstborn son".

title: 1376

date: April 23

text: April 23 – King Edward III of England formally confers knighthood upon two of his grandsons, both aged 10, Prince Richard of Woodstock (son of King Edward's deceased son Edward the Black Prince), and upon Henry Bolingbroke (son of John of Gaunt), as well as his 13-year-old illegitimate son John de Southeray, and 11-year-old John de Mowbray. Two months later, Prince Richard will become King Richard II upon Edward's death, and in 1399, Bolingbroke will overthrow Richard and becomes King Henry IV.

title: 1377

date: July 16

text: July 16 – Richard II, the 10-year-old grandson of Edward III, is crowned king of England at Westminster Abbey. A minority government is established, and a series of continual councils rule on his behalf until 1381.

title: 1377

section: Events › July–September

date: June 21

text: June 21 – After a reign of more than 50 years, King Edward III of England dies at Sheen Palace in Richmond at the age of 64. His 10-year-old grandson, Prince Richard of Woodstock, succeeds to the throne as King Richard II. Richard is the son of King Edward's oldest son, Edward the Black Prince, who had died a year earlier.

title: 1377

date: January 14

text: January 14 – King Richard II opens the Irish Parliament for the first time since the death of his father, King Edward III, a year earlier.

title: 1378

section: Events › January–March

date: February 16

text: February 16 – King Richard II of England issues an order directing the English Parliament to assemble on April 24 in London.

title: 1379

section: Economy & Finance

date: February 1

text: February 1 – Sir Robert Hales is appointed by King Richard II of England as the new Lord High Treasurer, replacing Thomas de Brantingham in an office that will eventually cost him his life. Because Hales administers the collection of taxes, including the new poll tax passed into law by Brantingham,

title: 1381

date: June 15

text: June 15 – Peasants' Revolt: During further negotiations, Wat Tyler is murdered by the King's entourage. Noble forces subsequently overpower the rebel army. The rebel leaders are eventually captured and executed and Richard II revokes his concessions. The revolt is discussed in John Gower's Vox Clamantis and Froissart's Chronicles.

title: 1381

date: January 20

text: January 20 – Princess Anne of Bohemia, a daughter of the late Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor, becomes the Queen Consort of England by marrying King Richard II; the marriage produces no heirs before her death in 1395.

title: 1382

date: January 7

text: January 7 – King Richard II issues a summons for the Lords and members of the House of Commons to assemble for the English Parliament, to convene on February 23.

title: 1383

date: August 31

text: August 31 – King Richard II of England begins an invasion of Scotland. The English burn Holyrood and Edinburgh, but return home without a decisive battle.

title: 1385

date: June 10

text: June 10 – English invasion of Scotland (1385): Preparing to lead invade Scotland as soon as the truce between England and Scotland expires on July 15, King Richard II of England assembles an army at Nottingham.

title: 1385

date: May 9

text: May 9 – King John I of Portugal and King Richard II of England ratify the Treaty of Windsor.

title: 1386

date: December 19

text: December 19 – At the Battle of Radcot Bridge in England, forces loyal to King Richard II are defeated by the Lords Appellant, a group of three rebellious barons—. King Richard is taken prisoner, and not freed until he agrees to dismiss all the councillors in his court. Richard continues as the nominal King of England, with the Lords Appellant administering the kingdom.

title: 1387

date: June 2

text: June 2 – John Holland, a maternal half-brother of Richard II of England, is created Earl of Huntingdon.

title: 1387

date: July 8

text: July 8 –John of Gaunt, the uncle of Richard II of England, makes peace with Castile and gives up his claim to the Castilian throne, by allowing his daughter Catherine of Lancaster to marry Prince Henry, the eldest son of John I of Castile.

title: 1388

date: May 3

text: May 3 – Richard II takes control of England, away from the Lords Appellant.

title: 1389

date: September 7

text: September 7 – King Richard II summons the English Parliament and directs the members to assemble at Winchester on November 3.

title: 1391

text: Battle of Ros-Mhic-Thriúin: The Kingdom of Leinster, led by King Art mac Art MacMurrough-Kavanagh, defeats an invading army from England, led by King Richard II of England and Roger Mortimer, 4th Earl of March.

title: 1394

section: Events › Date unknown

date: February 28

text: February 28 – Richard II of England grants Geoffrey Chaucer 20 pounds a year for life, for his services as a diplomat and Clerk of The King's Works.

title: 1394

text: June 7 – Anne of Bohemia, queen of Richard II of England (plague) (b. 1366)

title: 1394

date: March 9

text: March 9 – King Richard II of England, 29, marries Princess Isabelle of France, the 6-year-old daughter of King Charles VI of France, by proxy. The two will marry in person on October 31 in Calais.

title: 1396

section: Events › January–December

date: October 31

text: October 31 – The widowed Richard II of England (29), and six-year-old Isabella of Valois (daughter of Charles VI of France), are married in Calais, resulting in a temporary peace between the kingdoms of England and France.

title: 1396

date: January 8

text: January 8 – Isabella of Valois, the 7-year-old wife of King Richard II since their marriage on October 31, is formally crowned as Queen consort of England at Westminster Abbey.

title: 1397

date: July 12

text: July 12 – King Richard II of England orders the arrest of members of a group of powerful barons known as the Lords Appellant, including Thomas of Woodstock, Duke of Gloucester and Richard Fitzalan, Earl of Arundel. Gloucester is murdered while under house arrest on September 9 and Arundel is behaded on September 21.

title: 1397

section: Events › July–December

date: September 29

text: September 29 – John Holland, Earl of Huntingdon is created Duke of Exeter, by his half-brother King Richard II of England.

title: 1397

date: January 31

text: January 31 – The 24th English Parliament of King Richard II is dissolved after having met since September 17. The King gives royal assent to numerous laws, including the Treason Act 1397, providing for new definitions of treason

title: 1398

section: Health & Medicine

date: September 16

text: September 16 – King Richard II of England exiles his cousin Henry Bolingbroke (the future Henry IV of England) for 10 years, in order to end Henry's feud with Thomas de Mowbray, 1st Duke of Norfolk, who is also exiled.

title: 1398

date: August 19

text: August 19 – Richard II of England is taken prisoner by Henry Bolingbroke upon his return from Ireland and surrenders at Flint Castle in return for his life.

title: 1399

text: February 3 – John of Gaunt, Duke of Aquitaine uncle of King Richard II of England and father of Henry Bolingbroke, dies and King Richard becomes ruler of the Duchy.

title: 1399

text: July 4 – While Richard II of England is away on a military campaign in Ireland, Henry Bolingbroke, with exiled former archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Arundel as an advisor, returns to England and begins a military campaign to reclaim his confiscated lands.

title: 1399

text: March 18 – Richard II of England cancels the legal documents allowing the exiled Henry Bolingbroke to inherit his father's lands, leading to Henry's decision to overthrow King Richard.

title: 1399

text: May 10 – The Treaty of Tarbes is signed between representatives of King Charles VI of France and Archambaud of Grailly, who has been an ally of the French monarch's enemy, King Richard II of England. Under the treaty, de Grailly is made Count of Foix in southern France, in return for breaking his alliance with King Richard. Two of the Count of Foix's sons are sent as hostages to the Royal Court of France in order to secure the terms of the agreement.

title: 1399

text: February 14 – The deposed Richard II of England dies by means unknown in Pontefract Castle. It is likely that King Henry IV ordered his death by starvation, to prevent further uprisings.

title: 1400

text: January 4 – The Epiphany Rising begins in England against King Henry IV by nobles planning to restore King Richard II to the throne, and is quickly crushed. Baron Lumley dies after attempting to seize Cirencester. The Earl of Salisbury and the Earl of Kent are captured and beheaded on January 7. Sir Thomas Blount is hanged, drawn and quartered at Oxford on January 12. Thomas le Despenser, 1st Earl of Gloucester is captured and executed by a mob in Bristol on January 13. The Earl of Huntingdon is beheaded at Pleshey on January 16.

title: 1400

text: November 9 – Waleran III, Count of Ligny, a relative in France of the late King Richard II of England, informs King Henry IV (who killed King Richard) of plans to lead an attack on England.

title: 1403

text: December 4 – By order of King Henry V of England, the remains of King Richard II (whom Henry V's father had overthrown and imprisoned in 1399) are moved from the grounds of King's Langley Priory in Hertfordshire and reinterred at Westminster Abbey, the traditional final resting place of English monarchs.

title: 1413


slug: richard-iii-of-england

label: Richard III of England

description: king of England from 1483 to 1485

section: Births

text: May 3 – Cecily Neville, English duchess, mother of Edward IV and Richard III of England (d. 1495)

title: 1415

date: May 17

text: May 17 – Edmund, Earl of Rutland, brother of Kings Edward IV of England and Richard III of England (d. 1460)

title: 1443

date: October 21

text: October 21 – George Plantagenet, Duke of Clarence, brother of Kings Edward IV and Richard III of England (d. 1478)

title: 1449

date: October 2

text: October 2 – King Richard III of England (d. 1485)

title: 1452

date: June 11

text: June 11 – Anne Neville, queen consort of Richard III of England (d. 1485)

title: 1456

date: December 30

text: December 30 – Edmund, Earl of Rutland, brother of Kings Edward IV of England and Richard III of England (b. 1443)

title: 1460

date: February 18

text: February 18 – George Plantagenet, Duke of Clarence, brother of Kings Edward IV and Richard III of England (executed) (b. 1449)

title: 1478

section: Conflict & Security

date: August 1

text: August 1 – In the Anglo-Scottish Wars, Richard, Duke of Gloucester invades Scotland, and captures Edinburgh.

title: 1482

date: December 25

text: December 25 – At Rennes Cathedral in France, Henry Tudor, Earl of Richmond, leader of the House of Lancaster after Richard III of England of the House of York had seized the throne, pledges to marry Elizabeth of York, the eldest daughter the late King Edward IV, in order to strengthen his support for the overthrow of King Richard.

title: 1483

section: Events › October–December

date: July 6

text: July 6 – Richard III and Anne Neville are crowned king and Queen of England, at Westminster Abbey.

title: 1483

section: Culture & Society

date: June 25

text: June 25 – On the day of his scheduled coronation, 12-year-old King Edward V is deposed by his uncle, Richard, Duke of Gloucester, who is acclaimed by the English Parliament as King Richard III.

title: 1483

date: October 10

text: October 10 – In England, a rebellion is started by Duke of Buckingham, against King Richard III. Fighting between the supporters of King Richard and of the late King Edward IV lasts for more than six weeks.

title: 1483

date: August 22

text: August 22 – At the Battle of Bosworth Field, King Richard III of England is killed in battle by the soldiers of Rhys ap Thomas and Sir William Stanley, in the service of Henry Tudor, Earl of Richmond. With the death of King Richard, the Yorkist troops retreat. King Richard's remains will lie undiscovered for 517 years until 2012when they are found during the excavation of a parking lot in Leicester.

title: 1485

date: March 16

text: March 16 – Anne Neville, queen of Richard III of England (b. 1456)

title: 1485

date: May 31

text: May 31 – Cecily Neville, English duchess, mother of Kings Edward IV and Richard III of England (b. 1415)

title: 1495


label: Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick

description: jure uxoris 16th Earl of Warwick and suo jure 6th Earl of Salisbury (1428-1471)

date: November 22

text: November 22 – Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick, English nobleman, known as "the Kingmaker" (d. 1471)

title: 1428

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

date: December 20

text: December 20 – England's "Parliament of Devils" is dissolved after accomplishhing its purpose of passing bills of attainder for high treason, indictments of Richard of York, 3rd Duke of York and other Yorkist supporters in the War of the Roses. Other prominent Yorkists charged are Edward, Earl of March (the future King Edward IV), Edmund, Earl of Rutland, Richard Neville, 5th Earl of Salisbury, and his son, Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick.

title: 1459

date: October 12

text: October 12 – Wars of the Roses: With a royal force advancing on his fortress at Ludlow, Richard of York, 3rd Duke of York, flees to Ireland, while his ally Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick (Warwick the Kingmaker, eldest son of the Earl of Salisbury) goes to Calais.

title: 1459

date: July 10

text: July 10 – Wars of the Roses – King Henry VI of England is captured as prisoner of war after his army is defeated at the Battle of Northampton by the earls of Warwick and March. It is agreed that York will be Henry's heir, disinheriting the King's son Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales.

title: 1460

date: June 26

text: June 26 – Wars of the Roses: Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick and Edward, Earl of March (eldest son of Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York) land in England at Sandwich, Kent with an army, and march on London.

title: 1460

date: February 17

text: February 17 – Second Battle of St Albans, England: The Earl of Warwick's army is defeated by a Lancastrian force under Queen Margaret, who recovers control for her husband.

title: 1461

date: September 29

text: September 29 – King Edward IV of England surprises his advisors and the nation by introducing Elizabeth Woodville as his wife at Reading Abbey, and revealing that he had been married for almost five months, the ceremony having taken place on May 1. The marriage outrages King Edward's mentor, Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick, who had been arranging a marriage between the King and Bona of Savoy, sister-in-law of France's King Louis XI.

title: 1464

date: July 24

text: July 24 – The royalist Yorkists are defeated by rebels at the Battle of Edgcote in Northamptonshire, and King Edward IV is taken prisoner. Rebel leader Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick, temporarily holds power to rule England but in September, Edward IV is freed and returns to the throne.

title: 1469

date: January 21

text: January 21 – Jacquetta of Luxembourg, mother of England's Queen Consort Elizabeth Woodville and mother-in-law of King Edward IV, is cleared of allegations of witchcraft that had been made against her in 1469 by a follower of the rebel Earl of Warwick.

title: 1470

date: September 13

text: September 13 – A rebellion orchestrated by King Edward IV of England's former ally, Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick, forces the King to flee England to seek support from his brother-in-law, Charles the Bold of Burgundy.

title: 1470

date: April 14

text: April 14 – At the Battle of Barnet, Edward defeats the Lancastrian army under Warwick, who is killed.

title: 1471


slug: richard-nixon

label: Richard Nixon

description: president of the United States from 1969 to 1974 (1913–1994)

section: Science & Discovery

date: December 6

text: December 6 – Richard Nixon displays microfilm from the "Pumpkin Papers" to the press.

title: 1948

section: Events › December

date: December 7

text: December 7 – A visit to Iran by American Vice President Richard Nixon sparks several days of riots, as a reaction to the August 19 overthrow of the government of Mohammed Mossadegh by the U.S.-backed Shah. Three students are shot dead by police in Tehran. This event becomes an annual commemoration.

title: 1953

date: September 24

text: September 24 – Dwight D. Eisenhower, president of the United States, suffers a coronary thrombosis while on vacation in Denver, Colorado. Vice President Nixon assumed administrative duties and presided over Cabinet and National Security Council meetings while Eisenhower recovers.

title: 1955

section: Events › September

date: May 13

text: May 13 – During a visit to Caracas, Venezuela, Vice President Richard Nixon's car is attacked by anti-American demonstrators.

title: 1958

section: Events › May

text: July 24 – At the opening of the American National Exhibition in Moscow, United States Vice President Richard Nixon and USSR Premier Nikita Khrushchev engage in the "Kitchen Debate".

title: 1959

section: Events › July

date: July 25

text: July 25–28 – In Chicago, the 1960 Republican National Convention nominates Vice President Richard Nixon as its candidate for President of the United States, and Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. for vice-president.

title: 1960

date: November 8

text: November 8 – 1960 United States presidential election: In a close race, Democratic U. S. Senator John F. Kennedy is elected over Republican U. S. Vice President Richard Nixon, to become (at 43) the second youngest man to serve as President of the United States, and the youngest man elected to this position.

title: 1960

section: Events › November

date: September 26

text: September 26 – 1960 United States presidential debates: The two leading candidates in the 1960 United States presidential election, John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon, participate in the first live televised presidential debate.

title: 1960

date: November 5

text: November 5 – 1968 United States presidential election: Republican candidate Richard Nixon defeats the Democratic candidate, Vice President Hubert Humphrey, and American Independent Party candidate George Wallace.

title: 1968

section: Events › November–December

date: August 2

text: August 2 – U.S. President Richard Nixon visits Romania, becoming the first incumbent U.S. president to visit a communist state since the start of the Cold War.

title: 1969

section: Events › August

date: January 20

text: January 20 – Richard Nixon is sworn in as the 37th president of the United States of America.

title: 1969

section: Events › January

date: July 30

text: July 30 – Vietnam War: U.S. President Richard Nixon makes an unscheduled visit to South Vietnam, meeting with President Nguyễn Văn Thiệu and U.S. military commanders.

title: 1969

date: June 8

text: June 8 – U.S. President Richard Nixon and South Vietnamese President Nguyễn Văn Thiệu meet at Midway Island. Nixon announces that 25,000 U.S. troops will be withdrawn by September.

title: 1969

section: Events › June

date: November 21

text: November 21 – U.S. President Richard Nixon and Japanese Premier Eisaku Satō agree in Washington, D.C. to the return of Okinawa to Japanese control in 1972. Under the terms of the agreement, the U.S. retains rights to military bases on the island, but they must be nuclear-free.

title: 1969

date: December 29

text: December 29 – U.S. President Richard Nixon signs into law the Occupational Safety and Health Act.

title: 1970

section: Exploration & Expansion

date: September 27

text: September 27 – Richard Nixon begins a tour of Europe, visiting Italy, Yugoslavia, Spain, the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland.

title: 1970

date: August 15

text: August 15 – President Richard Nixon announces that the United States will no longer convert dollars to gold at a fixed value, effectively ending the Bretton Woods system. He also imposes a 90-day freeze on wages, prices and rents.

title: 1971

date: December 8

text: December 8 – U.S. President Richard Nixon orders the 7th Fleet to move towards the Bay of Bengal in the Indian Ocean.

title: 1971

date: July 15

text: July 15 – American President Richard Nixon announces his 1972 visit to China.

title: 1971

date: July 5

text: July 5 – Right to vote: The Twenty-sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution, formally certified by President Richard Nixon, lowers the voting age from 21 to 18.

title: 1971

date: June 17

text: June 17 – President Richard Nixon declares the U.S. war on drugs.

title: 1971

date: October 21

text: October 21 – U.S. President Richard Nixon nominates Lewis Franklin Powell Jr. and William H. Rehnquist to the U.S. Supreme Court.

title: 1971

section: Events › October

date: August 21

text: August 21 – The Republican National Convention in Miami Beach, Florida, renominates U.S. President Richard Nixon and Vice President Spiro Agnew for a second term.

title: 1972

date: February 21

text: February 21–28 – U.S. President Richard Nixon makes an unprecedented 8-day visit to the People's Republic of China and meets with Mao Zedong.

title: 1972

section: Events › February

date: May 26

text: May 26 – Richard Nixon and Leonid Brezhnev sign the SALT I treaty in Moscow, as well as the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty and other agreements.

title: 1972

section: Climate & Environment

date: November 7

text: November 7 – 1972 United States presidential election: Republican incumbent Richard Nixon defeats Democratic Senator George McGovern in a landslide. The election has the lowest voter turnout since 1948, with only 55 percent of the electorate voting.

title: 1972

date: January 15

text: January 15 – Vietnam War: Citing progress in peace negotiations, U.S. President Richard Nixon announces the suspension of offensive action in North Vietnam.

title: 1973

date: July 16

text: July 16 – Watergate scandal: Former White House aide Alexander Butterfield informs the United States Senate Watergate Committee that President Richard Nixon had secretly recorded potentially incriminating conversations.

title: 1973

date: November 16

text: November 16 – U.S. President Richard Nixon signs the Trans-Alaska Pipeline Authorization Act into law, authorizing the construction of the Alaska Pipeline.

title: 1973

text: November 7 – The Congress of the United States overrides President Richard Nixon's veto of the War Powers Resolution, which limits presidential power to wage war without congressional approval.

title: 1973

date: October 20

text: October 20 – The Saturday Night Massacre: U.S. President Richard Nixon orders Attorney General Elliot Richardson to dismiss Watergate Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox. Richardson refuses and resigns, along with Deputy Attorney General William Ruckelshaus. Solicitor General Robert Bork, third in line at the Department of Justice, then fires Cox. The event prompts calls for Nixon's impeachment.

title: 1973

date: August 8

text: August 8 – U.S. President Richard Nixon announces his resignation on August 8, effective at noon on August 9.

title: 1974

section: Events › July–August

date: September 8

text: September 8 – President Gerald Ford signs Proclamation 4311, granting a full and unconditional pardon to Richard Nixon, his predecessor.

title: 1974

text: November 6 – 1984 United States presidential election: Republican President Ronald Reagan defeats Democratic former Vice President Walter F. Mondale with 59% of the popular vote, the highest since Richard Nixon's 61% popular vote victory in 1972. Reagan carries 49 states in the electoral College; Mondale wins only his home state of Minnesota (by a mere 3,761 vote margin) and the District of Columbia.

title: 1984


slug: richard-wagner

label: Richard Wagner

description: German composer (1813–1883)

section: Culture & Society

date: March 29

text: March 29 – Richard Wagner's opera Das Liebesverbot is performed for the first time, in Magdeburg.

title: 1836

section: Events › January–March

section: Births

date: December 24

text: December 24 – Cosima Wagner, wife of German composer Richard Wagner (d. 1930)

title: 1837

section: Births › October–December

date: October 19

text: October 19 – Richard Wagner's opera Tannhäuser debuts at the Dresden Royal Court Theater.

title: 1845

section: Events › October–December

section: Technology & Infrastructure

text: Richard Wagner begins writing the libretto that will become Der Ring des Nibelungen ("The Ring of the Nibelung").

title: 1848

section: Events › Date unknown

date: August 28

text: August 28 – Richard Wagner's romantic opera Lohengrin (including the Bridal Chorus) premieres under the direction of Franz Liszt, in Weimar.

title: 1850

section: Events › July–September

date: June 10

text: June 10 – Richard Wagner's opera Tristan und Isolde debuts at the Munich Court Theatre.

title: 1865

date: June 26

text: June 26 – Richard Wagner's opera Die Walküre is first performed at Munich's National Theatre.

title: 1870

date: July 26

text: July 26 – Richard Wagner's opera Parsifal debuts, at the Bayreuth Festspielhaus in Bavaria.

title: 1882

section: Deaths

date: April 1

text: April 1 – Cosima Wagner, wife and inspiration of Richard Wagner (b. 1837)

title: 1930

section: Deaths › March – April

date: March 20

text: March 20 – Renowned Italian conductor Arturo Toscanini makes his television debut, conducting the NBC Symphony Orchestra in an all-Wagner program in the United States.

title: 1948

section: Events › March


slug: ricimer

label: Ricimer

description: Romanized Germanic general who effectively ruled the remaining territory of the Western Roman Empire (405-472)

text: Ricimer, de facto ruler of the Western Roman Empire (approximate date)

title: 405

text: Ricimer, Germanic Roman general

title: 418

text: Emperor Avitus sends a Germanic naval expedition under command of Ricimer, to defend Sicily. They defeat the Vandals twice: on land at the Battle of Agrigentum, and in a sea battle off Corsica.

title: 456

section: Events › By place › Roman Empire

section: Crime & Justice

date: August 2

text: August 2 – Majorian is arrested near Tortona (Northern Italy), and deposed by Ricimer (magister militum) as puppet emperor.

title: 461

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

text: Ricimer, de facto ruler, establishes political control for 2 years from his residence in Rome.

title: 465

date: April 12

text: April 12 – Emperor Leo I has his general Anthemius elected emperor of the Western Roman Empire. He allies himself with Ricimer, de facto ruler of Rome, and marries Anthemius's daughter Alypia to him, to strengthen the relationship and end the hostilities between the Eastern and Western Empire.

title: 467

date: August

text: August – Marcellinus is murdered in Sicily, probably at the instigation of his political rival, Ricimer. Heraclius is left to fight alone against the Vandals; after a 2-year campaign in the desert he returns to Constantinople.

title: 468

section: Religion & Belief

text: The Western Roman Empire enters a period of unrest. Relations between Ricimer, de facto ruler, and Emperor Anthemius deteriorate completely. Epiphanius, bishop of Pavia, negotiates a peace agreement.

title: 472

date: August 18

text: August 18 – Ricimer dies at his palace of malignant fever, vomiting blood.

title: 472

text: August 18 – Ricimer, de facto ruler of the Western Roman Empire

title: 472

section: Conflict & Security

date: July 11

text: July 11 – Anthemius, besieged in the part of Rome he controls until his troops are defeated, is caught while fleeing the city disguised as a supplicant in the Old St. Peter's Basilica (or at the church of Santa Maria in Trastevere), and later beheaded by Gundobad or Ricimer. Ricimer proclaims Olybrius emperor. Ricimer's nephew, the Burgundian general Gundobad, assumes command of the Western army and holds de facto power in the Empire.

title: 472

date: March 3

text: March 3 – Gundobad (nephew of Ricimer) nominates Glycerius as emperor of the Western Roman Empire. Emperor Leo I refuses to recognize him, and chooses Julius Nepos as candidate to the Western throne.

title: 473


slug: riga

label: Riga

description: capital and largest city of Latvia

text: Northern Crusades: The town of Riga is chartered as a city by Albert of Buxhoeveden, bishop of Livonia, who has landed on the site with some 1,500 Crusaders earlier in the year.

title: 1201

section: Events › By place › Europe

section: Exploration & Expansion

text: The Oeselians ravage Danish Scania. The returning pirates later skirmish with the German settlers of Riga, near Visby in Gotland.

title: 1203

date: February 2

text: February 2 – Terra Mariana (or Medieval Livonia), comprising modern-day Estonia and Latvia, is established as a principality of the Holy Roman Empire. During its existence there is a constant struggle over supremacy between the lands ruled by the Teutonic Order, the secular German nobility, and the citizens of the Hanseatic towns of Riga and Reval.

title: 1207

text: Spring – Livonian Crusade: The Livonian Brothers of the Sword and their Crusader allies (some 20,000 men) cross the sea ice from mainland Estonia, and defeat the last Estonian strongholds in the Battle of Muhu and the siege of the Valjala Stronghold in the Saaremaa islands. This marks the end of the Estonian campaign in the Livonian Crusade. The Sword Brothers conquer Danish Estonia, and Tallinn is given town rights under Riga law.

title: 1227

date: June 1

text: June 1 – Battle of Turaida: Forces of the Livonian Order are decisively defeated near Turaida Castle by the residents of Riga, allied with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania under Vytenis. After their defeat, the Livonians receive reinforcements from the Teutonic Order and defeat the residents of Riga and Lithuanians near Neuermühlen, on June 28. The knights proceed with their campaign, and besiege and capture Riga. In response, King Eric VI of Denmark ("Menved") threatens to invade Livonia, but a truce is reached and the conflict is mediated by Pope Boniface VIII.

title: 1298

date: November 28

text: November 28 – The Treaty of Vilnius is concluded during the Livonian War, between the Livonian Confederation and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. With the treaty, the non-Danish and non-Swedish part of Livonia, with the exception of the Free imperial city of Riga, subjects itself to Polish king and Grand Duke of Lithuania, Sigismund II Augustus with the Pacta subiectionis (Provisio ducalis). In turn, Sigismund grants protection from the Tsardom of Russia, and confirms the Livonian estates' traditional privileges, laid out in the Privilegium Sigismundi Augusti.

title: 1561

date: January 14

text: January 14 – The Treaty of Drohiczyn is concluded, ending the Livonian War and adding the conquered city of Riga to the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

title: 1581

section: Disasters & Accidents

date: March 24

text: March 24 – Led by the Grand Hetman of Lithuania, Jan Karol Chodkiewicz, the Lithuanian Navy breaks the blockade of Riga by sinking two Swedish Navy warships off the coast of Salacgrīva.

title: 1609

text: The Swedish city of Gothenburg is founded by King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden. The king also grants city rights to Luleå, Piteå and Torneå (Tornio). Riga falls under the rule of Sweden.

title: 1621

date: August 27

text: August 27 – Charles XII of Sweden launches his campaign to conquer Russia, marching to the east from Altranstädt with 60,000 coalition troops. Another 16,000 soldiers are waiting on the outskirts of Riga, guarding the Swedish supply lines.

title: 1707

section: Events › July– September

date: September 26

text: September 26 – Great Northern War – Capitulation of Livonia: the Swedish garrison in Riga surrenders, ending Swedish rule in modern Latvia.

title: 1710

date: January

text: Russian Revolution of 1905: The Imperial Russian Army opens fire on demonstrators in Riga, Governorate of Livonia, killing 73 people and injuring 200.

title: 1905

section: Events › January

date: November 30

text: November 30 and December 8 – Rumbula massacre: Nazi forces kill approximately 24,000 Latvian Jews and 1,000 German Jews outside of Riga.

title: 1941

section: Events › November

date: March 15

text: March 15 – The Holocaust: Dünamünde Action – 1,900 central European Jews are shot dead north east of Riga, 1,840 are killed on the 26th.

title: 1942

text: The first SampTA conference for mathematicians, engineers and applied scientists is held in Riga, Latvia.

title: 1995

date: May 24

text: May 24 – The Eurovision Song Contest 2003 takes place in Riga, Latvia, and is won by Turkish entrant Sertab Erener with the song "Everyway That I Can".

title: 2003

section: Events › May


slug: riksdag-of-the-estates

label: Riksdag of the Estates

description: name used for the Estates of Sweden when they were assembled

date: January 11

text: January 11 – Sweden's first Riksdag of the Estates is summoned under rebel leader Engelbrekt Engelbrektsson, who is elected rikshövitsman (military commander of the realm), in the absence of a king, on January 13.

title: 1435

section: Events › January–March

date: May 4

text: May 4 – Swedish leader Engelbrekt Engelbrektsson is assassinated by aristocrat Måns Bengtsson while he is on his way to Stockholm for negotiations. Karl Knutsson Bonde temporarily holds the position of leader of Sweden alone. The first meeting of the Riksdag of the Estates of Sweden takes place afterwards, in Uppsala.

title: 1436

section: Events › April–July

section: Culture & Society

date: June 17

text: June 17 – The Protestant Reformation begins in Sweden. The Riksdag of the Estates in Västerås adopts Lutheranism as the state religion, in place of Roman Catholicism. This results in the confiscation of church property and dissolution of Catholic convents in accordance with the Reduction of Gustav I of Sweden.

title: 1527

section: Events › April–June

text: The Riksdag of the Estates at Söderköping in Sweden elects the Lutheran Duke Charles as the country's regent, in place of Sigismund III Vasa, King of Poland and Sweden.

title: 1595

section: Events › Date unknown

date: January 6

text: January 6 – Axel Oxenstierna becomes Lord High Chancellor of Sweden. He persuades the Riksdag of the Estates to grant the Swedish nobility the right and privilege to hold all higher offices of government.

title: 1612

date: October 29

text: October 29 – At the request of King Charles XI of Sweden, the Riksdag in Sweden enacts the Great Reduction, returning fiefs which had been granted to the Swedish nobility to the Crown. The nation becomes an absolute monarchy under the rule of Charles.

title: 1680

section: Events › October–December

date: February 3

text: February 3 (January 23 Old Style) – The Riksdag of the Estates (the parliament of Sweden) recognizes Ulrika Eleonora's claim to the Swedish throne, after she has agreed to sign a new Swedish constitution. Thus, she is recognized as queen regnant of Sweden.

title: 1719

date: March 11

text: March 11 (February 29 Old Style) – Queen Ulrika Eleonora of Sweden resigns, to let her husband Frederick I take over as king of Sweden. She had desired a joint rule, in a similar manner to William III and Mary II in Britain, but as the Riksdag of the Estates (Sweden's parliament) refuses this, she abdicates in her husband's favour instead.

title: 1720

date: June 22

text: June 22 – The Coup of 1756, an attempted coup d'état planned by Queen Louisa Ulrika of Sweden, to abolish the rule of the Riksdag of the Estates and reinstate absolute monarchy in Sweden with the support of the Hovpartiet, is exposed and subdued.

title: 1756

date: June 6

text: June 6 – Sweden promulgates a new Instrument of Government, which restores political power to the Riksdag of the Estates, after authoritarian rule since 1772. On the same day, Duke Charles (uncle of the deposed king Gustav IV Adolf) is elected King, under the name Charles XIII. In November he is affected by a heart attack and will be largely incapacitated for the remainder of his reign (until 1818).

title: 1809

date: March 29

text: March 29 – At the Diet of Porvoo, Finland's four Estates pledge allegiance to Alexander I of Russia, commencing the secession of the future Grand Duchy of Finland from Sweden. The Emperor, in return, promises to retain and uphold former laws and privileges, as well as the dominant Lutheran religion. His pledge is later interpreted by the Finns as a confirmation of constitutional laws, which had, effectively, established Finland as a separate state in real union with Russia.

title: 1809

date: May 10

text: May 10 – Gustav IV Adolf is officially deposed from the Swedish throne, by the Riksdag of the Estates.

title: 1809

date: August 21

text: August 21 – Jean Baptiste Bernadotte, Marshal of France, is elected Crown Prince of Sweden, by the Swedish Riksdag of the Estates.

title: 1810

text: September 26 – A new Act of Succession is adopted by the Riksdag of the Estates, and Jean Baptiste Bernadotte becomes heir to the Swedish throne.

title: 1810

text: June 22 – In Sweden, the Riksdag of the Estates votes to replace itself by an elected two-chamber Riksdag.

title: 1866

section: Events › June


slug: rimini

label: Rimini

description: Italian comune

year_label: 268 BCE

text: The Romans found a colony at Ariminum.

title: 268 BC

section: Events › By place › Roman Republic

year_label: 220 BCE

text: During his censorship, the Roman political leader, Gaius Flaminius, builds the Circus Flaminius on the Campus Martius and constructs the Via Flaminia from Rome to Ariminum (Rimini).

title: 220 BC

year_label: 187 BCE

text: The construction of the Via Aemilia, a trunk road in the north Italian plains, running from Ariminum (Rimini), on the Adriatic coast, to Placentia (Piacenza) on the river Padus (Po), is completed.

title: 187 BC

year_label: 27 CE

text: An Arc of Triumph is erected in Rimini, in honor of the former Emperor Augustus.

title: 20s

section: Events › 27 AD › Roman Empire

date: July

text: July – Emperor Constantius II convenes the Council of Rimini, to resolve the crisis over Arianism in the Church. Some 400 bishops of the Western portion of the Roman Empire attend, while the Eastern bishops simultaneously hold a meeting at Seleucia. Given Saint Jerome's comment that, "The whole world groaned in astonishment to find itself Arian", it appears to have failed. Pope Liberius rejects the new creed at Rimini.

title: 359

section: Events › By topic › Religion

section: Deaths

text: Roman civil war: Roman forces under command of Flavius Aetius are defeated near Rimini (Italy) in battle. His rival comes Bonifacius is mortally wounded and dies several days later. Aetius flees to Dalmatia and seeks refuge with the Huns.

title: 432

section: Events › By place › Roman Empire

text: Theodoric and his Ostrogoths lay siege to Ravenna. The cities of Cesena and Rimini retain their allegiance to Odoacer.

title: 490

text: King Theoderic the Great conquers Rimini, and brings his Ostrogoth fleet to blockade the harbours 6 miles from the capital of Ravenna. Important provisions, food and supplies are cut off, and the inhabitants are starved to death.

title: 492

date: December

text: December – Belisarius sends John "the Sanguinary" with a force of 2,000 men towards Picenum, to plunder the east coast of Italy. He arrives at Ariminum (Rimini), where he is welcomed by the local population.

title: 537

section: Events › By place › Byzantine Empire

text: Gothic War: Vitiges strengthens the garrisons of various towns and besieges Ariminum. Byzantine forces under the Armenian general Narses arrive at Picenum.

title: 538

text: Gothic War: Narses arrives in Venetia and discovers that a powerful Gothic-Frank army (50,000 men), under joint command of the kings Totila and Theudebald, has blocked the principal route to the Po Valley. Not wishing to engage such a formidable force and confident that the Franks would avoid a direct confrontation, Narses skirts the lagoons along the Adriatic shore, by using vessels to leapfrog his army from point to point along the coast. In this way he arrives at the capital Ravenna without encountering any opposition. He attacks and crushes a small Gothic force at Ariminum (modern Rimini).

title: 551

text: June 17 – The Italian city of Rimini and its surrounding area, ruled by the House of Malatesta, is conquered by troops of the Papal States and subsequently annexed.

title: 1528


slug: rio-de-janeiro

label: Rio de Janeiro

description: city of Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil

section: Exploration & Expansion

date: January 1

text: January 1 – Portuguese explorers, led by Gonçalo Coelho, sail into Guanabara Bay, Brazil, mistaking it for the mouth of a river, which they name Rio de Janeiro.

title: 1502

date: November 1

text: November 1 – French Navy Vice-Admiral Nicolas Durand de Villegaignon leads a small fleet of two ships and 200 soldiers and colonists to take possession of Serigipe Island, near modern-day Rio de Janeiro in Brazil at Guanabara Bay, and builds Fort Coligny.

title: 1555

date: March 1

text: March 1 – The city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, is founded as São Sebastião do Rio de Janeiro by Estácio de Sá.

title: 1565

date: February 20

text: February 20 – Estácio de Sá, Portuguese officer, founder of Rio de Janeiro (b. 1520)

title: 1567

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

date: January 27

text: January 27 – The seat of colonial administration in the Viceroyalty of Brazil is moved from Salvador to Rio de Janeiro.

title: 1763

section: Crime & Justice

date: April 21

text: April 21 – Tiradentes, a leading figure in the Inconfidência Mineira conspiracy, is executed in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

title: 1792

date: November 29

text: November 29 – Portuguese Queen Maria I and the Court embark at Lisbon, bound for Brazil. Rio de Janeiro becomes the Portuguese capital.

title: 1807

date: March 7

text: March 7 – Transfer of the Portuguese court to Brazil: The Portuguese royal court arrives in Rio de Janeiro, making it the centre of the Portuguese Empire.

title: 1808

section: Economy & Finance

date: October 12

text: October 12 – Banco do Brasil, a major financial group in South America, founded in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

title: 1808

text: Emperor Pedro II of Brazil is crowned in Rio de Janeiro.

title: 1841

section: Events › July–September

date: June 25

text: June 25 – Arturo Toscanini makes his conducting debut, with an Italian opera company visiting Rio de Janeiro.

title: 1886

section: Conflict & Security

date: July 15

text: July 15 – The Emperor of Brazil, Pedro II, survives an assassination attempt in Rio de Janeiro.

title: 1889

section: Events › July

text: August 21 – Clube de Regatas Vasco da Gama is founded in Rio de Janeiro.

title: 1898

section: Events › August

date: July 21

text: July 21 – Fluminense Football Club is founded in Rio de Janeiro.

title: 1902

date: November 22

text: November 22 – Revolt of the Lash at Rio de Janeiro: Mutineers in the Brazilian Navy, led by João Cândido, seize control of the new dreadnought battleship Minas Geraes and other ships, whose guns are aimed at the city as the crews demand improvements in their conditions (which are conceded on November 26 by the Brazilian government).

title: 1910

section: Disasters & Accidents

date: December 3

text: December 3 – In Rio de Janeiro, a seaplane sent to greet Alberto Santos-Dumont crashes, killing all on board. The pilot had tried to avoid another plane which came too close.

title: 1928

section: Events › December

date: June 16

text: June 16 – Maracanã Stadium, which becomes a well-known sports venue of Brazil, opens in Rio de Janeiro, in advance of the opening of the 1950 FIFA World Cup in the country on June 24.

title: 1950

text: April 21 – In Brazil, the country's capital (Federal District) is relocated from the city of Rio de Janeiro to the new city, Brasília, in the highlands. The former Federal District, in which the city of Rio de Janeiro was situated, becomes the State of Guanabara.

title: 1960

section: Events › April

section: Technology & Infrastructure

date: April 26

text: April 26 – Rede Globo is founded in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

title: 1965

section: Events › March–April

date: June 26

text: June 26 – The "March of the One Hundred Thousand" takes place in Rio de Janeiro as crowds demonstrate against the Brazilian military government.

title: 1968

section: Events › May–June

date: December 7

text: December 7 – Giovanni Enrico Bucher, the Swiss ambassador to Brazil, is kidnapped in Rio de Janeiro; kidnappers demand the release of 70 political prisoners.

title: 1970

date: November 20

text: November 20 – A bridge still under construction, called Elevado Engenheiro Freyssinet, falls over the Paulo de Frontin Avenue, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; 48 people are killed and several injured. Reconstructed, the bridge is a part of the Linha Vermelha elevate.

title: 1971

text: March 15 – In Brazil, Guanabara State merges into the state of Rio de Janeiro. The state's capital moves from the city of Niterói to the city of Rio de Janeiro.

title: 1975

section: Events › March

date: December 19

text: December 19 – The Jules Rimet Trophy is stolen from the Brazilian Soccer Confederation building in Rio de Janeiro. As of 2025, the trophy has not been recovered.

title: 1983

date: December 28

text: December 28 – Actress Daniella Perez is murdered in Rio de Janeiro, after being stabbed 18 times with scissors by actor Guilherme de Pádua and his then-wife Paula Thomaz. The crime shocked Brazil, due to both the victim and the murderer being romantic partners in the telenovela De Corpo e Alma, which aired on TV Globo.

title: 1992

section: Science & Discovery

date: June 3

text: June 3–14 – The Earth Summit is held in Rio de Janeiro.

title: 1992

section: Climate & Environment

date: June 8

text: June 8 – The first World Oceans Day is celebrated, coinciding with the Earth Summit held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

title: 1992

date: June 1

text: June 1 – Air France Flight 447, en route from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to Paris, crashes into the Atlantic Ocean, killing all 228 on board.

title: 2009

date: October 2

text: October 2 – The International Olympic Committee awards Rio de Janeiro the right to host the 2016 Summer Olympics.

title: 2009

section: Events › October

date: July 22

text: July 22–28 – XIV World Youth Day, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

title: 2013

date: September 2

text: September 2 – A fire breaks out in the National Museum of Brazil in Rio de Janeiro, destroying more than 90 percent of its archive of 20 million items.

title: 2018

section: Events › September

date: October 28

text: October 28 – Operation Containment: In Rio de Janeiro, more than 120 people are killed in raids targeting criminal organization Comando Vermelho during the deadliest police operation in Brazilian history.

title: 2025


slug: river-thames

label: River Thames

description: river in southern England

year_label: 400 BCE

section: Exploration & Expansion

text: London has its origins on a rise above marshy waters at the point where the Walbrook joins the River Thames. The Celtic king, Belin, rebuilds an earth wall surrounding a few dozen huts and orders a small landing place to be cut into the south side of the wall, along the river front, where a wooden quay is built (approximate date).

title: 400 BC

section: Events › By place

year_label: 50 CE

text: Romans build a wooden bridge across the Thames in the London area.

title: 50s

section: Events › 50 AD › Britain

section: Deaths

text: King Wulfhere of Mercia dies after a 17-year reign, in which he has extended his sway over much of England south of the Humber River, including Essex, Surrey, and part of Wessex north of the Thames. Wulfhere is succeeded by his brother Æthelred.

title: 675

section: Events › By place › Britain

text: King Oswine of Kent is toppled by Wihtred, brother of the late king Eadric of Kent, after a 2-year reign. He takes his lands north of the River Thames, in revenge against the East Saxons (approximate date).

title: 690

text: The Danes, led by Halfdan Ragnarsson and Bagsecg, invade Wessex and take the royal estate at Reading (Berkshire), which Halfdan makes his headquarters. A naval Viking contingent sails up the Thames River.

title: 870

text: The Danes sail down the River Thames, to raid the Mercian port of Lundenwic (in the London area). Here, over the winter, they divide their spoils.

title: 871

section: Events › By place › Europe

text: Viking leader Guthrum becomes 'king' of East Anglia. A Viking fleet sails up the River Thames, and builds a camp at Fulham (near London) to prepare for an invasion of France.

title: 879

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

text: Mercia and Northumbria rebel against King Eadwig and switch their allegiance to his brother Edgar. The English nobles (in support of the church) agree to divide the kingdom along the Thames River, with Eadwig keeping Wessex and Kent in the south and Edgar ruling in the north. Edgar's advisers recall Dunstan from Flanders (see 956).

title: 957

section: Events › By place › England

date: August 11

text: August 11: Following a raid by Olaf Tryggvason at the mouth of the River Thames, ealdorman Byrhtnoth is killed in the Battle of Maldon in Essex, which is commemorated in the Old English poem The Battle of Maldon. Æthelred the Unready is forced to pay a tribute of 22,000 pounds of silver for Tryggvason to withdraw his troops; this is the first in a series of Danegelds.

title: 991

section: Events

text: Summer – Godwin, Earl of Wessex, sails with a large fleet up the Thames to London, forcing King Edward the Confessor to reinstate him into his previous position of power.

title: 1052

date: December

text: December – Stephen lays siege to Oxford Castle, trapping Matilda and her supporters inside the city. Just before Christmas she manages to escape across the snow and ice of the frozen Thames River – dressed in white (to get past Stephen's pickets), and safely reaches Abingdon. The next day Oxford Castle surrenders to Stephen, Matilda rides with an escort to Wallingford Castle, where she seeks refuge.

title: 1142

date: July 10

text: July 10 – The Great Fire: The most severe of several early fires of London burns most of the city to the ground; over 3,000 people die, many of them by drowning in the River Thames. According to a contemporary account: "An awful fire broke out on the Southwark side of London Bridge; while it was raging, a fire broke out at the other end also and so hemmed in the numerous crowds who had assembled to help the distressed. The sufferers, to avoid the flames, threw themselves over the bridge into boats and barges; but many of these sunk, the people crowding into them.".

title: 1212

section: Religion & Belief

date: June 15

text: June 15 – A large number of barons, led by Stephen Langton, archbishop of Canterbury, meet King John of England on an island in the Thames at Runnymede. They force John to sign Magna Carta, a document that grants liberties to the "free men" – the Barons, the church and the towns. He is subjected to the rule of law, by confirming the status of trial by jury, on June 19.

title: 1215

section: Events › By continent › Europe

text: Spring – King Henry III makes large alterations to the Tower of London including new curtain walls, an improved water-filled ditch, and a water gate, so that he can enter the castle directly from the Thames.

title: 1220

section: Events › By place › United Kingdom

date: February 21

text: February 21 – At Southwark, near London on the south bank of the River Thames, the land upon which the Globe Theatre will be built is leased by Nicholas Brend to a team of investors led by William Shakespeare, Thomas Pope, actors Cuthbert and Richard Burbage, and three others.

title: 1599

section: Events › January–March

text: December 19 – The Susan Constant sets out from the River Thames in England leading the Virginia Company's fleet for the foundation of Jamestown, Virginia.

title: 1606

section: Events › October–December

date: October 8

text: October 8 – First Anglo-Dutch War: Battle of the Kentish Knock – In a battle fought near the shoal called the Kentish Knock in the North Sea, about 30 km mi from the mouth of the River Thames, the Dutch are forced to withdraw.

title: 1652

text: December – The River Thames in England freezes, allowing a frost fair to be held.

title: 1683

date: January 15

text: January 15 (January 5 O.S.) – To demonstrate that the River Thames, frozen solid during the Great Frost that started in December, is safe to walk upon, "a Coach and six horses drove over the Thames for a wager" and within three days "whole streets of Booths are built on the Thames and thousands of people are continually walking thereon." Sir Richard Newdigate, 2nd Baronet, records the events in his diary.

title: 1684

section: Crime & Justice

date: May 23

text: May 23 – Scottish-born Captain William Kidd, having been imprisoned in Boston Gaol (Massachusetts) and Newgate Prison (London) and convicted by the High Court of Admiralty of piracy and the murder of one of his crew, is hanged at Execution Dock in Wapping (London). His body suffers gibbeting over the River Thames at Tilbury Point; ballads are already spreading the legend that he has left buried treasure in the Americas.

title: 1701

section: Events › April–June

date: June 18

text: June 18 – Captain John Perry fixes the Dagenham Breach of the River Thames in England.

title: 1719

date: March 2

text: March 2 – In London, a night watchman finds a severed head by the River Thames; it is later recognized to be that of the husband of Catherine Hayes. She and an accomplice are later executed.

title: 1726

date: November 29

text: November 29 – The first (wooden) Putney Bridge is completed, as the only fixed crossing of the River Thames between London Bridge and Kingston, England.

title: 1729

section: Culture & Society

date: March 26

text: March 26 – The first Henley Royal Regatta is held on the River Thames in England.

title: 1839

date: March 25

text: March 25 – Marc Isambard Brunel's Thames Tunnel, the first tunnel under the River Thames and the world's first bored underwater tunnel, is opened in London for pedestrians.

title: 1843

date: May 19

text: May 19 – HMS Erebus and HMS Terror, with 134 men, comprising Sir John Franklin's expedition to find the Northwest Passage, sail from Greenhithe on the Thames. They will last be seen in the summer, entering Baffin Bay.

title: 1845

date: August 27

text: August 27 – The University of Oxford wins the first international boat race held on the River Thames, against Harvard University.

title: 1869

date: August 2

text: August 2 – The Tower Subway beneath the River Thames in London, the world's first underground passenger "tube" railway, officially opens. Although this lasts as a railway operation only until November, it demonstrates the technologically successful first use of the cylindrical wrought iron tunnelling shield, devised by Peter W. Barlow and James Henry Greathead, and of a permanent tunnel lining of cast iron segments.

title: 1870

date: September 3

text: September 3 – Over 640 die when the crowded pleasure boat collides with the Bywell Castle in the River Thames.

title: 1878

date: March 20

text: March 20 – For the first and last time in its history, the annual side-by-side rowing race between the 8-member teams of University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge on the River Thames is postponed. The call comes because of a thick fog that makes visibility impossible. Two days later, Oxford wins the race by 3+3⁄4 lengths.

title: 1880

date: May 22

text: May 22 – The Blackwall Tunnel, at this time the longest underwater road tunnel in the world, is opened for traffic beneath the River Thames in the East End of London by the Prince of Wales.

title: 1897

section: Events › May

text: September 2 – John Voss sails the rigged dugout canoe Tilikum into the River Thames in England after a 3-year voyage from Victoria, British Columbia, westabout.

title: 1904

date: August 20

text: August 20 – Marchioness disaster: Fifty-one people die when a pleasure boat collides with a dredger on the River Thames adjacent to Southwark Bridge in London.

title: 1989


slug: river-tyne

label: River Tyne

description: river in North East England

section: Exploration & Expansion

text: Emperor Hadrian fixes the border between Roman Britain and Caledonia, on a line running from the River Tyne to the Solway Firth.

title: AD 121

section: Events › By place › Roman Empire

section: Conflict & Security

text: Autumn – The Great Heathen Army splits into two bands; Halfdan returns with his forces to Northumbria, along with his brother Ubba, where he establishes a new base on the River Tyne.

title: 874

date: January

text: January – After attacking four Norwegian merchant ships lying in the River Tyne, Robert de Mowbray, earl of Northumberland, is called for by King William II of England to explain his actions. Instead, Mowbray rises up in rebellion against William along with other Norman nobles. William leads an army and besieges Bamburgh Castle; de Mowbray is captured after fleeing the stronghold.

title: 1095

section: Technology & Infrastructure

date: November 16

text: November 16 – During the night the River Tyne in the north of England floods, destroying many bridges and killing several people; the replacement main bridge at Newcastle upon Tyne will not be completed until 1781.

title: 1771

date: January 30

text: January 30 – The first boat specialized as a rescue lifeboat is tested on the River Tyne in England.

title: 1790

section: Science & Discovery

date: September 20

text: September 20 – The RMS Mauretania is launched on the River Tyne, becoming the world's largest ship.

title: 1906

section: Events › September–October

date: April 17

text: April 17 – The first Minas Geraes-class battleship is laid down for Brazil, by Armstrong Whitworth on the River Tyne, in England, triggering the South American dreadnought race.

title: 1907

section: Events › April

date: September 10

text: September 10 – The first Minas Geraes-class Dreadnought battleship for Brazil, Minas Geraes, is launched at Armstrong Whitworth's yard on the River Tyne in England, catalysing the "South American dreadnought race".

title: 1908

section: Events › September


slug: robert-curthose

label: Robert Curthose

description: Duke of Normandy

section: Births

text: Approximate date – Robert Curthose, duke of Normandy (d. 1134)

title: 1051

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

text: Duke William I (the Bastard) claims the province of Maine and betroths his son Robert to Margaret, daughter of late Count Herbert II.

title: 1063

section: Events › By place › Europe

text: Robert Curthose instigates his first insurrection against his father, King William the Conqueror in the Normandy.

title: 1077

section: Events › By place › England

text: Autumn – Robert Curthose, a son of William I, is sent to invade Scotland. He reaches as far as Falkirk and forces King Malcolm III to agree to terms while building fortifications at Newcastle upon Tyne.

title: 1080

section: Events › By place › Britain

date: November 3

text: November 3 – King William Rufus of England tries to take advantage of the unrest in Normandy and take it from his brother Robert Curthose. Though he wins over several Norman nobles to his side, his plot to capture the capital city of Rouen fails.

title: 1090

date: February 2

text: February 2 – King William II of England invades western Normandy with a large army. His brothers, Henry and Robert Curthose, mobilize mercenary forces to resist him during a siege at Mont-Saint-Michel. Under terms of the Treaty of Caen, estates on the Cotentin Peninsula of Normandy are surrendered to William, matters being concluded in August.

title: 1091

section: Events › By place › Britain and France

date: October

text: October – Robert Curthose, duke of Normandy (a brother of King William II of England), sets off to join the First Crusade. He assembles his army at Pontarlier and travels through Italy to Rome. To raise money for the Crusade Robert mortgages the Norman duchy to William, for the sum of 10,000 pennies.

title: 1096

section: Events › By place › First Crusade

section: Religion & Belief

date: January 16

text: January 16 – The Crusaders, under Raymond IV, count of Toulouse (Raymond of Saint-Gilles), leave Antioch, and head south towards Jerusalem. They are joined by forces of Tancred (a nephew of Bohemond I) and Robert II, duke of Normandy. Raymond is given free passage and supplies, and accepts guides from the Emir of Shaizar (modern Syria), who conducts the army (6,000 men) across the Orontes River (between Shaizar and Hama).

title: 1099

date: February 3

text: February 3 – Ranulf Flambard, bishop of Durham, escapes from the Tower of London and flees to Normandy. There he joins Robert Curthose, duke of Normandy, who has just returned from the Crusades.

title: 1101

text: Summer – King Henry I invades Normandy, takes Bayeux (after a short siege) and Caen. He advances on Falaise, and starts inconclusive peace negotiations with Duke Robert II. Henry withdraws to deal with political issues at home.

title: 1105

date: September 28

text: September 28 – Battle of Tinchebray: King Henry I defeats and imprisons his older brother Robert II, duke of Normandy, in Devizes Castle. Edgar Atheling (uncle of Henry's wife) and the 3-year-old William Clito, son of Robert, are also taken prisoner. Henry places his nephew William in the custody of Helias of Saint-Saens, count of Arques.

title: 1106

date: March 2

text: March 2 – Charles the Good, count of Flanders, is murdered by a band of knights while praying in church; he leaves no children. King Louis VI of France appoints William Clito (son of Robert Curthose) as new ruler. But the Flemish towns of Bruges, Ghent, Saint-Omer and Ypres recognize (with English financial support) Thierry of Alsace as rival count.

title: 1127


slug: robert-guiscard

label: Robert Guiscard

description: Duke of Apulia and Calabria

text: Robert Guiscard, Norman nobleman (d. 1085)

title: 1015

date: August 23

text: August 23 – Robert Guiscard, count of Apulia and Calabria, signs the Treaty of Melfi with Pope Nicholas II. Nicholas recognises the Norman conquest of southern Italy, and accepts the titles of Guiscard as duke of Sicily.

title: 1059

text: Summer – Norman forces under Duke Robert Guiscard invade Apulia, and capture the cities of Taranto and Brindisi (under control of the Byzantine Empire). Guiscard prepares a Sicilian expedition against the Saracens and returns to Calabria (Southern Italy), where his brother Roger Bosso waits with siege engines.

title: 1060

text: Summer – Norman forces led by Duke Robert Guiscard and his brother Roger I invade Sicily. They land unseen during the night and surprise the Saracen army. Guiscard conquers Messina and marches into central Sicily.

title: 1061

text: Norman forces under Robert Guiscard and his brother Roger I invade Sicily. Muslim ruler Ayyub ibn Tamim's forces oppose them. The Normans and the Muslim army meet at the Battle of Misilmeri. The Norman forces defeat the Muslim army. Ayyub ibn Tamim flees from Sicily. The Norman conquest of the island continues to expand.

title: 1068

text: Norman conquest of southern Italy: Norman forces under Robert Guiscard (duke of Apulia and Calabria) lay siege to the Byzantine city of Bari.

title: 1068

text: Spring – Romanos IV sends a Byzantine fleet (supported with an army) to relieve the siege of Bari. The Normans under Robert Guiscard defeat the Byzantines, and occupy the cities of Gravina and Obbiano in Apulia.

title: 1069

date: April 15

text: April 15 – Siege of Bari: The capital of Bari, the last Byzantine-controlled city in the Catepanate of Italy, is captured by Italo-Norman forces under Duke Robert Guiscard after a 32-month siege.

title: 1071

date: January 10

text: January 10 – The Normans under Robert Guiscard and his brother Roger I ("Boso") conquer Palermo (after a one year siege). Roger receives the keys of the city, and Robert invests him with the title of Count of Sicily. The Emirate of Sicily rules only the southern part of the island, with Syracuse as the capital (until 1091).

title: 1072

text: Pope Gregory VII temporarily excommunicates the Norman nobleman Robert Guiscard.

title: 1074

section: Events › By topic › Religion

date: December 13

text: December 13 – Norman conquest of southern Italy: Italo-Norman forces under Robert Guiscard de Hauteville and Richard I of Capua, conquer the fortress city of Salerno after a short siege.

title: 1076

date: May

text: May – A Norman fleet of 150 ships (including 60 horse transports), led by Duke Robert Guiscard, sets off towards the Dalmatian coast. An army of 15,000 men (including about 1,300 Norman knights) sails to the city of Avalona (modern Albania); they are joined by several ships from Ragusa, a republic in the Balkans who are enemies of the Byzantines.

title: 1081

section: Events › By place › Byzantine Empire

text: Spring – The Normans under Duke Robert Guiscard take Dyrrhachium (modern-day Durrës) in Illyria and advance inland, capturing most of Macedonia and Thessaly. Robert is forced to leave Greece to deal with an uprising in Italy. He leaves his son Bohemond in charge of the army, who lays siege to the city of Larissa. Emperor Alexios I Komnenos mobilizes a new army, and with the support of 7,000 Seljuk Turks he clears Thessaly from the Normans.

title: 1082

text: October – While Robert Guiscard is in Italy, emperor Alexios I Komnenos retakes territory previously lost to the Normans, including the town of Kastoria. Several Normans, including Peter Aliphas, switch sides to the Byzantines.

title: 1083

text: May – Sack of Rome: Duke Robert Guiscard leads a Norman army (36,000 men) north and enters Rome; the city is sacked, and Henry IV is forced to retreat.

title: 1084

section: Deaths

date: July 17

text: July 17 – Robert Guiscard, Norman warrior and nobleman

title: 1085

date: February

text: February – Norman conquest of Sicily: The Normans conquer Noto and complete the 30-year-long conquest of Sicily from the Moorish rulers. Duke Roger Borsa (a son of Robert Guiscard) surrenders his share in the castles of Calabria, and receives his inheritance of Palermo. He grants charters to various towns and encourages urban planning in Apulia and Calabria.

title: 1091

text: October – Bohemond I, Italo-Norman prince of Taranto (the son of Duke Robert Guiscard), departs to join the First Crusade. He crosses the Adriatic Sea from Brindisi with his army (some 4,000 men), and arrives in Vorë. While traveling, Bohemond gives strict orders not to plunder Byzantine villages.

title: 1096

text: Spring – The Crusaders under Godfrey of Bouillon attack the Byzantine imperial palace at Blachernae. Norman forces led by Bohemond I join the Crusaders – he is not welcome in Constantinople because his father, Robert Guiscard, has invaded Illyria (territory belonging to the Byzantine Empire), and captured the cities of Dyrrhachium and Corfu (see 1084).

title: 1097


slug: robert-ii-of-france

label: Robert II of France

description: king of the Franks from 996 to 1031

date: March 27

text: March 27 – Robert II (the Pious), king of France (d. 1031)

title: 972

section: Culture & Society

date: December

text: December – The 15-year-old Robert (the son of Hugh Capet) is crowned co-ruler of France around Christmas at Orléans.

title: 987

date: April 1

text: April 1 – 16-year old Robert II of France ("Robert the Pious") is married to the much older Rozala (the widow of Arnulf II). The marriage is arranged by Robert's father, King Hugh Capet, to secure the loyalty of the County of Flanders.

title: 988

date: October 24

text: October 24 – King Hugh I Capet dies in Paris after a 9-year reign and is interred in the Basilica of St. Denis. He is succeeded by his 24-year-old son Robert II (the Pious) as king of France. Robert tries (during his reign) to increase his power, by pressing his claim of feudal lands that become vacant. This results in many territorial disputes.

title: 996

text: Winter – King Robert II (the Pious) is excommunicated by Gregory V. For reasons of consanguinity, his second marriage to Bertha of Burgundy is not accepted by the Catholic Church.

title: 998

text: In the Kingdom of France, Robert II, the son of Hugh Capet, was the first King of the Capetian royal dynasty.

title: AD 1000

section: Events › Christendom

text: Robert II, King of France, marries for the third time, with Constance Taillefer d'Arles.

title: 1001

date: October 15

text: October 15 – Henry I, duke of Burgundy, dies and is succeeded by his stepson, Otto-William. He inherits the duchy; this is disputed by King Robert II of France ("the Pious").

title: 1002

section: Conflict & Security

text: King Robert II (the Pious) invades Burgundy, but fails. After this fiasco Robert repudiates his second wife, Bertha of Burgundy, and marries Constance of Arles who becomes queen consort of France.

title: 1003

text: The French city of Saint-Germain-en-Laye is founded by King Robert II (the Pious).

title: 1020

section: Events

text: After the Council of Orléans, King Robert II of France burns thirteen heretics at Orléans. These are the first burning victims for heresy.

title: 1022

date: August 11

text: August 11 – King Robert II of France and Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor have a neutral site meeting at Ivois (now Carignan in France's département of Ardennes), and pledge to convene an assembly at Pavia to reform the clergy.

title: 1023

section: Events › July–September

date: September

text: September – At the urging of Queen Constance of Arles, the three sons of King Robert II of France ("the Pious") revolt against their father – Hugh Magnus (heir and co-king), Henry I and Robert I, Duke of Burgundy start a civil war over power.

title: 1025

date: May 14

text: May 14 – King Robert II of France ("the Pious") sues for peace with his sons. Henry I is crowned co-king of France at Reims Cathedral, but has little power to rule (until 1031).

title: 1027

section: Events › By Place › Europe

text: Henry I revolts against his father, King Robert II (the Pious), in a civil war over power and property. Robert's army is defeated, and he retreats to Beaugency.

title: 1030

date: July 20

text: July 20 – King Robert II (the Pious) dies at Melun, after a 35-year reign. He is succeeded by his 23-year-old son, Henry I, who becomes the sole ruler of France. Henry's mother, Queen dowager Constance of Arles, prefers her third son, Robert, as heir to the throne and, with the help of Count Odo II, begins a war against Henry.

title: 1031

text: July 20 – Robert II (the Pious), king of France (b. 972)

title: 1031


slug: robert-ii-of-scotland

label: Robert II of Scotland

description: King of Scots from 1371 to his death as the first monarch of the House of Stewart

section: Births

date: March 2

text: March 2 – Robert II, king of Scotland (House of Stuart) (d. 1390)

title: 1316

date: December 3

text: December 3 – The Parliament of Scotland meets at Scone and votes to designate Robert Stewart, grandson of King Robert the Bruce as the heir presumptive. Robert Stewart is the son of Robert the Bruce's late daughter Marjorie Bruce and of Walter Stewart. On the birth of David as Robert the Bruce's son in 1324, Robert Stewart will become second in line for the throne, eventually becoming King Robert II in 1371.

title: 1318

section: Events › October – December

date: July 15

text: July 15 – The Scottish Parliament meets at Cambuskenneth and votes to restore 10-year-old Robert Stewart, grandson of Robert the Bruce, to the line of succession to the throne of Scotland. Robert is granted lands in Argyll, Roxburghshire and the Lothians, and will eventually become King of Scotland in 1371.

title: 1326

section: Events › July – September

date: February 22

text: February 22 – Robert II becomes the first Stuart king of Scotland, after the death of his uncle, King David II, prompting a rebellion by the Earl of Douglas.

title: 1371

section: Events › January–March

date: April 8

text: April 8 – King Robert II of Scotland issues a Royal Charter granting royal burgh status to the town of Irvine, North Ayrshire, a status that lasts for 603 years until royal burghs are abolished in 1975.

title: 1372

section: Events › April–June

date: July 8

text: July 8 – English invasion of Scotland (1385): King Robert II of Scotland sends two armies of Scottish soldiers and French mercenaries south from Edinburgh and raids the English county of Northumberland.

title: 1385

date: April 19

text: April 19 – Robert III succeeds his father, Robert II, as King of Scotland.

title: 1390

text: April 19 – King Robert II of Scotland (b. 1316)

title: 1390

text: c. July 20 – Alexander Stewart, Earl of Buchan, the "Wolf of Badenoch", fourth son of King Robert II of Scotland (b. 1343)

title: 1405