slug: plato

label: Plato

description: 4th-century BCE Greek philosopher

year_label: 427 BCE

section: Births

text: Plato, Greek philosopher (d. c. 347 BC)

title: 427 BC

year_label: 416 BCE

section: Culture & Society

text: According to Plato's Symposium, the tragedian Agathon wins first prize at the Lenaia.

title: 416 BC

section: Events › By topic › Drama

year_label: 396 BCE

text: Plato publishes his Apologia, which is a defence of his mentor Socrates. (Approximate date.)

title: 396 BC

section: Events › By topic › Literature

year_label: 388 BCE

section: Exploration & Expansion

text: Plato, having left Athens on Socrates' death to visit Megara and possibly Egypt, travels to Syracuse at the invitation of Dionysius I's brother-in-law Dion.

title: 388 BC

section: Events › By topic › Art

year_label: 387 BCE

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

text: Plato is forced by Dionysius to leave Syracuse after having exercised the right of free speech too broadly. Plato returns to Athens, outside which he founds a school.

title: 387 BC

section: Events › By place › Sicily and Adriatic

text: Plato founds the Platonic Academy in Athens, where he teaches Aristotle until 347 BC.

title: 387 BC

section: Events › By place › Greece

year_label: 385 BCE

section: Science & Discovery

text: Plato forms his Academy, teaching mathematics, astronomy and other sciences as well as philosophy. It is dedicated to the Attic hero Academus. Philanthropists bear all costs; students pay no fees.

title: 385 BC

section: Events › By topic › Education

year_label: 368 BCE

text: Plato's Republic is completed. It lays down the rules for an ideal, righteous society and suggests that kings ought to be philosophers (or at least taught by philosophers).

title: 368 BC

section: Events › By topic › Philosophy

year_label: 367 BCE

text: The Greek philosopher and scientist, Aristotle, goes to Athens as a pupil at Plato's Academy.

title: 367 BC

text: Dionysius I of Syracuse dies and is succeeded as tyrant of the city by his son Dionysius II. As the younger Dionysius is weak and inexperienced, Dion, brother-in-law of the elder Dionysius, assumes control and persuades Plato, whose friendship he has acquired, to train the new tyrant in the practical application of his philosophical principles.

title: 367 BC

section: Events › By place › Sicily

year_label: 361 BCE

section: Conflict & Security

text: Plato returns once more to Syracuse to teach the young Syracusan tyrant Dionysius II. He fails to reconcile the tyrant to Dion, who Dionysius II banished in 366 BC. Because of this, Plato is forced to flee Syracuse to save his life.

title: 361 BC

year_label: 360 BCE

text: Plato writes the dialogues Timaeus and Critias, first mentioning Atlantis.

title: 360 BC

year_label: 350 BCE

text: Plato proposes a geocentric model of the universe with the stars rotating on a fixed celestial sphere.

title: 350 BC

section: Events › By topic › Science

year_label: 348 BCE

text: Plato, Greek philosopher and author

title: 348 BC

year_label: 347 BCE

text: Plato, Greek philosopher and founder of the Academy in Athens (b. c. 427 BC)

title: 347 BC

text: Plato dies and his nephew Speusippus is named as head of the Academy.

title: 347 BC

year_label: 339 BCE

text: Speusippus, head of Plato's Academy (b. 407 BC)

title: 339 BC

year_label: 314 BCE

text: Xenocrates, Greek philosopher, pupil of Plato and head of the Greek Academy (b. 396 BC)

title: 314 BC

section: Religion & Belief

text: Calcidius translates Plato into Latin.

title: 321

section: Events › By topic › Art and Science

text: The Academy, originally founded at Athens by Plato around 387 BC, closes down by order of Justinian I, on charges of un-Christian activity. Many of the school's professors emigrate to Persia and Syria.

title: 529

text: Marsilio Ficino completes his translation of the collected works of Plato, writes Commentary on Plato's Symposium on Love, and starts to work on Platonic Theology.

title: 1469

section: Events › Date unknown


slug: pliny-the-younger

label: Pliny the Younger

description: Roman lawyer, author and magistrate (61 – c.113)

year_label: 61 CE

section: Births

text: Pliny the Younger, Roman author and statesman (d. c. 113)

title: AD 61

year_label: 81 CE

text: Pliny the Younger is flamen Divi Augusti (priest in the cult of the Emperor).

title: AD 81

section: Events › By place › Roman Empire

year_label: 84 CE

text: Pliny the Younger is sevir equitum Romanorum (commander of a cavalry squadron).

title: AD 84

year_label: 91 CE

text: Pliny the Younger is named a tribunus plebis.

title: AD 91

year_label: 93 CE

section: Culture & Society

text: Pliny the Younger is named a praetor.

title: AD 93

text: Pliny the Younger advances to consulship, giving his panegyric on Trajan in the process.

title: AD 100

text: Pliny the Younger becomes a member of the college of Augurs (103–104).

title: AD 103

text: Pliny the Younger continues as a member of the College of Augurs (103–104).

title: AD 104

text: Pliny the Younger is legate to Bithynia.

title: AD 109

text: Emperor Trajan sends Pliny the Younger to be governor (legatus Augusti) of Bithynia.

title: AD 111

section: Deaths

text: Pliny the Younger, Roman lawyer and scientist (b. AD 61)

title: AD 113


slug: plovdiv

label: Plovdiv

description: city in Plovdiv municipality, Plovdiv oblast, Bulgaria

text: Cniva lays siege to Philippopolis (modern Plovdiv). After a long resistance, Cniva conquers the city and slays its one hundred thousand inhabitants.

title: 250

text: The Council of Philippopolis is held as the result of Eastern bishops leaving the Council of Sardica. In Philippopolis (Bulgaria), they excommunicate Pope Julius, and as a result, the Arian controversy is perpetuated.

title: 347

section: Events › By topic › Religion

text: Emperor John I delegates the war in the Balkans to his brother-in-law, the Domestic of the Schools Bardas Skleros, and to the eunuch general Peter Phokas, who begin to gather a Byzantine army in Thrace. At the news of this, a powerful Kievan expeditionary force (30,000 men), along with many Bulgarians and a Pecheneg contingent, is sent south over the Balkan Mountains. After sacking the Bulgarian stronghold of Philippolis (modern-day Plovdiv), they bypass the heavily defended city of Adrianople, and turn towards Constantinople.

title: 970

section: Events › By place › Byzantine Empire

date: July 12

text: July 12 – The People's Crusade led by Peter the Hermit reaches Sofia, where they meet envoys from Constantinople with orders to keep them supplied along the road. At Philippopolis the Greeks are so deeply moved by the suffering of Peter and his followers that the locals give them money, food and horses.

title: 1096

section: Events › By place › First Crusade

date: June 30

text: June 30 – Battle of Philippopolis: Bulgarian forces under Emperor (tsar) Boril are defeated by the Latin army (some 30,000 men) led by Emperor Henry of Flanders, near modern-day Plovdiv, Bulgaria.

title: 1208

section: Events › By place › Europe

section: Exploration & Expansion

text: The Ottomans capture Philippopolis (or in 1364, 1371) and Adrianopole (the modern-day city of Edirne, or in 1369) from the Byzantine Empire, reducing its territory to the city of Constantinople, part of the Peloponessus, and some islands.

title: 1362

text: Ottoman Turks seize Filibe (Philippopolis) in Thrace in the Byzantine–Ottoman wars.

title: 1363

section: Crime & Justice

date: April 26

text: April 26 – At Philippopolis in the Ottoman Empire

title: 1432

section: Events › April–June

date: September 18

text: September 18 – The union of Eastern Rumelia with Bulgaria is proclaimed at Plovdiv.

title: 1885

section: Events › September

section: Climate & Environment

date: April 14

text: April 14 – An earthquake occurs in Chirpan, Bulgaria, followed four days later by another in Plovdiv. Between them, they destroy more than 21,000 buildings, and kill almost 130 people.

title: 1928

section: Events › April


slug: pluto

label: Pluto

description: dwarf planet in the Solar System

year_label: 561 BCE

section: Science & Discovery

text: All eight solar system planets, including the now redefined dwarf planet Pluto, fall into planetary alignment.

title: 561 BC

section: Events

date: April 30

text: April 30 – Pluto moves inside Neptune's orbit until July 23, 1503, according to modern orbital calculations. At the time, neither planet has been discovered by Earth astronomers. The event of Pluto being closer to the Sun than Neptune will happen again during the period lasting from 1979 to 1999.

title: 1483

date: July 23

text: July 23 – Orbital calculations suggest that on this day Pluto moves outside Neptune's orbit, remaining there for 233 years.

title: 1503

section: Events › July–September

date: July 20

text: July 20 – Pluto reaches its second most recent aphelion, according to sophisticated mathematical calculations. The next one occurs in 1866, and the following one will occur in 2113.

title: 1618

date: June 5

text: June 5 – Calculations indicate Pluto (not known at this time) reaches its only aphelion (furthest point from the Sun) between 1618 and August 2113.

title: 1866

section: Events › June

date: March 19

text: March 19 – Pluto is photographed for the first time, but is not recognised for what it is.

title: 1915

section: Events › March

date: February 18

text: February 18 – While studying photographs taken in January, Clyde Tombaugh confirms the existence of Pluto, a celestial body considered a planet until redefined as a dwarf planet in 2006.

title: 1930

section: Events › February

date: June 22

text: June 22 – Charon, a satellite of Pluto, is discovered.

title: 1978

date: February 7

text: February 7 – Pluto moves inside Neptune's orbit for the first time since either was known to science.

title: 1979

date: February 11

text: February 11 – Pluto moves along its eccentric orbit further from the Sun than Neptune. It had been nearer than Neptune since 1979, and will become again in 2231.

title: 1999

date: August 24

text: August 24 – The International Astronomical Union defines 'planet' at its 26th General Assembly, removing Pluto's status as a planet and reclassifying it as a dwarf planet 76 years after its discovery. Ironically, this was in the same year when NASA sent its first probe to the celestial body.

title: 2006

section: Events › August

date: January 19

text: January 19 – NASA launches the first interplanetary space probe to Pluto, the New Horizons.

title: 2006

section: Events › January

date: July 14

text: July 14 – NASA's New Horizons spacecraft performs a close flyby of Pluto, becoming the first spacecraft in history to visit the distant world.

title: 2015

section: Events › July


slug: plymouth-colony

label: Plymouth Colony

description: 17th century English possession in North America

date: December 21

text: December 21 – Plymouth Colony: William Bradford and the Mayflower Pilgrims land near what becomes known as Plymouth Rock, in Plymouth, Massachusetts.

title: 1620

section: Events › October–December

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

date: November 21

text: November 21 (November 11 OS) – The Mayflower arrives inside the tip of Cape Cod (named from the Concord voyage of 1602), at what becomes known as Provincetown Harbor, with the Pilgrims and Planters; 41 Plymouth Colony settlers sign the Mayflower Compact, the first governing document of the colony, on board the ship.

title: 1620

section: Technology & Infrastructure

date: November 3

text: November 3 – The Great Patent is granted to Plymouth Colony.

title: 1620

date: February 17

text: February 17 – Myles Standish is appointed as the first commander of Plymouth Colony.

title: 1621

section: Events › January–March

date: March 22

text: March 22 – The Pilgrims of Plymouth Colony sign a peace treaty with Massasoit of the Wampanoags.

title: 1621

date: November 11

text: November 11 – The ship Fortune arrives at Plymouth Colony, with 35 more settlers.

title: 1621

section: Culture & Society

date: October 9

text: October 9 (September 29 O.S.) – The Pilgrims of Plymouth Colony and Wampanoags celebrate a harvest feast (three days), later regarded as the First Thanksgiving, noted for the temporary peace between the English and the local Indians. The celebration is believed by later historians to have coincided with Michaelmas, observed on September 29 by the Anglican Communion on the calendar used in England at the time.

title: 1621

date: July 10

text: July 10 – The English ship Anne becomes the third vessel to bring settlers to Plymouth Colony, the Puritan settlement in modern-day Massachusetts, carrying more settlers, after the Mayflower on November 21, 1620, and the Fortune on November 9, 1621.

title: 1623

date: July 30

text: July 30 (probable date) – The second Thanksgiving is celebrated in Plymouth Colony.

title: 1623

section: Disasters & Accidents

date: November 1

text: November 1 – Fire at Plymouth Colony destroys several buildings.

title: 1623

date: September 26

text: September 26 – a group from the Plymouth Colony settles in Windsor, Connecticut, making it the first settlement in the state.

title: 1633

date: April 10

text: April 10 – Plymouth Colony grants the "tenn menn of Saugust" a new settlement on Cape Cod, later named Sandwich, Massachusetts.

title: 1637

date: September 8

text: September 8 – Thomas Granger is executed by hanging in the Plymouth Colony (Massachusetts) following confessions to numerous acts of bestiality.

title: 1642

date: May 19

text: May 19 – The New England Confederation is formed as a military alliance between Massachusetts Bay Colony, Plymouth Colony, Saybrook Colony (Connecticut), and New Haven Colony.

title: 1643

date: July 24

text: July 24 – Awashonks, the female sachem who leads the Sakonnet Indians in what is now the U.S. state of Rhode Island, signs a peace agreement with the English leaders of the neighboring Plymouth Colony (now part of Massachusetts), along with chiefs Totatomet, Tattacommett and Somagaonet.

title: 1671

date: June 14

text: June 14 – Colonial authorities of Rhode Island, Plymouth, and Massachusetts attempt a negotiation with Metacomet (King Philip), leader of the Wampanoags, and seek guarantees of fidelity from the Nipmuck and Narragansett tribes. The negotiations end after 11 days, closing on June 25.

title: 1675

date: June 26

text: June 26 – The Wampanoag warriors begin a three-day assault on English colonial towns in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in North America, with an assault on the villages of Rehoboth and Taunton. At the same time, Massachusetts troops march to Swansea, to join the Plymouth Colony troops. The warriors elude colonial troops and leave Mount Hope for Pocasset, Massachusetts. The Mohegan tribe travels to Boston, in order to assist the English colonists against the Wampanoags.

title: 1675

section: Conflict & Security

date: July 4

text: July 4 – Captain Benjamin Church and his soldiers begin sweeping Plymouth Colony, for any remaining Wampanoag tribesmen.

title: 1676

section: Deaths

date: January 24

text: January 24 – William Harris, one of the four English Puritans who established the Plymouth Colony and then the Providence Plantations at Rhode Island in 1636, is captured by Algerian pirates, when his ship is boarded while he is making a voyage back to England. After being sold into slavery on February 23, he remains a slave until ransom is paid. He dies in 1681, three days after his return to England.

title: 1680

date: October 17

text: October 17 (October 7 O.S.) – In New England, the two separate colonies of Massachusetts Bay Colony and Plymouth Colony are united into a single entity by an act of the King and Queen of England.

title: 1691


slug: plymouth

label: Plymouth

description: city in Devon, England

text: Danish Viking raiders enter the Thames Estuary, and plunder Canterbury and London. They land at Wembury near Plymouth, but are defeated by Anglo-Saxon forces led by King Ethelwulf of Wessex. His eldest son Æthelstan of Kent, accompanied by Ealdorman Ealhhere, attacks a Viking fleet off the coast at Sandwich, and captures nine of the enemy vessels while the remainder flees.

title: 851

section: Events › By place › Britain

text: Plymouth becomes the first town incorporated by Parliament.

title: 1439

date: October 2

text: October 2 – Spanish princess Catherine of Aragon arrives in England and arrives at Plymouth. Although she will later become the wife of King Henry VIII in 1509, she initially arrives to marry Henry's older brother, Arthur, Prince of Wales.

title: 1501

section: Exploration & Expansion

date: December 13

text: December 13 – Francis Drake leaves Plymouth, England, aboard the Pelican, with four other ships and 164 men, on an expedition against the Spanish, along the Pacific coast of the Americas, which will become his circumnavigation.

title: 1577

date: November 19

text: November 19 – Humphrey Gilbert and Walter Ralegh set out from Plymouth in England, leading an expedition to establish a colony in North America. They will be forced to turn back six months later.

title: 1578

text: September 26 – Francis Drake returns to Plymouth, England from his voyage of circumnavigation (westbound) on the Golden Hind, the second completed in a continuous voyage, and the first under its original commander.

title: 1580

date: July 31

text: July 31 – The first engagement between the English and Spanish fleets (off Plymouth) results in a victory for the English, under command of Lord Howard of Effingham and Sir Francis Drake.

title: 1588

date: September 9

text: September 9 – English captain Thomas Cavendish completes his circumnavigation in a record time of 781 days, returning to Plymouth more than two years after setting off on July 21, 1586. The previous record had been 1,018 days by the expedition of Sir Francis Drake from 1577 to 1580. By the time of his return, Cavendish has only his flagship, Desire, after having started with two other vessels (the warship Content and the 40-ton supply ship Hugh Gallant).

title: 1588

date: February 6

text: February 6 – Sir Walter Raleigh of England departs from Plymouth to begin an expedition to South America

title: 1595

text: Mayflower and Speedwell return again to England, anchoring at Plymouth; the latter ship is given up as a participant in the voyage and on September 12 (September 2 OS) departs for London, most of her passengers and stores having been transferred to the Mayflower.

title: 1620

date: September 16

text: September 16 (September 6 OS) – Mayflower departs from Plymouth in England on her third attempt to cross the Atlantic. The Pilgrims on board comprise 41 "saints" (English separatists largely from Holland), 40 "strangers" (largely secular planters from London), 23 servants and hired workers, together with c. 30 crew.

title: 1620

date: May 25

text: May 25 – The English ship Tryall, which left Plymouth, England for Batavia (now Jakarta), wrecks on the Tryal Rocks, nine months later (the wreck is discovered in 1969).

title: 1622

section: Events › April–June

text: November 1–7 – Cádiz Expedition: English forces commanded by Admiral George Villiers (which set out from Plymouth on October 8) are decisively defeated by the Spanish at Cádiz.

title: 1625

date: November 14

text: November 14 – The first Eddystone Lighthouse, built off Plymouth, England, is illuminated.

title: 1698

section: Climate & Environment

date: December 7

text: December 7–10 (November 26–29 O.S.) – The Great Storm of 1703, an extratropical cyclone, ravages southern England and the English Channel, killing at least 8,000, mostly at sea. The Eddystone Lighthouse off Plymouth is destroyed in the storm together with its designer Henry Winstanley and many buildings on land are damaged.

title: 1703

date: February 22

text: February 22 – A fleet of 158 British Royal Navy warships, under the command of Admiral Edward Boscawen, departs from Plymouth toward North America in an effort to conquer the French Canadian territories of New France. Many of the sailors die of nutritional deficiencies along the way, including the scurvy that kills 26 of the crew of HMS Pembroke, captained by future world explorer James Cook on his first long voyage.

title: 1758

section: Religion & Belief

text: The Plymouth Synagogue is built in Plymouth, England, the oldest built by Ashkenazi Jews in the English-speaking world.

title: 1762

section: Events › Date unknown

date: August 26

text: August 26 – James Cook departs from Plymouth aboard on his first voyage of discovery.

title: 1768

date: July 13

text: July 13 – The second voyage of James Cook departs from Plymouth on Captain Cook's new ship, HMS Resolution and the companion ship HMS Adventure in an attempt to prove the existence of an uncharted continent even further south than New Zealand.

title: 1772

date: July 12

text: July 12 – Captain James Cook sets off from Plymouth, England, in HMS Resolution on his third voyage, to the Pacific Ocean and Arctic, which will be fatal to him.

title: 1776

section: Events › July–August

date: August 17

text: August 17 – Action of 17 August 1779: The 64-gun British warship HMS Ardent is captured by France in the English Channel off of Plymouth after an ineffective attempt by the British captain to properly aim its cannons at the French frigate Junon.

title: 1779

date: December 27

text: December 27 – Charles Darwin embarks from Plymouth on the second voyage of HMS Beagle which will be the foundation for his life of scientific study.

title: 1831

date: January 16

text: January 16 – Devonport High School for Boys is founded in Plymouth (England).

title: 1896

date: October 7

text: October 7 – WWII: British Royal Navy cruiser departs Plymouth in convoy for Halifax, Nova Scotia, carrying £2M in gold bar to be used for purchase of military materiel in North America, a predecessor of Operation Fish.

title: 1939

section: Events › October


slug: po-river

label: Po River

year_label: 219 BCE

text: The Romans extend their area of domination around the head of the Adriatic Sea as far as the peninsula of Histria by the conquest of peoples who dwell to the east of the Veneti. Thus, with the exception of Liguria and the upper valley of the Po River, all Italy south of the Alps is brought within the Roman sphere.

title: 219 BC

section: Events › By place › Roman Republic

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: 72 BCE

text: Spartacus moves north again, to cross the Alps into Gaul and then to Thracia. Outside Mutina on the plain of the River Po he defeats the Roman forces under Gaius Cassius Longinus, governor of Gallia Cisalpina.

title: 72 BC

text: The Alamanni invade Italy north of the Po River.

title: 268

section: Events › By place › Roman Empire

text: Summer – King Theudebert I sends a small Frankish force across the Alps, and defeats the Goths and Byzantines at the River Po. Belisarius retreats to Tuscany.

title: 538

section: Events › By place › Byzantine Empire

text: Belisarius consolidates Italy and begins mopping-up operations, capturing the Gothic fortifications. The cities Ticinum and Verona north of River Po remain in Gothic hands.

title: 540

text: Siege of Pavia (569–572): King Alboin captures Ticinum (Pavia); after a siege the Byzantine garrison surrenders to the Lombards. The city is of strategic importance, lying at the rivers Po and Ticino, and becomes the capital of the Kingdom of the Lombards.

title: 572

section: Events › By place › Europe

text: King Liutprand takes advantage of the anti-imperial turmoil. He conquers Bologna and other cities beyond the Po River (Northern Italy). The Lombards take "Classis", the strategic seaport of Ravenna, and overrun the Pentapolis.

title: AD 727

text: Summer – Charles the Fat designates his illegitimate son Bernard as his heir, ignoring the claims of his nephew, Arnulf of Carinthia (illegitimate son of Carloman of Bavaria), and Charles the Simple (5-year-old son of King Louis the Stammerer). The Frankish bishops protest, so Charles summons Pope Adrian III to an assembly in Worms, to resolve the issue. Adrian leaves Rome in the hands of Bishop John of Pavia and heads to Germany, but dies on the way, just after crossing the River Po.

title: 885

text: Arnulf of Carinthia crosses the Po River and divides his army in two: one corps (Swabian) proceeds to Florence (via Bologna), while the other corps (Franks) moves through the Lunigiana to the precincts of Rome.

title: 895

date: November

text: November – Lambert II and Berengar I agree to sign a treaty at Pavia. Berengar receives the realm between the Adda and the Po, while the rest stays under the control of Lambert (including the March of Tuscany). They share Bergamo, and Lambert pledges to marry Gisela, Berengar's daughter.

title: 896

date: June 6

text: June 6 – The Battle on the Po takes place on the Po River in Italy near Cremona as the navy of the Duchy of Milan defeats a fleet of 85 galleys of the Republic of Venice. The Venetians lose over 2,500 men, as well as 28 of the galley warships and 42 transport ships.

title: 1431

date: May 9

text: May 9 – The Venetians, encamped around the town of Treviglio, move south towards the Po River in search of better positions.

title: 1509

date: May 6

text: May 6 – Napoleon Bonaparte forms an advanced guard (3,500 infantry and 1,500 cavalry) under General Claude Dallemagne. He sends this force along the south bank of the Po River, to cross it with boats at Piacenza.

title: 1796

date: November 20

text: November 20 – The Po River floods in northern Italy.

title: 1951

section: Events › November


slug: po-valley

label: Po Valley

description: plain in Northern Italy

year_label: 222 BCE

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

text: After taking Acerrae Gnaeus Cornelius Scipio Calvus marches on Mediolanum (modern Milan), another stronghold of the Insubres, which also falls into Roman hands, upon which the chieftains of the Insubres lose all hope and surrendered unconditionally. Thus the Romans succeeded in conquering the largest independent Celtic tribe in Italy and firmly established their hegemony over the Po Valley, then the most productive agricultural region in the peninsula.

title: 222 BC

year_label: 196 BCE

text: The Insubres, Gauls of the Po Valley, believed by the Romans to have been incited to revolt by Carthage, are finally defeated.

title: 196 BC

text: Third Servile War: Spartacus moves with his followers northward to the Po Valley. Roman forces under Lucius Gellius Publicola defeat a group of slaves (30,000 men) led by Crixus near Mount Gargano. He kills two-thirds of the rebels, including Crixus himself.

title: 72 BC

text: War of Radagaisus: King Radagaisus leads an invasion with a force of 20,000 men and crosses the Alps. He spends the winter in the Po Valley and is observed by Stilicho, who lacks sufficient strength to prepare an offensive against the invading German tribes. The exact numbers of the migration are unknown, probably nearly 100,000, including Alans, Burgundians, Goths, Vandals, and other smaller tribes.

title: 405

date: August 23

text: August 23 – Odoacer, age 43, is proclaimed rex Italiae ("king of Italy") by his troops. He leads his Ostrogoth army into the Po Valley, and advances to Ravenna while plundering the countryside.

title: 476

text: Winter – Siege of Verona: Totila defends the city of Verona against a numerically superior Byzantine army. He gains control over the Po Valley and prepares a Gothic offensive in Central Italy.

title: 541

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: Spring – The Lombards, led by King Alboin, cross the Julian Alps. Their invasion of Northern Italy is almost unopposed; withered Byzantine forces, that remain in the Po Valley and are based at Ravenna, are no match for the overwhelming Lombard incursion. Residents of the Italian countryside flee at the Lombards' approach. Some retreat to the barrier islands along the shore of the Northern Adriatic Sea, where they establish permanent settlements: the nascent city of Venice.

title: 568

text: The Franks and Burgundians under King Guntram invade Italy. They capture the cities Milan and Verona, but are forced to leave by a plague outbreak in the Po Valley.

title: 590

text: The Lombards under King Rothari conquer Genoa (Liguria), and all remaining Byzantine territories in the lower Po Valley, including Oderzo (Opitergium).

title: 641

text: Plato, exarch (imperial governor) of Ravenna, invades the southern Po Valley. The Lombards under King Rothari defeat him on the banks of the Panaro River (near Modena); 8,000 imperial troops are killed.

title: 645

text: Summer – Arnulf, Duke of Bavaria ("the Bad"), is elected as anti-king by the East-Frankish nobles in opposition to Henry I. Burchard II, duke of Swabia, submits to Henry's rule — allowing him to retain administrative control over his duchy. After an absence of nearly 15 years, the Magyars raid Bavaria and Northern Italy again, sacking the Po Valley (see Hungarian invasions of Europe).

title: 919

section: Events › By Place › Europe

text: Winter – The Hungarians invade Saxony and force King Henry I (the Fowler) to retreat into the Castle of Werla. He makes a pact and agrees to pay them tribute for 9 years. They return to the Po Valley and sack the cities of Bergamo, Brescia and Mantua (Northern Italy).

title: 924

section: Health & Medicine

text: Conrad II proceeds to Pesaro, but a malarian outbreak forces him to withdraw back up north to the Po Valley. He subdues the March of Turin, where Count Ulric Manfred II opposes the election of Conrad.

title: 1026

section: Events › Asia › Europe

date: November 13

text: November 13 – Flooding in the Po Valley of Italy leads to flooding also in Venice.

title: 1957


slug: poitiers

label: Poitiers

description: commune in Vienne, France

section: Conflict & Security

text: Battle of Vouillé: A Frankish army under command of Clovis I invades the Visigothic Kingdom, and defeats King Alaric II near Poitiers. The Visigoths refuse to be enslaved, and retreat to Septimania (Southern Gaul). Clovis annexes Aquitania, and captures Toulouse.

title: 507

text: Emperor Justin II and his wife Sophia send a relic of the "True Cross" to the Frankish princess Radegund, who has founded a monastery at Poitiers.

title: 569

text: The Franks under Sigibert I pursue his half brother Chilperic I, and conquer the cities Poitiers and Tournai. While he is proclaimed new king of Neustria by the nobles, Sigibert is assassinated at Vitry-en-Artois (Northern Gaul) by hirelings of Fredegund.

title: 575

text: Gundoald, illegitimate son of Clotaire I, arrives with the financial support of Constantinople in southern Gaul. He claims as usurper king the cities Poitiers and Toulouse, part of the Frankish Kingdom (approximate date).

title: 582

text: Venantius Fortunatus, Latin poet and hymnodist in the Merovingian court, is appointed bishop of Poitiers.

title: 599

section: Events › By topic › Religion

section: Deaths

date: February 1

text: February 1 – King Sigebert III of Austrasia, age 25, dies after a 22-year reign. His 5-year-old son Dagobert II is kidnapped by the court chancellor, Grimoald the Elder, who makes his own son king, and exiles him to an Irish monastery. Dagobert is placed with Bishop Dido of Poitiers, while Grimoald's son Childebert the Adopted assumes the Austrasian throne.

title: 656

text: Emperor Louis the Pious returns from a campaign in Brittany, and is captured by his son Pepin I, king of Aquitaine. He is put under house arrest at Compiegne, and his wife Judith is incarcerated at Poitiers.

title: 830

text: Salomon, duke ('king') of Brittany, leads a joint campaign against the Loire Vikings. He is forced to defend southeastern Brittany unaided, and mobilizes levies raised at Poitiers to defeat the Vikings.

title: 868

date: November 18

text: November 18 – The Council of Poitiers opens, but is soon forcibly closed by William IX, Duke of Aquitaine, as the bishops are about to excommunicate King Philip I of France once more.

title: 1100

date: August 1

text: August 1 – Louis VI dies of dysentery at Paris after a 29-year reign. He is succeeded by Louis Capet (known as Louis VII) as King of France. During his accession the burgesses of Orléans and Poitiers revolt – who wish to organise communes (creating independent city-states).

title: 1137

section: Births

text: August 17 – William IX, count of Poitiers (d. 1156)

title: 1153

date: December 2

text: December 2 – William IX, count of Poitiers (b. 1153)

title: 1156

section: Crime & Justice

date: March 27

text: March 27 – Patrick of Salisbury, Angevin governor of Poitou, is killed in an ambush at Poitiers by French forces under Guy of Lusignan. He is escorting Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine on a journey near the border of Aquitaine. Patrick's nephew, William Marshal, is part of the royal escort and is taken prisoner. Later he is ransomed and becomes a member of Eleanor's household.

title: 1168

text: Eleanor of Aquitaine leaves the English court of Henry II, to establish her own court in Poitiers. It will become known as a center of courtly love. Richard I accompanies his mother and is made heir to Aquitaine.

title: 1169

section: Events › By topic › Art and Science

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

date: November 11

text: November 11 – Alphonse II, count of Poitiers (d. 1271)

title: 1220

date: March 9

text: March 9 – Pope Clement V officially transfers the headquarters of the Roman Catholic Pontiff from Rome to the French city of Avignon, his residence and at this time part of the Kingdom of Arles, starting the Avignon Papacy. Since 1305, the papal court had been at Poitiers, and the move is justified by violence in Rome. The papal seat becomes part of the Holy Roman Empire, and its absence from Rome is referred to as the "Babylonian captivity of the Papacy".

title: 1309

section: Events › January – March

date: October 4

text: October 4 – The English capture and sack the French city of Poitiers.

title: 1346

section: Events


slug: poland

label: Poland

description: country in Central Europe

text: Siemomysł, duke of the Piast Dynasty (Poland)

title: 960

section: Religion & Belief

text: The Dagome iudex, a document which enumerates the possessions of Mieszko I, is written and entrusted to Pope John XV, who places the Polish territories under papal protection.

title: 991

section: Events › Unknown dates

date: March 5

text: March 5 – Kinga of Poland, high duchess of Poland (d. 1292)

title: 1224

section: Technology & Infrastructure

text: Elbląg is founded by the Teutonic Order under Grand Master Hermann von Balk. He constructs a fortified stronghold on the banks of the Elbląg River (modern Poland).

title: 1237

section: Events › By topic › Cities and Towns

date: April 9

text: April 9 – Battle of Legnica: The Mongols, under the command of Baidar, Kadan and Orda Khan, defeat the feudal Polish nobility, including the Knights Templar.

title: 1241

text: The Polish land of Lebus is incorporated into the German state of Brandenburg, marking the start of Brandenburg's expansion into previously Polish areas (Neumark).

title: 1252

text: Henry Probus (Henryk IV Probus or Prawy, "the Righteous"), High Duke of Poland (d. 1290)

title: 1258

date: January 6

text: January 6 – Archbishop Jakub Świnka organizes a synod in Łęczyca. During the meeting, he orders all priests who are subject to his bishopric to deliver their sermons in Polish rather than German. This further unifies the Catholic Church in Poland and fosters a national identity.

title: 1285

date: June 23

text: June 23 – Henryk IV Probus ("the Righteous"), High Duke of Poland (b. 1258)

title: 1290

date: June 26

text: June 26 – Przemysł II is crowned king of Poland at Gniezno, the first coronation of a Polish ruler in 219 years. Przemysł travels to Pomerelia where he confirms the privileges of the monasteries in Oliwa and Żarnowiec. He also visits other major cities: Gdańsk, Tczew and Świecie. In August, Przemysł returns to Greater Poland but in October he travels again to Gdańsk.

title: 1295

date: September 21

text: September 21 – Viola of Teschen, queen consort of Bohemia and Poland

title: 1317

date: January 20

text: January 20 – Duke Władysław I Łokietek ("Ladislaus the Short") becomes king of a reunited Poland, after receiving the approval from Pope John XXII. He is crowned, along with his wife Jadwiga of Kalisz, at the royal cathedral on Wawel Hill at Kraków. Wladysław's kingdom is surrounded by three hostile neighbors: Brandenburg, the Teutonic Order and Bohemia. Looking for allies, he makes an alliance with Charles I, ruler of Hungary.

title: 1320

text: Congress of Visegrád: The monarchs of Bohemia, Hungary, and Poland form an anti-Habsburg alliance.

title: 1335

section: Events › Date unknown

date: August 24

text: August 24 – The Black Death breaks out in Elbing (Poland).

title: 1349

section: Events › January–December

date: November 5

text: November 5 – Casimir III the Great, king of Poland, dies two months after being injured in an accident while hunting, and is succeeded jointly by his sister, Elizabeth of Kujavia, and her son, Louis I of Hungary, beginning the rule of the country by the Capet-Anjou family.

title: 1370

section: Events › October–December

text: Johannes Abezier (1375–1424), Roman Catholic religious and political leader of the Teutonic Knights, over Polish territory

title: 1375

date: October 16

text: October 16 – At the age of 10, Jadwiga is crowned "King" of Poland in Kraków following the 1382 death of her father, King Louis of Hungary.

title: 1384

date: August 4

text: August 4 – King Jogaila of Poland and Lithuania appoints his cousin Vytautas the Great as regent of Lithuania, in return for Vytautas giving up his claim to the Lithuanian throne. Vytautas replaces Jogaila's unpopular brother Skirgaila as regent.

title: 1392

section: Events › July–September

date: January 29

text: January 29 – King Jogaila of the Poland–Lithuania Union answers the rumblings against his rule of Poland, by marrying Anna of Celje, a granddaughter of Casimir III of Poland.

title: 1402

section: Events › January–March

date: July 26

text: July 26 – The Siege of Marienburg (now Malbork in Poland), capital of the State of the Teutonic Order of the Teutonic Knights, begins with an attack by Poland and Lithuania with an army of 26,000 men against less than 5,000 Teutons.

title: 1410

date: December 19

text: December 19 – In Poland, Casimir, Duke of Oświęcim takes full power as he reaches the age of 18.

title: 1414

date: May 13

text: May 13 – Bolko V the Hussite, Duke of Opole and ruler of most of Upper Silesia and much of Lower Silesia in Poland, is defeated by Nicholas V, Duke of Krnov at the Battle of Trzebnica.

title: 1433

section: Events › April–June

text: May 6 – Battle of Grotnik: Wladyslaw III's royal army defeats the Hussite rebels, led by Spytko III of Melsztyn, ending the non-Catholic movement in Poland.

title: 1439

date: December 24

text: December 24 – In Poland, Wenceslaus I, Duke of Siewierz sells the duchy of Siewierz to Zbigniew Oleśnicki, Bishop of Kraków, for 6,000 silver coins (Prague groschen), equivalent to at least 21 kg or 750 ounces of silver.

title: 1443

section: Climate & Environment

date: June 5

text: June 5 – The strongest earthquake on record in Poland kills at least 30 people and damages buildings in Kraków and Wrocław, and in Timișoara and Oradea in Romania.

title: 1443

section: Exploration & Expansion

date: September 23

text: September 23 – Peace talks begin in the city of Nieszawka in Poland to end the Thirteen Years' War between the Kingdom of Poland and the Teutonic Knights.

title: 1466

section: Science & Discovery

text: Almanach cracoviense ad annum 1474, an astronomical wall calendar, is published in Kraków, the oldest known printing in Poland.

title: 1473

date: April 26

text: April 26 – King Jan I Olbracht of Poland issues the Piotrków Privilege as a reward to members of nobility who financially supported his invasion of Moldavia. The Privilege prohibits the enslaved serfs from leaving their owners' land without permission, and bans city dwellers from buying land.

title: 1496

date: May 30

text: May 30 – Poland's Act of Nihil novi is granted by King Alexander I Jagiellon after being passed by the Sejm, making Poland a Nobles' Democracy rather than an absolute monarchy.

title: 1505

date: April 18

text: April 18 – The widowed Sigismund I the Old, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, marries Milanese noblewoman Bona Sforza in Wawel Cathedral and she is crowned as Queen consort of Poland.

title: 1518

text: May 30 – On the death of King Charles IX of France of a tubercular condition at the Château de Vincennes, he is succeeded by his brother King Henry of Poland, who becomes King Henry III of France. His mother, Catherine de' Medici, acts as Regent, until Henry arrives from Poland.

title: 1574

date: June 11

text: June 11 – Walk (modern-day Valka and Valga, towns in Latvia and Estonia respectively), receives city rights from Polish king Stefan Bathory.

title: 1584

date: August 19

text: August 19 – Polish and Lithuanian nobles elect Sigismund III Vasa, King of Sweden, as the ruler of the after the death in December of the previous King of Poland and Duke of Lithuania, Stephen Báthory.

title: 1587

text: King Sigismund III Vasa moves the capital of Poland from Kraków to Warsaw.

title: 1596

date: December 11

text: December 11 – King Sigismund III of Poland marries his former sister-in-law, Constance, daughter of Charles II, Archduke of Austria, after Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor refuses to permit the King to marry Anna of Tyrol. King Sigismund, a widow, had previously been married to Constance's older sister, Anne.

title: 1605

text: The margraves of Brandenburg are granted Polish approval to inherit the Duchy of Prussia, creating the state of Brandenburg-Prussia.

title: 1618

text: The last recorded aurochs die in the Jaktorów Forest of Poland.

title: 1627

text: May 12 – General Marcin Kalinowski of Poland wins the Battle of Kopychyntsi against Zaporozhian Cossacks forces under the command of Asand Demka during the Khmelnytsky Uprising in what is now Ukraine.

title: 1651

text: July 2 – The Siege of Toruń begins in Poland as troops of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and of Austria seek to recapture the city of Toruń from a garrison of the Swedish Army. Within six months, the Swedish occupiers surrender.

title: 1658

text: May 27 – William Morice takes office as the first Secretary of State for the Northern Department in Great Britain, with responsibility for conducting foreign relations with the Netherlands, Scandinavia, Poland, Russia, and the Holy Roman Empire. Relations with France, Spain, Portugal, Switzerland, the Italian states, and the Ottoman Empire are assigned to the Secretary of State for the Southern Department. The position will eventually evolve into the office of the Foreign Secretary.

title: 1660

text: July 13 – The Battle of Matwy, the bloodiest engagement of Lubomirski's rebellion, takes place in Poland at the village of Matwy. Jerzy Sebastian Lubomirski, who has led the revolt against Poland's King Jan II Kazimierz, defeats a larger number of troops led by John III Sobieski of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Poland and Lithuania sustain 4,000 deaths compared to 200 rebel casualties.

title: 1666

text: May 21 – The Holy Roman Empire, ruled by Leopold I, repurchases the territory of the Duchy of Opole and Racibórz (Oppeln und Ratibor), which it had ceded to Poland in 1645, for the sum of 120,000 guldens and consolidates it with Upper Silesia. The territory will be ceded from Germany to Poland in 1945 at the end of World War II.

title: 1666

text: November 11 – Battle of Khotyn: Polish and Lithuanian military units, under the command of soon-to-be-king Jan Sobieski, defeat the Turkish army. In this battle, which takes place one day after the death of Poland and Lithuania's monarch, Michał Korybut Wiśniowiecki, the rockets invented by Kazimierz Siemienowicz are successfully used.

title: 1673

text: September 12 – Battle of Vienna: The Ottoman siege of the city is broken with the arrival of a force of 70,000 Poles, Austrians and Germans under Polish–Lithuanian king Jan III Sobieski, whose cavalry turns their flank. The victory marks a turning point in the Ottoman Empire's fortunes and the end of the Turkish attempt to expand its control into Western Europe.

title: 1683

text: December 7 – In the aftermath of an attack against Jesuit Catholics led by the Lutheran mayor of the Prussian city of Thorn (modern-day Toruń, Poland), ten Lutheran officials (including mayor Johann Gottfried Rösner) are executed in the town square. Rösner and seven others are decapitated by an axe, while two others are hanged, drawn and quartered for blasphemy.

title: 1724

text: August 5 – Prince Frederick of Prussia, the eldest son of King Frederick William and a high-ranking officer, attempts to flee to England after deserting the Prussian Army and is captured along with his fellow officer Hans Hermann von Katte. Katte is executed, and Crown Prince Frederick is imprisoned at Küstrin (modern-day Kostrzyn nad Odrą in Poland) for a year before being forgiven by his father. Prince Frederick later succeeds his father as King and will be remembered as Frederick the Great.

title: 1730

text: August 15 – King Frederick William I of Prussia forgives his 19-year-old son, Prince Frederick, who has been confined since November to the town of Küstrin (now Kostrzyn nad Odrą in Poland) for his 1730 attempt to desert from the Prussian Army. Nine years later, having been politically rehabilitated, Prince Frederick succeeds his father as King and is later remembered as "Frederick the Great".

title: 1731

text: November 18 – The Treaty of Vienna is ratified, ending the War of the Polish Succession. Under the terms of the treaty, Stanisław Leszczyński receives Lorraine in exchange for renouncing the Polish throne.

title: 1738

text: October 1 – Austrian field marshal Ernst Gideon von Laudon captures the Prussian town of Schweidnitz (now Świdnica in Poland) during the Seven Years' War.

title: 1761

text: July 14 – The massacre of Polish people (most likely by the Russians) at the village of Balta, now a part of Ukraine but at the time an Ottoman Empire town on the frontier with Poland, leads to the Russo-Turkish War.

title: 1768

text: March 27 – Catherine the Great of Russia dispatches troops under General Pyotr Krechetnikov to intervene in a civil war in Poland, at the request of Poland's King Stanisław August Poniatowski, a move that will ultimately lead to the Partitions of Poland.

title: 1768

text: July 20 – A violent tornado strikes the city of Lublin, Poland.

title: 1931

text: July 4 – The Kielce Pogrom takes place in Poland.

title: 1946

text: September 8 – Treaty of San Francisco: In San Francisco, 48 representatives out of 51 attending sign a peace treaty with Japan, formally ending the Pacific War; the delegations of the Soviet Union, Poland and Czechoslovakia do not sign the treaty, instead favoring separate treaties.

title: 1951

text: March – Poland begins to liberalise its currency exchange in a move towards capitalism.

title: 1989

text: January 1 – Poland becomes the first country in Eastern Europe to begin abolishing its state socialist controls.

title: 1990

text: February 15 – The Visegrád Group, establishing cooperation to move toward free-market systems, is established by the leaders of Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and Poland.

title: 1991

text: June 1 – In an effort to minimize political chaos in post-Communist Poland, Lech Walesa signs a reform bill requiring political parties to receive at least 5% of the vote to qualify for seats in the Sejm.

title: 1993

text: July 8 – NATO invites the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland to join the alliance in 1999.

title: 1997

text: March 12 – Former Warsaw Pact members Hungary, Poland, and the Czech Republic join NATO.

title: 1999

text: April 16 – The Treaty of Accession is signed in Athens between the European Union and ten countries (Czech Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia), concerning these countries' accession into the EU, leading to the 2004 enlargement of the European Union.

title: 2003

text: June 8 – UEFA Euro 2012, hosted by Poland and Ukraine, begins in Warsaw, with a match between Poland and Greece, which ends 1-1.

title: 2012

text: October 21 – American Eric Lu wins the quinquennial XIX International Chopin Piano Competition at the National Philharmonic in Warsaw, Poland.

title: 2025


slug: polishlithuanian-commonwealth

label: Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth

description: historical multinational monarchist state in Eastern Europe (Crown of the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania)

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

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: July 1

text: July 1 – The Union of Lublin unites the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania into a single state, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, following votes in the Assemblies of three Lithuanian provinces (Volhynia, Ukraine and Podlasie) in favour of the incorporation.

title: 1569

date: May 16

text: May 16– The Henry, Duke of Anjou, son of the late King Henry II of France is elected to the throne of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth by the Polish nobility, after being nominated on May 11.

title: 1573

section: Conflict & Security

date: April 17

text: April 17 – Battle of Lubieszów: General Jan Zborowski leads the army of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in the catastrophic defeat of most of Jan Winkelbruch's 12,000 rebels and mercenaries from the Commonwealth's richest city, Danzig, killing 4,420 of the men and capturing another 5,000 as prisoners. Only 88 of Zborowski's 2,500 troops are killed. The Danzig Rebellion ends at the end of the year.

title: 1577

text: The first session of the Jewish Vaad (Council of Four Lands) is held in Lublin, Poland; 70 delegates of Jewish local qahals meet to discuss taxation, and other issues important to Jewish communities.

title: 1580

date: July 12

text: July 12 – The Ostrog Bible, the first complete printed Bible translation into a Slavic language (Old Church Slavonic), is first printed at Ostroh in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (modern-day Ukraine) by Ivan Fyodorov.

title: 1580

date: January 15

text: January 15 – Russia cedes its conquered areas in Livonia (Northern Latvia and Southern Estonia), to the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.

title: 1582

date: August 22

text: August 22 – A small group of nobles who oppose Sigismund Vasa as King vote to proclaim Maximilian III, Archduke of Austria, as ruler of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, a decision supported by the Primate of Poland, Stanisław Karnkowski. The divide begins the War of the Polish Succession.

title: 1587

date: March 9

text: March 9 – The Treaty of Bytom and Będzin is signed between the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and Austria, ending the War of the Polish Succession. Maximilian III, Archduke of Austria, renounces his claims to the thrones of Poland and Lithuania and acknowledges Sigismund III Vasa of Sweden as the heir to the throne.

title: 1589

date: September 30

text: September 30 – The siege of Weissenstein, a Swedish town that is now Paide in Estonia, ends after four months with a victory of 2,000 Polish and Lithuanian troops commanded by Jan Zamoyski, the Great Crown Hetman of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.

title: 1602

date: June 20

text: June 20 – Pretender Dmitriy and his supporters, including troops of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, march to Moscow.

title: 1605

date: September 27

text: September 27 – Swedish armies are decisively defeated by Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth cavalry in the Battle of Kircholm.

title: 1605

date: July 5

text: July 5 – Zebrzydowski Rebellion: The Battle of Guzów is fought in Poland near Guzów against rebels by the combined armies of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, led by Poland's Hetman, General Stanisław Żółkiewski, and the Hetman of Lithuania, Jan Karol Chodkiewicz. The rebels, led by Mikołaj Zebrzydowski and Janusz Radziwiłł, are forced to retreat.

title: 1607

text: September 23 – The siege of the Troitsky monastery by the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth begins in Russia north of Moscow, but fails after 16 months.

title: 1608

text: Warsaw becomes the capital of Poland.

title: 1609

date: July 4

text: July 4 – (June 24 O.S.); Polish–Russian War – Battle of Klushino: The outnumbered forces of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth defeat the combined Russian and Swedish armies; Polish troops go on to occupy Moscow.

title: 1610

date: January 20

text: January 20 – An uprising led by Dmitry Pozharsky begins in Moscow against occupying Polish troops.

title: 1612

text: September 23 – The Peace of Busza is signed, between the Ottoman Empire and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.

title: 1617

text: December 11 – Russia and Poland sign the Truce of Deulino.

title: 1618

date: September 17

text: September 17–October 7 – Battle of Cecora: The Ottoman Empire defeats Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth–Moldavian troops.

title: 1620

date: October 9

text: October 9 – The Treaty of Khotyn is signed between the Ottoman Empire and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, ending the First Polish-Ottoman War.

title: 1621

text: November 28 – Polish-Swedish War: Battle of Oliwa – A Polish-Lithuanian fleet defeats a Swedish fleet.

title: 1627

date: September 25

text: September 25 – Polish–Swedish War (1626–1629): Sweden and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth sign the Truce of Altmark, ending the war in highly favourable terms for Sweden.

title: 1629

date: March

text: March – Fedorovych Uprising: Zaporozhian Cossacks rebel against the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, and occupy a large part of modern-day Ukraine. After a number of indecisive skirmishes with a Polish army sent to pacify the region, the Treaty of Pereyaslav is signed, ending the uprising.

title: 1630

date: November 8

text: November 8 – Wladyslaw IV Waza is elected king of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, after Sigismund III Vasa's death.

title: 1632

date: June 14

text: June 14 – The Treaty of Polyanovka is signed between the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Tsardom of Russia, concluding the Smolensk War.

title: 1634

date: September 12

text: September 12 – The Treaty of Sztumska Wieś is signed between Sweden and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.

title: 1635

date: January 30

text: January 30 – Battle of Ochmatów: Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth forces under hetman Stanisław Koniecpolski secure a substantial victory over the army of the Crimean Khanate under Tugay Bey.

title: 1644

date: January 26

text: January 26 – The Khmelnytsky Uprising in Ukraine, at the time part of the Republic of Both Nations (Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth), begins as Bohdan Khmelnytsky becomes Hetman of the Cossacks.

title: 1648

date: June 30

text: June 30 – After three days of fighting in the Battle of Berestechko in Ukraine, one of the biggest land battles of the 17th century, with some 205,000 troops in the field, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth Army defeats the Zaporozhian Cossacks.

title: 1651

date: December 1

text: December 1 – A treaty of alliance is signed between the Holy Roman Empire and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.

title: 1656

date: December 6

text: December 6 – The Treaty of Radnot is signed between Sweden, the Electorate of Brandenburg, Transylvania (now Romania), and two rebels groups within Poland on how to divide the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in the event of a victory in the Second Northern War.

title: 1656

date: February 18

text: February 18 (February 8 O.S.) – Battle of Golab: Swedish Empire troops led by King Carl X Gustav defeat troops of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth commanded by General Stefan Czarniecki in the first major engagement of the Swedish Deluge.

title: 1656

text: July 30 – After a battle of three days, Swedish and Brandenburger troops led by King Charles X Gustav of Sweden, defeat the forces of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, near Warsaw and recapture the recently liberated capital.

title: 1656

text: November 3 – The Truce of Vilna is signed between Russia and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. In addition to agreeing to a temporary ceasefire in their ongoing war, Tsar Alexis of Russia agrees to help defend the commonwealth against Sweden's invasion in return for Tsar Alexis being named heir to the thrones of Poland and Lithuania by King John II Casimir Vasa.

title: 1656

text: September 19 – Brandenburg and Poland sign the Treaty of Wehlau.

title: 1657

text: July 2 – The Siege of Toruń begins in Poland as troops of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and of Austria seek to recapture the city of Toruń from a garrison of the Swedish Army. Within six months, the Swedish occupiers surrender.

title: 1658

text: May 3 – In the Treaty of Oliva, peace is made between the Swedish Empire, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, the Habsburgs and Brandenburg-Prussia.

title: 1660

text: September 14 – The 13-day long Battle of Lyubar begins at Liubar (now in Ukraine) during the Russo-Polish War between soldiers of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth against Russia and ends with a victory by Poland.

title: 1660

text: October 18 – The Treaty of Buchach, between the Ottoman Empire and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, is signed.

title: 1672

text: May 21 – John III Sobieski is elected by the nobility, as King of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (to 1696).

title: 1674

text: October 17 – The Treaty of Żurawno is signed, between the Ottoman (Turkish) Empire and Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.

title: 1676

text: May 6 – The Treaty of Perpetual Peace (1686) is signed between the Tsardom of Russia and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, recognizing the former's possession of Left-bank Ukraine and the city of Kiev, as agreed upon in the earlier Treaty of Andrusovo in 1667. The treaty also brings the Tsardom of Russia into the Great Turkish War, on the side of the Holy League of 1684.

title: 1686

text: June 17 – The throne of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth becomes vacant with the death of Jan Sobieski, prompting a competition between Friedrich Augustus, Elector of Saxony and Prince François Louis of France to compete under the commonwealth's "Golden Liberty" system for an elective monarchy of the new king by the nobility. Jerzy Albrecht Denhoff, the Grand Chancellor, remains the head of the Polish-Lithuanian government during the vacancy of the ceremonial throne.

title: 1696

text: September 8 – The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth defeats the Tatars in the Battle of Podhajce, the last battle between the Ottoman Empire and the Polish and Lithuanians.

title: 1698

text: January 26 – The Republic of Venice, Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and Holy Roman Empire sign the Treaty of Karlowitz with the Ottoman Empire, marking an end to the major phase of the Ottoman–Habsburg wars. The treaty marks a major geopolitical shift, as the Ottoman Empire subsequently abandons its expansionism and adopts a defensive posture while the Habsburg monarchy expands its influence.

title: 1699

text: February 22 (Gregorian), February 12 (Julian) – The Great Northern War begins with a joint invasion of Swedish territory in Germany and Latvia, by Denmark and Poland/Saxony. Sweden has control of the Baltic Sea and holds territory that includes Finland, Estonia, Latvia and parts of northern Germany. To challenge its power, an alliance is formed between Tsar Peter I of Russia, King Frederick IV of Denmark and Augustus II the Strong, King of Poland and Elector of Saxony. Sweden's ruler is the militaristic Charles XII, known as the "Swedish Meteor".

title: 1700

text: July 19 (July 8 O.S.; July 9 Swedish calendar) – Great Northern War: Battle of Klissow – Charles XII of Sweden decisively defeats the Polish–Lithuanian-Saxon army.

title: 1702

text: November 28 – The Treaty of Warsaw is concluded between the Swedish Empire and the faction of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth loyal to Stanisław Leszczyński during the Great Northern War.

title: 1705

text: April 13 – The Treaty of the Lutsk, a secret agreement between the Tsardom of Russia and the Ottoman Protectorate of Moldavia is signed in Lutsk, Poland-Lithuania (modern-day Ukraine).

title: 1711

text: February 1 – The Silent Sejm, in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, marks the beginning of the Russian Empire's increasing influence and control over the Commonwealth.

title: 1717

text: March 31 – A mutual defense treaty between the Russian Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia is signed in Saint Petersburg between representatives of Russia's Empress Catherine the Great and Prussia's King Frederick the Great. By agreement, each nation agrees (for an eight-year period) to commit 10,000 soldiers and 2,000 horses to the defense of the other in case of an attack, and secretly agree to maintain security within the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.

title: 1764

text: September 7 – Stanisław August Poniatowski is elected as the King of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.

title: 1764

text: September 25 – Michał Kleofas Ogiński, Polish-Lithuanian, and later Russian imperial statesman and composer

title: 1765

text: February 24 – With Russian troops occupying the nation, opposition legislators of the national legislature having been deported, the government of Poland signs a treaty virtually turning the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth into a protectorate of the Russian Empire.

title: 1768

text: February 29 – Five days after the signing of the treaty, a group of the szlachta, Polish nobles, establishes the Bar Confederation, to defend the internal and external independence of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth against Russian influence, and against King Stanisław August Poniatowski.

title: 1768

text: May 23 – Battle of Lanckorona: A force of 4,000 Russians under Alexander Suvorov defeat a Polish formation of 1,300 men.

title: 1771

text: October 14 – The Komisja Edukacji Narodowej (Polish for National Education Committee), formed in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, is considered to be the world's first ministry of education.

title: 1773

text: July 18 – Polish–Russian War: Battle of Dubienka – Soldiers of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, led by Tadeusz Kościuszko, resist an attack from Imperial Russian Army forces five times their size.

title: 1792

text: May 29 – The Great Sejm of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth is disbanded following the Russian invasion of Poland.

title: 1792

text: January 23 – Second Partition of Poland: The Russian Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia partition the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.

title: 1793

text: March 12 – General Antoni Madaliński, a commander of the National Cavalry in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, disobeys an order from the ruling Russian Empire and Kingdom of Prussia imposing demobilization, advancing his troops from Ostrołęka to Kraków.

title: 1794

text: March 24 – Tadeusz Kościuszko makes his proclamation starting the Kościuszko Uprising against the Russian Empire and Kingdom of Prussia in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and Prussian Partition.

title: 1794

text: October 24 – The Third Partition of Poland is made, dividing the territory of the Commonwealth of Poland between the Habsburg monarchy, Prussia and the Russian Empire. On November 25, Stanisław August Poniatowski formally abdicates as last King of Poland.

title: 1795


label: Political mutilation in Byzantine culture

description: criminal punishment used against rivals

section: Health & Medicine

date: September

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

section: Events › By place › Byzantine Empire

section: Economy & Finance

text: September/November – Constantine IV has his brothers Heraclius and Tiberius mutilated, so they will be unable to rule. He orders that their images no longer appear on any coinage, and that their names be removed from official documentation.

title: 681

date: February 15

text: February 15 – Emperor Justinian II presides over the public humiliation of his predecessors, Leontios and Tiberios III, and their chief associates in the Hippodrome of Constantinople, after which they are executed. Patriarch Kallinikos I is also deposed, blinded and exiled to Rome, and succeeded by Kyros.

title: 706

date: June 3

text: June 3 – Emperor Philippicus is blinded, deposed, and sent into exile by conspirators of the Opsikion army in Thrace, after a reign of 1 year and 6 months. He is succeeded by Anastasios II, a bureaucrat and imperial secretary, who restores internal order and begins the reorganization of the Byzantine army. He executes the officers who have been directly involved in the conspiracy against Philippicus.

title: 713

section: Crime & Justice

text: Fall – Basil Onomagoulos, Byzantine official, declares himself rival emperor in Sicily after the news arrives that Constantinople has fallen to an Arab siege. Leo III dispatches a chartoularios named Paul, with imperial instructions for the Byzantine army on the island. Basil is arrested and executed; his head is sent to Leo, while the other rebels are mutilated and exiled.

title: 717

text: Summer – Emperor Constantine V defeats his brother-in-law Artabasdos, who has led a two-year insurrection in an attempt to usurp the Byzantine throne. He heads for Constantinople, and captures the capital three months later. Artabasdos and his son Niketas are publicly blinded, and relegated to the monastery of Chora. Constantine renews his policy of Iconoclasm.

title: 743

date: August 25

text: August 25 – Emperor Constantine V publicly humiliates 19 high-ranking officials in the Hippodrome of Constantinople, after discovering a plot against him. He executes the leaders, Constantine Podopagouros and his brother Strategios, and blinds and exiles the rest.

title: 766

section: Deaths

date: April 19

text: April 19 or August 19 – Empress Irene organizes a conspiracy against her son Constantine VI. He is captured and blinded; Irene exiles him to Principo, where he dies shortly thereafter of his wounds. Irene begins a 5-year reign, and calls herself basileus ("emperor") of the Byzantine Empire. (Sources and historians conflict on whether this was in April or August.)

title: 797

text: Prince Petar of Serbia defeats his revolting cousin Bran; he is captured and blinded (according to a Byzantine tradition that meant to disqualify a person from taking the throne).

title: 894

section: Events › By place › Europe

text: Emperor Basil II uses his contingent of 6,000 Varangians to help him defeat Bardas Phokas (the Younger), who suffers a seizure during the siege of Abydos (threatening to blockade the Dardanelles). Phokas dies, ending the revolt and threat to Constantinople. Upon Phokas' death, the other rebel leader Bardas Skleros (who is captured and blinded) yields to Basil's superior forces.

title: 989

date: June 29

text: June 29 – Romanos IV Diogenes, deposed ruler of the Byzantine Empire, is blinded and sent into exile to the island of Proti (in the Sea of Marmara) at the Monastery of Transfiguration. A few days before his death, he receives a letter from Michael Psellos (his political advisor), congratulating him on the loss of his eyes.

title: 1072


slug: polyperchon

label: Polyperchon

description: Macedonian general

year_label: 319 BCE

text: Antipater becomes ill and dies shortly after, leaving the regency of the Macedonian Empire to the aged Polyperchon, passing over his son Cassander, a measure which gives rise to much confusion and ill-feeling.

title: 319 BC

section: Events › By place › Macedonian Empire

year_label: 318 BCE

text: Cassander, who has allied himself with Ptolemy and Antigonus, declares war on the regent, Polyperchon. Most of the Greek states support him, including Athens. Cassander further effects an alliance with Eurydice, the ambitious wife of King Philip III Arrhidaeus of Macedon.

title: 318 BC

year_label: 317 BCE

text: After capturing Athens from Macedonia's regent Polyperchon, Cassander entrusts the government of Athens to the Athenian orator, statesman, and philosopher, Demetrius Phalereus.

title: 317 BC

text: Polyperchon flees to Epirus, where he joins Alexander the Great's mother Olympias, Alexander's widow Roxana, and Alexander's infant son Alexander IV. He forms an alliance with Olympias, who is acting as regent for Alexander IV, and King Aeacides of Epirus.

title: 317 BC

year_label: 316 BCE

text: Cassander returns from the Peloponnesus and defeats Macedonia's regent Polyperchon in battle. Cassander blockades Olympias, mother of the late Alexander the Great, in Pydna, where she surrenders. Cassander takes Roxana and her son Alexander IV of Macedon into his custody.

title: 316 BC

section: Events › By place › Greece

year_label: 315 BCE

text: Polyperchon is appointed general of the Peloponnesus

title: 315 BC

text: Aristodemus of Miletus, by order of Antigonus, sails to Laconia, where he receives permission from the Spartans to recruit 8000 mercenaries. He also meets Alexander and Polyperchon, thus establishing friendship between them and Antigonus

title: 315 BC

text: Alexander, son of Polyperchon, is killed by Alexion of Sicyon. Alexander's wife Cratesipolis assumes power and holds his army together.

title: 314 BC

year_label: 313 BCE

text: Becoming tired of Macedonian rule, the people of Epirus recall their former king Aeacides (who until then had been campaigning with his old ally Polyperchon in the Peloponnese). Cassander immediately sends an army against him under his brother Philip, who is diverted from invading Aetolia.

title: 313 BC

text: Aristodemus and his mercenary army (recruited the year prior) cross over to the Peloponnese and fight Alexander, the son of Polyperchon, at Cyllene, and liberate Patrae and Aegium from Cassander's garrisons. Aristodemus then returns to Aetolia, leaving a sizeable force in the Pelopponese who help the city of Dyme eject its garrison, despite a failed intervention by Alexander.

title: 313 BC

year_label: 312 BCE

text: Telesphorus arrives in to the Peloponnese and starts expelling Cassander's garrisons. He successfully liberates all cities and towns that are being held for Cassander by Polyperchon and his son Alexander; all except Sicyon and Corinth who are being defended by Polyperchon and Alexander themselves.

title: 312 BC

section: Events › By place › Greece/Macedon/Thrace

year_label: 309 BCE

text: Antigonus attempts to renew his alliance with the Macedonian general and former regent Polyperchon, who still controls part of the Peloponnesus. He sends Heracles, the illegitimate son of Alexander the Great, to Polyperchon to be treated as a pretender to the throne of Macedonia.

title: 309 BC


slug: pomerania

label: Pomerania

description: historical region in Poland and Germany

date: June 24

text: June 24 – Battle of Cedynia: The Polans under prince (or Duke) Mieszko I, defeat the German forces of the Saxon count Odo I at their stronghold in Cedynia (with the help of hidden reinforcements). The battle – one of the first in Polish history – strengthens Mieszko's hold over Western Pomerania.

title: 972

date: August 10

text: August 10 – Battle of Nakło: Bolesław III leads an expedition into Pomerania. He besieges the castle of Nakło and defeats a Pomeranian relief force.

title: 1109

date: January 23

text: January 23 – Bogislaw II, duke of Pomerania (b. 1177)

title: 1220

date: February 12

text: February 12 – The Treaty of Stralsund settles border disputes between the duchies of Mecklenburg and Pomerania.

title: 1354

section: Events › January–December

date: November 20

text: November 20 – Thirty Years' War: Bogislaw XIV, Duke of Pomerania, signs the Capitulation of Franzburg, in which Pomerania is forced to pay for the Imperial army that Wallenstein sent to occupy it. Nonetheless, despite the treaty, Pomerania is devastated by the Imperial troops.

title: 1627

section: Events › October–December

date: July 6

text: July 6 – Swedish intervention in the Thirty Years' War begins when King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden, leading an army of 13,000 on the Protestant side, makes landfall at Peenemünde, Pomerania.

title: 1630

section: Events › July–September

date: January 18

text: January 18 – The electorate of Brandenburg–Prussia becomes the Kingdom of Prussia, as Elector Frederick III is proclaimed King Frederick I. Prussia remains part of the Holy Roman Empire. It consists of Brandenburg, Pomerania and East Prussia. Berlin is the capital.

title: 1701

section: Events › January–June

date: January 14

text: January 14 – Treaty of Kiel: Frederick VI of Denmark cedes the Kingdom of Norway into personal union with Sweden, in exchange for west Pomerania. This marks the end of the real union of Denmark-Norway.

title: 1814

section: Events › January


slug: pompeii

label: Pompeii

description: ancient Roman city near modern Naples, Italy

year_label: 600 BCE

section: Religion & Belief

text: Pompeii is founded. (approximate date)

title: 600 BC

section: Events › By place › Western Europe

year_label: 89 BCE

text: Pompeii is annexed by the Roman Republic.

title: 89 BC

section: Events › By place › Roman Republic

year_label: 80 BCE

section: Exploration & Expansion

text: Pompeii becomes the Roman colony Colonia Cornelia Veneria Pompei when Sulla occupies the city with at least 4,000 soldier-colonizers.

title: 80 BC

year_label: 50 BCE

text: Initiation Rites of the Cult of Bacchus, detail of a wall painting in the Villa of the Mysteries, Pompeii, is made (approximate date).

title: 50 BC

year_label: 59 CE

text: Rioting breaks out between the people of Pompeii and the people of Nuceria during a gladiator fight in Pompeii. Thousands are killed.

title: 50s

section: Events › 59 AD › Roman Empire

year_label: 60 CE

section: Technology & Infrastructure

text: AD 60–79 – House of the Vettii, Pompeii, is rebuilt.

title: AD 60

section: Events › By topic › Art and science

year_label: 62 CE

section: Climate & Environment

text: A great earthquake damages cities in Campania, including Pompeii (February 5).

title: AD 62

section: Events › By place › Roman Empire

text: Lucius Caecilius Iucundus, Roman banker from Pompeii (b. c. AD 14)

title: AD 62

year_label: 63 CE

text: Pompeii, the city at the foot of Mount Vesuvius, builds a new monumental forum, after the town is heavily damaged by a strong earthquake.

title: AD 63

year_label: 79 CE

date: August 24

text: August 24 or c. October 24 – Eruption of Mount Vesuvius: Mount Vesuvius erupts, destroying Pompeii, Herculaneum, Stabiae and Oplontis. The Roman navy (based at Misenum), commanded by Pliny the Elder, evacuates refugees. Pliny dies after inhaling volcanic fumes.

title: AD 79

date: December 16

text: December 16 – A volcanic eruption of Mount Vesuvius at Pompeii occurs, for the first time in several centuries.

title: 1631

text: The ruins of Pompeii are rediscovered.

title: 1748

section: Events › Date unknown


slug: pompey

label: Pompey

description: Roman general and statesman (106–48 BC)

year_label: 135 BCE

section: Births

text: Pompeius Strabo, Roman consul and father of Pompeius Magnus (d. 87 BC)

title: 135 BC

year_label: 106 BCE

date: September 29

text: September 29 – Pompey the Great, Roman general and politician (d. 48 BC)

title: 106 BC

year_label: 83 BCE

section: Conflict & Security

text: Gnaeus Pompeius, age 22, raises, on his own initiative, a private army of three legions from his father's veterans and clientelae in Picenum.

title: 83 BC

text: Tigranes the Great, King of Armenia was invited by a faction in the Seleucid civil wars, entered Syria and effectively ended Seleucid rule. Though a weakened Seleucid monarchy was briefly restored after Roman victories, ongoing instability led Pompey to abolish the dynasty and annex Syria as a Roman province in 63 BC.

title: 83 BC

section: Events › By place › Syria

year_label: 82 BCE

text: Pompey is ordered by Sulla to stamp out Marian rebels in Sicily and Africa, after his campaigns in he gets the insulting nickname of adulescentulus carnifex, the "teenage butcher".

title: 82 BC

year_label: 77 BCE

text: Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, Roman proconsul of Transalpine Gaul and leader of the Populares faction in the senate, is defeated by Quintus Lutatius Catulus at the Milvian bridge outside Rome. The remnants of the rebels are wiped out by Pompey in Etruria.

title: 77 BC

year_label: 75 BCE

text: At the Battle of Saguntum the republican forces on the Iberian Peninsula and the Sertorian rebels fight each other to a draw. Quintus Sertorius is forced to withdraw leaving the battlefield to Pompey and Metellus (the republican commanders).

title: 75 BC

text: In the Roman province of Hispania Citerior an army of Sertorian rebels under Quintus Sertorius himself defeats a republican army under Pompey the Great at the Battle of Sucro.

title: 75 BC

text: In the Roman province of Hispania Citerior a republican army under Pompey the Great defeats an army of Sertorian rebels at the Battle of Valentia.

title: 75 BC

section: Deaths

text: Gaius Memmius, brother-in-law of Pompey the Great, died at the Battle of Saguntum.

title: 75 BC

year_label: 67 BCE

text: During Pompey's war against the pirates, he raises a fleet of 500 warships and fights with great success.

title: 67 BC

year_label: 65 BCE

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

text: Pompey the Great subjugates the kingdom of Iberia and makes Colchis a Roman province.

title: 65 BC

text: Tigranes of Armenia is defeated and captured by Pompey, thus ending all hostilities on the northeastern frontier of Rome.

title: 65 BC

year_label: 64 BCE

text: Pompey destroys the kingdom of Pontus; king Mithridates VI commits suicide after escaping to the Crimea.

title: 64 BC

year_label: 63 BCE

text: Pompey conquers the people of Phonecia, Coele-Syria, and Judea for the Roman Republic.

title: 63 BC

year_label: 61 BCE

text: Pompey returns to Rome with a triumph in honor of his for victories in the eastern provinces.

title: 61 BC

year_label: 60 BCE

text: Creation of the First Triumvirate, an informal political alliance between Julius Caesar, Pompey the Great and Marcus Licinius Crassus (or 59 BC).

title: 60 BC

year_label: 59 BCE

text: The First Triumvirate: Caesar, Pompey and Crassus form an unofficial alliance (or 60 BC).

title: 59 BC

year_label: 56 BCE

section: Culture & Society

text: The three Roman politician-generals of the First Triumvirate — Caesar, Pompey and Crassus — meet at the Luca Conference at the town of Luca (modern Lucca, in Tuscany), near Pisa, where they renewed their fraying political alliance, and further cemented the three men's increasing consolidation of power in the Roman Republic.

title: 56 BC

year_label: 55 BCE

text: Consuls Marcus Licinius Crassus and Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus pass the Lex Trebonia.

title: 55 BC

text: Consuls: Marcus Licinius Crassus and Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus.

title: 55 BC

year_label: 54 BCE

text: Pompey builds the first permanent theatre in Rome.

title: 54 BC

year_label: 52 BCE

text: Consuls: Quintus Caecilius Metellus Pius Scipio Nasica and Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus.

title: 52 BC

year_label: 51 BCE

text: Pompey demands that Julius Caesar lay down his command before he can stand for consul.

title: 51 BC

year_label: 49 BCE

date: January 1

text: January 1 – The Roman Senate receives a proposal from Julius Caesar that he and Pompey should lay down their commands simultaneously. The Senate responds that Caesar must immediately surrender his command.

title: 49 BC

section: Events › By place and Date › Roman Republic

year_label: 48 BCE

date: April

text: April – Siege of Dyrrhachium: Julius Caesar builds a fortified line of entrenchments and besieges Pompey the Great.

title: 48 BC

date: September 28

text: September 28 – Pompey (the Great), Roman politician (b. 106 BC)

title: 48 BC

year_label: 46 BCE

date: April 6

text: April 6 – Caesar defeats the combined army of Pompeian followers and Numidians under Metellus Scipio and Juba I of Numidia at Thapsus. After the battle Caesar grants Legio V Alaudae the right to bear the elephant symbol on its shields and standards, for bravery against a charge of elephants.

title: 46 BC

year_label: 45 BCE

date: April 12

text: April 12 – Gnaeus Pompeius, son of Pompey the Great (executed after the Battle of Munda)

title: 45 BC

date: March 17

text: March 17 – Civil War: In his last victory, Julius Caesar defeats the Pompeian forces of Titus Labienus and Pompey the younger in the Battle of Munda. Labienus dies in battle, Pompey the younger is executed, but Sextus Pompey escapes to take command of the remnants of the Pompeian fleet.

title: 45 BC

year_label: 36 BCE

text: September 3 – Battle of Naulochus: Agrippa defeats Sextus Pompeius, a son of Pompeius, in a naval engagement off Naulochus. Sextus escapes with 17 ships to Messana and then to Asia Minor.

title: 36 BC

text: Lucan writes a history of the conflict between Julius Caesar and Pompey.

title: AD 62


slug: pontifex-maximus

label: Pontifex Maximus

year_label: 712 BCE

section: Religion & Belief

text: 712 BC—Numa Pompilius creates the office of Pontifex Maximus.

title: 710s BC

section: Events and trends

year_label: 290 BCE

text: Lucius Caecilius Metellus, Roman consul and Pontifex Maximus (approximate date) (d. 221 BC)

title: 290 BC

year_label: 152 BCE

text: Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, Roman statesman, consul, Pontifex Maximus and censor; as a praetor, he has been governor of Sicily in 191 BC.

title: 152 BC

text: Julius Caesar is elected Pontifex Maximus and praetor for 62 BC.

title: 63 BC

year_label: 12 BCE

text: Emperor Augustus is given the title Pontifex Maximus.

title: 12 BC

date: March 7

text: March 7 – Emperor Antoninus Pius dies, and is succeeded by Marcus Aurelius, who shares imperial power with Lucius Verus, although Marcus retains the title Pontifex Maximus.

title: AD 161

text: Aemilianus rules the Roman Empire for three months; he promises to fight in Thrace and goes to war against Persia. The Senate gives him the rank of Pontifex Maximus.

title: 253

text: Gratian renounces the title Pontifex Maximus.

title: 379

text: Emperor Gratian moves the capital to Mediolanum (modern-day Milan). Because of his Christian beliefs, he eliminates Pontifex Maximus as Imperial title. Gratian also refuses the robe of office, insulting the pagan aristocrats of Rome.

title: 381

date: December 17

text: December 17 – Pope Siricius succeeds Damasus I as the 38th pope. He takes the title Pontifex Maximus, after it is relinquished by the late emperor Gratian.

title: 384

section: Events › By topic › Religion


slug: pontus-region

label: Pontus (region)

description: region in the eastern Black Sea Region of Turkey

year_label: 437 BCE

section: Exploration & Expansion

text: Pericles, concerned for Athenian trade with Greek settlements to the East, and in order to counteract a new and possibly threatening Thracian–Scythian alliance, leads Athens' fleet to Pontus on the Black Sea and establishes friendly relations with the Greek cities of the region.

title: 437 BC

section: Events › By place › Greece

year_label: 131 BCE

text: Mithridates VI Eupator – king of Pontus (c.120-63 BC)

title: 131 BC

year_label: 37 BCE

text: Antony reorganizes Asia Minor under strongmen loyal to him. He raises troops from his allies: Amyntas and Archelaus, kings of Galatia and Cappadocia. The old kingdom of Pontus is restored, from Armenia to the River Halys under Polemon I.

title: 37 BC

section: Events › By place › Roman Republic

section: Health & Medicine

text: The great pandemic of the Roman world strikes violently in Pontus on the Black Sea, and causes enormous loss of life in Alexandria, encouraging thousands to embrace Christianity.

title: 256

section: Events › By topic › Medicine

text: Flavius Hannibalianus, ruler of Armenia and Pontus (d. 337)

title: 315

text: Hannibalianus, nephew of Constantine I, is made Rex Regum ("King of Kings of the Pontic people").

title: 335

text: Hannibalianus, king of the Pontus and nephew of Constantine I (executed)

title: 337

date: September

text: September – The 499 Nicopolis earthquake takes place in the borders between the regions of Mesopotamia, Pontus, and Roman Armenia. It affects the cities of Nicopolis, Neocaesarea (modern Niksar), Arsamosata, and Abarne, as well as the cultural areas of Anatolia (Asia Minor) and Mesopotamia.

title: 499

section: Events › By place › Middle East

text: Battle of Issus: Heraclius defeats the Persian forces under Shahrbaraz in Cappadocia. He recaptures Anatolia, but returns to Constantinople to deal with the threat posed to his Balkan domains by the Avars, and puts the Byzantine army into winter quarters in Pontus.

title: 622

section: Events › By place › Byzantine Empire

text: Byzantine–Sassanid War: Emperor Heraclius invades Armenia, leaving his son Constantine (age 11) and co-regent Bonus to defend Constantinople against the Persians still at Chalcedon (modern Turkey). He sails with 5,000 reinforcements to join the Byzantine army at Trapezus. Raising additional forces in Pontus, Heraclius strikes through the mountains of Armenia and the northern sub-Caucasian principalities. He plunders Media (Azerbaijan), and avoids the Persian armies who attempt to trap him.

title: 623

text: Battle of Sarus: Heraclius is victorious in a Byzantine assault river crossing. The reinforced Persians under Shahrbaraz are defeated along the Sarus River, near Adana (modern Turkey). Heraclius recaptures Cappadocia and Pontus, and returns to Trapezus to spend the winter. Shahrbaraz retreats in good order, and is able to continue his advance through Asia Minor towards Constantinople.

title: 625

date: July 31

text: July 31 – The Avars and Persian allies under Shahrbaraz launch an attack along the entire length of the Theodosian Walls (about 5.7 kilometres); the main effort is concentrated against the central section, particularly the low-lying mesoteichion. After a fierce infantry battle on the walls, the Byzantine army holds off many assaults on the city. Emperor Heraclius makes arrangements for a new army under his brother Theodore to operate against the Persians in western Anatolia, while he returns to his own army in Pontus.

title: 626


slug: pope-adrian-i

label: Pope Adrian I

description: Pope from 772 to 795

section: Births

text: Adrian I, pope of the Catholic Church (d. 795)

title: 700

text: King Desiderius of the Lombards, enraged by the repudiation by Charlemagne of his daughter Desiderata, proclaims Gerberga's sons lawful heirs to the Frankish throne. He attacks Pope Adrian I for refusing to crown them, and invades the Duchy of the Pentapolis. Desiderius marches on Rome, and Adrian turns to the Franks for military support.

title: 772

section: Events › By place › Europe

date: January 24

text: January 24 – Pope Stephen III dies after a 3½-year reign, in which he has approved the acceptable reverence of icons in the Eastern Church. On February 1 he is succeeded by Adrian I (also referred to as Hadrian) as the 95th pope of Rome.

title: 772

text: Summer – King Charlemagne and his uncle Bernard, son of Charles Martel, cross the Alps with a Frankish expeditionary force at the request of Pope Adrian I. At the foot of the mountains in the Susa Valley (Northern Italy), the Franks are hindered by Lombard fortifications. After scouting, Charlemagne attacks the defenders from the flank, and forces the Lombards to flee to the fortified capital Pavia.

title: 773

text: King Charlemagne has his son Carloman (renamed Pepin) anointed "King of Italy", and he is crowned by Pope Adrian I with the Iron Crown of Lombardy. His younger brother Charles I is anointed king of Aquitaine, and Louis the Pious (only 3-years old) is appointed sub-king of Italy and Aquitaine, following the conversion of Aquitaine from a Duchy to a sub-kingdom.

title: 781

text: Prince (or duke) Višeslav, with the support of Pope Adrian I and the Byzantine Empire, becomes ruler of Dalmatian Croatia (approximate date).

title: 785

text: Empress Irene sends a Byzantine expeditionary army to invade southern Italy, but it is defeated and driven out (at Pope Adrian I's urging) by the Frankish army, allied with the forces of Benevento. She breaks off the engagement (see 782) between her son Constantine VI and the Frankish princess Rotrude, daughter of King Charlemagne.

title: AD 787

date: December 25

text: December 25 – Adrian I, pope of the Catholic Church (b. 700)

title: 795

text: December 25 – Pope Adrian I, age 95, dies after a 23-year reign, and is succeeded by Leo III as the 96th pope of Rome.

title: 795

date: April 25

text: April 25 – Pope Leo III is physically attacked by a band of aristocratic conspirators, under the leadership of a public official who is a nephew of the late Pope Adrian I. After mistreatment and attempted disfigurement by the citizens of Rome, Leo flees to the court of King Charlemagne at Paderborn (modern Germany) to seek protection. He sends him back with Frankish agents, and restores him to the papal throne.

title: 799


slug: pope-alexander-iii

label: Pope Alexander III

description: pope of the Catholic Church from 1159 to 1181

date: September 7

text: September 7 – Pope Alexander III succeeds Pope Adrian IV, as the 170th pope.

title: 1159

section: Events

section: Crime & Justice

date: May 18

text: May 18 – Erik IX Jedvardsson of Sweden is murdered, after which his murderer Magnus Henriksen proclaims himself king of Sweden as Magnus II. He is murdered in turn the following year, however. Erik is soon worshipped as a saint. Though never formally canonized by Pope Alexander III, he eventually becomes the patron saint of Sweden.

title: 1160

text: late summer/early autumn – Géza II of Hungary and the envoys of Pope Alexander III conclude the Concordat of 1161, by which Géza agrees to support the Pope in exchange for concessions.

title: 1161

date: June 3

text: June 3 – King Henry II has his chancellor Thomas Becket elected to succeed the late Theobald of Bec as archbishop of Canterbury. He accepts the pallium sent by Pope Alexander III.

title: 1162

section: Events › By place › England

date: March

text: March / April (traditional date) – The first stone of the cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris is set by Pope Alexander III during the reign of Louis VII of France.

title: 1163

date: August 5

text: August 5 – Uppsala is recognized as the seat of the Swedish metropolitan, with the coronation of its first archbishop Stefan, by Pope Alexander III.

title: 1164

text: Spring – Byzantine Emperor Manuel I Komnenos makes an alliance with Venice against Holy Roman Emperor Frederick Barbarossa, who takes an oath at the Diet of Würzburg to support Antipope Paschal III against Pope Alexander III.

title: 1165

section: Conflict & Security

date: April 7

text: April 7 – Oath of Pontida: Supported by Pope Alexander III, the Lombard League is founded, a military alliance between the municipalities of Milan, Lodi, Ferrara, Piacenza and Parma, against the German invading forces of Emperor Frederick I (Barbarossa) in Northern Italy. The League (with other Italian cities) openly challenges Frederick's claim to power (Honor Imperii).

title: 1167

text: Stephen III of Hungary concludes a concordat with Pope Alexander III, renouncing his right of investiture.

title: 1169

text: Pope Alexander III addresses a series of letters to the backward Swedish church. He wants to impose the strict canonical requirements on the Swedes, that is, the ecclesiastical legal system. Due to being Christianized in 1050, Sweden is having trouble to fully adapt to the Catholicism that is preached and acted on in Europe.

title: 1170

date: June 14

text: June 14 – King Henry II has his 15-year-old son, Henry the Young King, crowned by Roger, Archbishop of York, as junior king and heir to the English throne. The coronation drives Pope Alexander III to allow the exiled Thomas Becket (whose privilege as Archbishop of Canterbury to crown English monarchs has been infringed) to lay an interdict on England as punishment, and this threat forces Henry to negotiate with Becket. Sir William Marshal is appointed tutor-in-arms to Henry the Young King.

title: 1170

date: September 27

text: September 27–28 – Compromise of Avranches: Alberto di Morra is sent by Pope Alexander III to the Council of Avranches to investigate the Becket controversy. Henry II is absolved of censures for Becket's murder in view of his penance and swears to go on a crusade. He revokes two controversial clauses of the Constitutions of Clarendon and is reconciled with the papacy.

title: 1172

date: February 21

text: February 21 – Thomas Becket is canonized by Pope Alexander III. His tomb in Canterbury Cathedral becomes a shrine and a popular pilgrimage destination.

title: 1173

text: April 7 – Pope Alexander III consecrates Richard of Dover as archbishop of Canterbury at Anagni. Richard returns to England bearing his pallium which he has received directly from the pope.

title: 1174

text: Autumn – Frederick I makes peace with Pope Alexander III and recognizes his legitimacy as pope of the Catholic Church.

title: 1176

text: March – Treaty of Venice: Frederick I Barbarossa acknowledges Alexander III as Pope, after a diplomatic mediation by Venetian doge Sebastiano Ziani.

title: 1177

section: Events › January–December

text: September 27 – Pope Alexander III sends a letter to Prester John, believing he is real.

title: 1177

text: Summer – Antipope Callixtus III submits to Pope Alexander III after having reigned for 10 years with support from Frederick I.

title: 1178

text: Summer – Afonso I (the Conqueror) is recognized as King of Portugal by Pope Alexander III – bringing Portugal the protection of the Catholic Church against the Leonese monarchy.

title: 1179

date: August 30

text: August 30 – Pope Alexander III dies after a 22-year pontificate at Rome. He is succeeded by the Tuscany-born Lucius III as the 171st pope of the Catholic Church.

title: 1181