slug: llywelyn-ap-gruffudd

label: Llywelyn ap Gruffudd

description: Prince of Gwynedd

section: Births

text: Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, prince of Wales (d. 1282)

title: 1223

date: June

text: June – Battle of Bryn Derwin: Llywelyn ap Gruffudd defeats his two brothers Dafydd ap Gruffydd and Owain Goch ap Gruffydd, to become sole ruler of northern Wales. Dafydd and Owain are both imprisoned.

title: 1255

section: Events › By place › The British Isles

text: Prince Llywelyn ap Gruffudd invades the northern coastal areas of Wales that agreed to English rule in 1254. The Lord Edward, who has been given the areas to govern himself by his father, King Henry III of England, asks him for support but Henry refuses.

title: 1256

section: Events › By place › British Isles

text: Battle of Cadfan: An English expeditionary army under Stephen Bauzan is ambushed and defeated by Welsh forces. The English are decimated by devastating guerilla attacks and the Welsh capture the English supply train. Stephen Bauzan is killed along with some 1,000–3,000 of his men. The remaining English flee the battle, Prince Llywelyn ap Gruffudd is said to have been present at the battle, collecting spoils from the fallen English army. According to sources, it is one of the greatest victories of a Welsh army in the field against a much more powerful English force.

title: 1257

text: Llywelyn ap Gruffudd proclaims himself Prince of Wales, first used in an agreement between Llywelyn and his supporters and the Scottish nobility. He becomes the final ruler of an independent Wales before the conquest of Wales by Edward I of England.

title: 1258

date: September 29

text: September 29 – Treaty of Montgomery: King Henry III of England acknowledges Llywelyn ap Gruffudd's title of Prince of Wales.

title: 1267

section: Culture & Society

text: Spring – King Edward I of England ("Longshanks") demands a meeting with Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, prince of Wales, at Chester to pay homage, but Llywelyn refuses. In an attempt to stir up internal problems, Llywelyn seeks to marry 23-year-old Eleanor de Montfort, daughter of Simon de Montfort, but she is captured by English pirates (employed by Edward) on the journey from France to meet Llywelyn. She is held prisoner at Windsor Castle and used as a bargaining chip over the coming years in Edward's attempts to subjugate Llywelyn and Wales.

title: 1275

date: November 10

text: November 10 – Treaty of Aberconwy: Prince Llywelyn ap Gruffudd and King Edward I of England sign a peace treaty which leaves Llywelyn only with the western part of Gwynedd.

title: 1277

section: Events › By place › Britain

date: December 11

text: December 11 – Battle of Orewin Bridge: English forces (some 6,000 men) under Edward I of England defeat a Welsh army near Cilmeri. Llywelyn ap Gruffudd is killed.

title: 1282

date: March

text: March – Welsh forces under Prince Dafydd ap Gruffydd, brother of Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, attack and take control of Hawarden Castle. The garrison is massacred and Constable Roger de Clifford is taken prisoner. Llywelyn, who has sworn fealty to King Edward I of England ("Longshanks"), joins Dafydd in his revolt against the English. Their actions lead to the final English conquest of Wales, by Edward.

title: 1282


slug: loire

label: Loire

description: longest river in France

section: Conflict & Security

text: Emperor Honorius bribes Wallia, king of the Visigoths, into regaining Hispania for the Roman Empire. His victory over the Vandals in 416 forces them to retire to Baetica. The Visigothic territory in Gaul now extends from the Garonne to the Loire, and becomes known as the Visigothic Kingdom.

title: 418

section: Events › By place › Roman Empire

text: Franco-Roman War of 486 – Battle of Soissons (Gaul): Frankish forces under King Clovis I defeat the Roman army of Syagrius. Roman rule under Syagrius ends. The land between the Somme and the Loire becomes a part of the Frankish Empire. Syagrius flees to the Visigoths (under King Alaric II), but Clovis threatens war, and he is handed over for execution.

title: 486

section: Events › By place › Europe

text: Battle of Soissons: King Chilperic II of Neustria and his mayor of the palace Ragenfrid, allied with Eudes, independent duke of Aquitaine, march on Soissons in Picardy (northern France) but an army of Frankish veterans under Charles Martel defeat the Neustrian allies, who sue for peace. Chilperic flees to the land south of the River Loire and Ragenfrid escapes to Angers. Charles diplomatically chooses not to execute the enemy leaders, and becomes undisputed dux Francorum, ending the Frankish civil war.

title: 718

section: Events › By place › Western Europe

text: Charles Martel leads two raids across the Loire River into the Berry region. The Franks seize and plunder Bourges (central France), but the city is immediately recaptured by Eudes of Aquitaine.

title: 731

section: Religion & Belief

date: September

text: September – Charles Martel leads his Frankish army (30,000 men) to Orléans and crosses the Loire River, probably accompanied by Eudes of Aquitaine, with his remaining troops. He makes camp near Tours, probably at Ballan-Miré south-west of the fortress city, in order to protect the abbey of Saint Martin. Charles defeats or forces back Umayyad scouts or an advance guard, between the rivers Indre and Creuse. Abdul Rahman Al Ghafiqi pulls back to establish a position at the Vienne River.

title: 732

text: Charles Martel, Merovingian mayor of the palace, invades Burgundy. Duke Hunald I of Aquitaine refuses to recognise the authority of the Franks, whereupon Charles marches south of the River Loire, seizing the cities of Bordeaux and Blaye. Within 4 years he will have subdued all the Burgundian chieftains, while continuing to fight off Moorish advances into Gaul.

title: 735

text: Third Civil War: King Louis the German, grandson of Charlemagne, invades Swabia. His nephew, Pepin II of Aquitaine, and his Gascon subjects, conquer territory all the way to the Loire.

title: 839

section: Crime & Justice

text: Summer – Viking raiders attack Nantes, located on the River Loire; they kill the town's bishop along with many of the clergy, and murder men, women and children. They plunder the western parts of Aquitaine and reach an island north of the mouth of the River Garonne, near what later will be La Rochelle. There the Vikings bring materials from the mainland and build houses to spend the winter.

title: 843

section: Exploration & Expansion

text: Summer – The Viking chieftains Hastein and Björn Ironside (a son of Ragnar Lodbrok) begin an expedition, and sail from the Loire River with a fleet of 62 ships, to raid cities and monasteries in the Mediterranean Sea.

title: 859

section: Technology & Infrastructure

text: King Charles the Bald gives the order to build fortified bridges across the Seine and Loire Rivers, to protect Paris and the Frankish heartland against Viking raids. He hires the services of Weland, a Viking chieftain based on the Somme, to attack the Seine Vikings at their base on the Isle of Oissel. Weland besieges the Vikings—they offer him a huge bribe (6,000 pounds of silver) to let them escape.

title: 860

text: March – Robert the Strong is appointed margrave of Neustria by King Charles the Bald. He re-establishes the Breton March, and extends his remit by campaigning against Salomon, duke 'king' of Brittany. Robert hires a combined Seine-Loire fleet for 6,000 pounds of silver, 'before Salomon can ally with them against him'. In return, Salomon enlists 12 Viking ships under the command of Hastein, to raid the county of Maine, which, with Anjou, becomes squeezed between Brittany and Neustria.

title: 861

text: Robert the Strong, margrave of Neustria, attacks the Loire Vikings in a successful campaign. Other Viking raiders plunder the cities of Limoges and Clermont, in Aquitaine.

title: 864

date: October

text: October – Alan I (the Great), count of Vannes, and his rival Judicael, unite their forces to defeat the Vikings at Questembert (or 889). Judicael is killed, in a notable victory for the Bretons, with 15,000 Vikings crushed, some few 400 escaping to their ships. In command of a 'united' Breton force, Alan is able to drive the Vikings back to the Loire River. Alan becomes sole ruler of Brittany, and over the Frankish counties of Rennes, Nantes, Coutances and Avranches.

title: AD 888

section: Disasters & Accidents

date: June 14

text: June 14 – Saint-Philibert disaster: The overloaded pleasure craft Saint-Philibert, carrying trippers home to Nantes from the Île de Noirmoutier, sinks at the mouth of the River Loire in France; over 450 drown.

title: 1931

section: Events › June


slug: lombards

label: Lombards

description: historical ethnical group

text: The Lombards invade Pannonia (modern Hungary). They are quickly dispatched by the Roman Army.

title: AD 166

section: Deaths

text: Tato, king of the Lombards (approximate date)

title: 510

text: Waldrada, Lombard princess (d. 572)

title: 531

text: Walthari murders his uncle Wacho and becomes king of the Lombards.

title: 539

text: Authari, king of the Lombards (approximate date)

title: 540

text: Audoin murders and succeeds Walthari as king of the Lombards.

title: 546

text: Walthari, king of the Lombards

title: 546

text: After the death of his cousin Germanus, Justinian I appoints Narses new supreme commander, and returns to Italy. In Salona on the Adriatic coast, he assembles a Byzantine expeditionary force totaling 20,000 or possibly 30,000 men and a contingent of foreign allies, notably Lombards, Heruls and Bulgars.

title: 551

section: Events › By place › Byzantine Empire

text: Turismod, prince of the Lombards

title: 552

section: Health & Medicine

text: The Avars and the Slavs occupy the Hungarian Plain on the Balkans. The threat of Avar domination prompts the Lombards to migrate to Italy.

title: 558

text: Alboin succeeds his father Audoin after his death, as king of the Lombards.

title: 560

text: Audoin, king of the Lombards (approximate date)

title: 560

text: Justin II sends his son-in-law Baduarius (magister militum) with a Byzantine army, to support the Gepids in their war against the Lombards.

title: 565

title: 565

text: A Byzantine army, under command of Baduarius, assists the Gepids in their war against the Lombards. The Byzantines win the first battle in the lower Danube (Moesia), but Gepid King Cunimund refuses to hand back the fortress city of Sirmium (modern Serbia), as he had promised.

title: 566

text: The Lombard–Gepid War (567) ends with a Lombard-Avar victory, and the annihilation of the Gepids.

title: 567

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: September – The Lombards conquer Forum Iulii (Cividale del Friuli) in northeastern Italy. Later in the year, the Lombards conquer Milan.

title: 569

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

text: Spoleto becomes the capital of an independent duchy, under the Lombard chieftain Faroald (approximate date).

title: 570

text: Theodelinda, queen of the Lombards (d. 628)

title: 570

text: Benevento becomes the capital of an independent duchy, under the Lombard chieftain Zotto (approximate date).

title: 571

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

text: Waldrada, Lombard princess (b. 531)

title: 572

date: June 28

text: June 28 – Alboin, king of the Lombards, is murdered at Verona in his palace, at the instigation of his wife Rosamund (daughter of the Gepid king Cunimund), and her henchman, Helmechis (the king's squire); both flee to seek Byzantine protection in Ravenna. Alboin is succeeded as king by Cleph, who is not related by blood.

title: 572

text: June 28 – Alboin, king of the Lombards

title: 572

text: The Lombards again raid Southern Gaul, but are defeated by the Franks under Mummolus, patricius and son of the Gallo-Roman count of Auxerre, and are driven out.

title: 573

text: Cleph, king of the Lombards (or 575)

title: 574

text: Baduarius, son-in-law of the Byzantine emperor Justin II, is sent to Italy to resist the Lombard conquest. He leads an aborted counter-assault against the Lombards and dies soon after.

title: 576

date: July 30

text: July 30 – Pope Benedict I dies after a 4-year reign, and is succeeded by Pelagius II as the 63rd pope. During the Lombard siege of Rome, he labors to solve the problems of famine.

title: 579

section: Events › By topic › Religion

text: The Roman Senate sends an embassy to Constantinople, with a gift (3,000 pounds of gold) to Emperor Tiberius II Constantine, along with a plea for help against the Lombards.

title: 580

text: The Lombards under Zotto, Duke of Benevento, sack the abbey of Monte Cassino near Naples. The Benedictine monks who survive flee to Rome, but they return to the site, and rebuild the monastery.

title: 581

text: The Lombards re-establish a unified monarchy after a 10-year interregnum (Rule of the Dukes). Threatened by a Frankish invasion that the dukes have provoked, they elect Authari (son of Cleph) as their king and give him the capital of Pavia (Northern Italy).

title: 584

text: The Franks and Burgundians under King Guntram and his nephew Childebert II invade Northern Italy, but suffer a disastrous defeat against the Lombards.

title: 588

date: May 15

text: May 15 – King Authari marries Theodelinda, daughter of the Bavarian duke Garibald I. A Catholic, she has great influence at court and among the Lombard nobility.

title: 589

text: The Franks again invade Italy; they capture Modena and Mantua. Several Lombard dukes defect: Gisulf I, duke of Friuli, is defeated and replaced by his son Gisulf II.

title: 590

date: September 5

text: September 5 – Authari, king of the Lombards

title: 590

text: Agilulf, cousin of Authari (called "the Thuringian"), is raised on the shield (a ceremonial investment) by Lombard warriors in Milan. He becomes king of the Lombards, on advice of the Lombard dukes (dux). Agilulf marries widowed queen Theodelinda and is baptized to please her.

title: 591

text: Gundeberga, queen of the Lombards

title: 591

text: The Lombards sack the town of Terracina (Central Italy). After they conquer more cities, Terracina remains an important military stronghold of the Byzantine Empire.

title: 595

text: Maurice makes peace with King Agilulf, conceding northern Italy. Pope Gregory I the Great negotiates a truce, ending 30 years of Lombard terror. Agilulf expands the Lombard Kingdom by occupying Sutri and Perugia.

title: 598

text: Callinicus breaks the truce by kidnapping the Lombard daughter of King Agilulf, beginning a war with the Exarchate of Ravenna (approximate date).

title: 599

text: King Agilulf of the Lombards and Queen Theodelinda build a palace complex at Monza, northeast of Milan.

title: 600

text: The Lombards under King Agilulf expand into Northern Italy, establishing a settlement with the Franks and maintaining intermittent relationships with Rome.

title: 601

text: Emperor Maurice succeeds in winning over the Avars to Byzantine rule, but his campaigns against the Avars, Lombards, Persians and Slavs drain the imperial treasury, requiring an increase in taxes. He orders the troops to stay for winter beyond the Danube, but a mutiny breaks out under Phocas. He brings the Byzantine forces back over the Danube and marches on to Constantinople.

title: 602

text: Adaloald, king of the Lombards (d. 626)

title: 602

text: King Agilulf besieges Cremona, and with the assistance of the Slavs the city is destroyed. He captures Padua and Mantua (Northern Italy); its territory is divided between the Lombard duchies of Brescia and Bergamo.

title: 603

text: Emperor Phocas recognizes Agilulf as king of the Lombards, and signs a peace treaty. He pays a tribute and cedes Orvieto (Central Italy), among other towns. The Byzantine army is withdrawn from the Balkan Peninsula.

title: 605

text: Visigoths, Austrasians, Neustrians and Lombards form an alliance against King Theuderic II of Burgundy, whose grandmother and sister have murdered Theuderic's wife Ermenberga, daughter of Witteric, king of the Visigoths. Fighting takes place around Narbonne, but little is known of the details or outcome (approximate date).

title: 607

text: Adaloald, age 14, succeeds his father Agilulf as Lombard king of Italy. He reigns under his mother Theodelinda as regent. The Lombard Kingdom gradually begins to convert to Catholicism, and establishes peace with the Exarchate of the Byzantine Empire.

title: 616

text: Agilulf, king of the Lombards (approximate date)

title: 616

text: Arioald succeeds his brother-in-law Adaloald as king of the Lombards, and afterwards goes insane. Arioald has his wife locked up in a monastery, accusing her of plotting against him with Grasulf II, duke of Friuli (northern Italy).

title: 626

text: Adaloald, king of the Lombards (approximate date)

title: 626

text: Theodelinda, queen of the Lombards

title: 628

text: Rothari (formerly duke of Brescia) marries widowed Queen Gundeberga, and succeeds Arioald as king of the Lombards. During his reign, he puts many insubordinate nobles to death.

title: 636

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: King Rothari of the Lombards issues the Edictum Rothari, which is the first codification of Lombard law (written in Latin). The edict guarantees rights only for Lombard subjects.

title: 643

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: King Rothari dies after a 16-year reign, and is succeeded by his son Rodoald as king of the Lombards.

title: 652

text: King Rodoald is murdered after a six-month reign, and is succeeded by Aripert I, who is elected as king of the Lombards. He spreads Catholicism over the Lombard realm and builds many new churches through the kingdom.

title: 653

text: Ansprand, king of the Lombards (approximate date)

title: 657

text: Perctarit and Godepert become co-rulers of the Lombards, following the death of their father Aripert I. They split the kingdom, and establish their capitals in Milan and Pavia (northern Italy).

title: 661

text: Aripert I, king of the Lombards

title: 661

text: Godepert, king of the Lombards

title: 662

text: May 8 – Battle of Forino: The Byzantine army, led by Constans II, is defeated by the Lombards under Romuald I. He seizes Taranto and Brindisi, receiving military aid from the Bulgar Alcek horde, who are settled in the area of Ravenna.

title: 663

text: The Lombards, under King Grimoald I, destroy Oderzo (Northern Italy). Much of its population flees to the nearby city of Heraclea.

title: 667

text: Grimoald I, king of the Lombards

title: 671

text: Summer – Siege of Constantinople: Caliph Muawiyah I sends his son Yazid with Muslim reinforcements to Constantinople. At the same time, the Byzantines have to face a Slavic attack on Thessaloniki and Lombard attacks in Italy.

title: 676

text: Wechtar, Lombard duke of Friuli

title: 678

text: King Perctarit of the Lombards is assassinated by a conspiracy, after a 17-year reign. He is succeeded by his son Cunipert, who is crowned ruler of the Lombard Kingdom in Italy.

title: 688

text: Perctarit, king of the Lombards

title: 688

text: Battle of Coronate: The Lombards under King Cunipert defeat the army of Duke Alahis, at the River Adda (Lombardy). He executes the rebel leaders; Alahis is captured and his head and legs are cut off. The southern Lombard duchies take advantage of Cunipert's distraction, and extend their territories.

title: 689

text: Alahis, king (usurper) of the Lombards

title: 689

text: Cunipert, king of the Lombards

title: 700

text: Raginpert dies, and King Liutpert (succeeded and deposed in 700) returns to the throne of the Lombards. Raginpert's son Aripert captures Liutpert at his capital in Pavia, and will have him strangled in his bath. Aripert becomes new ruler of the Lombard Kingdom in Italy.

title: 701

text: Liutpert, king of the Lombards

title: 702

text: Faroald II, duke of Spoleto, attacks the Exarchate of Ravenna in Italy, after the death of his father Thrasimund I. King Aripert II of the Lombards, desiring good relations with the Byzantine Empire and papacy, refuses to assist him.

title: 703

text: Duke Corvulus of Friuli is arrested by King Aripert II of the Lombards, and has his eyes gouged out. He is replaced by Pemmo, who begins a war against the Slavs of Carinthia (modern Austria).

title: 706

text: Aripert II, king of the Lombards (or 712)

title: AD 711

text: Ansprand, king of the Lombards

title: 712

text: February – King Ansprand dies, and is succeeded by his son Liutprand as ruler of the Lombards. During his reign, Liutprand becomes the greatest of the Lombard Kings. Coins and documents from his court at Pavia confirm the impression of a strong and effective monarch.

title: 712

text: King Liutprand of the Lombards builds a close alliance with Charles Martel, and attacks the Bavarian castles on the River Adige, maintaining strategic control of the Alpine passes in the Italian Alps (approximate date).

title: 718

text: King Liutprand puts Corsica, nominally under Byzantine authority, under Lombard government, defending it from Muslim raids (approximate date).

title: 725

text: King Liutprand of the Lombards occupies all of the Exarchate of Ravenna. He advances towards Rome along the Via Cassia, and is met at the city of Sutri by Pope Gregory II, near the borders of the Duchy of Rome. Liutprand signs the Donation of Sutri, by which parts of Latium are given to the papacy (the first extension of papal territory in Italy). This marks the historical foundation of the Papal States.

title: 728

text: Duke Audelais of Benevento and his minor son Gisulf are deposed by King Liutprand of the Lombards. He is succeeded by Gregory, who becomes ruler of Benevento.

title: 733

text: King Liutprand of the Lombards raises his nephew Hildeprand to co-kingship, after a serious illness (approximate date).

title: 735

text: Battle of Narbonne: Frankish forces under Charles Martel besiege Narbonne, occupied by a Umayyad garrison, but are unable to retake the fortress city. A Lombard army under King Liutprand crosses the Alps, to aid Charles in expelling the Muslims from Septimania. Meanwhile Maurontus, duke or count of Provence, raises a revolt from his unconquered city of Marseille, and threatens the rear of the Franks.

title: AD 737

text: The Lombards under King Liutprand sack the Exarchate of Ravenna, and threaten Rome. Pope Gregory III asks Charles Martel, Merovingian mayor of the palace, to help fight the Lombards (he also requests assistance in fighting the Byzantines and the Arabs). Liutprand signs a peace accord, and pulls back his forces to Pavia. After the pope's appeal to the Franks, a relationship begins that will continue as the Frankish Kingdom gains power.

title: 739

text: December – King Liutprand of the Lombards attempts to counter the growing independence of the Lombard duchies in southern Italy.

title: 740

text: King Liutprand of the Lombards meets Pope Zachary at Terni (Central Italy), who appeals to the king's religious faith. Liutprand is a pious Catholic and signs a 20-year peace treaty, restoring the cities of the Duchy of Rome which he has captured. The independent Lombard duchies of Spoleto and Benevento absorb into the Lombard Kingdom.

title: 742

text: Hildeprand, king of the Lombards

title: 744

text: February – King Liutprand of the Lombards dies of natural causes after a 32-year reign, in which he has defeated the dukes of Spoleto and Benevento, bringing the Lombard Kingdom to the height of her power. He is succeeded by Hildeprand, called "the Useless" (nephew or grandson of Liutprand), as ruler of the Lombards.

title: 744

text: October – Hildeprand is deposed by the council of nobles, for his incompetence as ruler. He is succeeded by Ratchis (formerly duke of Friuli) as king of the Lombards, who makes peace with Pope Zachary.

title: 744

text: King Aistulf of the Lombards again threatens Rome with a view to making it his capital, but the Franks under Pepin III ("the Short") arrives with his sons Charles and Carloman, defeats Aistulf, and confers the Donation of Pepin, which establishes the Papal States (including the lands of Ravenna and the Pentapolis). Pepin has taken territory that legally belongs to the Byzantine Empire; he gives it to Pope Stephen II.

title: 756

text: Aistulf, duke of Friuli and king of the Lombards

title: 756

text: April 26 – Pope Stephen II dies at Rome after a 5-year reign, in which he has freed the papacy from Byzantine rule. Stephen allies with Pepin III against the Lombards, and becomes the first temporal sovereign of the Papal States. He is succeeded by his brother Paul I, as the 93rd pope of the Catholic Church.

title: AD 757

text: Summer – Duke Liutprand of Benevento attains majority, and rebels against Lombard rule. King Desiderius defeats him, and grants his duchy to Arechis II (son of Liutprand). He marries Adelperga, daughter of Desiderius, and establishes friendly (but largely independent) relations with the Lombard Kingdom.

title: 758

text: The Church of Santa Sophia is founded by the Lombard duke Arechis II in Benevento (approximate date).

title: 760

text: August – Byzantine troops invade the Papal States, in alliance with King Desiderius of the Lombards. King Pepin III ("the Short") intervenes, and begins negotiations between the Lombards and Pope Paul I. Desiderius promises to end the hostilities, but on condition that Pepin sends back Lombard hostages held by the Franks.

title: 763

text: August 7 – Pope Stephen III succeeds Paul I as the 94th pope of the Catholic Church. The antipope Constantine II is overthrown at Rome, through intervention by King Desiderius of the Lombards, after a brief reign (see 767).

title: 768

text: King Charlemagne signs a peace treaty with Duke Tassilo III of Bavaria, and marries the Lombard princess Desiderata (daughter of King Desiderius). He travels to the Lombard court at Pavia to conclude arrangements. Pope Stephen III opposes the marriage, and protests about a Frankish-Lombard alliance.

title: 770

text: December 4 – King Carloman I, youngest son of Pepin III ("the Short"), dies (of a severe nosebleed, according to one source) at the Villa of Samoussy, leaving his brother Charlemagne sole ruler of the now reunified Frankish Kingdom. Gerberga, the widow of Carloman, flees with her two sons to the court of King Desiderius of the Lombards, at Pavia.

title: 771

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

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: June – King Desiderius surrenders the independence of the Lombards to the Franks, and is exiled to Corbie Abbey (Picardy). Charlemagne annexes northern Italy as a sub-kingdom, and takes the title of Rex Langobardorum. Some Lombards flee south to Benevento, which remains independent; Duke Arechis II retitles himself "Prince of Benevento".

title: 774

text: A Frankish army (supported by Burgundians, Bavarians, Bretons, Lombards, and Visigoths) under King Charlemagne invades Al-Andalus (modern Spain), and conquers the cities of Pamplona and Barcelona. However, the Franks are halted at Zaragoza, in the thughur or frontier zone of the Emirate of Córdoba.

title: 778

text: Desiderius, king of the Lombards (approximate date)

title: 786

text: Byzantine troops led by Adalgis, son of former Lombard king Desiderius, invade southern Italy. His attempts are thwarted by the Franks, who attack territories in Benevento, obtaining notably the annexion of Chieti (Spoleto).

title: 788

text: Adalgis, king and co-regent of the Lombards

title: 788

text: The Avars, a pagan Asian nomadic horde that has settled down in what is today Hungary, invade Friuli and Bavaria. King Charlemagne assembles a Frankish army, and marches down the Danube River to ravage Avar territory. A Frankish-Lombard expeditionary force, under his son Pepin, (king of the Lombards) invades the Drava Valley and devastates Pannonia.

title: 791

text: King Charlemagne orders a 3 kilometre long channel dug from Treuchtlingen to Weißenburg (the Rhine and Danube river basins), to improve the transportation of goods between the Rhineland and Bavaria. Charlemagne's son, Pepin of Italy, campaigns against the Lombards in Benevento (Southern Italy).

title: 793

text: Bernard of Italy, king of the Lombards (d. 818)

title: 797

text: April 17 – Bernard of Italy, king of the Lombards (b. 797)

title: 818

text: February 2 – Franco-Lombard forces, aided by a Croatian fleet (of Sclaveni), led by Emperor Louis II, capture Bari, capital of the Emirate of Bari in Southern Italy.

title: 871

text: Spring – Atenulf I, Lombard prince of Capua, conquers the Duchy of Benevento. He deposes Duke Radelchis II and unites the two southern Lombard duchies in Mezzogiorno (Southern Italy). The Byzantines offer a strategic alliance to Atenulf who directs a campaign against the Saracens. They establish themselves on the banks of the Garigliano River. From here, Arab warbands launch frequent raids in Campania.

title: 900

text: The Lombard army under Adalbert II refuses to fight Otto I unless Berengar II abdicates in favor of Adalbert. Berengar refuses, and the armies retreat to their strongholds. Berengar and his family take whatever loyal soldiers remain and disperse themselves – Berengar retreats to the fortress at Montefeltro (in the Pentapolis).

title: 961

text: Pandulf I (Ironhead), a Lombard prince, annexes the Principality of Salerno into his domains. For the first time, the Lombard duchies of Benevento, Capua, Salerno and Spoleto-Camerino are united under one ruler.

title: 978

text: Summer – Melus of Bari, a Lombard nobleman, revolts and is supported by Norman mercenaries at Capua. He marches into Apulia to catch the Byzantine army off-guard. Melus defeats the Byzantines on the banks of the Fortore River and ravages the territory in Apulia.

title: 1017

text: October – Battle of Cannae: The Lombard adventurer Melus of Bari and his Norman mercenaries are decisively defeated by the Byzantine army, led by the Catepan Basil Boioannes.

title: 1018

text: November – Emperor Henry II conducts his fourth Italian military campaign. He crosses the Brenner Pass with a 60,000-strong army, and reaches Verona, where he receives Lombard levies. Henry proceeds to Mantua and then into Ravenna, to spend Christmas there.

title: 1021

text: Summer – Outbreak of the plague among the German troops forces Henry II to abandon his campaign in Italy. He reimposes his suzerainty on the Lombard principalities.

title: 1022

text: Spring – King Conrad II, "the Elder", assembles an army of thousands of armored knights for an expedition into Italy. He besieges Pavia and marches to Milan, where he is crowned with the Iron Crown by Archbishop Aribert as king of the Lombards. Duke William V ("the Great") of Aquitaine, who is already en route for Italy, decides to renounce his claim to the Lombard throne and turns back.

title: 1026

text: April 22 – Battle of Gamenario: The Lombards defeat the Angevins in the northwest region of present-day Italy, just southeast of Turin.

title: 1345


slug: lombardy

label: Lombardy

description: administrative region in Northern Italy

text: Battle of Pavia: The Roman army pursues the Alamanni in Lombardy. Aurelian closes the passes in the Alps and encircles the invaders near Pavia. The Alamanni are destroyed and Aurelian receives the title Germanicus Maximus.

title: 271

date: August 7

text: August 7 – Majorian, having been beaten and tortured for five days, is beheaded near the Iria River (Lombardy).

title: 461

text: Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius, Roman philosopher, is arrested on charges of having conspired against Theodoric the Great. He is imprisoned at Pavia (Lombardy).

title: 522

text: The Byzantines abandon present-day Lombardy and Tuscany, to establish a frontier march in the hills south of Ravenna (still known as Le Marche). Bavarians, Sarmatians, Saxons and Taifali, join the invasion en route. As they advance, the vacuum left behind them on the Balkan Peninsula is filled by Avars, Bulgars and Slavs.

title: 568

text: Alahis, duke of Brescia, starts a civil war in Northern Italy. He besieges Cunipert on an island in Lake Como (Lombardy), who breaks out with Piedmontese troops.

title: 688

text: Battle of Coronate: The Lombards under King Cunipert defeat the army of Duke Alahis, at the River Adda (Lombardy). He executes the rebel leaders; Alahis is captured and his head and legs are cut off. The southern Lombard duchies take advantage of Cunipert's distraction, and extend their territories.

title: 689

date: July

text: July – Stephen II anoints Pepin's sons, Charles (later known as Charlemagne) and Carloman, consecrating them as patricians. At Quierzy he proclaims the Carolingian dynasty holy, and appeals for help against the Lombards. Finally, the Frankish nobles give their consent to a campaign in Lombardy.

title: 754

text: Charlemagne defines the Papal territory (see Papal States). He codifies the regions over which the pope would be temporal sovereign: the Duchy of Rome is expanded by Ravenna, the Duchy of the Pentapolis, parts of the Duchy of Benevento, Tuscany, Corsica and Lombardy.

title: 781

text: Jewish merchants in Lombardy open the first bank (or money repository) in Italy (approximate date).

title: AD 808

section: Events › By topic › Finance

date: June 15

text: June 15 – Louis II, eldest son of Emperor Lothair I, is crowned king at Rome by Pope Sergius II, and becomes co-ruler of Middle Francia, and over Lombardy, Friuli, and Tuscany in Italy.

title: 844

date: July 8

text: July 8 – Pope Adrian III dies after a 1½ reign near Modena (Lombardy), while en route to an Imperial Diet, summoned by Charles the Fat at Worms. He is succeeded by Stephen V, as the 110th pope of the Catholic Church.

title: 885

date: December 26

text: December 26 – In an assembly at Pavia (Northern Italy), the lords of Lombardia elect Berengar I, a grandson of former emperor Louis the Pious (through his daughter Gisela), as king of Italy. He is crowned with the Iron Crown of Lombardy. After the deposition of Charles the Fat, the nobility chooses Ranulf II as duke (or 'king') of Aquitaine.

title: 887

text: Guy III, duke of Spoleto, defeats the Lombard king Berengar I at the Trebbia River, and is acclaimed as king of Italy at an assembly in Pavia. After confirming some privileges to the Catholic Church, he is crowned with the Iron Crown of Lombardy, by Pope Stephen V. Berengar is forced to retreat to Verona; Guy does not pursue him into Friuli, because of the (possible) wrath of King Arnulf of Carinthia.

title: 889

date: February 21

text: February 21 – Guy III, duke of Spoleto, is crowned Holy Roman Emperor by Pope Stephen V. His son Lambert is proclaimed king of Italy, at the capital of Pavia in Lombardy.

title: 891

date: December

text: December – Arnulf of Carinthia invades Italy, at the head of an East Frankish expeditionary army. He arrives in Pavia and reorganizes the Lombard state. Arnulf partitions the northern part of the kingdom: the western half (March of Lombardy) and the eastern half (March of Verona).

title: 895

text: March – King Lambert II proceeds to re-conquer Italy. Heading north, he captures western Lombardy, and decapitates count Maginulf of Milan. In the meantime, the deposed king Berengar I recovers Verona (March of Friuli) from Arnulf's candidate, count Walfred of Verona, who dies in office with "great fidelity to the emperor".

title: 896

text: Summer – Adalbert II, margrave of Tuscany, revolts (pushed by his wife Bertha) against his cousin, Emperor Lambert II. The Tuscan army proceeds against the Lombard capital of Pavia. Lambert with his forces at Marengo defeats Adalbert at Borgo San Donnino, taking him, as a prisoner, to Pavia.

title: 898

date: October 12

text: October 12 – Following Magyars raids in Lombardy, king Louis III ("the Blind") is called to Italy by the grandees. He takes Pavia, forcing king Berengar I to flee, and replaces him as King of Italy.

title: 900

text: Spring – Hugh of Provence, king of Italy, launches an expedition to Rome to remove the Roman ruler (princeps) Alberic II and avenge his humiliation (see 932). It fails, however, as Roman civic militias repel the Lombard army. Hugh ravages the Italian countryside, before he withdraws to Pavia.

title: 933

text: Summer – Hugh of Provence, king of Italy, dispatches his son and co-ruler Lothair II with a third expedition to Rome to dislodge Alberic II. Assault after assault is repulsed by the Roman civic militia. At length, weakened by an epidemic, the Lombard nobles press on Hugh to accept a peace treaty mediated by Odo of Cluny.

title: 936

text: A Hungarian army invades Burgundy, and burns the city of Tournus. Then they go southwards to Italy, pillaging the environs of Naples, Benevento and Monte Cassino. When the Hungarians return home, they are attacked in the Apennine Mountains by Lombard forces, losing their plunder (approximate date).

title: 937

text: Summer – The Hungarian army invades Northern Italy with the permission of King Hugh of Arles. They cross the Apennines, and sack the Lombard lands in Tuscany, Lazio and Campania. Finally, the Hungarians are defeated at Wolfenbüttel by a Saxon army.

title: 938

text: Spring – Berengar of Ivrea invades Italy with hired Lombard troops and takes up residence in Milan. Berengar proceeds to Verona, where he is joined by forces of Count Milo and other partisans.

title: 945

text: Berengar of Ivrea dispatches a Lombard army under his son Adalbert II to counter Liudolf, while he guards Pavia himself. In two battles Liudolf defeats the Lombard forces and enters Pavia, there to receive the homage of the Italian nobles and clergy on behalf of Otto I.

title: 956

text: King Berengar II invades the March of Verona, which is under control of the dukes of Bavaria, and lay siege to Count Adalbert Atto at Canossa Castle (northern Italy). Berengar sends a Lombard expeditionary force under his son Guy of Ivrea against Theobald II, duke of Spoleto. He captures Spoleto and Camerino.

title: 958

text: June/July – Adalbert II, co-ruler and the son of King Berengar II, with the support of Duke Hugh of Tuscany, invades the Papal States under Pope John XII. With Lombard forces closing in on Rome, a papal delegation is sent to King Otto I (the Great) to appeal for assistance.

title: 960

text: Otto I proceeds to lay siege to Lake Garda, where the sons of Berengar II, Guy of Ivrea and Adalbert II (co-ruler of Italy), and their supporters are holed up. Finding severe resistance, Otto gives up the enterprise and returns to Pavia, the capital of Lombardy.

title: 962

text: Fall – Otto the Great, Holy Roman Emperor, departs for a third expedition in Italy and fights in Lombardy against the partisans under Adalbert II of Ivrea. In November an imperial counter-coup in Rome takes control of Castel Sant'Angelo.

title: 966

section: Events › Europe

text: Otto I goes on a tour of the Lombard duchies of southern Italy. In Capua he grants Pandulf I (Ironhead) the vacant Duchy of Spoleto and Camerino and charges him with prosecuting the war against the Byzantine Empire. In Benevento, Otto receives the homage of Pandulf's brother and co-ruler Landulf III. In Salerno he receives also the support of Gisulf I.

title: 967

text: Spring – Emperor Otto I (the Great) travels to Capua to meet there with ambassadors of Nikephoros II, who again reiterate their friendship, but refuse to consent to his dowry demands (see 967). Otto invades the Byzantine Theme of Langobardia with a Lombard expeditionary force. With the assistance of Benevento-Capua and naval support from Pisa, Otto attempts to take Bari by assault, but Byzantine resistance is stiff, and Otto withdraws back to Ravenna.

title: 968

date: February 15

text: February 15 – At an assembly at Pavia of Lombard nobles and secondi milites (the minor nobles), Arduin of Ivrea (grandson of former King Berengar II) is restored to his domains and crowned as King of Italy in the Basilica of San Michele Maggiore. Arduin is supported by Arnulf II, archbishop of Milan.

title: 1002

text: Spring – King Henry II crosses with an expeditionary force through the Brenner Pass to Trento. After initial military successes against Arduin of Ivrea, he receives the homage of the Italian clergy and Lombard noble families.

title: 1004

date: June 11

text: June 11 – Lombard Revolt: Mahmoud the Fat of Bari rises up against the Lombard rebels, led by Melus, and delivers the city to Basil Mesardonites, Byzantine governor (catepan) of the Catepanate of Italy. Melus is forced to flee to Salerno, and his brother-in-law Dattus escapes to Monte Cassino, but their families are taken captive, and carted off to Constantinople.

title: 1011

date: May 28

text: May 28 – Conrad II decrees the Constitutio de Feudis which protects the rights of the valvassores (knights and burghers of the cities) in Lombardia (modern Italy).

title: 1037

text: The consuls of Bergamo are first mentioned, indicating that the city has become an independent commune in Lombardy (Northern Italy).

title: 1108

date: July 24

text: July 24 – Matilda, margravine of Tuscany, dies at Bondeno. During her reign she waged an intermittent war with Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor, over the inheritance rights of her fiefs in Lombardy and Tuscany.

title: 1115

date: June 29

text: June 29 – Conrad III, anti-king of Germany, is crowned "King of Italy" by Archbishop Anselmo della Pusterla at Monza in Lombardy.

title: 1128

text: Spring – Arnold of Brescia, an Italian priest from Lombardy, turns Rome into a republic with a government patterned on that of the Roman Republic. Arnold becomes the intellectual leader of the Commune of Rome, calling for liberties and democratic rights after the deposition of Giordano Pierleoni.

title: 1145

text: Autumn – King Frederick Barbarossa, Holy Roman Emperor, leads an expedition into Italy for his imperial coronation. He wants to impose his will upon the towns and cities of Lombardy, a region long accustomed to interference from Germany. Frederick encounters stiff resistance to his authority, the Lombard nobles are unwilling to acknowledge his rule and the rights to raise taxes.

title: 1154

date: January 11

text: January 11 – Vladislav II becomes king of Bohemia. He is crowned by Frederick Barbarossa, Holy Roman Emperor, with a diadem (called by the chroniclers a diadema or circulus). Vladislaus is also invested with Upper Lusatia, and accompanies Frederick to Milan to suppress the rebellion in Lombardy (northern Italy).

title: 1158

date: May

text: May – The First Parliament of Ravennika, convened by Emperor Henry of Flanders, is held in the town of Ravennika in Greece, in an attempt to resolve the rebellion of the Lombard nobles of the Kingdom of Thessalonica. Henry pardons Lord Amédée Pofey (or Buffois), and reinvests with his fief, while the other nobles persist in their rebellion and keep to their castles. After receiving imperial recognition, Geoffrey I of Villehardouin becomes Henry's vassal, thereby subordinating Achaea directly to Constantinople.

title: 1209

text: Autumn – Frederick II appoints Marshal Richard Filangieri as his imperial legate, and sends an expeditionary army of mostly Lombards for the defense of Jerusalem. He gathers some 600 knights, 100 "sergeants-at-arms", 700 armed infantrymen, and 3,000 marines. The army is supported by 32 war-galleys.

title: 1231

text: March 20 – Gregory IX renews the excommunication of Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor, while he is at his court in Padua. Frederick responds by expelling the Franciscans and Dominicans from Lombardy.

title: 1239

text: January 6 – Henry VII, the future Holy Roman Emperor, is crowned King of Italy in Milan with a mock-up of the Iron crown of Lombardy. The Tuscan Guelphs refuse to attend the ceremony and begin preparing for resistance against Henry's rule. Henry approves the despotic regimes of Matteo I Visconti in Milan and Cangrande I della Scala in Verona. The cities of Piedmont and Lombardy submit to Henry – in accordance with the proclaimed program of peace and justice. Florence and their Guelph (anti-imperialist) allies in Tuscany and Romagna move to defend themselves against Henry's accession.

title: 1311

text: July 11 – Austro-Sardinian War – By the preliminary treaty signed at Villafranca, Italy, Lombardy is ceded to the French (who immediately cede it to Sardinia), while the Austrians keep Venetia, and the French promise to restore the Central Italian rulers expelled in the course of the war. This brings the Austro-Sardinian War effectively to a close.

title: 1859

text: February 6 – Livraga derailment: A Frecciarossa high-speed train traveling from Milan to Salerno derailed in Livraga, Lombardy, Italy. Two people were killed, and 31 were injured.

title: 2020


slug: london-bridge

label: London Bridge

description: road bridge across River Thames in London, opened in 1973

year_label: 50 CE

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

title: 50s

section: Events › 50 AD › Britain

year_label: 60 CE

section: Conflict & Security

text: Boudica leads a rebellion of the Iceni against Roman rule in alliance with the Trinovantes, Cornovii, Durotriges and Celtic Britons. The Iceni and Trinovantes first destroy the Roman capital Camulodunum (Colchester), wipe out the infantry of the Legio IX Hispana (commanded by Quintus Petillius Cerialis) and go on to burn Londinium (London) (probably destroying London Bridge) and Verulamium (St Albans), in all cases massacring the inhabitants by the thousands.

title: AD 60

year_label: 61 CE

text: Boudica leads a rebellion of the Iceni against Roman rule in alliance with the Trinovantes, Cornovii, Durotriges and Celtic Britons. The Iceni and Trinovantes first destroy the Roman capital Camulodunum (Colchester), wipe out the infantry of the Legio IX Hispana (commanded by Quintus Petillius Cerialis) and go on to burn Londinium (London) (probably destroying London Bridge) and Verulamium (St Albans), in all cases massacring the inhabitants in their thousands.

title: AD 61

text: King Alfred the Great of Wessex recaptures London from the Danish Vikings, and renames it Lundenburh. Slightly upstream from London Bridge, he builds a small harbor called Queenhithe. Alfred hands the town over to his son-in-law Æthelred, lord of Mercia. A street system is planned out in the town, with boundaries of 1,100 yards from east to west, and around 330 yards from north to south.

title: 886

section: Events › By place › Britain

section: Climate & Environment

date: October 17

text: October 17 – London tornado: A T8 tornado (roughly equal to an F4 on the Fujita scale) occurs in London. The wooden London Bridge is demolished and the church of St. Mary-le-Bow is badly damaged.

title: 1091

section: Events › By topic › Disasters

text: London Bridge is completed by a stone-arched structure. On the bridge are houses built; this is for paying the maintenance, though it has to be supplemented by other rents and by tolls.

title: 1209

date: July 10

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

title: 1212

section: Events › By place › England

text: May – Simon de Montfort marches on London but the drawbridge on London Bridge has been raised by the Lord Mayor. Simon has the support of the Londoners, who manage to lower the bridge allowing him into the city. Henry III is forced to pardon the rebel nobles and reinstates the Provisions of Oxford. With Henry's power diminished, Simon announces that all debts owed to the Jews would be canceled.

title: 1264

section: Events › By place › British Isles

date: August 23

text: August 23 – After a three-week trial at Westminster, William Wallace is convicted of treason and of atrocities against civilians in war. After the trial, he is dragged through the streets of Smithfield in London and hanged, drawn and quartered – strangled by hanging – but cut down while still alive, emasculated, disemboweled (with his bowels burned before him), beheaded, and then cut into four parts. Wallace's head is placed on a spike above the London Bridge, and his limbs are displayed separately, in Newcastle, Berwick, Stirling, and Perth.

title: 1305

section: Events › July – September

date: February 13

text: February 13 – Fire engines are used for the first time in England in order to control and extinguish a fire that breaks out at London Bridge, but not before 43 houses are destroyed.

title: 1633

section: Events › January–March

date: September 2

text: September 2 – The Great Fire of London begins as a blaze in a bakery owned by Thomas Farriner on Pudding Lane, near London Bridge. Over a period of four days, the fire destroys more than 13,000 buildings (including Old St Paul's Cathedral), but only six people are known to have died, while at least 80,000 are left destitute and homeless. The events are recorded by Samuel Pepys in his diary. The resurveying of property is credited with advancing both cartography and the practices of surveying, as well as resulting in the modern definition by John Ogilby of the statute mile, as 1,760 yards.

title: 1666

section: Events › July–September

date: November 29

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

title: 1729

section: Events › October–December

date: April 18

text: April 18 – London Bridge is sold to U.S. entrepreneur Robert P. McCulloch for reconstruction at Lake Havasu City, Arizona.

title: 1968

section: Events › March–April


slug: london

label: London

description: capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom

section: Culture & Society

text: c. 1400 BC – 1350 BC – Garden of Nebamum (Pond in a Garden) wall painting from the tomb of Nebamum, Thebes. Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt. It is now kept in The British Museum, London.

title: 1400s BC (decade)

section: Events and trends

year_label: 647 BCE

text: Ashurbanipal and his Queen in the Garden, from the palace at Nineveh (modern Kuyunjik, Iraq), is made. It is now at the British Museum, London.

title: 647 BC

section: Events › Middle East

year_label: 600 BCE

text: Pitcher (container) (olpe), from Corinth, is made. It is now at The British Museum, London. (approximate date)

title: 600 BC

section: Events › By topic › Art and architecture

year_label: 400 BCE

section: Exploration & Expansion

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

title: 400 BC

section: Events › By place

year_label: 350 BCE

text: The building of the Mausoleum in Halicarnassus (modern Bodrum in Turkey) is completed (approximate date). It is the grave of the Persian satrap and Carian ruler Mausolos and is built under the direction of his wife Artemisia. The mausoleum, which is considered to be one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, is today partly preserved at the British Museum in London.

title: 350 BC

section: Events › By topic › Art

year_label: 306 BCE

text: A four-drachma coin, picturing Alexander the Great, is issued by Lysimachos from this time until 281 BC. At least one of them is now preserved at the British Museum in London.

title: 306 BC

section: Events › By place › Thrace

text: In Britain, governor Publius Ostorius Scapula begins his campaign against the recalcitrant Silures of south Wales, who are led by the former Catuvellaunian prince Caratacus. London (Londinium), Exeter (Isca Dumnoniorum), Tripontium (near modern Rugby) and the fort of Manduessedum (near modern Atherstone) are founded (approximate date).

title: 50s

text: Britain is divided: in the north, Lower Britain (Britannia Inferior) is administered from the fortress at Eburacum (modern York), and in the south, Upper Britain (Britannia Superior) is controlled by the legions at Deva Victrix (Chester) and Isca Augusta (Caerleon) with its capital at Londinium (London).

title: 208

section: Events › By place › Roman Empire

text: The making of a detail of Admonitions of the Imperial Instructress to Court Ladies (attributed to Gu Kaizhi and being from the Six Dynasties period) begins (approximate year) and is completed in 406. It is now kept at the British Museum, London.

title: 344

text: 361–363 – A Julian the Apostate coin is issued. It is now kept at the British Museum, London.

title: 361

text: C. 390–401 – Priestess of Bacchus: Late Antiquity ivory diptych; documents the relationship of the senators Quintus Aurelius Symmachus and Virius Nicomachus Flavianus. It commemorates the marriage of the two families. The right panel is inscribed "Symmachorum", with an elaborately dressed priestess who makes an offer on an altar. It is now kept at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

title: 390

section: Religion & Belief

text: Mellitus, bishop of London, is exiled by Sexred and his pagan brothers (Sæward and Sigeberht). He is forced to take refuge in Gaul, and returns to England the following year.

title: 616

text: Earconwald, Anglo-Saxon abbot, establishes the Benedictine abbeys, Chertsey Abbey (Surrey) for men and Barking Abbey (now in east London) for women.

title: AD 666

section: Events › By place › Religion

date: April 1

text: April 1 – King Hlothhere of Kent re-establishes Kentish supremacy in London.

title: 675

text: King Æthelred of Mercia invades Kent, in an attempt to enforce overlordship and diminish Kentish influence in Surrey and London. His armies destroy the Diocese of Rochester (seat of the bishops in West Kent), and ravage the surrounding countryside.

title: 676

section: Deaths

text: Prince Æthelbald returns from Crowland Fens to Mercia, and seizes the throne after the death of his cousin King Ceolred, who had driven him into exile (see 709). He gains hegemony over London, Essex, and all of the English Midlands. By 731, Æthelbald will have subjugated all provinces south of the Humber River under his overlordship.

title: 716

section: Events › Byzantine Empire › Britain

text: Battle of Bensington: King Offa of Mercia defeats his rival Cynewulf of Wessex at Bensington (modern-day Oxfordshire). He seizes control of Berkshire, and probably London as well. According to sources of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle Offa becomes "King of All England". Charlemagne writes a letter to him as "his dearest brother", but when Offa refuses to let one of Charlemagne's sons marry one of his daughters, Charlemagne threatens to close the ports to English traders.

title: 779

text: The city of Aldwych rises as an important trading centre in London, under Mercian control. King Offa of Mercia possibly establishes a royal palace at Aldermanbury, on the site of the old Roman Cripplegate fort and amphitheatre (approximate date).

title: 780

text: Archbishop Hygeberht of Lichfield retires; he is succeeded by Ealdwulf. King Coenwulf of Mercia is on better terms with the archbishopric of Canterbury than his predecessor, and unsuccessfully attempts to have the Mercian archiepiscopal see transferred to London (approximate date).

title: 800

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

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

title: 871

section: Events › By place › Europe

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

title: 879

section: Technology & Infrastructure

title: 886

text: Lord Æthelred of Mercia dies. He is buried in St. Oswald's Priory at Gloucester and is succeeded by his wife, Princess Æthelflæd, as Lady of the Mercians. Her brother, King Edward the Elder, insists on taking control of London and Oxford.

title: AD 911

section: Disasters & Accidents

text: A great storm sweeps across Wessex and many houses are destroyed, 1,500 in London alone (a significant proportion of the town).

title: 944

text: St. Paul's Cathedral in London is destroyed by fire, but rebuilt in the same year.

title: 962

text: A Danish Viking fleet, under Olaf Tryggvason, sails up the Thames Estuary, and besieges London. King Æthelred II (the Unready) pays Olaf 16,000 lbs of silver (Danegeld).

title: 994

text: Summer – Danish Viking raiders led by Sweyn Forkbeard (accompanied by his son Cnut) sail from Denmark to attack England. Again London defends itself and the Vikings move elsewhere, plundering Wessex, Mercia and Northumbria. King Æthelred the Unready sends his sons Edward and Alfred to Normandy. Æthelred retreats to the Isle of Wight and follows them later into exile.

title: 1013

text: Summer – Battle of Brentford (near London): Edmund Ironside defeats the Danes under King Cnut.

title: 1016

section: Science & Discovery

date: January 24

text: January 24 – A solar eclipse is visible from London.

title: 1023

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

title: 1052

date: January 5

text: January 5 – Edward the Confessor dies after a 24-year reign at London. The Witenagemot (or Witan) proclaims Harold Godwinson king of England.

title: 1066

section: Events › Europe › England and Scotland

date: August 14

text: August 14 – A fire destroys much of London.

title: 1077

text: William II calls the representatives of the fyrd to a meeting in London. He promises (with the support of Lanfranc, bishop of Canterbury) the people better laws, and the removal of taxes if they support him against the rebels.

title: 1088

title: 1091

text: William II orders the construction of Westminster Hall near Westminster Abbey in London. The hall is designed to hold banquets, ceremonies and coronations that take place in the Abbey nearby.

title: 1097

date: May 3

text: May 3 – Merton Priory (previously established at Huntingdon) is consecrated at a site near London. The priory becomes an important centre of learning and diplomacy in England.

title: 1117

section: Events › By topic › Education

date: December 26

text: December 26 – Stephen of Blois is crowned at Westminster Abbey in London by Archbishop William de Corbeil. Matilda (pregnant with child) and her husband Geoffrey V ("the Fair") leave for their own safety to Normandy, where she plans how to overthrow Stephen and claim the English throne for her own.

title: 1135

text: Autumn – Geoffrey de Mandeville, 1st Earl of Essex, is mortally wounded by a stray arrow received in a skirmish. Because he is an outlaw, his burial is denied at the monastery he has founded, Walden Abbey. Geoffrey's body is eventually accepted by the Knights Templar community for burial within the Temple Church in London.

title: 1144

section: Crime & Justice

text: Eleanor of Aquitaine is held under house arrest at Old Sarum Castle in Wiltshire. She is kept in comfort there – fine clothes for her are dispatched regularly from London.

title: 1175

text: Evidence is first uncovered that Henry II of England is using the safes of the Temple Church in London (consecrated February 10), under the guard of the Knights Templar, to store part of his treasure.

title: 1185

section: Events › By topic › Markets

text: Spring – Henry II institutes legal reforms that give the Crown more control over the administration of justice. He orders Newgate Prison be built in London.

title: 1188

text: London adopts the Cross of St. George, the red cross on a white background. The flag is also used by the fleet of Genoa, and allows the ships from London to use the flag for protection when they enter the Mediterranean on trading missions.

title: 1190

section: Events › By place › Europe › England

text: Spring – William Fitz Osbert, a rebel leader, leads an uprising of the poor against the rich in London. He gathers over 52,000 supporters, stocks of weapons are cached throughout the city by breaking into the houses of the rich. Finally, the riots are suppressed and William is hanged, drawn and quartered by orders of Hubert Walter, archbishop of Canterbury.

title: 1196

text: May 26 – John returns to London and chooses people to help him to rule the kingdom. He appoints Archbishop Hubert Walter as his advisor and chancellor. Geoffrey Fitz Peter is chosen as Chief Justiciar and William (the Marshal) becomes Marshal of John's household. On May 27, John is crowned as king of England at Westminster Abbey.

title: 1199

text: First evidence that the Temple in London is extending loans to John, King of England. The sums remain small, but are often used for critical operations, such as the ransoming of the king's soldiers captured by the French.

title: 1203

text: William of Wrotham, Lord Warden of the Stannaries, oversees a reform of English currency. In keeping with other high-ranking bureaucrats of his time, this is just one of Wrotham's many offices. He is also "keeper of ports", the forerunner of the First Lord of the Admiralty, supervisor of the mints of Canterbury and London, ward of the vacant Diocese of Bath and Wells and archdeacon of Taunton.

title: 1205

text: Autumn – William Marshal is recalled and humiliated by King John at court in London, while John gives his justiciar in Ireland, Meiler Fitzhenry the order to invade Marshal's lands there, burning the town of New Ross.

title: 1208

text: May 17 – The gates to London are opened by supporters of the rebellious Barons. The houses of Jews are targeted for ransacking and burning. The rebels, under Robert Fitzwalter, call for the English nobles still on the side of King John to join them, and repair the walls. The Tower of London, held by John's supporters, is too well defended to fall into the hands of the rebels.

title: 1215

text: May 21 – Prince Louis of France, son of King Philip II ("Augustus"), invades England in support of the barons, landing in Thanet. He enters London without opposition, and is proclaimed, but not crowned, King of England at Old St Paul's Cathedral. In June, Louis captures Rochester Castle and Winchester, and soon controls over half of the English kingdom.

title: 1216

text: May 20 – Battle of Lincoln: Henry III's forces led by William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke defeat the French army of Prince Louis and the rebel barons who are besieging Lincoln Castle. During the battle, Thomas, Comte du Perche is killed and Louis is expelled from his base in the southeast of England. The looting that takes place afterward is known as the "Lincoln Fair". The citizens of Lincoln are loyal to Louis so Henry's forces sack the city. To the south, inhabitants of towns between Lincoln and London ambush and kill many of the French soldiers.

title: 1217

text: The Domus Conversorum ("House of the Converts"), a building and institution in London for Jewish converts to Christianity, is established by Henry III.

title: 1232

text: The Bethlem Royal Hospital is founded in London during the reign of King Henry III.

title: 1247

text: The consequences of the volcanic 1257 Samalas eruption in Indonesia include the following anecdotal accounts: very dry fog in France; lunar eclipses in England; severe winter in Europe; a harsh spring in Iceland; famine in England, Germany, France and Italy; and pestilence in London, parts of France, Austria, Iraq, Syria, and southeast Turkey.

title: 1258

text: The Savoy Palace is constructed in London by Peter II, Count of Savoy.

title: 1263

text: April – Gilbert de Clare leads a massacre of the Jews at Canterbury, during the outbreak of the Second Barons' War. In the meantime, another of de Montfort's followers, John FitzJohn, leads a massacre against the Jews in London. The Jewish communities of Northampton, Winchester, Cambridge, and Lincoln are looted. The archæ (official chest of records) is destroyed or deposited at the headquarters of de Montfort's supporters at Ely.

title: 1264

text: May 15 – Second Barons' War: Battle of Chesterfield: English forces led by Henry of Almain, son of Richard of Cornwall, defeat rebels under Robert de Ferrers in a minor skirmish at Chesterfield. Robert is taken as a prisoner to London, and at the Parliament of England disinherits. In July, he is forced to surrender land and Liverpool Castle to Edmund Crouchback, second son of King Henry III of England.

title: 1266

text: The Royal Mint is moved into the Tower of London. Mints outside London are reduced, with only a few local and episcopal mints continuing to operate.

title: 1279

text: John Peckham, archbishop of Canterbury, orders all the synagogues of London to close, and forbids Jewish doctors from practicing on non-Jews.

title: 1282

text: December – Edward I travels with the body of Queen Eleanor from Lincoln to London. Remembering his wife, Edward erects a series of crosses at each location that the body rests overnight. These are known as the twelve Eleanor crosses.

title: 1290

text: Winter – Edward I of England accepts a truce proposed by King Philip IV of France ("the Fair") and leaves Flanders. He returns to London and prepares a campaign against William Wallace in Scotland.

title: 1297

text: King Edward I of England is recorded as borrowing from Italian merchants. He obtains a loan of 2,000 pollard marks, from agents of the Frescobaldi Firm in London.

title: 1299

title: 1305

text: August 3 – William Wallace, Scottish rebel leader and knight, is captured near Glasgow at Robroyston, by English troops led by John de Menteith. He is transported to London and led, crowned mockingly with laurel, in procession to Westminster Hall.

title: 1305

text: March 25 – Robert the Bruce is crowned king of Scotland by Bishop William de Lamberton at Scone, near Perth. Despite lacking the traditional coronation stone, diadem and scepter, all of which have transferred to London. During the ceremony, the Scottish nobles of Atholl, Lennox, Mar and Menteith are present – while the 18-year-old Elizabeth de Burgh is crowned queen of Scots. The coronation takes place in defiance of the English claims of suzerainty after King Edward I of England, strips John de Baliol of his crown as King of Scots.

title: 1306

text: July 20 – King Edward II travels from London, after he is proclaimed king and continues north into Scotland, where he receives homage from his Scottish supporters at Dumfries.

title: 1307

text: September 24 – Invasion of England: Isabella of France and her supporters (including Roger Mortimer) land at the River Orwell in Suffolk. Their aim is to remove King Edward II from his throne and place Prince Edward there as the new ruler. Meanwhile, residing at the Tower of London, Edward tries to raise support in the capital, but instead, there is anarchy in London and mobs killing Edward's officials (including his treasurer, Walter de Stapledon).

title: 1326

text: January 25 – The 14-year-old Crown Prince, Edward, is proclaimed King of England in London, with his mother Isabella serving as his regent.

title: 1327

text: By June 24 – The Black Death pandemic reaches England, having probably been brought across the English Channel by fleas on rats aboard a ship from Gascony to the south coast port of Melcombe (modern-day Weymouth, Dorset); by November it will have reached London and by 1350 will have killed one third to a half of its population.

title: 1348

text: May 14 – The two-day Battle of Sluys concludes on the North Sea off of the coast of the Netherlands as England's Royal Navy, led by the Admiral, Thomas Percy, 1st Earl of Worcester attempts to blockade the Flemish port of Sluis and more than 100 ships stationed there. Jean de Vienne, Admiral of France, makes a successful counter-attack and the Royal Navy ships sail back to England to defend London.

title: 1385

text: May 29 – After the Fleet Street riot in London, King Richard II of England summons Lord Mayor of London, John Hende, along with the London sheriff and deputies, and aldermen to appear before him at Nottingham Castle on June 25 for a hearing on unspecified charges.

title: 1392

text: April 3 – King Henry IV of England is married by proxy to Joan of Navarre in a ceremony at the Eltham Palace near London.

title: 1402

text: January 9 – The Oldcastle Revolt, led by John Oldcastle as an uprising by the Lollards in England against King Henry V, begins at St. Giles' Fields. King Henry's troops, stationed at Clerkenwell Priory in London, halt the rebellion the next day and capture 80 rebels who are later convicted of and executed for treason.

title: 1414

text: May 3 – Unable to reach an agreement with France, King Sigismund of Germany travels to London, where he is welcomed by King Henry V of England.

title: 1416

text: October 31 – On Hallowtide, by order of the Lord May Henry Barton, street lighting is first used in London, with lanterns to be hung out on winter evenings, lasting until the night of Candlemas on February 2.

title: 1417

text: February 1 – While negotiating his release from captivity, King James of Scotland is allowed to be married to Joan Beaufort in London, with a ceremony taking place at Southwark Cathedral.

title: 1424

text: June 18 – Battle of Solefields (Sevenoaks): Jack Cade's rebels are driven from London by loyal troops.

title: 1450

text: March 25 – The Loveday is staged in London, by which Henry VI of England attempts to unite the warring factions who have triggered the Wars of the Roses.

title: 1458

text: The Pomander Watch of 1505, the earliest known pocket watch, is made by Peter Henlein in Germany at Nuremberg. After an absence of 480 years, the watch will be rediscovered at a flea market in London; an inscription on the watch, "MDVPHN", will be interpreted in 2014 as meaning a rendition of the year (MDV, 1505 in Roman numerals); the inventor (PH for Peter Henlein) and the place of manufacture (N for Nuremberg).

title: 1505

text: January 29 – The Mary Rose ship is laid out. The next year the ship is launched on July 29, 1511, and is afterwards towed to London to be fitted, and is finally completed in 1512. In 1545, during the Battle of the Solent, she sank. The reason for her sinking is disputed with contemporary accounts claiming the ship was heeled over or sank by French ships with gunfire, although modern historians believe it was sunk due to being unstable.

title: 1510

text: May 9 – Mary of Guise is wed by proxy to King James V of Scotland, while she is at the Château de Châteaudun and he is in London, with neither of the two seeing each other.

title: 1538

text: October 17 – Irish noble James Butler, 9th Earl of Ormond, the chief opponent of the policies of Sir Anthony St Leger, England's Lord Deputy of Ireland up until April 1, is fatally poisoned after being invited to the Ely Palace near London. Ormond dies 11 days later, and no investigation is carried out by the Crown as to whether St Leger is involved. St Leger becomes the Lord Deputy again less than three weeks after Ormond's death.

title: 1546

text: The xiii Bukes of Eneados of the famose Poete Virgill, the first complete translation of any major work of classical antiquity into one of the English languages, is published in London.

title: 1553

text: February 9 – Thomas Wyatt surrenders to government forces in London.

title: 1554

text: June 27 – Thirteen English Protestants (11 men and two women), the "Stratford Martyrs", are burned at the stake at Stratford-le-Bow near London after being convicted of heresy.

title: 1556

text: Welsh-born mathematician Robert Recorde publishes The Whetstone of Witte in London, containing the first recorded use of the equals sign, and the first use in English of plus and minus signs.

title: 1557

text: William Baldwin's Beware the Cat (written early 1553), an early example of extended fiction (specifically horror fiction) in English, is published anonymously in London. This edition appears to have been suppressed, and no copies survive.

title: 1561

text: January 6 – Shane O'Neill of Tír Eoghain pleads his cause at the Palace of Whitehall in London, before Queen Elizabeth I of England, who recognises his status. He returns to Ireland on May 26, and resumes his rebellious activities by November.

title: 1562

text: January 11 (January 2, 1563 O.S., January 11, 1563 N.S.) – The convocation of bishops and clerics of the Church of England is opened at St Paul's Cathedral in London by the Dean of the Arches, Robert Weston to agree upon the wording of what will become the Thirty-nine Articles, with the assembly adopting all but three of the Forty-two Articles promulgated during the reign of King Edward VI in 1553. The conference lasts for three months before agreeing upon the Articles to be submitted for further modification.

title: 1563

text: January 23 – The Royal Exchange opens in London, England.

title: 1571

text: December 21 – The city of London begins publishing the Bill of Mortality, the first regular data of deaths from an epidemic, as the government reports its weekly survey of the number of burials in the 113 parishes of London of deaths from bubonic plague. The death statistics continue to be published until December 18, 1595.

title: 1592

text: May 5 – "Dutch church libel" bills posted in London threaten Protestant refugees from France and the Netherlands, alluding to Christopher Marlowe's plays.

title: 1593

text: December 28 – The earliest known performance of William Shakespeare's play The Comedy of Errors takes place at Gray's Inn in London, and is played by the Lord Chamberlain's Men acting company. The production is held before members of the English court on Innocents' Day as part of the Gray's Inn Christmas festivities.

title: 1594

text: December 9 – What is probably the first performance of William Shakespeare's play, Richard II, takes place in London.

title: 1595

text: December 6 – Queen Elizabeth of England appoints George Nicholson as the English Resident in Scotland, the London's chief diplomatic official to Edinburgh, with a letter of accreditation for Nicholson to present to King James VI of Scotland.

title: 1597

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

title: 1599

text: September 21 – The first reported performance at the Globe Theatre in London (erected over Spring/Summer), a presentation of Shakespeare's Julius Caesar (probably new to that year), is recorded by Swiss traveller Thomas Platter the Younger.

title: 1599

text: February 2 (Candlemas night) – In London, the first known production of William Shakespeare's comedy Twelfth Night takes place.

title: 1602

text: July 16 – The last of the 18 sessions of the English and Spanish peace conference is held at the Old Somerset House in London, with the parties reaching an agreement on terms of a treaty.

title: 1604

text: March 15 – More than seven months after their July 25, 1603 coronation, King James I and Anne, Queen consort make the traditional Royal Entry to London. The ceremonies have been postponed from 1603 because of the ongoing plague.

title: 1604

text: August (approx.) – Possible first performance of William Shakespeare's tragedy Macbeth in London.

title: 1606

text: July 24 – King Christian IV of Denmark, as the guest of his brother-in-law, King James of England, Scotland and Ireland, is welcomed at London, and the two monarchs are driven by coaches to a banquet at Theobalds House at Cheshunt, Hertfordshire. They are entertained by playwright Ben Jonson's play, The Entertainment of the Kings of Great Britain and Denmark.

title: 1606

text: April 20 – William Shakespeare's play, The Tragedie of Macbeth, is given its first performance, staged at the Globe Theatre in London.

title: 1610

text: May 11 – The first known performance of William Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale, probably new this year, is given at the Globe Theatre in London.

title: 1611

text: May 2 – The Authorized King James Version of the Bible is published for the first time, printed by Robert Barker in London.

title: 1611

text: June 29 – Fire destroys London's famed Globe Theatre, during a performance of Shakespeare's Henry VIII.

title: 1613

text: September 29 – The New River is opened, to supply London with drinking water from Hertfordshire.

title: 1613

text: March 4 – On Shrove Tuesday, angry rioters burn down London's Cockpit Theatre because of its increase in the price of admission to its plays. Three rioters are killed when the actors at the theater defend themselves.

title: 1617

text: January 6 – Ben Jonson's play Pleasure Reconciled to Virtue is given its premiere performance, presented at the Palace of Whitehall in London.

title: 1618

text: On the coast of New Hampshire, the settlement of Hilton's Point, which will become Dover, New Hampshire, is established by men from London, England, the first European settlers in the state.

title: 1623

text: August 5 – The New Model Army marches into London, "fulfilling the worst nightmares of Presbyterian MPs," and restores the members of Parliament who were deposed on July 27.

title: 1647

text: December 20 – The Puritan law enforcers of the Commonwealth of England raid the Red Bull Theatre in London for violations of the laws against performance of plays and arrest the actors, as well as confiscating their property.

title: 1649

text: July 4 – Barebone's Parliament, named for a prominent Puritan member, Praise-God Barebone, opens its session in London with elected representatives to pass laws for the Commonwealth of England.

title: 1653

text: February 23 – London's Lord Mayor Christopher Packe suggests to Oliver Cromwell, the Lord Protector and chief executive of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland, that the monarchy should be restored with Cromwell as its King. Cromwell declines to become King Oliver, but his right to name his successor becomes effective on May 25, 1657 with the commencement of the Humble Petition and Advice.

title: 1656

text: January 1 – At daybreak, English Army Colonel George Monck, with two brigades of troops from his Scottish occupational force, fords the River Tweed at Coldstream in Scotland to cross the Anglo-Scottish border at Northumberland, with a mission of advancing toward London to end military rule of England by General John Lambert and to accomplish the English Restoration, the return of the monarchy to England. By the end of the day, he and his soldiers have gone 15 mi through knee-deep snow to Wooler while the advance guard of cavalry had covered 50 mi to reach Morpeth.

title: 1660

text: December 16 – Abraham Cowley's comedy The Cutter of Coleman Street premieres at the Lincoln's Inn Fields Playhouse in London as a production of the Duke's Company.

title: 1661

text: May 7 – The King's Theatre, now called "Drury Lane", opens in London.

title: 1663

text: John Evelyn's Sylva, or A Discourse of Forest-Trees and the Propagation of Timber is published in London, in book form.

title: 1664

text: October 10 – A "day of humiliation and fasting" is held in London churches a month after the Great Fire of London.

title: 1666

text: August 15 – John Dryden's comedy Sir Martin Mar-all, or The Feign'd Innocence is given its first performance, presented by the players of the King's Theatre in London.

title: 1667

text: March 23 – The Bawdy House Riots of 1668 take place in London when a group of English Dissenters begins attacking brothels, initially as a protest against the harsh enforcement of laws against private worshippers and the lack of enforcement of laws against prostitution. Over a period of three days, rioters who join in the violence destroy brothels in the London districts of Poplar, Moorfields, East Smithfield, St Leonard's, Shoreditch, St Andrew's and Holborn.

title: 1668

text: November 9 – The Duke of York's Theatre is opened in London by the players of the Duke's Company, rivals to the "King's Company" at the Theatre Royal, which burns down two months later. The site is now the Dorset Garden Theatre.

title: 1671

text: Richard Hoare becomes a partner in the London goldsmith's business which, as private banking house C. Hoare & Co., will survive through to the 21st century.

title: 1672

text: August 10 – King Charles II of England places the foundation stone of the Royal Greenwich Observatory near London; construction begins.

title: 1675

text: June 21 – Reconstruction of St Paul's Cathedral begins in London under the direction of Christopher Wren, to replace the portion destroyed by the Great Fire of London nine years earlier.

title: 1675

text: October 17 – English magistrate Sir Edmund Berry Godfrey is found murdered in Primrose Hill, London. His death is seen as proof of the "Popish Plot" to the public.

title: 1678

text: November 17 – The Green Ribbon Club, a predecessor of the British Whigs, organizes a procession to burn an effigy of the Pope in London for the second year running.

title: 1680

text: September 29 – The first organised street lighting is introduced by the city of London in England, as Edward Hemming begins carrying out his contract to be paid for lighting an oil lamp "at every tenth house on main streets between 6 PM and midnight between September 29 and March 25" on nights in the autumn and winter without adequate moonlight.

title: 1685

text: November 15 (November 5 OS) – The Glorious Revolution begins: William of Orange lands at Torbay, England with a multinational force of 20,000 soldiers. He makes no claim to the British Crown, saying only that he has come to save Protestantism and to maintain English liberty, and begins a march on London.

title: 1688

text: November 17 – Barclays, which will continue to be active into the 21st century as a multinational bank and lending institution, is founded in London by John Freame and Thomas Gould as Freame & Gould. The bank changes its name in 1736 when James Barclay becomes a partner.

title: 1690

text: November 9 – Near South Mimms, England, several highwaymen stop a convoy carrying taxes from the Midlands to London and take £15,000.

title: 1690

text: October 21 – The play Amphitryon by John Dryden, based on Molière's 1668 play of the same name, receives its first performance at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, London.

title: 1690

text: April 9 – A fire at the Palace of Whitehall in London destroys its Stone Gallery.

title: 1691

text: January – Colley Cibber's play Love's Last Shift is first performed in London.

title: 1696

text: January 4 – The Palace of Whitehall in London, England is destroyed by fire.

title: 1698

text: March 8 – The Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, the oldest Anglican mission organization in the world, is founded by English clergyman Thomas Bray and four other people at Lincoln's Inn in London, along with Sir Humphrey Mackworth, Maynard Colchester, Lord Guilford and John Hooke.

title: 1698

text: The first modern edition of William Shakespeare's plays is published in London, edited by Nicholas Rowe.

title: 1709

text: July 9 – Christopher Slaughterford of London is executed in Guildford for the murder of Jane Young, his fiancée. He is the first person in modern England executed for murder based exclusively on circumstantial evidence, and he maintains his innocence to the last.

title: 1709

text: February 24 – Rinaldo by George Frideric Handel, the first Italian opera written for the London stage, premieres at the Queen's Theatre, Haymarket.

title: 1711

text: May 28 – Rioting begins in England on the birthday of King George I as supporters of the Old Pretender, James of the House of Stuart, begin mass protesting against the rule of the House of Hanover, near London in the towns of Smithfield and Highgate, and the Cheapside financial district in London.

title: 1715

text: December 4 – Fifty people are killed, and 150 houses burned, when a fire breaks out in Wapping, London. The blaze comes two days after a fire at the Spring Gardens at St. James's, London, which destroyed the French Chapel there and which was put out by several rescuers, including the future King George II.

title: 1716

text: January 1 – Count Carl Gyllenborg, the Swedish ambassador to Great Britain, was arrested in London for a plot to assist the Pretender to the British throne, James Francis Edward Stuart.

title: 1717

text: July 17 – Water Music by George Frederick Handel is first performed, on a Thames barge in London.

title: 1717

text: June 24 – The Premier Grand Lodge of England, the Modern and first Free-Masonic Grand Lodge (which merges with the Ancient Grand Lodge of England in 1813 to form the United Grand Lodge of England), is founded in London.

title: 1717

text: September 21 – The first known Druid revival ceremony is held by John Toland at Primrose Hill, in London, at the Autumnal Equinox, to found the Mother Grove, what will later become the Ancient Order of Druids.

title: 1717

title: 1718

text: Regular mail service between London and New England is established.

title: 1721

text: January 29 – The Beggar's Opera, the most popular theatrical production of the 18th century, is performed for the first time. The premiere takes place at the Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre in London. Written by John Gay with music arranged by Johann Christoph Pepusch, the ballad opera is a satire of Italian opera.

title: 1728

text: January 2 – Alexander Pope's poem Epistle to Dr Arbuthnot is published in London.

title: 1735

text: April 15 – Serse, an Italian opera by George Frideric Handel, premieres in London.

title: 1738

text: September 16 – Construction starts on the Foundling Hospital in London.

title: 1742

text: April 9 – The Scottish Jacobite Lord Lovat is beheaded at Tower Hill, London, for high treason. He was the last person in Britain to be beheaded, although beheading would not be formally abolished until more than 200 years later.

title: 1747

text: November 18 – Westminster Bridge is officially opened in London.

title: 1750

text: June 25 – The Marine Society is founded in London, the world's oldest seafarers' charity.

title: 1756

text: April 4 – A severe epidemic of influenza breaks out in London and "practically the entire population of the city" is afflicted; particularly contagious to pregnant women, the disease causes an unusual number of miscarriages and premature births.

title: 1761

text: February 8 – An earthquake in London breaks chimneys in Limehouse and Poplar.

title: 1761

text: February 19 – The Earl of Shelburne, British Secretary of State for the Southern Department (which has jurisdiction over Britain's American colonies) fires the unpopular Governor of West Florida, George Johnstone, and summons him back to London.

title: 1767

text: October 12 – At the Foundling Hospital in London, Dr. William Watson becomes the first physician to conduct a controlled clinical trial, selecting 32 boys and girls of similar age who have not yet had smallpox. He divides them into three groups in order to test treatments before inoculation for smallpox, with one group receiving a mixture of mercury and jalap, another senna glycoside, and the third getting no pre-treatment at all.

title: 1767

text: June 2 – An Anti-Catholic mob led by Lord George Gordon marches on the Parliament of Great Britain, leading to the outbreak of the Gordon Riots in London.

title: 1780

text: January 15 – Henry Cavendish's paper to the Royal Society of London, Experiments on Air, reveals the molecular composition of water.

title: 1784

text: January 1 – The first edition of The Times, previously The Daily Universal Register, is published in London.

title: 1788

text: June 29 – William Boxall, 2nd director of the National Gallery in London (d. 1879)

title: 1800

text: January 14 – The Apodaca–Canning treaty is signed in London between Britain and Spain

title: 1809

text: June 19 – The Carlton House Fête is held at the Prince Regent's London residence Carlton House to celebrate the establishment of the Regency era.

title: 1811

text: February 23 – The Cato Street Conspiracy, a plot to assassinate Britain's Prime Minister, Lord Liverpool, and his Cabinet is thwarted when police in London arrest 13 plotters after being warned by an informant.

title: 1820

text: March 21 – The bloodless Wellington–Winchilsea duel takes place at Battersea near London

title: 1829

text: February 5 – A fire destroys the Argyll Rooms in London, where the Philharmonic Society of London presents concerts, but firefighters are able to prevent its further spread by use of their new equipment, steam-powered fire engines.

title: 1830

text: November 10 & 19 – London debtor's prisons the Fleet Prison and Marshalsea are closed and inmates transferred to Queen's Bench Prison. Pentonville Prison for criminals is completed in north London this year.

title: 1842

text: Serial publication of Charles Dickens's novel Martin Chuzzlewit begins in London; in the July chapters, he lands his hero in the United States.

title: 1843

text: January 8 – Frederick Abberline, Chief Inspector of the London Metropolitan Police, investigator in the Jack the Ripper murders (d. 1929)

title: 1843

text: October – The Reuters news service is founded in London

title: 1851

text: June 29 – The Daily Telegraph newspaper begins publication in London.

title: 1855

text: January 12 – The Royal Aeronautical Society is formed as The Aeronautical Society of Great Britain in London, the world's oldest such society.

title: 1866

text: June 23 –The first message by electric telegraph using the Great Britain to India submarine cable is sent from London.

title: 1870

text: July 13 – The first cat show is held at the Crystal Palace of London.

title: 1871

text: May 25 – Gilbert and Sullivan's comic opera H.M.S. Pinafore debuts in London at the Opera Comique, with a first run of 571 performances.

title: 1878

text: February 8 – The West End Riots following a popular meeting in Trafalgar Square, London.

title: 1886

text: September 4 – Mohandas Gandhi embarks on the SS Clyde from Bombay for London.

title: 1888

text: February 27 – The British Labour Party is officially established, at a meeting in the Congregational Memorial Hall in London, and Ramsay MacDonald is appointed as its first secretary.

title: 1900

text: February 3 – The first performance of A Shropshire Lad, the setting to music of the 1896 set of 63 poems of A. E. Housman by Arthur Somervell as a song-cycle, takes place at Aeolian Hall in London.

title: 1905

text: February 9 – The "Mud March", the first large procession organised by The National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies (NUWSS), takes place in London.

title: 1907

text: May 13 – The 5th Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party convenes in secret in London.

title: 1907

text: July 28 – The Australasian Antarctic Expedition begins as the SY Aurora departs London.

title: 1911

text: October 28 – 1916 Pioneer Exhibition Game: game of Australian rules football contested at Queen's Club, West Kensington, London, by two teams of elite footballers selected from men serving in the First AIF at the time.

title: 1916

text: July 31 – Representatives of British revolutionary socialist groups meet at the Cannon Street Hotel in London and agree to form the Communist Party of Great Britain.

title: 1920

text: December 10 – Frederick Abberline, Chief Inspector of the London Metropolitan Police, investigator in the Jack the Ripper murders (b. 1843)

title: 1929

text: March 13 – Indian nationalist Udham Singh assassinates Sir Michael O'Dwyer (in revenge for the 1919 Jallianwala Bagh massacre) at Caxton Hall in London, for which he is hanged on 31 July at HM Prison Pentonville.

title: 1940

text: March – Austrian-born economist Friedrich Hayek publishes his book The Road to Serfdom in London.

title: 1944

text: January 10 – The first meeting of the United Nations is held, at Methodist Central Hall Westminster in London.

title: 1946

text: October 8 – Three trains collide in the Harrow and Wealdstone rail crash near London, England, killing 112 people and injuring 340 people, making it the worst rail disaster in the UK since the 1915 Quintinshill rail disaster.

title: 1952

text: July 9 – Wing Commander Michael Beetham flying a British Royal Air Force Vickers Valiant sets a record of 11 hours 27 minutes for a non-stop London-Cape Town flight.

title: 1959

text: April 16 – In the Assize Court at Buckingham, England, sentences totalling 307 years are passed on twelve men who stole £2,600,000 in used bank notes, after holding up the night train from Glasgow to London in August 1963 – a heist that becomes known as the Great Train Robbery.

title: 1964

text: September 7 – In London, UK, a poison-filled pellet, supposedly injected using an umbrella, fatally poisons Bulgarian defector Georgi Markov; he dies four days later.

title: 1978

text: July 13 – Live Aid benefit concerts in London and Philadelphia raise over £50 million for famine relief in Ethiopia.

title: 1985

text: November 29 – Gérard Hoarau, exiled political leader from the Seychelles, is assassinated in London.

title: 1985

text: March 4 – The Purley station rail crash in London leaves five people dead and 94 injured.

title: 1989

text: November 24 – Queen lead singer Freddie Mercury dies in London from AIDS induced pneumonia. In an unrelated incident, Kiss drummer Eric Carr dies from heart cancer.

title: 1991

text: June 20 – Australia defeats Pakistan by 8 wickets at Lord's Cricket Ground in London in the 1999 Cricket World Cup Final, securing their second World Cup title.

title: 1999

text: April 28 – The Gherkin opens in London.

title: 2004

text: July 6 – The International Olympic Committee awards London the right to host the 2012 Summer Olympics.

title: 2005

text: July 7 – Four coordinated suicide bombings hit central London, killing 52 people and injuring over 700.

title: 2005

text: May 22 – Off-duty British Army soldier Fusilier Lee Rigby of the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers is murdered in Woolwich, southeast London, by Islamic terrorists Michael Adebolajo and Michael Adebowale.

title: 2013

text: March 25 – Qantas launches direct non-stop Boeing 787 Dreamliner flights between Perth Airport and Heathrow Airport, making it the first commercially non-stop service between Australia and the United Kingdom.

title: 2018

text: October 19 – An estimated one million people march through London in a protest organised by People's Vote, to demand a second referendum on Brexit.

title: 2019

text: May 6 – 2022 monkeypox outbreak: An outbreak of monkeypox begins when the first monkeypox virus case is reported in London, the United Kingdom.

title: 2022

text: September 19 – The state funeral of Elizabeth II is held in Westminster Abbey, London. Her coffin is then taken by procession to Windsor Castle for burial with her husband, parents and sister in the King George VI Memorial Chapel. The funeral is speculated to be the most watched television event in world history.

title: 2022

text: May 6 – The coronation of Charles III and Camilla as King and Queen of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms is held in Westminster Abbey, London.

title: 2023

text: March 21 – A major power outage causes Heathrow Airport in London to completely shut down, with disruption expected to last for days, affecting thousands of flights around the world.

title: 2025