slug: holy-roman-empire

label: Holy Roman Empire

description: multi-ethnic complex of territories in Western and Central Europe (800/962–1806)

section: Religion & Belief

date: October 5

text: October 5 – King Louis the Pious (son of Charlemagne) is crowned emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, by Pope Stephen IV at Reims. He also crowns the emperor's wife Ermengarde as Holy Roman Empress. The ceremony in Reims re-establishes the principle of papal supremacy, by recognising the importance of the pope in imperial coronations. Louis gives the pope many gifts, including the estate tax Vendeuvre, near Troyes (Northern France).

title: 816

date: April 5

text: April 5 – Lothair I, eldest son of Emperor Louis I, is crowned co-emperor again by Pope Paschal I at Rome (initiating the papal practice of handing the imperial sword over, as a symbol of temporal power in the Holy Roman Empire).

title: 823

text: February 14 – Oaths of Strasbourg: King Louis the German, ruler of East Francia, and his half-brother Charles the Bald, ruler of West Francia, meet with their armies at Strasbourg. They agree to swear allegiance (recorded in vernacular languages) to each other, and to support each other against their brother Lothair I (nominal emperor of all the Frankish kingdoms and the Holy Roman Empire).

title: 842

date: August 28

text: August 28 – King Louis the German dies at Frankfurt, while preparing for war against his brother Charles II ("the Bald"), ruler of the Holy Roman Empire. The East Frankish Kingdom is divided among his three sons: Carloman receives Bavaria and styles himself "King of Bavaria". Louis the Younger receives Saxony (with Franconia and Thuringia), and Charles the Fat receives Swabia (with Raetia).

title: 876

date: November 23

text: November 23 – Otto I, emperor of the Holy Roman Empire (d. 973)

title: 912

date: August 27

text: August 27 – Ageltrude, queen of Italy and Holy Roman Empress

title: 923

date: March 24

text: March 24 – Hungarian Magyar forces led by General Szalárd, capture Pavia, capital of the Kingdom of Italy within the Holy Roman Empire, at the request of the Holy Roman Emperor Berengar. Later, after crossing the Alps via the St. Bernard Pass, the Magyars pillage Provence, Septimania and Nismes in southern France).

title: 924

section: Events › January—March

text: Adelaide, empress regent of the Holy Roman Empire (d. 999)

title: 931

text: Theophanu, empress consort of the Holy Roman Empire (d. 991)

title: 955

text: February 2 – King Otto I (the Great) is crowned Holy Roman Emperor by Pope John XII at the Old St. Peter's Basilica, ending Rome's feudal anarchy. Otto's wife Adelaide is anointed as empress; the East Frankish Kingdom and the Kingdom of Italy are unified into a common realm, called the Roman Empire.

title: 962

section: Culture & Society

text: Spring – King Lothair of France marries Princess Emma of Italy (the only daughter of Adelaide of Burgundy—second wife of Emperor Otto the Great, from her first marriage with King Lothair II, member of the Bosonid dynasty). Lothair strengthens his ties with the Holy Roman Empire. He temporarily remains in control of the cities of Arras and Douai. The latter becomes a flourishing textile market centre during the Middle Ages.

title: 966

text: Winter – Otto I returns to Rome. On Christmas day, John XIII crowns Otto II as co-emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. Although Otto II is nominated as co-ruler, he exercises no real authority.

title: 967

date: May 6

text: May 6 – Henry II, emperor of the Holy Roman Empire (d. 1024)

title: 973

date: May 7

text: May 7 – Emperor Otto I (the Great) dies at Memleben in Thuringia (modern Germany) after a 37-year reign. He is succeeded by his 18-year-old son Otto II (the Red), who becomes absolute ruler of the Holy Roman Empire. His mother Adelaide will exert great influence on Otto, although her lavish philanthropies will be a source of contention. Otto's succession leads to conflicts in the south German duchies and in Lotharingia.

title: 973

date: July

text: July – Emperor Otto II (the Red) occupies Regensburg, forcing his rebellious cousin Henry II (the Wrangler) (who claims rulership over the Holy Roman Empire) to flee to Bohemia. Henry is deposed and Bavaria is handed over to Otto I of Swabia (a grandson of the late Emperor Otto I). He sets up the new "Grand Duchy of Carinthia" covering modern-day Austria.

title: 976

date: August

text: August – Otto II appoints his cousin Charles, illegitimate son of the late King Louis IV (d'Outremer), as duke of Lorraine. King Lothair III – who claims the duchy as his own territory – declares war to the Holy Roman Empire. He leads an expedition into Lorraine accompanied by Hugh Capet. Lothair crosses the Meuse River and takes Aachen, sacking the imperial palace.

title: 977

text: Notker (or Notger), Frankish Benedictine monk and bishop, founds the Prince-Bishopric of Liège (modern Belgium) which will remain an independent state inside the Holy Roman Empire for more than 800 years.

title: 980

section: Events › By topic › Religion

text: Great Slav Rising: The Polabian Slavs (Wends), mainly Lutici and Obotrite tribes living east of the Elbe River revolt against Christianity and their subjugation to the German (former East Frankish) realm of the Holy Roman Empire. They invade northern Germany, sacking the cities of Havelberg, Brandenburg and Hamburg.

title: 983

text: Summer – Henry II (the Wrangler) is restored as duke of Bavaria by Empress Theophanu and her mother-in-law Adelaide at an Hoftag assembly in Rohr (Thuringia). King Otto III (5-years old) remains under the regency of the two empresses in the Holy Roman Empire and in the Kingdom of Italy.

title: 985

text: Mieszko I, duke (de facto) ruler of Poland, pledges his allegiance to Otto III and the Holy Roman Empire. He promises assistance in Otto's war against the Slavs.

title: 986

text: Winter – Theophanu arrives with her son, King Otto III in Rome to meet John XV. Crescentius II (the Younger) offers his submission to the Holy Roman Empire, in return for which she confirms his title as patrician of Rome.

title: 989

date: May 25

text: May 25 – Mieszko I, prince (duke) of the Polans, dies after a reign of more than 30 years at Poznań. He is succeeded by his son Bolesław I the Brave who becomes ruler of Poland. Having inherited the principality (located between the Oder and the Warta rivers), Bolesław forms an alliance with the Holy Roman Empire.

title: 992

date: May 21

text: May 21 – Otto III, 16, is crowned Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire at St. Peter's Basilica, and claims also the title of King of Italy. His grandmother, Adelaide, retires to a convent she has founded at Seltz (Alsace). Otto puts down a Roman rebellion; a number of nobles (including Crescentius II) are banished for their crimes.

title: 996

text: Winter – Emperor Otto III travels to Italy, leaving the government of the Holy Roman Empire in the hands of his aunt, Matilda of Quedlinburg. He is accompanied by Bishop Gilbert of Aurillac, his teacher and advisor.

title: 997

text: Fall – Otto III makes Rome the administrative capital of the Holy Roman Empire and begins the construction of his imperial palace on the Palatine Hill. He restores the ancient Roman Senate to its position of prominence and adopts the title of "Emperor of the Romans". To this Otto adds the apostolic devotion formula servus Jesu Christi ('Servant of Jesus Christ').

title: 998

date: December 16

text: December 16 – Adelaide of Italy, empress regent of the Holy Roman Empire (b. 931)

title: AD 999

text: In continental Europe, the Holy Roman Empire established itself as the most powerful state. The Holy Roman Emperor Otto III made a pilgrimage from Rome to Aachen and Gniezno (Gnesen), stopping at Regensburg, Meissen, Magdeburg, and Gniezno. The Congress of Gniezno (with Bolesław I the Brave) was part of his pilgrimage. In Rome, he built the basilica of San Bartolomeo all'Isola, to host the relics of St. Bartholomew.

title: AD 1000

section: Events › Christendom

date: January 30

text: January 30 – The Peace of Bautzen: Emperor Henry II signs a peace treaty with Bolesław I the Brave, Duke of Poland, ending the German–Polish War. Poland keeps Lusatia – the Holy Roman Empire keeps Bohemia. With this peace agreement, Bolesław redirects his forces on an offensive against the Kievan Rus'.

title: 1018

text: March 6 – In the Duchy of Aquitaine in France, the Aquitanian barons and prelates meet at Maillezais, to discuss the claims by William the Fat, son of the Duke of Aquitaine Guillaume le Grand (William the Great) to rule the vacant throne of the Kingdom of Italy (primarily Lombardy and Tuscany) within the Holy Roman Empire. The title is eventually claimed by Conrad the Salic.

title: 1025

section: Events

text: Summer – After a failed invasion in the previous year, the Holy Roman Empire concludes a peace with the Kingdom of Hungary; Emperor Conrad II is forced to cede the lands between Leitha and Fischa to King Stephen I.

title: 1031

text: February 2 – Emperor Conrad II (the Elder) holds an assembly at the Abbey of Payerne and is crowned King of Burgundy. He claims dominion over the Kingdom of Burgundy which is incorporated into the Holy Roman Empire.

title: 1033

text: Franche-Comté becomes subject to the Holy Roman Empire.

title: 1034

text: Emperor Conrad II ("the Elder") grants the city of Koper (modern Slovenia) town rights, and some degree of self-government, within the Holy Roman Empire.

title: 1035

text: February – At an Imperial Diet in Pavia (assembled by Conrad II), Aribert is accused of fomenting a revolt against the Holy Roman Empire, Conrad orders his arrest.

title: 1037

date: July 6

text: July 6 – Battle of Ménfő: German troops under King Henry III ("the Black") defeat the Hungarian army, led by King Samuel Aba, who flees the field but is captured and killed. Peter Orseolo ("the Venetian") becomes (for the second time) king of Hungary, and a vassal of the Holy Roman Empire.

title: 1044

section: Crime & Justice

date: June 28

text: June 28 – Count Floris I is ambushed on a retreat from Zaltbommel and killed by German troops at Nederhemert. Most of West Frisia (later part of the County of Holland) is conquered and annexed by the Holy Roman Empire.

title: 1061

text: Emperor Henry IV declares the Peace of God in all the imperial territories of the Holy Roman Empire to quell any sedition.

title: 1085

text: Spring – Duke Bolesław III along with his ally King Coloman of Hungary, invades Bohemia in order to aid Duke Svatopluk in gaining the Bohemian throne. The Polish expedition is a complete success: on May 14 Svatopluk is installed as Duke of Bohemia in Prague. King Henry V demands tribute from Svatopluk as his overlord and vassal of the Holy Roman Empire.

title: 1107

text: Henry V, King of Germany, invades Italy with a large army and concludes an agreement with Pope Paschal II at Sutri. Henry renounces the right of investiture (a dispute with the former Henry IV). In return, Paschal promises to crown him emperor and to restore to the Holy Roman Empire all the lands given to the German church (since the time of Charlemagne).

title: 1110

text: January 7 – Emperor Henry V marries Matilda (or Maude), 11-year-old daughter of King Henry I of England, at Worms (modern Germany). A political conflict breaks out across the Holy Roman Empire after the marriage, triggered when Henry arrests Chancellor Adalbert and various other German princes.

title: 1114

text: September 23 – The Concordat of Worms: Emperor Henry V recognizes freedom of election of the clergy and promises to restore all Church property. This brings an end to the power struggle between the papacy and the Holy Roman Empire, known as the Investiture Controversy. In the aftermath, Cappenberg Abbey is founded by Count Gottfried II for the new order of Premonstratensians.

title: 1122

text: Summer – A civil war breaks out in the Holy Roman Empire, a struggle begins between the Guelphs and Ghibellines, while the family name Welf of Henry X will be corrupted into Guelph.

title: 1138

text: Spring – King Conrad III enfeoffs Henry II ("Jasomirgott"), a member of the House of Babenberg, with the County Palatine of the Rhine (belonging to the Holy Roman Empire).

title: 1140

text: Duke Władysław II the Exile attempts to subject his younger (half)-brothers to re-unite Poland. He is supported by the alliances with the Kievan Rus' and the Holy Roman Empire.

title: 1142

text: June 9 – Emperor Frederick I (Barbarossa) marries Beatrice I, daughter of Reginald III, adding the County of Burgundy to the Holy Roman Empire.

title: 1156

text: May 12 – King Valdemar I (the Great) dies after a 28-year reign in which he has gained independence from the Holy Roman Empire. He is succeeded by his 19-year-old son Canute VI, who becomes ruler of Denmark.

title: 1182

text: The papal bull Ad Abolendam is issued against several European heretical groups: the Cathars, the Waldensians, the Patarines, Josephines and the Humiliati. It is created after a landmark meeting in Verona, between the Holy Roman Empire under Frederick I and the Catholic Church under Pope Lucius III.

title: 1184

text: April 15 – Henry VI, son of the late Emperor Frederick I (Barbarossa), is crowned as Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, together with his wife Constance by Pope Celestine III, on Easter Monday at Rome. Henry marches south and begins a campaign in Apulia. He besieges Naples, but encounters the resistance of Sicilian forces under Margaritus of Brindisi, who come to support the city's defense. Tusculum is destroyed by the rebel army of the Commune of Rome, on April 17.

title: 1191

text: December 25 – Henry VI deposes the 8-year-old William III (son of Tancred de Lecce) and is crowned king of Sicily. The next day, Constance I, who stays in the town of Iesi, gives birth to Frederick II, the future emperor of the Holy Roman Empire.

title: 1194

text: Spring – Henry VI persuades a diet at Würzburg. He manages to convince the majority of the German nobles and clergy to recognize his 2-year-old son, Frederick II, as king of the Romans and heir to the imperial throne. However, Archbishop Adolf of Cologne thwarts the will of the diet and arouses the resistance of several Saxon and Thuringian nobles against Henry, who realizes that he is unable to establish a hereditary monarchy (his Erbreichsplan) in the Holy Roman Empire without resistance.

title: 1196

text: Spring – Boniface I, Marquis of Montferrat, sends envoys to Venice, Genoa and other city-states to negotiate a contract for transport to the Levant. Meanwhile, Boniface and various nobles are mustering an expeditionary army (mainly forces from France and the Holy Roman Empire) at Paris. On February 23, Baldwin IX, count of Flanders and his brother Henry of Flanders take the cross at Bruges (modern Belgium), and agree to take part in the Fourth Crusade called by Pope Innocent III (see 1199).

title: 1200

text: Pope Innocent III recognizes Otto IV as the only legitimate ruler of the Holy Roman Empire, against his rival King, Philip of Swabia. In return, Otto promises to support the pope's interests in Italy.

title: 1201

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

title: 1207

text: October 21 – Innocent III crowns Otto IV as emperor of the Holy Roman Empire in St. Peter's Basilica at Rome.

title: 1209

text: Summer – Emperor Otto IV is excommunicated and forced to abdicate as ruler of the Holy Roman Empire. The German nobles, supported by Innocent III, again elect the 20-year-old Frederick II as King of the Romans who is crowned in Aachen, on July 25. The same day, Frederick takes the Cross and promises to go on Crusade.

title: 1215

text: March 1 – Pope Honorius III sends a letter to the Roman Catholic Patriarch of Jerusalem, Francisco Clemente Pérez Capera, notifying him that the armies and navies of the Holy Roman Empire, the Teutonic Knights and the Kingdom of Sicily will be departing soon to begin the Sixth Crusade to recapture Jerusalem from the Arab rulers.

title: 1224

text: July 22 – Battle of Bornhöved: Count Adolf IV of Holstein – leading a coalition army from the cities of Lübeck and Hamburg, defeats the Danish-German forces of King Valdemar II, and the Welf nobleman Otto I (the Child). Adolf shakes off Danish supremacy and accepts an overlordship by the Archbishopric of Bremen under Archbishop Gerhard II of Lippe. Adolf expands his power and establishes new frontiers within the Holy Roman Empire.

title: 1227

text: July – At a diet (princely convention) in Piacenza, Emperor Frederick II proclaims his wish to recover all Italy for the Holy Roman Empire.

title: 1236

text: Summer – A German expeditionary force under Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor, invades the Romagna and Tuscany, hoping to capture Rome. He appoints his 21-year-old son, Enzo of Sardinia, as imperial vicar general for Northern Italy. Frederick also threatens with war against Venice, which has sent ships to blockade the harbors on Sicily. In order to finance his growing need for arms, he institutes an administrative reorganization of the Holy Roman Empire (among others, the formation of 10 vice regencies in Italy).

title: 1239

text: May – Battle of Giglio: an Imperial fleet defeats a Genoan fleet in the Tyrrhenian Sea.

title: 1241

text: Spring – Siege of Esztergom: The Mongols under Batu Khan assault and destroy most of the Hungarian city of Esztergom. Batu Khan sends a reconnaissance party against the Holy Roman Empire.

title: 1242

text: October 5 – Innocent IV flees to France and travels to Lyon, where he arrives on November 29. Although the city is nominally subject to the Holy Roman Empire, Innocent falls under the protection of Louis IX.

title: 1244

text: October – Pope Innocent IV returns to Rome, after being deposed for 9 years by former Emperor Frederick II, whose clash forms an important chapter in the conflict between the Papal States and the Holy Roman Empire.

title: 1253

text: January 13 – At the first recorded meeting of the college of the seven Electors of the Holy Roman Empire, the 48-year-old Richard of Cornwall (the brother of King Henry III of England) is elected King of the Romans. He is crowned at Aachen, on May 17. His candidacy is opposed by King Alfonso X of Castile ("the Wise"), Pope Alexander IV and King Louis IX of France ("the Saint") who favour Alfonso, but both are ultimately convinced by Richard's sister-in-law, Queen Eleanor of Provence, to support Richard.

title: 1257

text: March 8 – Battle of Hausbergen: The bourgeois of Strasbourg defeat a German army of knights (some 5,000 men) under Bishop Walter of Geroldseck. Strasbourg becomes an imperial Free City of the Holy Roman Empire.

title: 1262

text: Winter – The War of the Thuringian Succession ends after 17 years with the state of Hesse gaining its independence from Thuringia and becoming the Landgraviate of Hesse, a principality of the Holy Roman Empire.

title: 1264

text: August 23 – Battle of Tagliacozzo: The army of Charles of Anjou defeats the Ghibellines supporters of Conradin of Hohenstaufen, marking the fall of the Hohenstaufen Family from the Imperial and Sicilian thrones, and leading to the new chapter of Angevin domination in Southern Italy.

title: 1268

text: King Ottokar II of Bohemia inherits Carinthia and part of Carniola, making him the most powerful German prince within the Holy Roman Empire; the empire lacking an emperor during the ongoing “Great Interregnum”.

title: 1269

text: Edmund, 2nd Earl of Cornwall, donates to the Cistercian Hailes Abbey in England (his father's foundation) a phial held to contain the Blood of Christ, acquired in the Holy Roman Empire; this becomes such a magnet for pilgrimage that within 7 years the monks are able to rebuild their abbey on a magnificent scale.

title: 1270

text: June 5 – War of the Limburg Succession – Battle of Worringen: Brabantian forces under Duke John I defeat the coalition army of Cologne, Luxemburg, and Nassau at Worringen (in a struggle to conquer the Duchy of Limburg). John liberates the city of Cologne from rule by the Electorate of Cologne, which has previously been one of the major ecclesiastical principalities of the Holy Roman Empire.

title: 1288

text: December 31 – Theobald II of the House of Metz becomes the new Duke of Lorraine within the Holy Roman Empire after the death of his father, Frederick III.

title: 1302

text: June 14 – Matteo I Visconti, Lord of Milan (Signore di Milano), the semi-independent Italian region within the Holy Roman Empire, is deposed by Guido della Torre, but will return in 1311.

title: 1302

text: March 17 – Joan II of the Anscarids becomes the Countess and ruler of Burgundy, a free state within the Holy Roman Empire (now the département of Jura in France), upon the death of her father Otto IV.

title: 1303

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

title: 1309

text: June 29 – Henry VII is crowned emperor of the Holy Roman Empire in the Lateran Palace, since St Peter's Basilica is occupied by Romans hostile to him.

title: 1312

text: August 24 – A week after contracting malaria during the siege of the Tuscan city of Siena, the Holy Roman Emperor Henry VII dies of malaria at Buonconvento. His 17-year-old son, John of Bohemia, will succeed him and will become one of the seven prince-electors of the Holy Roman Empire. Upon learning of the Henry's death, Louis, Duke of Bavaria goes to war against his cousin, Frederick the Fair, Duke of Austria and Styria, as both compete to be elected the new Emperor, a competition which will eventually be resolved in favour of Louis.

title: 1313

text: March 6 – Treaty of Paris: Count Louis I relinquishes Flemish claims over the County of Zeeland. He acknowledges William II the Good as count of Avesnes, Holland, and Zeeland as a state within the Holy Roman Empire. William occupies most of the Bishopric of Utrecht and tries to conquer Friesland (or Frisia) but is repelled by Governor Hessel Martena.

title: 1323

text: February 10 – The Raid on Brandenburg begins as Polish-Lithuanian forces led by Władysław I Łokietek, "the elbow-high", King of Poland, and of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania under Gediminas, raid the territories of the Margraviate of Brandenburg (within the Holy Roman Empire), with the sanction of Pope John XXII. Władysław regards the Neumark (East Brandenburg) as Polish territory.

title: 1326

text: Hundred Years' War: Louis IV, Holy Roman Emperor appoints Edward III of England as a vicar-general of the Holy Roman Empire. Louis supports Edward's claim to the French throne, under the terms of the Treaty of Koblenz.

title: 1338

text: December 25 – Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor, promulgates the Golden Bull, a constitution for his empire.

title: 1356

text: March 8 – In the Holy Roman Empire, the Archbishop-Elector of Trier, Kuno II von Falkenstein and the Archbishop-Elector of Köln, Friedrich III. von Saarwerden, become co-founders of their own mint abd begin production of being the minting of coins, including the "Weisspfennig" (the "white penny").

title: 1372

text: January 23 – In the Holy Roman Empire, Wenceslaus I, Duke of Saxe-Wittenberg and Elector of Saxony, marries Cecilia da Carrara, daughter of Francesco I da Carrara, Lord of Padua.

title: 1376

text: February 16 – At Heidelberg (now in Germany) Ruprecht II of the House of Wittelsbach becomes the new Elector of the Palatinate in the Holy Roman Empire upon the death of his uncle, Rupert I.

title: 1390

text: September 12 – The Crusaders, with more than 17,000 troops from France, Hungary, the Knights Hospitaler, Wallachia and the Holy Roman Empire , arrive at the outskirts of Nicopolis (now Nikopol in Bulgaria).

title: 1396

text: September 25 – Battle of Nicopolis: The Ottomans defeat a joint crusade by Hungary, France, the Holy Roman Empire, and Wallachia, led by King Sigismund of Hungary. This is the last large-scale crusade of the Middle Ages.

title: 1396

text: August 28 – As part of a division of the state of Holstein, the northernmost member of the Holy Roman Empire, between Count Albert II and his brother Count Gerhard VI (following the death of their uncle, Nicholas), Gerhard receives the Duchy of Schleswig and nearly all of Rendsburg, while Albert receives HOlstein-Segeberg.

title: 1397

text: January 6 – In Amberg, Ruprecht III "the Righteous" of the House of Wittelsbach becomes the new Elector of the Palatinate within the Holy Roman Empire upon the death of his father, Ruprecht II "the Hard".

title: 1398

text: May 22 – Meeting in Frankfurt, three of the prince-electors of the Holy Roman Empire (Rupert, elector of the Palatinate, Rudolf III, Duke of Saxe-Wittenberg, elector of Saxony, and Jobst of Moravia, elector of Brandenburg) meet in an attempt to replace the Emperor, Wenceslaus, King of the Romans because of his failure to stamp out civil unrest or to resolve the Western Schism. They select Frederick I, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg as the replacement for Wenceslaus.

title: 1400

text: April 8 – Appenzell Wars: In the Appenzell region of Switzerland, the alliance of the region with St. Gallen, the

title: 1408

text: July 21 – Sigismund is formally elected unanimously as King of the Romans by the seven electors of the Holy Roman Empire present.

title: 1411

text: April 18 – Frederick I, Elector of Brandenburg, is appointed to an additional position as Archchamberlain of the Holy Roman Empire.

title: 1417

text: November 11 – The Battle of Kratzau takes place in Bohemia in what is now the city of Chrastava in the Czech Republic, as the Silesian troops of the Bohemian Crown Lands under of the Holy Roman Empire

title: 1428

text: May 17 – The Principality of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel becomes the first state in the Holy Roman Empire to abolish serfdom as the Duke Heinrich der Friedfertige ("Heinrich the Peaceful") ends the fedual system there by decree.

title: 1433

text: September 21 – The Burgraviate of Nuremberg, a member nation-state of the Holy Roman Empire, comes to an end after more than three centuries when the two sons of the last Burgrave, Frederick V, divide the territory into two separate principalities. Frederick VI (who is also Elector of Brandenburg) becomes the ruler of the Principality of Ansbach, while John III becomes the ruler of the Principality of Bayreuth

title: 1440

text: March 21 – In the Holy Roman Empire in Germany, the Electors of Cologne, Trier, Mainz, and the Palatinate, along with representatives of the Electors of Saxony and Brandenburg, assemble at Frankfurt-am-Main and create a mutual defense alliance to resist Pope Eugene IV.

title: 1446

text: February 17 – The Concordat of Vienna is signed between the Holy Roman Empire

title: 1448

text: May 3 – The Treaty of Prenzlau is signed between in Germany by the Margraviate of Brandenburg and the Duchy of Pomerania, both principalities within the Holy Roman Empire. The treaty partitions the disputed territory of the Uckermark, with Brandenburg receiving the southern part and Pomerania the northern part, with rights for Brandenburg to receive the north if Pomerania's ruling house should become extinct.

title: 1448

text: February 6 – Otto II, Duke of Brunswick-Göttingen, a semi-independent principality within the Holy Roman Empire, dies after a reging of more than 68 years. Because Otto has no heirs, the Principality of Göttingen comes to an end and is annexed by the principality of Calenberg.

title: 1463

text: June 18 – The free imperial city of Rottweil, part of the Holy Roman Empire and now a part of Germany, becomes an associate state of the Swiss Confederacy.

title: 1463

text: May 27 – Two months after the death of King George of Poděbrady, the Diet of Bohemian nobles meets at Kutná Hora and elects Vladislaus Jagiello as the new King of Bohemia. The papal legate, Lorenzo Roverella, Bishop of Ferrara, declares the election void with the approval of Pope Paul II, and endorses Matthias Corvinus, King of Hungary, to be the new King of Bohemia, which the Imperial Diet of the Holy Roman Empire refuses to approve.

title: 1471

text: July 27 – René II, Count of Vaudémont becomes the new Duke of Lorraine, at the time an independent principality within the Holy Roman Empire, upon the death of his cousin, Nicholas I. after his mother, the Duchess Yolande gives up her rights to the throne.

title: 1473

text: June 27 – After an 11-month siege, Charles the Bold abandons the Siege of Neuss when an imperial relief army from the Holy Roman Empire approaches; a papal legate of Pope Sixtus IV threatens excommunication of both Charles and Emperor Frederick III should the fighting continue, allowing both rulers to withdraw without loss of honor.

title: 1475

text: September 9 – The city of Köln (Cologne), already separate from the surrounding Köln is granted the status of a "free imperial city" by the Holy Roman Empire, with representation in the Imperial Diet and self-government within the Empire.

title: 1475

text: December 12 – Philip the Upright becomes the new Elector of the Palatinate within the Holy Roman Empire, upon the death of his adoptive father, the Elector Frederick I.

title: 1476

text: August 18 – Mary, Duchess of Burgundy, marries Prince Maximilian, son of the Holy Roman Emperor, in Ghent, bringing her Flemish and Burgundian lands into the Holy Roman Empire, and detaching them from France.

title: 1477

text: August 30 – The reign of Louis de Bourbon, Bishop of Liège over the Principality of Liège, a semi-independent eccleasitic state within the Holy Roman Empire in parts of what are now Belgium, France, Germany and the Netherlands, comes to an end when he is assassinated on orders of William de La Marck

title: 1482

text: May 11 – The Kingdom of Hungary defeats the army of the Holy Roman Empire at the Battle of Leitzersdorf.

title: 1484

text: January 29 – The siege of Vienna, capital of the Holy Roman Empire, is started by the Black Army of the Kingdom of Hungary in the ninth year of the ongoing Austrian-Hungarian War. Vienna is defended by a force of only 3,000 soldiers and cavalry, against 28,000 soldiers and cavalry of the Black Army, and the city falls to Hungary within four months.

title: 1485

text: August 10 – The County of Tyrol within the Holy Roman Empire defeats the attack of the Republic of Venice at the Battle of Calliano, with 1,400 of the Venetians and 700 of the Tyroleans killed.

title: 1487

text: The Reichskammergericht of the Holy Roman Empire is founded in Frankfurt.

title: 1495

text: March 26 – The inaugural session of the Diet of Worms (Wormser Reichstag), a gathering of the electors and princes of the Holy Roman Empire to discuss reforms of the government, is opened at Worms, Germany, by Maximilian I, the acting Holy Roman Emperor.

title: 1495

text: October 20 – Joanna of Castile, second daughter of Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile, heiress to Castile, marries the archduke Philip, heir through his mother to the Burgundian Netherlands, and through his father to the Holy Roman Empire.

title: 1496

text: In Germany, Peter Henlein of Nuremberg uses iron parts and coiled springs to build a portable timepiece.

title: 1502

text: April 27 – In Germany, the Imperial Diet of the Holy Roman Empire convenes at Konstanz and begins a series of reforms.

title: 1507

text: August 10 – Maximillian I of the Holy Roman Empire along with French allies begins a siege of Padua that would last for months to retake the city.

title: 1509

text: April 29 – After a month of negotiations at Linz between the Holy Roman Empire and the Kingdom of Denmark, representatives of the two nations sign an alliance agreement, to be secured by the marriage of the Emperor's 13-year-old daughter Isabella, to the new King of Denmark, Christian II, along with payment of a dowry to King Christian of 250,000 Rhenish gulden, equivalent to $118,000,000 USD 500 years later.

title: 1514

text: December 4 – Treaty of Brussels: Peace is declared between the Kingdom of France and the Holy Roman Empire.

title: 1516

text: November 23 – Spanish–German–Papal forces under Prospero Colonna force French Marshal Odet de Lautrec to abandon Milan.

title: 1521

text: August 27 – The Knights' War erupts within the Holy Roman Empire as Franz von Sickingen leads a revolt against the Prince-Bishop of Trier and to seize the church properties within the Electorate of Trier

title: 1522

text: November 17 – The second Diet of Nuremberg opens to discuss various matters of the Holy Roman Empire, including the Protestant Reformation.

title: 1522

text: April 4 – German Peasants' War in the Holy Roman Empire: Battle of Leipheim – The peasants suffer great losses when they are attacked by Georg, Truchsess von Waldburg and the town of Leipheim is forced to surrender. Four peasant leaders are beheaded, including Jakob Wehe and Ulrich Schoen.

title: 1525

text: March 20 – In the German town of Memmingen, the pamphlet The Twelve Articles: The Just and Fundamental Articles of All the Peasantry and Tenants of Spiritual and Temporal Powers by Whom They Think Themselves Oppressed is published, the first human rights related document written in Europe.

title: 1525

text: May 6 – Sack of Rome: Spanish and German troops led by the Duke of Bourbon sack Rome, forcing the Medici Pope Clement VII to make peace with Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, marking the end of the High Renaissance. The Pope grows a beard in mourning.

title: 1527

text: February 27 – Lutheran princes in the Holy Roman Empire form an alliance known as the Schmalkaldic League.

title: 1531

text: August 5 – The siege of Güns in the Austrian Empire begins as the Ottoman army, under Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent, attempts to take the city of Güns (now Kőszeg in Hungary) with 100,000 troops in order to mount a larger invasion of the Austrian city of Vienna, capital of the Holy Roman Empire. The defenders, less than 800 Croatian soldiers commanded by Nikola Jurišić, puts up a successful resistance despite being outnumbered by more than 100 to 1.

title: 1532

text: January 31 – General Johann Katzianer of the Holy Roman Empire, on trial in Vienna for the disastrous Imperial campaign against the Ottoman Empire and for desertion during the Battle of Gorjani, escapes and flees to Kostajnica Fortress in Ottoman-controlled Croatia. After 14 months, Nikola IV Zrinski has Katzianer murdered.

title: 1538

text: April 17 – At Dresden in Germany, Heinrich IV of the House of Wettin, nicknamed "Heinrich der Fromme" (Henry the Pious) becomes the new Duke of Saxony within the Holy Roman Empire upon the death of his older brother, Georg der Bärtige ("George the Bearded").

title: 1539

text: August 27 – Citizens of Hildesheim in the Holy Roman Empire profess themselves to the Lutheran teachings, thus joining the Schmalkaldic League. As a pledge owner, the city provides for the carrying out of the Protestant Reformation in the city and Peine. Priests from the localities of Clauen, Hohenhameln, Soßmar, Schmedenstedt, Lengede and Rosenthal resume their offices in the interest of the Reformation.

title: 1542

text: April 11 – Battle of Ceresole: French forces under the Comte d'Enghien defeat forces of the Holy Roman Empire, under the Marques Del Vasto, near Turin.

title: 1544

text: August 17 – In France, Saint-Dizier surrenders to the Holy Roman Empire after a siege of more than a month.

title: 1544

text: July 10– Troops of the Holy Roman Empire begin the six-week siege of Saint-Dizier in eastern France.

title: 1544

text: March 16 – Friedrich II becomes the new Elector Palatine of Germany's Rhineland within the Holy Roman Empire upon the death of his brother Ludwig V at Heidelberg.

title: 1544

text: May 23 – The Treaty of Speyer is signed between the Holy Roman Empire and the Kingdom of Denmark (which includes Norway). Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor agrees to recognize Christian III as the ruler of Denmark and Norway, and abandons further attempts to restore King Christian II to the throne. In return, Denmark and Norway agree to support the Habsburg monarchy in the Empire.

title: 1544

text: November 10 – A truce is signed between the Holy Roman Empire and the Ottoman Empire following the Siege of Nice, as Emperor Charles V acknowledges the Ottoman conquests.

title: 1545

text: May 23 – The Protestant Schmalkaldic League defeats the Catholic Army of the Holy Roman Empire at the Battle of Drakenburg. Of 6,000 Imperial troops, 2,500 are killed and another 2,500 are taken prisoner by the Protestants.

title: 1547

text: June 30 – The Augsburg Interim, approved May 15, is codified into law in the Holy Roman Empire.

title: 1548

text: The first book in Slovene, Catechismus, written by Protestant reformer Primož Trubar, is printed in Schwäbisch Hall, Holy Roman Empire.

title: 1550

text: August 2 – Battle of Marciano: Senese–French forces are defeated by the Florentine–Imperial army.

title: 1554

text: April 17 – After 18 months of siege, the Republic of Siena surrenders to the Florentine–Imperial army.

title: 1555

text: German adventurer Hans Staden publishes a widely translated account of his detention by the Tupí people of Brazil, Warhaftige Historia und beschreibung eyner Landtschafft der Wilden Nacketen, Grimmigen Menschfresser-Leuthen in der Newenwelt America gelegen ("True Story and Description of a Country of Wild, Naked, Grim, Man-eating People in the New World, America").

title: 1557

text: February 2 – The University of Jena is founded in Thuringia, Germany.

title: 1558

text: Between 1561 and 1670, 3,229 alleged witches are executed in southwestern Germany, most by burning.

title: 1561

text: May 1 – Suleiman the Magnificent, the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, begins his last campaign, departing from Constantinople at the head of one of the largest armies he has ever commanded, with a plan to attack Vienna, capital of the Holy Roman Empire. However, he dies in September.

title: 1566

text: July 26 – A meteorite strikes the Earth in Thuringia in the Holy Roman Empire.

title: 1581

text: November 29 – A truce is signed between representatives of the Holy Roman Empire (ruled by Emperor Rudolf II) and the Ottoman Empire (ruled by Sultan Murad III).

title: 1590

text: October 26 – Johannes Kepler, assistant to Tycho Brahe, is promoted to the position of Royal Mathematician of the Holy Roman Empire after Brahe's sudden death.

title: 1601

text: September 20 – The siege of Székesfehérvár, an Ottoman occupied Hungarian fortress, is completed by troops of the Holy Roman Empire after 16 days. The Ottomans will recapture Székesfehérvár a year later.

title: 1601

text: The first issue of Relation aller Fürnemmen und gedenckwürdigen Historien by Johann Carolus in Strasbourg (Holy Roman Empire), generally regarded as the world's first newspaper, is published. De Nieuwe Tijdinghen, a Dutch proto-newspaper, is also published this year.

title: 1605

text: November 11 – The Peace of Zsitvatorok is signed between the Ottoman and Holy Roman Empires. The independence of Transylvania is recognized by both sides, and Austria's annual tribute to the Ottomans is abolished.

title: 1606

text: January 15 – One of the world's first newspapers, Avisa Relation oder Zeitung, begins publication in Wolfenbüttel (Holy Roman Empire).

title: 1609

text: July 10 – The German Catholic League is formed in Munich by Maximilian I, Elector of Bavaria to counteract the Protestant Union. Maximilian assembles representatives from Augsburg, Konstanz, Passau, Regensburg, and Würzburg in an alliance "for the defense of the Catholic religion and peace" within the Holy Roman Empire.

title: 1609

text: July 28 – War of the Jülich Succession: The Siege of Jülich, a walled city within the Holy Roman Empire (now in Germany), is started by a combined force of troops from the Dutch Republic, the Kingdom of France and the Margraviate of Brandenburg.

title: 1610

text: The Fama Fraternitatis is published, the first of three allegorical Rosicrucian manifestoes in the Holy Roman Empire.

title: 1614

text: January 7 – The Holy Roman Empire and Transylvania sign the Peace of Nikolsburg.

title: 1622

text: April 21 – Generalissimo Albrecht von Wallenstein of the Holy Roman Empire is made Admiral of the Baltic Sea by Emperor Ferdinand II.

title: 1628

text: July 18 – War of the Mantuan Succession: Mantua is sacked by an army of the Holy Roman Empire, led by Count Johann von Aldringen.

title: 1630

text: May 20 – Thirty Years' War: After a two-month siege, the Imperial Army of the Holy Roman Emperor, under the command of Johann Tserclaes, Count of Tilly sacks the Protestant German city of Magdeburg, and massacres over 20,000 inhabitants. Shocked by the massacre, many Protestant states in the Holy Roman Empire decide to ally with Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden, and support his ongoing invasion.

title: 1631

text: September 17 – Thirty Years' War – Battle of Breitenfeld: Tilly's Holy Roman Imperial army is decisively defeated by Gustavus II Adolphus of Sweden, shattering the imperial army of the Holy Roman Empire, and marking the first significant victory for the Protestants in the war.

title: 1631

text: July 8 – Thirty Years' War: Battle of Oldendorf – Sweden defeats the Holy Roman Empire near Hessisch Oldendorf.

title: 1633

text: April 14 – In the Battle of Chemnitz, Swedish forces under Johan Banér inflict a crushing defeat on the army of the Holy Roman Empire, prolonging the Thirty Years' War and allowing the Swedes to occupy Pirna and advance into Bohemia.

title: 1639

text: September 18 – In Germany, the Siege of Dorsten by the Holy Roman Empire ends after nine weeks with the surrender of the Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel after the Hessians suffer 1,350 casualties.

title: 1641

text: November 24 – Thirty Years' War: Battle of Tuttlingen – France is defeated by forces of the Holy Roman Empire.

title: 1643

text: November 23 – Battle of Jüterbog (December 3 New Style): Sweden's forces defeat those of the Holy Roman Empire.

title: 1644

text: August 22 – Battle of Triebl: Imperial forces defeat the Swedes in a surprise attack in Bohemia.

title: 1647

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

title: 1656

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

title: 1660

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

title: 1666

text: March 18 – Petar Zrinski, the Viceroy of Croatia within the Holy Roman Empire, issues a proclamation urging Croatians to rebel against the Habsburg rulers. The uprising fails and Zrinski and his brother-in-law, Krsto Frankopan, are quickly arrested. Both are beheaded in Vienna on April 30, 1671.

title: 1670

text: September 26 – General Raimondo Montecuccoli, commander of the army of the Holy Roman Empire, joins forces with the Brandenburg troops commanded by Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg and the two groups assemble at Halberstadt, to attack the French and the bishops of Münster and Cologne.

title: 1672

text: July 23 – The Battle of Ortenbach, one of the last major engagements of the Franco-Dutch War, takes place near Offenburg at the Rhine river in southwestern Germany, as French forces under the command of François de Créquy overwhelm a larger force of Holy Roman Empire troops commanded by the Duke of Lorraine, Karl V Leopold.

title: 1678

text: September 30 – France annexes the city of Strasbourg (German: Strassburg), previously a free imperial city of the Holy Roman Empire.

title: 1681

text: April 10 – Charles V, Duke of Lorraine is appointed commander of the Imperial Army of the Holy Roman Empire.

title: 1683

text: March 31 – Authorized representatives of King John III Sobieski of Poland and Emperor Leopold I of the Holy Roman Empire sign a military alliance treaty in Warsaw.

title: 1683

text: December 22 – Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg and Duke of Prussia, head of the House of Hohenzollern, enters into an alliance with the Holy Roman Empire.

title: 1686

text: July 9 – The Grand Alliance (League of Augsburg) is founded, in response to claims made by Louis XIV of France on the Electorate of the Palatinate in western Germany. It comprises the Holy Roman Empire, the Netherlands, Sweden, Spain, the electors of Bavaria, Saxony and the Electorate of the Palatinate.

title: 1686

text: September 24 – Louis XIV publishes his manifesto Memoire de raisons, which lists his grievances and demands. He cites three major things as grievances: Wilhelm Egon von Fürstenberg, who had been earlier elected to be the coadjutor-archbishop of Cologne with support of Louis being vetoed by the pope, the continued aggressions and forming of alliances against France and providing an alternative to Fürstenberg in the Cologne election by the Holy Roman Empire, and Philip William becoming Elector Palatine and seizing the territory, which he believed belonged to Elizabeth Charlotte.

title: 1688

text: September 27 – The Nine Years' War begins in Europe and America after Louis XIV attacks Philippsburg in the Holy Roman Empire.

title: 1688

text: The Holy Roman Empire wins the Battle of Niš, fought against the Ottoman Empire.

title: 1689

text: August 19 – The Battle of Slankamen takes place between the Ottoman Empire and the Holy Roman Empire and allies at Syrmia (now the Serbian province of Vojvodina), and 25,000 Ottomans are killed, including Köprülüzade Fazıl Mustafa Pasha, the Grand Vizier.

title: 1691

text: July 4 – A Byzantine icon, the "Weeping Madonna of Pócs", arrives in Vienna after a five-month journey following its forced removal from the Hungarian village of Pócs by order of the Holy Roman Emperor, Leopold I. It has been housed for more than 320 years in St. Stephen's Cathedral.

title: 1697

text: November 30 – Prince Eugene of Savoy, a field marshal within the Holy Roman Empire, purchases a large tract of land in Vienna for construction of the Belvedere Palace.

title: 1697

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

title: 1699

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

title: 1700

text: March 1 (Gregorian) – Protestant Germany and Denmark–Norway adopt the Gregorian calendar.

title: 1700

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

title: 1701

text: August 15 – War of the Spanish Succession: Battle of Luzzara – Forces of the Holy Roman Empire fail to break through the French-Savoyard position in Lombardy.

title: 1702

text: May 14 (N.S.) – War of the Spanish Succession: War is declared on France by the Grand Alliance (Kingdom of England, Dutch Republic and Holy Roman Empire).

title: 1702

text: October 14 – War of the Spanish Succession: Battle of Friedlingen – France defeats forces of the Holy Roman Empire.

title: 1702

text: September 12 – The Siege of Landau (War of the Spanish Succession) ends after 3 months with forces of the Holy Roman Empire capturing the fortress town in the Rhineland-Palatinate from a French garrison.

title: 1702

text: February 20–March 10 – War of the Spanish Succession: Siege of Kehl – French forces under the command of the Duc de Villars capture the fortress of the Holy Roman Empire at Kehl, opposite Strasbourg on the Rhine.

title: 1703

text: May 5 – Joseph I succeeds his father Leopold I as Holy Roman Emperor.

title: 1705

text: November 15 – The Third Barrier Treaty is signed by Britain, the Holy Roman Empire and the Dutch Republic.

title: 1715

text: August 22 – Spanish troops arrive on the island of Sardinia, at this time a part of the Holy Roman Empire, beginning the conquest of the island, completed by October 30.

title: 1717

text: October 30 – The Spanish conquest of Sardinia, at this time part of the Holy Roman Empire, is finished two months after Spanish forces had landed on the island on August 22, as the last Sardinian outpost, Castelsardo, surrenders.

title: 1717

text: December 17 – The Holy Roman Empire, Kingdom of Great Britain and Dutch Republic join the Kingdom of France in formally declaring war on Spain, launching the War of the Quadruple Alliance.

title: 1718

text: January 23 – The Principality of Liechtenstein is created, within the Holy Roman Empire.

title: 1719

text: January 26 – The First Treaty of Vienna is signed between Austria, the Holy Roman Empire and Spain, creating the Austro-Spanish Alliance in advance of a war against Great Britain.

title: 1726

text: May 8 – A fire breaks out inside the fully walled town of Haiger within the Holy Roman Empire (in the modern-day state of Hesse in Germany) and destroys all the buildings.

title: 1729

text: March 16 – The Treaty of Vienna is signed between the Holy Roman Empire, Great Britain, the Dutch Republic and Spain.

title: 1731

text: January 5 – Spain and the Holy Roman Empire sign instruments of cession at Pontremoli in the Grand Duchy of Tuscany in Italy, with the Empire receiving control of Tuscany and the Grand Duchy of Parma and Piacenza, in return for Don Carlos of Spain being recognized as King of Naples and King of Sicily.

title: 1737

text: July 9 – Traveller Jonas Hanway leaves St. Petersburg to return home, via Germany and the Netherlands. Later the same year, Hanway reputedly becomes the first Englishman to use an umbrella (a French fashion).

title: 1750

text: The first chocolate-candy factory begins operations in Germany.

title: 1756

text: Faber-Castell Company is founded by Kasper Faber in Nuremberg, Germany.

title: 1761

text: June 29 – One of the strongest tornadoes ever recorded hits Woldegk, Germany.

title: 1764

text: March 27 – The prince-electors, a group of nine German princes who select the next leader of the Holy Roman Empire, vote for the last time as the health of the Emperor Francis I declines. The electors (including Britain's King George III, who also rules as Elector of Hanover) approve Francis's son, Prince Joseph of Austria as King of the Romans. Upon the death of Francis in 1765, Prince Joseph becomes the Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II.

title: 1764

text: October 8 – "Kettle War", a 1-day action on the Scheldt in which a ship of the Dutch Republic repels forces of the Holy Roman Empire.

title: 1784

text: December 11 – An edict is issued limiting Masonic lodges throughout the Holy Roman Empire by Emperor Joseph II. With the exception of Vienna, Budapest and Prague, no Empire province may have more than one lodge.

title: 1785

text: December 2 – Holy Roman Empire forces recapture Brussels, bringing an end to the short-lived United States of Belgium and restoring the Austrian Netherlands.

title: 1790

text: January 12 – Holy Roman troops reenter Liège, heralding the end of the Liège Revolution, and the restoration of its Prince-Bishops.

title: 1791

text: February 1 – French Revolutionary Wars: The French First Republic declares war on Great Britain, the Dutch Republic and (on March 7) Spain. During the year, the War of the First Coalition is joined by Portugal, the Holy Roman Empire, Naples and Tuscany in opposition to France.

title: 1793

text: April 18 – Armistice of Leoben: On behalf of the French Republic, a delegation under Napoleon Bonaparte signs a peace treaty with the Holy Roman Empire at Leoben.

title: 1797

text: Nathan Mayer Rothschild moves from Frankfurt in the Holy Roman Empire to England, settling up in business as a textile trader and financier in Manchester.

title: 1798

text: February 25 – A major redistribution of territorial sovereignty within the Holy Roman Empire is enacted, via an act known as the Reichsdeputationshauptschluss.

title: 1803

title: 1806

text: July 12 – Sixteen German Imperial States leave the Holy Roman Empire and form the Confederation of the Rhine, leading to the collapse of the Empire. Liechtenstein is given full sovereignty.

title: 1806


slug: holy-see

label: Holy See

description: jurisdiction of the Bishop of Rome and the sovereign entity presiding over Vatican City

text: The Sarcophagus of Junius Bassus, in the Old St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican, is made (approximate date).

title: 359

section: Events › By topic › Art

section: Deaths

date: March 12

text: March 12 – Innocent I dies after a 16-year reign in which he has restored relations between the sees of Rome and Antioch, enforced celibacy of the clergy, and maintained the right of the bishop of Rome to judge appeals from other churches. Innocent is succeeded by Zosimus as the 41st pope.

title: 417

date: July 13

text: July 13 – Pope John III dies at Rome after a 13-year tenure. The Holy See becomes sede vacante until June of the following year.

title: 574

date: February 19

text: February 19 – The vacancy (sede vacante) that has existed on the papal throne, since the death last year of Sabinian, ends with the election of a Rome-born deacon of the Catholic Church. Pope Boniface III is appointed as the 66th pope, but dies the same year.

title: 607

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

section: Events › By place › Europe

section: Conflict & Security

text: Pisans in the service of the Holy See (Diocese of Rome) sack the city of Amalfi.

title: 1135

date: August 20

text: August 20 – Oath of Bereg: King Andrew II of Hungary vows to the Holy See that he will not employ Jews and Muslims to administer royal revenues, which causes diplomatic complaints and ecclesiastical censures.

title: 1233

section: Health & Medicine

text: Aragonese Crusade: French forces led by King Philip III (the Bold) entrench before Girona, in an attempt to besiege the city. Despite strong resistance, the city is eventually taken on September 7. Philip's son, the 15-year-old Charles of Valois, is crowned as king of Aragon (under the vassalage of the Holy See) but without an actual crown. Shortly after, the French camp is racked by an epidemic of dysentery and Philip is forced to retreat.

title: 1285

date: February 5

text: February 5 – Pope Boniface VIII issues the papal bull, Clericis laicos, stating that, without authority from the Holy See, Kings and other monarchs couldn't take income from the church. This bull was made in retaliation against King Philip IV raising taxes on the church

title: 1296

section: Events › January–December

date: February 17

text: February 17 – The Concordat of Vienna is signed between the Holy Roman Empire

title: 1448

section: Events › January–March

date: December 23

text: December 23 – Pope Calixtus III declares Albanian hero Skanderbeg to be a Captain-General of the Holy See and gives him the title Athleta Christi ("Champion of Christ").

title: 1457

section: Events › October–December

date: June 18

text: June 18 – Pope Pius II himself shoulders the cross of the Crusades, and departs for Ancona to participate in person. He names Skanderbeg general captain of the Holy See, under the title Athleta Christi. This plan forces Skanderbeg to break his ten-year peace treaty with the Ottomans signed in 1463, by attacking their forces near Ohrid.

title: 1464

section: Events › April–June

date: December

text: December – Michelangelo begins painting the Sistine Chapel ceiling in the Holy See of Rome, on a commission by Pope Julius II (signed May 10).

title: 1508

text: November 23 – Spanish–German–Papal forces under Prospero Colonna force French Marshal Odet de Lautrec to abandon Milan.

title: 1521

section: Exploration & Expansion

date: October 28

text: October 28 – Keichō embassy: Hasekura Tsunenaga departs Japan in the Date Maru with a Japanese diplomatic mission to the Holy See, scheduled to first travel to Acapulco in New Spain, with a goal of concluding an agreement between Tokugawa Ieyasu and the East India Company, permitting English merchants to live and trade in Japan.

title: 1613

date: April 8

text: April 8 – A decree of the Sacred Congregation of Rites of the Roman Catholic Church is made to prohibit the veneration of saints whose sanctity has not been declared by the Holy See.

title: 1628

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

date: February 28

text: February 28 – The United States Congress forbids taxpayer funding of diplomatic envoys to the Holy See (Vatican), begun in 1848, and breaks off relations. Funding resumes, along with relations, in 1984.

title: 1867

section: Events › February

date: March 29

text: March 29 – The Royal College of St Patrick, Maynooth in Ireland is granted the status of pontifical university by charter of the Holy See.

title: 1896

section: Events › March

date: February 11

text: February 11 – The Kingdom of Italy and the Holy See of the Catholic Church sign the Lateran Treaty, to establish the Vatican City as an independent sovereign enclave within Rome, resolving the "Roman Question".

title: 1929

text: The last edition of the Index Librorum Prohibitorum is published in the Vatican.

title: 1948

section: Events › Date unknown

date: June 14

text: June 14 – The Vatican abolishes the Index Librorum Prohibitorum.

title: 1966

section: Events › June

date: June 22

text: June 22 – Emanuela Orlandi, a 15-year-old Vatican girl, mysteriously disappears in Rome while returning home from a music lesson. The disappearance of the girl led to many speculations involving international terrorism, Italian organized crime, and even a plot inside the Vatican to cover a sexual scandal inside the Holy See. Because of all these theories, the Orlandi case would later become Italy's most famous mystery.

title: 1983

date: January 10

text: January 10 – The United States and the Vatican (Holy See) restore full diplomatic relations.

title: 1984

section: Events › January

date: December 30

text: December 30 – Representatives of Israel and the Holy See sign the Fundamental Agreement Between the Holy See and the State of Israel, preparing for the establishment of diplomatic relations.

title: 1993

section: Events › December

date: June 15

text: June 15 – Israel and the Vatican establish full diplomatic relations.

title: 1994


slug: homage-feudal

label: Homage (feudal)

description: medieval oath of allegiance

text: Winter – King Arnulf of Carinthia leads an East Frankish expedition into Italy, after he is recognized as overlord of France and Burgundy. Arnulf descends with an army over the Brenner Pass, and meets King Berengar I at a peace conference at Trento. Berengar grants him two counties in the Val d'Adige (Northern Italy), and does homage to Arnulf as overlord. In turn, Arnulf confirms Berengar as king of Lombardia, and returns to Germany.

title: AD 888

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: 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: King Henry II of Germany signs a peace treaty at Merseburg with Duke Bolesław I the Brave) of Poland. As part of the treaty, Bolesław pays homage and recognizes Henry as his overlord in exchange for receiving the March of Lusatia (including the town of Bautzen) and the March of Meissen as fiefs. To seal their peace, Bolesław's son Mieszko II marries Richeza of Lotharingia (granddaughter of the late Emperor Otto II).

title: 1013

section: Culture & Society

text: Spring – Henry III, Holy Roman Emperor ("the Black") travels to southern Italy, and deprives Guaimar IV of his title Duke of Apulia and Calabria. He receives homage from Drogo of Hauteville, who becomes "Duke and Master of all Italy".

title: 1047

date: July

text: July – King Malcolm III of Scotland invades England, reaching as far south as Durham. The Normans led by William II and Robert march north to oppose the Scots, but a conflict is averted. Malcolm is forced to accept the terms of the Treaty of Abernethy (1072) and pays homage to William.

title: 1091

section: Events › By place › Britain and France

date: July 11

text: July 11 – Llywelyn the Great pays homage to John, King of England after Llywelyn has added Eifionydd and Llŷn to his kingdom of Gwynedd in north Wales.

title: 1201

section: Events › By place › British Isles

date: March 11

text: March 11 – Treaty of Worcester: King Henry III writes to the Welsh ruler Llywelyn the Great and promises safe-conduct if they meet at Worcester. A peace treaty is signed, which confirms Llywelyn's ownership of Wales. In return, Llywelyn agrees to pay homage to Henry and to return those castles that he has captured during his recent conquests.

title: 1218

section: Events › By place › Britain

date: February 8

text: February 8 – At Opava (in the modern-day Czech Republic), the Polish Silesian noble Casimir I, Duke of Cieszyn swears homage to King John of Bohemia, "the Blind". In return, Casimir is granted Oświęcim (Auschwitz) as a fiefdom on February 23.

title: 1327

section: Events › January – March


slug: homs

label: Homs

description: city in western Syria

section: Conflict & Security

text: Battle of Immae: Aurelian defeats the Palmyrene heavy cavalry (clibanarii) near Antioch. Queen Zenobia flees under cover of darkness to Emesa (Syria).

title: 272

section: Events › By place › Roman Empire

text: Battle of Antioch: Heraclius mobilises a Byzantine expeditionary force to Antioch (Syria), but is completely defeated outside the city by the Persians. Shahin Vahmanzadegan makes further inroads into Central and Western Anatolia. In Syria, Shahrbaraz captures the cities of Damascus, Apamea and Emesa.

title: 613

section: Events › By place › Byzantine Empire

date: July 30

text: July 30 – Battle of Ajnadayn: Byzantine forces (90,000 men according to Muslim sources) under Theodore are defeated by the Rashidun Caliphate near Beit Shemesh (modern-day Israel). Heraclius, who is in Emesa, flees to Antioch upon hearing news of the battle's outcome.

title: 634

text: Emir Sa'd al-Dawla recovers his capital, Aleppo, from the ghulam Bakjur, who receives the governorship of Homs as compensation.

title: 977

section: Events › By place › Arabian Empire

text: Fall – Fatimid troops under the defecting Hamdanid governor of Homs, Bakjur, attack Aleppo (modern Syria), but are repulsed through the intervention of the Byzantine army. Bardas Phokas (the Younger) sacks the city, while Bakjur flees to Fatimid territory in Egypt.

title: 983

text: Siege of Tripoli: The Crusaders under Raymond IV begin the siege of Tripoli (modern Lebanon). The garrison calls for assistance, but a Seljuk relief army from Damascus and Homs is defeated by Raymond.

title: 1102

section: Events › By place › Levant

date: July 24

text: July 24 – Zangid forces under Sayf al-Din arrive at Homs. Mu'in al-Din Unur sends a letter of ultimatum to the Crusader leaders to lift the siege of Damascus. Meanwhile, guerrilla attacks demoralise the Crusaders.

title: 1148

section: Events › By place › Second Crusade

date: April 18

text: April 18 – Nur al-Din, Seljuk ruler (atabeg) of Aleppo, encamps before Damascus and overthrows Mujir al-Din by force with support of the Jewish citizens, who open the eastern gate to the bulk of his army. Mujir flees to the citadel, but capitulates after only a few hours. He is offered his life and the Emirate of Homs. A few weeks later Mujir is suspected of plotting with old friends in Damascus and is exiled to Baghdad. Damascus is annexed to Zangid territory and all of Syria is unified under the authority of Nur al-Din, from Edessa in the north to the Hauran to the south.

title: 1154

date: October 4

text: October 4 – The Crusaders assemble a force of some 1,000 cavalry and 6,000 men outside Acre, after hearing that Jerusalem is sacked by the Khwarazmians. They are joined by the Ayyubid forces (some 4,000 men) of Damascus and Homs – while Emir An-Nasir Dawud brings his army from Kerak.

title: 1244

date: December 22

text: December 22–23 – Battle of Wadi al-Khaznadar: Mongol forces under Ghazan Khan defeat a Mamluk army (some 30,000 men) north of Homs. Sultan Al-Nasir Muhammad flees with the remnants of his army to Damascus. Ghazan splits his forces, one part sacks Damascus and besieges the citadel. Another part pursues the retreating Mamluks as far as Gaza, pushing them back to Egypt.

title: 1299


slug: honduras

label: Honduras

description: sovereign state in Central America

section: Religion & Belief

text: K'inich Yax K'uk' Mo' becomes the founder of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization at Copán (modern Honduras).

title: 426

section: Events › By place › Mesoamerica

section: Deaths

text: K'inich Yax K'uk' Mo' dies after an 11-year reign. He is the founder and first ruler of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization centered at Copán (modern Honduras).

title: 437

text: A Mayan altar with the head of the death god is built in Copán, Honduras.

title: 507

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

date: November 15

text: November 15 – K'ak' Chan Yopaat, becomes the new ruler of the Mayan city state of Copán in Honduras, and rules until his death 49 years later in 628.

title: 578

section: Events › By place › Central America

date: October 22

text: October 22 – Tzi-B'alam, who had been the ruler of the Mayan city state of Copán in Honduras, dies after a 25-year reign that began in May 553.

title: 578

text: June 15 – Uaxaclajuun Ub'aah K'awiil ("Eighteen Rabbit") becomes the new ruler of the Mayan city state of Copán in Honduras upon the death of Chan Imix K'awiil, and rules until his death in 736.

title: 695

text: June 15 – Uaxaclajuun Ub'aah K'awiil ("Eighteen Rabbit"), ruler of the Mayan city state of Copán in Honduras is defeated in battle by Kʼakʼ Tiliw Chan Yopaat, the ruler of Quiriguá (in Guatemala), and is beheaded. K'ak' ("Smoke Monkey") rules until his death in 749.

title: 736

date: February 18

text: February 18 – Kʼakʼ Yipyaj Chan Kʼawiil ("Smoke Squirrel") becomes the new ruler of the Mayan city state of Copán in Honduras upon the death of Kʼakʼ Tiliw Chan Yopaat, who had reigned since 738. K'ak' Yipyaj reigns until 763.

title: 749

date: July 2

text: July 2 – Yax Pasaj Chan Yopaat ("Rising Sun") becomes the new ruler of the Mayan city state of Copán in Honduras after the death of Kʼakʼ Yipyaj Chan Kʼawiil, who had reigned since 749. Yax Pasaj reigns until 810.

title: 763

section: Exploration & Expansion

date: August 14

text: August 14 – Christopher Columbus and his crew land at Puerto Castilla in what is now the mainland of the nation of Honduras, becoming the first Europeans to visit.

title: 1502

section: Events › July–September

text: July 30 – The first encounter between Europeans and the Maya people of Central America takes place when the Columbus brothers anchor at Guanaja, one of the Bay Islands off of the coast of what is now the nation of Honduras. An unfortunate group of Mayan traders happens to arrive at Guanaja at the same time, and its cargo is looted by Bartolomeo Columbus and his crew.

title: 1502

date: May 9

text: May 9 – Christopher Columbus leaves Cadiz in Spain for his fourth and final trip to the New World, taking with him 147 men on his flagship, Capitana and the companion ships Gallega, Vizcaína, and Santiago de Palos. He explores Central America, and discovers the Isthmus of Panama and the land now occupied by Honduras, and Costa Rica, and possibly the island of St. Lucia as well

title: 1502

section: Events › April–June

date: November 1

text: November 1 – In what is now the Central American nation of Honduras, the Spanish conquistadore Alonso de Cáceres arrives at the Peñol de Cerquín, the mountaintop fortress of King Lempira of the Lencas, the indigenous leader of the resistance against European rule. Cáceres sends envoys to request Lempira to surrender. In response, Lempira has the Spanish messengers executed.

title: 1537

section: Events › October–December

date: October 30

text: October 30 – The King of Spain donates the lands that become the municipalities of San Francisco and Mapulaca in Honduras.

title: 1692

date: December 8

text: December 8 – The Immaculate Conception Cathedral, Comayagua in Honduras, one of the oldest cathedrals in Central America, is inaugurated.

title: 1711

date: November 5

text: November 5 – Dissolution of the Federal Republic of Central America: Honduras and Costa Rica follow the example of Nicaragua and secede from the federation.

title: 1838

date: October 31

text: October 31 – General Joaquin Solares of Guatemala leads an invasion of neighboring Honduras, beginning a war that lasts until February 13, 1856.

title: 1852

date: June 20

text: June 20 – The Treaty of Amapala establishes the union of Nicaragua, Honduras and El Salvador (which ends in 1898).

title: 1895

date: November 10

text: November 10 – The new United Central American States, a merger of El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua, places its capital in the Nicaraguan city of Chinandega.

title: 1898

section: Events › November

date: November 30

text: November 30 – The United Central American States, a merger of Nicaragua, Honduras and El Salvador, is formally dissolved after the government was unable to suppress a revolution in San Salvador.

title: 1898

date: August 29

text: August 29 – F.C. Motagua is founded as an Association football club in Honduras.

title: 1928

section: Events › August

date: December 13

text: December 13 – The countries of El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua announce the formation of the Central American Common Market.

title: 1960

date: October 3

text: October 3 – 1963 Honduran coup d'état: A violent coup in Honduras pre-empts the October 13 election, ends a period of reform under President Ramón Villeda Morales and begins two decades of military rule under General Oswaldo López Arellano.

title: 1963

section: Events › October

date: July 14

text: July 14 – Football War: After Honduras loses an association football match against El Salvador, rioting breaks out in Honduras against Salvadoran migrant workers. Of the 300,000 Salvadoran workers in Honduras, tens of thousands are expelled, prompting a brief Salvadoran invasion of Honduras. The OAS works out a cease-fire on July 18, which takes effect on July 20.

title: 1969

section: Events › July

section: Climate & Environment

date: February 4

text: February 4 – The 7.5 Guatemala earthquake affects Guatemala and Honduras with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent), leaving 23,000 dead and 76,000 injured.

title: 1976

section: Events › February

text: October 30 – El Salvador and Honduras sign a peace treaty to put the border dispute fought over in 1969's Football War before the International Court of Justice.

title: 1980

date: August 7

text: August 7 – The presidents of five Central American countries agree that the U.S.-backed contras fighting the government of Nicaragua should be disbanded and evicted from their bases in Honduras by December 5.

title: 1989

date: December 21

text: December 21 – 2012 phenomenon: End of 13th b'ak'tun in the Mayan calendar, supposed end of the world according to new age beliefs. Festivities took place to commemorate the event in the countries that were part of the Maya civilization (Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador), with main events at Chichén Itzá in Mexico and Tikal in Guatemala.

title: 2012

date: December 24

text: December 24 – Guatemala follows in the footsteps of the United States by announcing that they will also move their Israeli embassy to Jerusalem, followed by Honduras and Panama two days later.

title: 2017

text: June 20 – At least 46 people are killed after a riot between MS-13 and Barrio 18 gang members at a women's prison near Tegucigalpa, Honduras.

title: 2023

date: March 26

text: March 26 – Honduras switches its formal diplomatic recognition of "China" from the Republic of China to the People's Republic of China.

title: 2023


slug: hong-kong

label: Hong Kong

description: city and special administrative region of China

section: Technology & Infrastructure

text: The Guanfuchang salt-fields (官富場) in Hong Kong (modern-day To Kwa Wan, Kowloon Bay, Kwun Tong and Lam Tin districts) are first officially operated by the Song dynasty.

title: 1163

section: Events

section: Health & Medicine

date: January 26

text: January 26 – Britain occupies Hong Kong. Later in the year, the first census of the island records a population of about 7,500.

title: 1841

section: Events › January–March

text: August 29 – The Treaty of Nanking, an unequal treaty between the United Kingdom and Qing dynasty China, ends the First Opium War, and establishes Hong Kong as a British colony (later a British dependent territory until 1997).

title: 1842

date: November 6

text: November 6 – The English-language South China Morning Post newspaper is first published in Hong Kong.

title: 1903

section: Economy & Finance

date: September 24

text: September 24 – Cathay Pacific Airways is founded in Hong Kong, by American Roy Farrell and Australian Sydney de Kantzow.

title: 1946

section: Events › September

text: Raja Fashions, a tailoring business, is founded in Hong Kong.

title: 1957

section: Events › Date unknown

date: September 26

text: September 26 – The United Kingdom and the People's Republic of China sign the initial agreement to return Hong Kong to China in 1997.

title: 1984

section: Disasters & Accidents

date: December 12

text: December 12 – Hong Kong begins the forcible repatriation of Vietnamese boat people, starting with a group of 59 who are flown to Hanoi.

title: 1989

section: Events › December

date: December 11

text: December 11 – Tung Chee-hwa is appointed to become the new leader of Hong Kong after it reverts to Chinese rule on July 1, 1997, at the end of a 99-year lease to the United Kingdom.

title: 1996

date: November 20

text: November 20 – The 1996 Garley Building fire occurred in Hong Kong, resulting in 41 deaths and 81 injuries.

title: 1996

date: July 1

text: July 1 – The United Kingdom hands sovereignty of the British colony in Hong Kong to the People's Republic of China.

title: 1997

section: Culture & Society

text: July 1 – The annual 1 July Marches in Hong Kong see hundreds of thousands of participants in response to the National Security (Legislative Provisions) Bill.

title: 2003

date: March 12

text: March 12 – The World Health Organization issues a global alert on SARS when it spreads to Hong Kong and Vietnam after originating in Mainland China.

title: 2003

section: Events › March

date: January 16

text: January 16 – Turkish Airlines Flight 6491, a cargo flight en route from Hong Kong to Istanbul via Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, crashes in a residential area while attempting to land at Manas International Airport, Bishkek, killing all four crew members on board and 35 people on the ground.

title: 2017

section: Events › January

date: November 28

text: November 28 – Chinese scientist He Jiankui, at a public conference in Hong Kong, announces that he has altered the DNA of twin human girls born earlier in the month to try to make them resistant to infection with the HIV virus; he also reveals the possible second pregnancy of another gene-modified baby.

title: 2018

date: September 14

text: September 14–16 – Typhoon Mangkhut impacts the Philippines, Taiwan, Hong Kong and China, resulting in more than 60 fatalities.

title: 2018

date: August 5

text: August 5 – 2019–20 Hong Kong protests: Amid ongoing protests, Hong Kong is hit by the first general strikes of their kind since 1967.

title: 2019

date: June 15

text: June 15 – 2019–2020 Hong Kong protests: Hong Kong announces it will indefinitely suspend the controversial extradition bill, but protests continue, this time calling for the total withdrawal of the bill and the resignation of Chief Executive Carrie Lam.

title: 2019

section: Events › June

date: June 9

text: June 9 – 2019–2020 Hong Kong protests: Over 1 million people in Hong Kong protest against proposed legislation regarding extradition to mainland China. It is the largest protest in Hong Kong since the 1997 handover.

title: 2019

date: October 4

text: October 4 – 2019–20 Hong Kong protests: Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam and the Chief Executive in Council invokes the Emergency Regulations Ordinance and banning the face mask in public gatherings with immediate effect.

title: 2019

date: September 4

text: September 4 – 2019–20 Hong Kong protests: Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam announces the official withdrawal of the controversial Fugitive Offenders and Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Legislation (Amendment) Bill 2019, and setting up of an independent study to probe social and economic inequality within the territory.

title: 2019

date: June 3

text: June 3 – Prime Minister Boris Johnson says the UK will change immigration laws to offer a pathway to UK citizenship for all Hong Kong citizens who are eligible for BN(O) status if the government of China imposes new security laws on the territory.

title: 2020

date: November 26

text: November 26 – A massive fire engulfs the Wang Fuk Court apartment block in Hong Kong, killing at least people and leaving over 150 missing.

title: 2025


slug: hongwu-emperor

label: Hongwu Emperor

description: founding emperor of China's Ming dynasty; ruled 1368–1398

section: Births

date: October 21

text: October 21 – Hongwu Emperor of China (d. 1398)

title: 1328

date: October 10

text: October 10 – Zhu Biao, eldest son of the Hongwu Emperor and crown prince of the Ming dynasty (d. 1392)

title: 1355

section: Conflict & Security

text: Zhu Yuanzhang, leader of the Red Turban Rebellion that will overthrow the Yuan dynasty and establish the Ming dynasty two years later, begins building the walls for a new capital city at Nanjing.

title: 1366

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

date: January 23

text: January 23 – Zhu Yuanzhang establishes the Ming dynasty with himself as the Emperor Hongwu. The new dynasty will last until 1644. The Emperor immediately orders every county magistrate to set up four granaries, and halts government taxation on books. Work begins later year on restoring the surviving Great Wall of China.

title: 1368

text: The Hongwu Emperor of the Chinese Ming dynasty issues a decree ordering every country magistrate in the empire to open a Confucian school of learning.

title: 1369

section: Events › Dates unknown

text: The Hongwu Emperor of the Ming dynasty in China introduces the census registration system of lijia, or the hundreds-and-tithing system, throughout the Yangzi Valley. This system groups households into units of ten and groups of one hundred, whereupon their capacities for paying taxes and providing the state with corvée labor service can be assessed. The system becomes fully operational in 1381, when it counts 59,873,305 people living in China (the historian Timothy Brook asserts that the number was much higher, somewhere between 65 million and 75 million).

title: 1371

date: May

text: May – Under the direction of Zhu Yuanzhang, the Emperor Hongwu, the Ming conquest of Xia begins as troops from China, led by Generals Fu Youde and Tang He invade what is now the Sichuan province from the north, while Admiral Liao Yongzhong leads an attack on Xia's east coast and along the Yangtze river.

title: 1371

section: Events › April–June

text: The Kingdom of Chūzan, ruled by King Satto on the island of Okinawa, in Japan) enters tributary relations with Ming dynasty China by way of an envoy, Yang Zai, sent by the Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang.

title: 1372

text: The Chinese emperor of the Ming dynasty, the Hongwu Emperor, suspends the traditional civil service examination system after complaining that the 120 new jinshi degree-holders are too incompetent to hold office; he instead relies solely upon a system of recommendations, until the civil service exams are reinstated in 1384.

title: 1373

text: King U of Goryeo adopts the Ming calendar and begs to be invested by the Hongwu Emperor.

title: 1377

date: August

text: August – The Hongwu Emperor of the Ming dynasty of China scraps the Office of Reports Inspection (established in 1370) for a new Office of Transmission, in his efforts to create a more efficient communicatory system in the empire. A month before this he noted that anyone could send memorials to the throne; commoners often did, although the only times their petitions were read aloud to the emperor were when they called for the impeachment of local officials who were not up to par with their official duties.Wilkinson, 534–535.

title: 1377

section: Events › July–September

text: The Hongwu Emperor purges the chancellor of China, Hu Weiyong, and abolishes that office, as he imposes direct imperial rule over the six ministries of central government, for the Ming Empire.

title: 1380

date: February 12

text: February 12 – Hu Weiyong, the Grand Chancellor of Ming dynasty China, is accused of treason and executed as the Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang (Emperor Hongwu) begins a purge of over 30,000 people perceived as opponents of the Imperial government.

title: 1380

text: In Ming dynasty China, the lijia census registration system begun in 1371 is now universally imposed, during the reign of the Hongwu Emperor. The census counts 59,873,305 people living in China in this year. This depicts a drastic drop in population since the Song dynasty, which counted 100 million people at its height in the early 12th century. A modern historian states that the Ming census is inaccurate, as China at around this time has at least 65,000,000 inhabitants, if not 75,000,000.

title: 1381

section: Events › Date not known

date: April 9

text: April 9 – Ming dyansty China, ruled by the Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang, completes the conquerst of Yunnan the remaining portion of China still occupied by the Yuan dyansty in what is now the Yunnan province. General Fu Youde leads 250,000 Ming Chinese troops overwhelming the smaller Yunnan force of Mongol and Chinese Muslim troops.

title: 1382

text: The Hongwu Emperor of Ming China reinstates the Imperial examination system for drafting scholar-officials to the civil service, after suspending the system since 1373, in favor of a recommendation system to office.

title: 1384

section: Events › Unknown Date

section: Crime & Justice

date: August 16

text: August 16 – The Hongwu Emperor of Ming China hears a case of a couple who tore paper money notes, while fighting over them. Under the law, this is considered an act of destroying stamped government documents, which is to be punished by a caning with a bamboo rod of 100 strokes. However, the Emperor decides to pardon them, on the grounds that it was unintentional.

title: 1384

text: The Hongwu Emperor of China's Ming dynasty relents after eighteen tribute missions over the previous eight years, and agrees to invest King U of Goryeo.

title: 1385

date: November

text: November – The Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang of China directs General Lan Yu to attack the Mongol forces led by Tögüs Temür, whom the Emperor Zhu had deposed. The confrontation between Lan Yu and Tögüs Temür will culminate six months later at the Battle of Buir Lake, 500 mi north of Beijing.

title: 1387

section: Events › October–December

date: January 19

text: January 19 – In Ming dynasty China, General Lan Yu is rewarded by the Emperor Zhu Chongba of the Hongwu era for his victory over Mongol invaders in 1388. Lan Yu is given the title Duke of Liang, with rule over what is now the Gansu province.

title: 1389

date: September 24

text: September 24 – Zhu Yuanzhang, the Hongwu Emperor of Ming dynasty China, declares that all males must wear the queue hairstyle.

title: 1392

text: The Hongwu Emperor of the Ming dynasty in China orders the Ministry of Public Works to issue a public notice, that every 100 households in the lijia system are to set aside 2 mu (1,390 m 2 ) of land, for planting mulberry and jujube trees.

title: 1394

date: January

text: January – The Dao Ganmeng rebellion in the Chinese vassal state of Möng Mao,started in December by Dao Genmeng, is brought to an end in what is now Myanmar two months after Dao Ganmeng's takeover. With the intervention of the Chinese Empire, led by the Ming dynasty Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang, the deposed ruler Si Lunfa is restored to leadership.

title: 1398

section: Deaths

date: June 24

text: June 24 – Hongwu Emperor of China (b. 1328)

title: 1398

date: June 25

text: June 25 – Zhu Yunwen succeeds his grandfather, Zhu Yuanzhang, as Emperor Ming dynasty China, bringing an end to the Hongwu Era and beginning the Jianwen era.

title: 1398


slug: honorius

label: Honorius

description: 4th and 5th-century Roman emperor

date: September 9

text: September 9 – Honorius, Roman Emperor (d. 423)

title: 384

section: Religion & Belief

text: January 23 – Emperor Theodosius I proclaims his son Honorius, age 8, co-ruler (Augustus) of the Western Roman Empire.

title: 393

section: Events › By place › Roman Empire

date: January 17

text: January 17 – Emperor Theodosius I, age 48, dies of a disease involving severe edema in Milan. The Roman Empire is divided for the final time into an eastern and a western half. The Eastern Roman Empire is centered in Constantinople under Arcadius, son of Theodosius, and the Western Roman Empire in Mediolanum under his brother Honorius.

title: 395

text: Stilicho, Roman general (magister militum), controls the young emperor Honorius as his regent, and becomes the de facto ruler of the Western Roman Empire. He enlists the Alemanni and the Franks, to defend the Rhine frontier.

title: 396

section: Health & Medicine

text: Emperor Honorius passes a law making barbarian styles of dress illegal in the city of Rome. As a result of this law, everybody in Rome is forbidden from wearing boots, trousers, animal skins, and long hair. This law is passed in response to the increasing popularity of barbarian fashions among the people of Rome.

title: 397

text: Emperor Honorius marries Stilicho's daughter Maria.

title: 398

text: The Emperor Honorius of the Western Roman Empire, who is only 15 years old, closes the gladiatorial schools in Rome, and legally ends munera (gladiator games).

title: 399

text: Emperors Arcadius and his younger brother Honorius become Roman consuls.

title: 402

text: Emperor Honorius and Stilicho are honored with a triumphal march, for the victories against the Goths and Vandals. This becomes the last victory celebrated in Rome.

title: 403

text: Fravitta, a Goth serving the Eastern Roman Empire as a high-ranking general, is executed on the behest of a powerful official named Ioannes. Fravitta is executed because he accused Ioannes of pitting Emperor Arcadius and Emperor Honorius (of the Eastern and Western Roman Empires, respectively) against each other. The execution of Fravitta results in the Eastern Roman Empire losing one of their most loyal and competent generals. (404 or 405)

title: AD 404

section: Disasters & Accidents

text: Emperor Honorius closes the Flavian Amphitheatre (Colosseum), in an austerity move that abolishes amusements.

title: 405

text: Maria, empress consort and wife of Honorius

title: 407

text: Summer – Emperor Honorius marries Thermantia, second daughter of Stilicho, his famous general (magister militum).

title: 408

text: Didymus and Verinianus, cousins of emperor Honorius.

title: 409

text: According to Zosimus, this is the year when Emperor Honorius sends his Rescript (diplomatic letters) to the Romano-British magistrates, ending Roman rule in Great Britain. However this is likely an example of scribal error. Most recently, David Woods has argued that the account refers instead to Raetia, a Roman province north of Italy.

title: 410

text: Battle or siege of Arles: Emperor Honorius sends two Roman generals to deal with the usurper Constantine III in Gaul. They take over the army of Gerontius, Constantine's rebellious general (magister militum) who flees to Spain, then defeat Edobichus near Arles and defeat Constantine III. He is taken prisoner and put to death at Ravenna.

title: AD 411

text: Priscus Attalus, Roman usurper, is forced to participate in a triumph celebrated by Emperor Honorius, in the streets of Rome. After the festivities, he is exiled to the Lipari Islands (north of Sicily).

title: 416

date: February 8

text: February 8 – Constantius III is appointed co-emperor (Augustus) with his ineffectual brother-in-law, Honorius, and becomes the real ruler of the Western Roman Empire.

title: 421

date: August 15

text: August 15 – Emperor Honorius, age 38, dies at Ravenna of dropsy, perhaps pulmonary edema. With no children to claim the throne, Joannes, primicerius notariorum ("chief notary", head of the civil service), seizes the throne of the Western Roman Empire, and is declared emperor. Among his supporters are Flavius Aetius, Roman general (magister militum). Joannes' rule is accepted in the dioceses of Gaul, Hispania and Italia, but not in Africa.

title: 423

text: August 15 – Honorius, Roman Emperor (b. 384)

title: 423


slug: honshu

label: Honshu

description: largest island of Japan

text: The Japanese begin a war against the Ainu, in the north, on the main island of Honshu. Emperor Kanmu wishes to be free from the influence of the Buddhist monasteries around Nara (then called Heijō), and moves the capital to Nagaoka, ending the Nara period.

title: 784

section: Events › By place › Asia

section: Climate & Environment

text: Jōgan eruption (Japan): Mount Fuji, located on Honshu Island, erupts for 10 days.

title: 864

date: July 9

text: July 9 – The 869 Sanriku earthquake and associated tsunami devastate a large part of the Sanriku coast on the northeastern side of the island of Honshu.

title: 869

section: Events › By place › Japan

text: The Taira and Minamoto clans join forces to rule Japan, after defeating the warrior monks of the Enryaku-ji temple near Kyoto. The Taira replace many Fujiwara nobles in important offices – while the Minamoto gain more military experience by bringing parts of Northern Honshu under Japanese control (approximate date).

title: 1108

date: May 13

text: May 13 (Keichō 3, 8th day of the 4th month) – The Mount Asama volcano on the Japanese island of Honshu erupts.

title: 1598

date: February 3

text: February 3 – The 1605 Keichō earthquake, of estimated 7.9 magnitude, strikes Japan south of the island of Honshu, and triggers a tsunami that washes away hundreds of houses and kills thousands of people.

title: 1605

section: Events › January–March

date: December 2

text: December 2 (Keichō 16, 10th month, 28th day) – The 1611 Sanriku earthquake of 8.1 magnitude strikes off of the coast of Japan and causes a tsunami that kills almost 5,000 people in the northern section of Honshu island.

title: 1611

date: October 14

text: October 14 – A devastating levee collapse, flash flood and landslide hit and damage around Kyushu Island, Shikoku Island and western Honshū in Japan, due to a strong typhoon wind; an official document reports that 2,044 people perish.

title: 1893

section: Events › October

text: January 23 – Hakkōda Mountains incident: A snowstorm in the Hakkōda Mountains of northern Honshu, Japan, kills 199 during a military training exercise.

title: 1902

section: Events › January

date: July 12

text: July 12 – The Imperial Japanese Navy battleship Kawachi blows up off Tokuyama, Yamaguchi, western Honshu, Japan, killing at least 621.

title: 1918

section: Events › July

date: March 7

text: March 7 – 1927 Kita Tango earthquake: A 7.0 earthquake kills at least 2,925 in the Toyooka and Mineyama areas of western Honshu, in Japan.

title: 1927

section: Events › March

date: March 3

text: March 3 – 1933 Sanriku earthquake: A powerful earthquake and tsunami hit Honshū, Japan, killing approximately 3,000 people.

title: 1933

date: September 21

text: September 21 – The Muroto typhoon in Honshū, Japan kills 3,036 people, and destroys the temple, schools, and other buildings in Osaka.

title: 1934

section: Events › September–October

date: September 27

text: September 27 – Typhoon Ida kills at least 1,269 people in Honshū, Japan.

title: 1958

section: Events › September

date: September 26

text: September 26 – Typhoon Vera hits central Honshū, Japan, as a 160 mph kph Category 5 storm, killing an estimated 5,098, injuring another 38,921, and leaving 1,533,000 homeless. Most of the victims and damage are centered in the Nagoya area.

title: 1959

date: May 26

text: May 26 – The 7.8 Sea of Japan earthquake shakes northern Honshu with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe). A destructive tsunami is generated that leaves about 100 people dead.

title: 1983

section: Events › May

section: Technology & Infrastructure

date: April 5

text: April 5 – In Japan, the Akashi Kaikyō Bridge linking Shikoku with Honshū and costing about US$3.6 billion, opens to traffic, becoming the largest suspension bridge in the world.

title: 1998

section: Events › April


slug: house-of-capet

label: House of Capet

description: family

section: Culture & Society

text: Richard I (the Fearless), duke of Normandy, marries Emma of Paris. She is the daughter of Hugh the Great, former Duke of the Franks. The union gives him a permanent status to the House of Capet.

title: 960

section: Events › By place › Europe

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

title: AD 1000

section: Events › Christendom

section: Deaths

date: August 4

text: August 4 – King Henry I of France (of the House of Capet) dies after a 29-year reign in Vitry-aux-Loges. He is succeeded by his 8-year-old son Philip I ("the Amorous") as king of France. Philip is too young to rule, and his mother, Queen Anne of Kiev becomes regent. France is administered by Count Baldwin V (one of Philip's uncles) who acts as co-regent.

title: 1060

section: Births

date: September

text: September – Philip I, French prince and nobleman (House of Capet) (d. 1235)

title: 1200

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

date: September 18

text: September 18 – Treaty of Chinon: John of England makes a truce with Philip II at the Castle of Chinon, and recognizes the Capetian (French) territorial gains at the expense of the Angevin Empire.

title: 1214

text: Blanche of France, French princess (House of Capet) (d. 1305)

title: 1282

text: Marie of Évreux, French noblewoman (House of Capet) (d. 1335)

title: 1303

text: Margaret I, French noblewoman (House of Capet) (d. 1382)

title: 1310

text: Blanche of France, French princess (House of Capet) (d. 1358)

title: 1313

date: November 29

text: November 29 – Philip IV the Fair, King of France from the House of Capet, in a hunting accident (b. 1268)

title: 1314

section: Religion & Belief

date: January 3

text: January 3 – Charles IV the Fair, the last member of the House of Capet and younger brother of King Philip V, becomes the new King of France upon Philip's death at Longchamp Abbey, near Paris. After Charles assumes the throne, he refuses to release his wife Blanche of Burgundy, who is imprisoned for adultery with a Norman knight, from prison, and asks that the marriage be annulled.

title: 1322

section: Events › January – March