slug: chu-state

label: Chu (state)

description: Southern Chinese state (c. 1030–223 BCE) during the Zhou dynasty and Warring States Period

year_label: 800 BCE

text: 800 BC—Xiong Xun, monarch of the state of Chu during the Western Zhou dynasty of ancient China.

title: 800s BC (decade)

year_label: 678 BCE

text: Chu had conquered most of the Nanyang Basin

title: 678 BC

section: Events

text: Chu soldiers invade Zheng (according to the Zuo Zhuan)

title: 678 BC

year_label: 632 BCE

text: Cheng Dechen, Chinese prime minister of Chu

title: 632 BC

year_label: 626 BCE

text: King Cheng of Chu, king of the state of Chu

title: 626 BC

year_label: 613 BCE

text: King Zhuang of Chu becomes king of Chu in China.

title: 613 BC

year_label: 600 BCE

text: King Gong of Chu, king of the Chinese state of Chu

title: 600 BC

year_label: 560 BCE

text: King Gong of Chu, Chinese king of Chu

title: 560 BC

year_label: 546 BCE

text: Jin and Chu agreed to the truce of Mibing, ending their constant military engagement.

title: 546 BC

year_label: 516 BCE

text: King Ping of Chu, King of the state of Chu from 528 to 516 BC

title: 516 BC

year_label: 512 BCE

text: The State of Xu is disestablished following attacks by the states of Wu and Chu.

title: 512 BC

section: Events › By place › China

year_label: 484 BCE

text: Wu Zixu, political advisor from Chu who has been employed at the court of the State of Wu during the reign of King Helü of Wu; all Chinese people with the surname Wu consider him their first ancestor (born 526 BC)

title: 484 BC

year_label: 433 BCE

text: Zeng Hou Yi, marquis of the state of Zeng, subordinate to Chu

title: 433 BC

year_label: 432 BCE

text: The Chinese Marquis Yi of Zeng is buried (approximate date) with lavish tomb items including a 65 set of bronze bells (bianzhong) with five octave musical scale and two musical tones that can be produced by each bell. Marquis Yi was from the State of Chu during the Warring States phase of the Zhou dynasty.

title: 432 BC

year_label: 381 BCE

text: King Dao of Chu, Chinese king of the state of Chu (unknown birth)

title: 381 BC

text: Wu Qi, Chinese military general, Prime Minister of the State of Chu, also a servant of the State of Lu (born in Wei, 440 BC)

title: 381 BC

year_label: 340 BCE

text: Xuan of Chu, Chinese king of Chu (Warring States Period)

title: 340 BC

year_label: 338 BCE

text: Xuan, Chinese queen dowager of Chu (d. 265 BC)

title: 338 BC

year_label: 316 BCE

text: King Hui of Qin decides, on the advice of General Sima Cuo, to invade and annex the ancient states of Ba and Shu in Sichuan, in order to increase Qin's agricultural output and obtain a strategic platform from which to defeat the state of Chu.

title: 316 BC

year_label: 299 BCE

text: The State of Qin annexes eight cities of the state of Chu. Chu then sends an envoy to ask the King of Huai to go to Qin to negotiate peace. Qu Yuan risks his life to go up to the court to persuade the King of Huai not to go to the negotiation.

title: 299 BC

year_label: 278 BCE

text: Qu Yuan, Chinese poet from southern Chu who lived during the Warring States period. His works are mostly found in an anthology of poetry known as Chu Ci (b. c. 340 BC)

title: 278 BC

year_label: 265 BCE

text: Xuan, Chinese queen dowager of Chu (b. 338 BC)

title: 265 BC

year_label: 263 BCE

text: Qingxiang of Chu, Chinese king of Chu (Warring States Period)

title: 263 BC

year_label: 241 BCE

text: Five of the seven major warring states: Chu, Zhao, Wei, Yan, and Han, form an alliance to fight the rising power of Qin. King Kaolie of Chu is named the leader of the alliance, and Lord Chunshen the military commander, with Pang Nuan of Zhao also serving as a general. The coalition penetrates as far as the Qin town of Zui, west of the strategic Hangu Pass and in the Qin heartland of Guanzhong, but they are defeated. Afterwards, Chu moves its capital east to Shouchun, further away from the threat of Qin. Qin counterattacks, sacking the Wei city of Chaoge.

title: 241 BC

year_label: 238 BCE

text: Kaolie of Chu, Chinese king of the Chu State

title: 238 BC

year_label: 228 BCE

text: Ai of Chu, king of the Chu State (Warring States Period)

title: 228 BC

year_label: 224 BCE

text: Qin begins the invasion of Chu. Initially, the Qin generals Li Xin and Meng Tian capture several cities and defeat the Chu army.

title: 224 BC

year_label: 223 BCE

text: The Qin generals Wang Jian and Meng Wu defeat the Chu general Xiang Yan and the king of Chu, Lord Changping. Lord Changping is killed, and Xiang Yan commits suicide soon afterwards.

title: 223 BC

text: Lord Changping, the last king of Chu, one of the Seven Warring States in ancient China.

title: 223 BC

year_label: 209 BCE

text: The rebels restore the monarchies of Chu, Qi, Yan, Zhao, Wei and (in 208) Han.

title: 209 BC

year_label: 207 BCE

text: The Chu rebel Xiang Yu defeats the Qin general Zhang Han in the Battle of Julu and becomes the leader of the rebellion against the Qin dynasty.

title: 207 BC

year_label: 206 BCE

text: Yi (or Huai II), Chinese ruler of the Chu State

title: 206 BC

year_label: 204 BCE

text: Han Xin completes the conquest of Zhao and receives the surrender of Yan. He captures the Zhao capital of Handan and defeats Chu relief forces sent by Xiang Yu.

title: 204 BC

text: After Xiang Yu fails to persuade Han Xin to remain neutral, Han Xin and Liu Bang launch a five-pronged invasion of Chu. They decisively defeat Xiang Yu in the Battle of Chen and the Battle of Gaixia.

title: 203 BC

text: Liu Bang appoints Han Xin the king of Chu, but he deposes him later in the year after accusing him of disloyalty.

title: 202 BC

text: Xiang Bo, Chinese nobleman of the Chu State (Seven Kingdoms)

title: 192 BC


slug: chu-ten-kingdoms

label: Chu (Ten Kingdoms)

section: Births

text: Ma Xifan, king of Chu (d. 947)

title: 899

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

date: June 8

text: June 8 – The Chu Kingdom is founded by the warlord Ma Yin (Prince of Chu) in Changsha. Present-day Hunan and Guangxi provinces (Southern China) are under his control.

title: 907

text: Ma Xichong, governor and ruler of Chu (d. 951)

title: 912

section: Deaths

date: August 15

text: August 15 – Ma Xisheng, king of Chu (b. 899)

title: 932

text: Lady Peng, noblewoman of Chu (Ten Kingdoms)

title: 938

date: May 25

text: May 25 – Yao Yanzhang, general of Chu

title: 939

date: May 30

text: May 30 – Ma Xifan, king of Chu (Ten Kingdoms) (b. 899)

title: 947

date: January 25

text: January 25 – Ma Xiguang, ruler of Chu (Ten Kingdoms)

title: 951

section: Conflict & Security

date: November 16

text: November 16 – Emperor Li Jing sends a Southern Tang expeditionary force (10,000 men) under Bian Hao to conquer Chu. Li Jing removes the ruling family to his own capital in Nanjing, ending the Chu Kingdom.

title: 951


slug: church-building

label: Church (building)

description: building for Christian worship

section: Religion & Belief

text: Pope Stephen I threatens to excommunicate Cyprian, bishop of Carthage, and other bishops in Africa and Asia Minor, unless they stop rebaptizing heretics. Cyprian attacks the Pope in a treatise that gains support from the Council of Carthage. He sends envoys to Rome, raising the specter of a schism between the Roman and Carthaginian Churches.

title: 256

section: Events › By topic › Religion

text: Helena tells Constantine that he must atone for executing his son and wife by building churches, and at about this date construction begins on Old St. Peter's Basilica, the first church on the traditional site of Saint Peter's tomb in Rome, and on the basilica of Golgotha on Calvary outside Jerusalem. He also commissions construction of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem (dedicated 339).

title: 326

section: Culture & Society

text: Stained glass is used for the first time in churches in Rome.

title: 406

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

text: Ecclesius, bishop of Ravenna, commissions two new churches, one for Ravenna and one for its port, Classis.

title: 526

text: The fortress city of Old Dongola (modern Sudan) along the River Nile becomes the capital of the Kingdom of Makuria. Several churches are built, including the "Old Church" (approximate date).

title: 543

section: Events › By place › Africa

date: April

text: April – Siege of Jerusalem: The Rashidun army (20,000 men), led by 'Amr ibn al-'As, conquers Jerusalem after a six-month siege. The Byzantine garrison surrenders to Caliph Umar I, who is invited by Sophronius, patriarch of Jerusalem, to pray in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Umar declines, fearing that accepting the invitation might endanger the church's status, and turn the Christian holy site into a mosque.

title: 637

section: Events › By place › Arabian Empire

section: Crime & Justice

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

title: 653

section: Events › By place › Europe

text: Constans II moves the imperial court from Constantinople to Syracuse. He tries to stop the Arab conquest of Sicily, and restores Rome as seat of the Byzantine Empire. Constans strips sacred altar vessels from churches all over Rome.

title: 663

section: Events › By place › Byzantine Empire

date: November 21

text: November 21 – Willibrord, Northumbrian missionary, becomes the first bishop of Utrecht (Netherlands). He returns to Frisia to preach, and builds numerous churches (approximate date).

title: 695

text: King Ine of Wessex builds a stone church at Glastonbury Abbey in Somerset (approximate date).

title: 720

section: Events › By place › Britain

date: June 28

text: June 28 – Pope Paul I dies at Rome after a 10-year reign, in which he has protested against Constantine V's revival of Iconoclasm at Constantinople. He gives refuge to Greek monks who were expelled from the Byzantine Empire, and moves the relics of many saints from the catacombs to Roman churches. Duke Toto of Nepi has his layman brother elected to succeed Paul, under the name Constantine II.

title: AD 767

text: Lebuinus, Anglo-Saxon missionary, founds the city of Deventer (modern-day Netherlands), and builds a wooden church on the bank of the River IJssel (approximate date).

title: 768

text: Saxon raiders destroy many churches deep in Frankish territory. The Benedictine monks of Fulda Abbey (modern-day Hesse) hurriedly carry the relics of Saint Boniface over the Rhön Mountains to safety.

title: 778

text: Winter – Charlemagne returns to Eresburg and builds a church, probably on the site of the Irminsul (a pagan religious site). Frankish forces based at Eresburg attack rebel Saxon settlements, and take control of the roads. Charlemagne himself takes part in some of these raids.

title: 784

text: At the instigation of Adalram, archbishop of Salzburg, the first Christian church in Central and Eastern Europe is built in Nitra, Pannonia.

title: 828

text: Summer – Ansgar, Frankish missionary, founds the first church at Birka (modern Sweden).

title: 831

text: The second St. Mark's Basilica in Venice (replacing an older church at a different location) is built, and becomes one of the best known examples of Italo-Byzantine architecture.

title: 832

section: Climate & Environment

text: The Hagia Sophia Basilica (church) in Constantinople suffers great damage during an earthquake, which makes the eastern half-dome collapse. Basil I orders it to be repaired.

title: 869

date: April 6

text: April 6 (Good Friday) – Francesco Petrarca, Italian scholar and poet, sees a woman he names Laura (possibly Laura de Noves) in the church of Sainte-Claire d'Avignon, which awakes in him a lasting passion. He writes a series of sonnets and other poems in Italian dedicated to her, which are collected into Il Canzoniere, an influential model for Renaissance culture.

title: 1327

section: Events › April – June


slug: church-of-england

label: Church of England

description: Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion

date: September 17

text: September 17 – Theodore of Tarsus, archbishop of Canterbury, convenes a synod at Hatfield that clears the English Church from any association with the heresy of monothelitism.

title: 680

date: May 27

text: May 27 – The Accord of Winchester establishes the primacy of the Archbishop of Canterbury over the Archbishop of York, in the Church of England.

title: 1072

date: September 11

text: September 11 – England is left without a Roman Catholic Cardinal protector when Cardinal Galeotto Franciotti della Rovere dies suddenly. England's King Henry VII dies seven months later before the monarchy and the Pope can agree on a new cardinal protector. The King's successor, Henry VIII, later abolishes the office entirely after Lorenzo Campeggio dies in the course of the English Reformation and the creation of the Church of England.

title: 1508

section: Events › July–September

date: November 3

text: November 3– The English Reformation Parliament passes the Act of Supremacy, establishing Henry VIII as supreme head of the Church of England.

title: 1534

section: Events › October–December

date: July 6

text: July 6 – Sir Thomas More, author of Utopia and one time Lord Chancellor of England, is executed for treason, after refusing to recognize King Henry VIII as head of the English Church, and separate from the Roman Catholic Church.

title: 1535

text: June 28 – The Six Articles, an Act of the Parliament of England, is given royal assent reaffirms certain Catholic principles in Henry VIII's Church of England.

title: 1539

section: Events › April–June

date: May 28

text: May 28 – Edward Whitchurch and Richard Grafton are granted the exclusive right to publish prayer books for the Church of England by order of King Henry VIII.

title: 1546

date: November 24

text: November 24 – Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury and top cleric of the Church of England, delivers the proposed Forty-two Articles to the Privy Council of King Edward VI.

title: 1552

date: November 17

text: November 17 – Queen Mary, a devout Roman Catholic dies of uterine cancer at the age of 42, and is succeeded by her younger half-sister Elizabeth, an adherent to the Protestant Church of England, beginning the Elizabethan era in British history.

title: 1558

date: February 27

text: February 27 – Queen Elizabeth I establishes the Church of England, with the Act of Uniformity 1558 and the Act of Supremacy 1558. The Oath of Supremacy is reinstated.

title: 1559

section: Events › January–March

date: March 31

text: March 31 – The Westminster Conference 1559 opens at Westminster Hall in London with nine leading Catholic churchmen, and nine Protestant reformers of the Church of England. The conference adjourns on April 3 for Easter and never reconvenes.

title: 1559

date: May 8

text: May 8 – Queen Elizabeth I of England gives royal assent to the Act of Supremacy 1558 (requiring any person taking public or church office in England to swear allegiance to the English monarch as Supreme Governor of the Church of England) and to the Act of Uniformity 1558 (requiring all persons in England to attend Anglican services on penalty of a fine for noncompliance).

title: 1559

date: January 16

text: January 16 – Roman Catholic priest George Haydock, imprisoned in the Tower of London since 1582, states during an interrogation that he claimed that Queen Elizabeth, leader of the Church of England, was a heretic. Convicted of treason, he is executed on February 12.

title: 1584

date: May 3

text: May 3 – The Protestation of 1641 is passed by England's Parliament, requiring all officeholders to swear an oath of allegiance to King Charles I and to the Church of England.

title: 1641

date: July 1

text: July 1 – The Westminster Assembly of theologians ("divines") and parliamentarians is convened at Westminster Abbey with the aim of restructuring the Church of England.

title: 1643

date: August 24

text: August 24 – The Act of Uniformity goes into effect on St Bartholomew's Day, making mandatory in the Church of England the forms of worship prescribed in the new edition of the Book of Common Prayer the deadline having been set for "every clergyman and every schoolmaster... to express, by August 24, his unfeigned consent to everything contained in the Book of Common Prayer. This is followed by the resignation of over 2,000 clergy who resign "for conscience sake". Those who refuse to take the required oath of conformity to the established church are subject to the Great Ejection from their jobs.

title: 1662

date: May 19

text: May 19 – The Act of Uniformity 1662, officially "An Act for the uniformity of common prayer and service in the Church, and administration of the sacraments", is given royal assent after being passed by the English Parliament to regulate the form of public prayers, sacraments, and other rites of the Church of England to conform with the newest edition of the Book of Common Prayer, the 1662 prayer book.

title: 1662

date: March 29

text: March 29 – Test Act: Roman Catholics and others who refuse to receive the sacrament of the Church of England cannot vote, hold public office, preach, teach, attend the universities or assemble for meetings in England. On June 12, the king's Catholic brother, James, Duke of York, is forced to resign the office of Lord High Admiral because of the Act.

title: 1673

date: May 4

text: May 4 – King James II of England orders his Declaration of Indulgence, suspending penal laws against Catholics, to be read from every Anglican pulpit in England. The Church of England and its staunchest supporters, the peers and gentry, are outraged; on June 8 the Archbishop of Canterbury, William Sancroft, is imprisoned in the Tower of London for refusing to proclaim it.

title: 1688

date: April 18

text: April 18 – Boston revolt: Unpopular New England Governor Sir Edmund Andros and other officials are overthrown by a "mob" of Bostonians. Andros, an appointee of James II of England, is disliked for his support of the Church of England and revocation of various colonial charters.

title: 1689

text: March 31 – Benjamin Hoadly, Bishop of Bangor, brings the Bangorian Controversy within the Church of England into the open by delivering a sermon to, and supposedly at the request of, King George I of Great Britain, on The Nature of the Kingdom of Christ with the text "My kingdom is not of this world" (John 18:36), concluding there is no Biblical justification for church government.

title: 1717

date: December 9

text: December 9 – Bishop's University is founded as Bishop's College by Bishop George Jehoshaphat Mountain in Lennoxville, Quebec, for the education of members of the Church of England.

title: 1843

date: June 18

text: June 18 – The Universities Tests Act 1871 removes restrictions which have previously limited access to Oxford, Cambridge and Durham universities to members of the Church of England.

title: 1871

date: June 14

text: June 14 – Sidney Faithorn Green, a priest in the Church of England, is tried and convicted for using Ritualist practices.

title: 1879

section: Events › June

text: March 31 – Edward Rudolf founds the 'Church of England Central Society for Providing Homes for Waifs and Strays' (later The Children's Society).

title: 1881

section: Events › March

date: November 12

text: November 12 – The Church of England General Synod votes to admit women to holy orders.

title: 1981

section: Events › November

date: November 11

text: November 11 – The Church of England votes to allow women to become priests.

title: 1992

text: March 12 – The Church of England ordains its first female priests.

title: 1994

date: July 9

text: July 9 – The Church of England allows divorcees to remarry.

title: 2002

section: Events › July

text: November 12 – Justin Welby announces his resignation as Archbishop of Canterbury following the publication of a report critical of his handling of the abuse of children within the Church of England by John Smyth.

title: 2024


slug: church-of-the-east

label: Church of the East

description: traditional church of Mesopotamia and India

section: Deaths

text: Abdisho, member of the Church of the East

title: 345

section: Deaths › Date unknown

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

text: Church of the East declares itself independent, under Catholicos of the East Dadisho.

title: 424

section: Events › Religion

section: Exploration & Expansion

text: Justinian I receives the first silkworm eggs from two Nestorian monks at Constantinople. They were sent to Central Asia (see 550) and smuggled the precious eggs from China hidden in rods of bamboo.

title: 552

section: Religion & Belief

text: Nestorian missionaries build the Daqin Pagoda in Chang'an (Shaanxi). Daqin is the name for the Roman Empire or the Near East.

title: 640

section: Events › By place › Asia

text: Ishoyahb III, patriarch of the Church of the East

title: 659

text: A group of Persio-Assyrian adherents of the Church of the East, under the leadership of two Persian bishops Prod (or Proth, also known as Aphroth) and Sappor (also known as Sabrisho), reach Kerala, India and reside in Quilon.

title: 825

section: Events › By place › India

text: Theodosius, patriarch of the Church of the East

title: 858

text: Sargis, patriarch of the Church of the East

title: 872

date: May 25

text: May 25 – Ishoyahb V, patriarch of the Church of the East

title: 1175

date: June 8

text: June 8 – Sabrisho IV, patriarch of the Church of the East

title: 1225

section: Births

text: Yahballaha III, patriarch of the Church of the East (d. 1317)

title: 1245

date: April 23

text: April 23 – Sabrisho V, patriarch of the Church of the East

title: 1256

text: Rabban Bar Sauma, Chinese Nestorian monk, embarks on a pilgrimage from China to Jerusalem. He travels to Hotan, Kashgar, Taraz and Khorasan (modern Afghanistan).

title: 1275

section: Events › By topic › Religion

date: November 13

text: November 13 – Yahballaha III, Patriarch of the Church of the East in Byzantium, dies after serving 26 years as leader of the Eastern Orthodox Church. Timothy II of Seleucia-Ctesiphon will be elected to succeed him.

title: 1317

section: Events › October – December

text: November 13 – Yahballaha III, Turkic patriarch of the Church of the East

title: 1317

date: November 18

text: November 18 – Simeon Sulaka arrives in Rome from the Middle Eastern city of Mosul and brings a letter asking Pope Julius III to appoint him as the Patriarch of the Church of the East, leader of the Chaldean Catholic Church.

title: 1552

date: May 26

text: May 26 – Eliya VIII becomes the new Patriarch of the Church of the East and leader of the Christians of Mesopotamia.

title: 1617

date: June 23

text: June 23 – The Church of the East, an Eastern Orthodox rite in Mesopotamia (now Iraq), already split between two patriarchs in the Eliya line and the Shimun line, is split along a third line by the Roman Catholic Church when Mar Yousip of the Archdiocese of Amid (now Diyarbakır in Turkey) is proclaimed by Pope Innocent XI as Joseph I, "Patriarch of the Chaldean nation deprived of its patriarch", creating the "Josephite line" of the Chaldean Catholic Church.

title: 1681


slug: church-of-the-holy-apostles

label: Church of the Holy Apostles

description: church and imperial mausoleum in Turkey

text: Constantine I dedicates the Church of the Holy Apostles in Constantinople.

title: 331

section: Events › By place › Roman Empire

text: At about this date, the relics of St Andrew the Apostle are taken from Patras to Constantinople by order of the Emperor Constantius II, and deposited in the Church of the Holy Apostles.

title: 357

date: December 11

text: December 11 – Julian becomes sole emperor of the Roman Empire; he rules from Constantinople, and tries to restore paganism. Constantius II is buried in the Church of the Holy Apostles.

title: 361

date: January 27

text: January 27 – Emperor Marcian dies at Constantinople, possibly of foot gangrene, an infection contracted during a long religious journey. He is buried in the Church of the Holy Apostles, together with his late wife Pulcheria.

title: 457

text: Empress Ariadne, wife of Emperor Anastasius I, dies at Constantinople and is buried in the Church of the Holy Apostles.

title: 515

section: Events › By place › Byzantine Empire

date: June 28

text: June 28 – Empress Theodora I dies at age 48, probably of breast cancer (according to Bishop Victor of Tunnuna). Her body is buried in the Church of the Holy Apostles (Constantinople).

title: 548

date: August 13

text: August 13 – Empress Eudokia, wife of Heraclius, dies of epilepsy. She leaves two children, and is buried in the Church of the Holy Apostles in Constantinople.

title: 612

date: March 13

text: March 13 – The remains of Saint Nikephorus I are interred in the Church of the Holy Apostles, in Constantinople.

title: 874

date: August 29

text: August 29 – Emperor Basil I the Macedonian dies from a fever, contracted after a hunting accident. He is succeeded by the 19-year-old Leo VI, officially Basil's son, but reputedly a son of former emperor Michael III, as sole ruler (basileus) of the Byzantine Empire. After his coronation Leo reburies the remains of his reputed father Michael, with great ceremony in the imperial mausoleum, within the Church of the Holy Apostles in Constantinople.

title: 886

section: Conflict & Security

date: December

text: December – Emperor Alexios III Angelos is threatened by Emperor Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor, who demands 5,000 pounds of gold or the Byzantines will face an invasion, this due to a convoluted system of dynastic claims of Henry gaining control of Alexios' daughter Irene Doukaina. The amount is negotiated down to 1,600 pounds of gold – with Alexios plundering the imperial tombs within the Church of the Holy Apostles – as well as levying a heavy and unpopular tax, known as the Alamanikon (or German Tax).

title: 1196


slug: church-of-the-holy-sepulchre

label: Church of the Holy Sepulchre

description: church in Jerusalem, containing the two holiest sites in Christianity

date: September 14

text: September 14 (traditional date) – Helena, mother of Constantine I, discovers the so-called True Cross and the Holy Sepulchre (Jesus's tomb) in Jerusalem. On her pilgrimage, which begins about this year, she pauses on the Aegean island of Patmos, where she is said to found the church of Panagia Ekatontapiliani.

title: 326

date: September 13

text: September 13 – The Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem is consecrated.

title: 335

text: September 14 – Emperor Constantine I consecrates the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.

title: 335

text: Sasanian conquest of Jerusalem: A Persian–Judaean army (26,000 men) commanded by Shahrbaraz captures and sacks Jerusalem, after a 20-day siege against the Byzantine Empire. Somewhere between 57,000 and 66,500 citizens are slain; another 35,000 are enslaved, including the Patriarch Zacharias. Many churches in the city (including the "Church of the Resurrection" or Holy Sepulchre) are burned, and numerous relics, including the True Cross, the Holy Lance, and the Holy Sponge, are carried off to the Persian capital Ctesiphon.

title: 614

date: April

text: April – Siege of Jerusalem: The Rashidun army (20,000 men), led by 'Amr ibn al-'As, conquers Jerusalem after a six-month siege. The Byzantine garrison surrenders to Caliph Umar I, who is invited by Sophronius, patriarch of Jerusalem, to pray in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Umar declines, fearing that accepting the invitation might endanger the church's status, and turn the Christian holy site into a mosque.

title: 637

section: Events › By place › Arabian Empire

date: October 18

text: October 18 – The Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem is destroyed by the Fatimid caliph Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah.

title: 1009

section: Disasters & Accidents

text: The Muslims expel 300 Christians from Jerusalem, and European Christians are forbidden to enter the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

title: 1056

date: August 21

text: August 21 – King Baldwin II falls seriously ill, after his return from Antioch. He is moved to the patriarch's residence near the Holy Sepulchre, where he bequeaths the kingdom to his daughter Melisende, her husband Fulk and their infant son, Baldwin. He takes monastic vows, and dies soon after. Baldwin is buried in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, at Jerusalem.

title: 1131

section: Events › By place › Levant

date: July 15

text: July 15 – The Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem is consecrated, after reconstruction.

title: 1149

date: March 27

text: March 27 – Emperor Frederick I (Barbarossa) holds a Diet at Mainz and takes the Cross, followed by his 21-year-old son, Frederick IV, and other German nobles. He sends a delegation to present an ultimatum to Saladin in Syria on May 26. With demands to withdraw his Muslim forces from Palestina and to return the True Cross to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

title: 1188

section: Events › By place › Europe

section: Culture & Society

date: March 18

text: March 18 – Frederick II crowns himself as King of Jerusalem in an impromptu ceremony in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. After the ceremony, he proceeds to the palace of the Hospitallers – where he holds a council to discuss the defense of Jerusalem. Frederick orders the Tower of David and the Gate of St. Stephen are to be repaired at once and he hands over the royal residence attached to the Tower of David to the Teutonic Order.

title: 1229

section: Events › By place › Sixth Crusade

date: June 15

text: June 15 – Al-Ashraf Qansuh al-Ghuri, ruler of the Mamluk Sultanate that controls Egypt and what is now Egypt, Israel, Lebanon and parts of Syria, receives an envoy from King George II of Kakheti (now located in the Republic of Georgia) and decides to reopen the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.

title: 1512

section: Events › April–June

text: A firman (decree) of Ottoman sultan Osman III (d. October 30) preserves the division of ownership and responsibilities of various Christian holy places in Jerusalem and Bethlehem (e.g. the former's Church of the Holy Sepulchre); this becomes established as the Status Quo in international law.

title: 1757

section: Events › Date unknown


slug: cicero

label: Cicero

description: Roman statesman, lawyer, orator, and philosopher (106–43 BC)

year_label: 106 BCE

date: January 3

text: January 3 – Cicero, Roman politician and author (d. 43 BC)

title: 106 BC

year_label: 90 BCE

text: Cicero starts to serve in the Roman army.

title: 90 BC

section: Events › By place › Roman Republic

year_label: 89 BCE

text: Cicero ends his service in the Roman army.

title: 89 BC

year_label: 79 BCE

section: Exploration & Expansion

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

title: 79 BC

section: Events › By place › Roman republic

year_label: 75 BCE

text: Cicero is quaestor in Western Sicily.

title: 75 BC

year_label: 70 BCE

section: Crime & Justice

date: August

text: August – In Rome, Cicero prosecutes former governor Verres; Verres exiles himself to Marseille before the trial is over.

title: 70 BC

year_label: 66 BCE

text: The lex Manilia, supported by Cicero gives Pompey command over all of Asia.

title: 66 BC

section: Religion & Belief

text: Catiline accused of conspiring against the Roman Republic with Autronius and the younger Sulla (also in 63 BC during the consulship of Cicero).

title: 66 BC

year_label: 63 BCE

text: Second Catilinarian Conspiracy against the Roman Republic is foiled by Cicero.

title: 63 BC

year_label: 62 BCE

text: Cicero delivers his Pro Archia Poeta in defense of Aulus Licinius Archias' claim to Roman citizenship.

title: 62 BC

year_label: 58 BCE

section: Economy & Finance

text: Publius Clodius Pulcher, Roman tribune, institutes a monthly corn dole for poor Romans, and exiles Cicero from the city.

title: 58 BC

year_label: 56 BCE

text: Clodia accuses her former lover Marcus Caelius Rufus of trying to poison her. The trial ends with the defendant acquitted thanks to the Pro Caelio speech of Cicero. There is no more reference to the formerly well-known Clodia.

title: 56 BC

year_label: 52 BCE

text: Milo is tried for the murder of Clodius. Despite Cicero's legal defence (Pro Milone) he is found guilty and exiled in Massilia (modern Marseille).

title: 52 BC

section: Deaths

text: Cyrus, Roman architect (builder for Cicero)

title: 52 BC

year_label: 49 BCE

date: June 7

text: June 7 – Cicero slips out of Italy and goes to Thessaloniki.

title: 49 BC

section: Events › By place and Date › Roman Republic

year_label: 46 BCE

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

date: April 20

text: April 20 – Cicero, in Rome, writes to Varro "If our voices are no longer heard in the Senate and in the Forum, let us follow the example of the ancient sages and serve our country through our writings, concentrating on questions of ethics and constitutional law."

title: 46 BC

year_label: 45 BCE

date: February

text: February – Tullia, daughter of Cicero (b. 79 BC or 78 BC)

title: 45 BC

year_label: 44 BCE

date: April 18

text: April 18–April 21 – Octavian engages in a charm offensive with consular Cicero who is fulminating against Mark Antony.

title: 44 BC

year_label: 43 BCE

date: April 21

text: April 21 – Cicero's 14th and last Philippic.

title: 43 BC

date: December 7

text: December 7 – The orator Cicero is killed in Formiae in a litter going to the seaside, by a party led by Herennius (a centurion) and Popilius (a military tribune). His head and hands are displayed on the Rostra in the Forum Romanum.

title: 43 BC

text: December 7 – Cicero, Roman statesman and orator (murdered) (b. 106 BC)

title: 43 BC

year_label: 4 BCE

text: Marcus Tullius Tiro, Roman writer, freedman of Cicero

title: 0s BC

section: Deaths › 4 BC

text: The Roman synod exiles the prophet Jerome, who has incorporated ideas first propounded by the Roman statesman Cicero. He departs for Egypt, Bethlehem, and Jerusalem, accompanied by the Christian ascetic Paula, who will edit Jerome's translation of the Bible, which becomes the Latin Vulgate.

title: 385


slug: cilicia

label: Cilicia

description: ancient region of Asia Minor

year_label: 396 BCE

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

title: 396 BC

section: Events › By place › Persian Empire

year_label: 385 BCE

text: Camissares, Persian satrap of Cilicia

title: 385 BC

year_label: 333 BCE

section: Conflict & Security

text: Alexander has a great victory over the Persians in the Battle of the Issus River in Cilicia, but the Persian Emperor Darius III escapes. Darius leaves behind his wife, his two daughters, his mother Sisygambis.

title: 333 BC

section: Events

year_label: 312 BCE

text: Demetrius rallies the remnants of his army at Tripolis and summons reinforcements from the garrisons of upper Syria and Cilicia; he also writes his father, Antigonus, and urges him to send help. Meanwhile Ptolemy captures Acre, Joppa, Samaria and Sidon, and starts to besiege Tyre.

title: 312 BC

section: Events › By place › Syria/Mesopotamia/Babylonia

text: Ptolemy raids Antigonus' territories in Cilicia and Syria, and then sails back to Egypt.

title: 312 BC

year_label: 310 BCE

text: Ptolemy attacks Cilicia, territory held by Antigonus, but is driven out by Demetrius.

title: 310 BC

section: Events › By place › Asia Minor

year_label: 285 BCE

text: Demetrius Poliorcetes is deserted by his troops and surrenders to Seleucus at Cilicia, where Seleucus keeps him a prisoner.

title: 285 BC

section: Events › By place › Seleucid Empire

year_label: 272 BCE

text: The Seleucid king Antiochus I Soter is defeated by Egypt's Ptolemy II during the First Syrian War. Ptolemy II annexes Miletus, Phoenicia and western Cilicia from Antiochus. As a result, Ptolemy II extends Egyptian rule as far as Caria and into most of Cilicia.

title: 272 BC

year_label: 255 BCE

text: In the Second Syrian War, Ptolemy II loses ground in Cilicia, Pamphylia, and Ionia, while Antiochus II regains Miletus and Ephesus. A peace is then concluded between Antiochus and Ptolemy under which Antiochus is to marry Ptolemy's daughter Berenice Syra.

title: 255 BC

section: Events › By place › Egypt

year_label: 241 BCE

text: Peace is finally reached between Ptolemy III and Seleucus II. Ptolemy manages to keep the Orontes River region in Syria and Antioch as well as Ephesus in Asia Minor and Thrace and Cilicia.

title: 241 BC

year_label: 240 BCE

text: Aratus, Greek poet from Soli in Cilicia, best remembered for his poem on astronomy Phaenomena (b. c. 315 BC)

title: 240 BC

year_label: 228 BCE

text: King Attalus I Soter of Pergamum defeats Antiochus Hierax (brother of the Seleucid king Seleucus II) in three battles and thereby gains control over all the Seleucid domains in Anatolia except Cilicia in the southeast.

title: 228 BC

year_label: 204 BCE

text: Philip V of Macedon and Antiochus III of the Syrian-based Seleucid kingdom realize Egypt's weakness and agree to partition Egypt's Anatolian and Aegean possessions. Antiochus' share is to be southern Syria, Lycia, Cilicia and Cyprus, while Philip is to gain western Anatolia and the Cyclades.

title: 204 BC

year_label: 78 BCE

text: The Senate sends Publius Servilius Vatia to Cilicia as governor, where he fights a successful campaign against the Piracy in southern Anatolia (Lycia, Pamphylia and Isauria), he is thereafter known by the agnomen Isauricus.

title: 78 BC

year_label: 67 BCE

text: The lex Gabinia gives Pompey command of the Mediterranean and its coasts for 50 miles inland for three years. He defeats the pirates in three months and pacifies Cilicia.

title: 67 BC

year_label: 41 BCE

text: Mark Antony meets Cleopatra VII in Tarsus (Cilicia) and forms an alliance. He returns to Alexandria with her and they become lovers in the winter of 41–40 BC. To safeguard herself and Caesarion, she has Antony order the execution of her (half) sister Arsinoe IV, who is living at the temple of Artemis in Ephesus.

title: 41 BC

year_label: 40 BCE

text: Quintus Labienus occupies Cilicia and marches, with an army, into Anatolia. Most cities surrender without resistance, except for Alabanda and Mylasa. The Parthians restore their territory to nearly the limits of the old Achaemenid Empire. Labienus proclaims himself "Parthian Emperor" of Asia Minor.

title: 40 BC

section: Events › Asia minor

year_label: 39 BCE

text: Publius Ventidius defeats Pharnastanes with his cataphracts at the Amanus Gates, and goes on to reclaim Syria, Phoenicia and Judea. Labienus flees to Cilicia, where he is captured and executed.

title: 39 BC

year_label: 31 BCE

text: Tarcondimotus I, Roman client king of Cilicia

title: 31 BC

year_label: 19 CE

text: King Vonones I is removed to Cilicia and kept under house arrest. He escapes, but is caught and killed by a retired Roman legion veteran.

title: 10s

section: Events › 19 AD › Parthia

year_label: 57 CE

text: Envoys from Cilicia come to Rome to accuse their late governor, Cossutianus Capito, of extortion; the Roman Senate is supported in the case by Publius Clodius Thrasea Paetus.

title: 50s

section: Events › 57 AD › Roman Empire

year_label: 74 CE

text: Polemon II, prince of the Bosporan Kingdom, Pontus, Cilicia and Cappadocia

title: AD 74

text: Emperor Trajan falls seriously ill and dies of a stroke at Selinus in Cilicia, age 63, while en route from Mesopotamia to Italy, leaving the Roman Empire at its maximal territorial extent.

title: AD 117

section: Events › By place › Roman Empire

text: Battle of Issus: Septimius Severus marches with his army (12 legions) to Cilicia, and defeats Pescennius Niger, Roman governor of Syria. Pescennius retreats to Antioch, and is executed by Severus' troops.

title: AD 194

text: Roman–Persian Wars: Balista, Roman usurper, collects ships from Cilician ports and defeats a Persian raiding force near Pompeiopolis.

title: 261

text: Florianus holds power for some weeks and fights indecisively against Probus in Cilicia, but his soldiers, many of whom are from the colder Rhine and Danube frontiers, suffer from heat and disease. He is overthrown and then assassinated by his own troops near Tarsus (Turkey), in collusion with Probus. Probus, age 44, is proclaimed new Emperor of Rome.

title: 276

text: Battle of Tzirallum: Licinius defeats his rival Maximinus in Thrace, who then flees to Cilicia. After losing the Cilician Gates to Licinius' forces, Maximinus commits suicide.

title: 313

text: Flavius Dalmatius puts down a revolt in Cyprus, led by Calocaerus. Calocaerus is brought to Tarsus (Cilicia), and executed.

title: 334

date: November 3

text: November 3 – Emperor Constantius II dies of a fever at Mopsuestia in Cilicia, age 44; on his deathbed he is baptised, and declares his cousin Julian rightful successor.

title: 361

text: Byzantine–Sasanian War: Emperor Heraclius sails from Constantinople with an expeditionary force (probably 50,000 men), and starts a counter-offensive against the Persian Empire (his young son, Constantine III, is left behind as regent under the charge of Sergius I, patriarch of Constantinople, and patrician Bonus). He lands a few days later at the junction of Cilicia and Syria, near Alexandretta and ancient Issus.

title: 622

section: Events › By place › Byzantine Empire

text: Autumn–winter – The Byzantine general Heraclius, brother of Tiberios III, crosses the mountain passes of the Taurus Mountains into Cilicia with an army. He launches a campaign in Syria, defeats an Arab force from Antioch, and raids as far as Samosata (modern Turkey).

title: 698

text: Arab–Byzantine War: The Umayyad army under Abdallah ibn Abd al-Malik captures Mopsuestia in Cilicia from the Byzantines, and refortifies it, making it the first major Muslim stronghold in the area that will later become the Thughur.

title: 703

text: Arab–Byzantine War: Emperor Leo IV ("the Khazar") repulses an Abbasid invasion in Anatolia. A Byzantine expeditionary force under Michael Lachanodrakon, military governor (strategos) of the Thracesian Theme, defeats the Muslim-Arabs at the fortress city of Germanikeia in Cilicia (modern Turkey). He plunders the region and takes many captives, mostly Jacobites, who are resettled in Thrace.

title: 778

section: Events › By place › Arab Caliphate and Byzantine Empire

text: Byzantine–Arab War: A prisoner exchange occurs between the Byzantine Empire and the Abbasid Caliphate, at the River Lamos in Cilicia (modern Turkey). The exchanges last for 10 days, and the Byzantines recover 4,600 prisoners.

title: 845

text: Caliph al-Mu'tadid recovers control of the Cilician Thughur (southeastern Anatolia) and of northern Syria, during the turmoil in the Tulunid government (approximate date).

title: 897

section: Events › By place › Arabian Empire

text: Arab–Byzantine wars: Emperor Leo VI ("the Wise") begins an offensive against the Abbasid army in Cilicia, Upper Mesopotamia and Armenia. He also continues the war against the Muslims in Sicily and southern Italy.

title: 900

section: Events › By place › Abbasid Caliphate

text: Summer – Caliph Al-Muktafi sends an Abbasid army (10,000 men) led by Muhammad ibn Sulayman to re-establish control over Syria and Egypt. The campaign is supported from the sea by a fleet from the frontier districts of Cilicia under Damian of Tarsus. He leads his ships up the Nile River, raids the coast, and intercepts the supplies for the Tulunids.

title: 905

date: September

text: September - October – A Byzantine fleet under Basil Hexamilites deals a crushing defeat to the Hamdanid fleet at Tarsus in Cilicia (modern Turkey).

title: 956

text: November 8 – Battle of Andrassos: The Byzantines under Leo Phokas the Younger defeat the Hamdanid army (30,000 men) in an ambush in the passages of the Cilician mountains, in south Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey). Emir Sayf al-Dawla barely manages to escape, and returns to Aleppo with only 300 horsemen. The Hamdanids can no longer afford to raid in Anatolia, which is a turning point in the Arab-Byzantine wars in the East.

title: 960

text: Arab–Byzantine War: Emperor Nikephoros II conquers the fortress cities of Tarsus and Mopsuestia. The Muslim residents abandon the defense and flee into Syria. Nikephoros completes the conquest of Cilicia; Muslim raids into Anatolia (modern Turkey) permanently cease. Byzantine troops under General Niketas Chalkoutzes occupy Cyprus, liberating the Greek population from Muslim domination.

title: 965

text: June 23 - Arab–Byzantine wars: A prisoner exchange occurs at the border between the Byzantine Empire and the Emirate of Aleppo at Samosata, headed by Emperor Nikephoros II and Sayf al-Dawla, the Emir of Aleppo. The Emirate receives 3,000 captured prisoners from the region of Cilicia, after its conquest by the Byzantine Emperor, as well as the poet Abu Firas al-Hamdani, who has previously been held prisoner by the Byzantines.

title: 966

text: Spring – The Seljuk Turks make incursions into Mesopotamia, Cilicia and Cappadocia. They sack the Byzantine city of Caesarea, move south through the Cilician Gates and raid the region around Antioch in Syria.

title: 1067

text: The Rubenid Principality of Cilicia gains independence after its founder, Ruben I, succeeds in establishing his authority in the mountainous regions of Cilicia.

title: 1080

text: After a success over the Armenians of Cilicia and the Emirate of Aleppo, Baldwin of Bourcq becomes Count of Edessa, with the support of Daimbert.

title: 1100

text: Summer – The Byzantine fleet under Admiral Eustathios recaptures the ports of western Cilicia, Seleucia and Corycus. Eustathios extends his power over Cilician territory (belonging to Bohemond I) further east – occupying Tarsus, Adana and Mamistra.

title: 1101

text: Spring – Bohemond I, Norman prince of Antioch, is released from Seljuk imprisonment at Niksar, after a ransom is paid of 100,000 gold pieces. During his absence, Tancred (Bohemond's nephew) attacks the Byzantines, and re-captures the cities of Tarsus, Adana and Mamistra in Cilicia. Tancred is deprived of his lordship by Bohemond's return, and is rewarded with a small fief within the Principality of Antioch.

title: 1103

text: Spring – Emperor John II (Komnenos) leads a Byzantine expeditionary force into Cilicia (the Byzantine fleet guards his flank). He defeats the Armenians under Prince Leo I ("Lord of the Mountains"), and captures the cities of Mersin, Tarsus, Adana and Mamistra. Leo retreats to the great fortifications of Anazarbus – where its garrison resists for 37 days. The Byzantine siege engines batter down its walls, and the city is forced to surrender. Leo escapes into the Taurus Mountains, while the Byzantine forces march southward into the plain of Antioch.

title: 1137

text: August 24 – Battle of Mari: Mamluk forces (some 30,000 men) led by Baibars defeat the Armenian army in Cilicia, in retaliation for the support of the Mongol invasion in Syria. He expands his domain, capturing the city of Byblos (modern Lebanon) and the important castle of Toron from the Crusader States.

title: 1266

text: August 17 – The Mamluk Sultanate defeats the Ottoman Empire Army in the Battle of Aga-Cayiri fought in the Cilicia region of Asia Minor, now in Turkey.

title: 1488


slug: cimon

label: Cimon

description: Athenian statesman

year_label: 510 BCE

section: Births

text: Cimon, Athenian statesman and strategos (d. 450 BC)

title: 510 BC

year_label: 478 BCE

text: With the help of the Athenian statesman and general, Cimon, Aristides commands an Athenian fleet of 30 ships that the Spartan commander Pausanias leads to capture the Greek cities on Cyprus and Byzantium, taking them from the Persians and their Phoenician allies.

title: 478 BC

section: Events › By place › Greece

year_label: 477 BCE

text: Greek maritime cities around the Aegean Sea no longer wish to be under Spartan control and at Delos offer their allegiance, through Aristides, to Athens. They form the Delian League (also known as the Confederacy of Delos) with Cimon as their principal commander.

title: 477 BC

year_label: 476 BCE

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

text: Cimon of Athens increases his power at the expense of Themistocles. He ousts Pausanias and the Spartans from the area around the Bosporus. The Spartans, hearing that Pausanias is intriguing with the Persians, recall him and he is "disciplined".

title: 476 BC

year_label: 475 BCE

text: Cimon leads an Athenian attack on the island of Skyros and expels the indigenous inhabitants who are regarded as pirates.

title: 475 BC

year_label: 466 BCE

text: Cimon carries the war against Persia into Asia Minor and wins the Battle of the Eurymedon in Pamphylia. This is a decisive defeat of the Persians as Cimon's land and sea forces capture the Persian camp and destroy or capture the entire Persian fleet of 200 triremes (manned by Phoenicians). Many new allies of Athens are now recruited, such as the trading city of Phaselis on the Lycian-Pamphylian border.

title: 466 BC

year_label: 450 BCE

text: Athenian general Cimon sails to Cyprus with two hundred triremes of the Delian League. From there, he sends sixty ships to Egypt to help the Egyptians under Amyrtaeus, who are fighting the Persians in the Nile Delta. Cimon uses the remaining ships to aid an uprising of the Cypriot Greek city-states against Persian control of the island. He lays siege to the Persian stronghold of Citium on the southern west coast of Cyprus. However, the siege fails and Cyprus remains under Phoenician (and Persian) control.

title: 450 BC

section: Deaths

text: Cimon, Athenian statesman and general (b. c. 510 BC)

title: 450 BC

year_label: 449 BCE

text: The Greek city-states make peace with the Persian Empire through the Peace of Callias, named after Callias II, the chief Greek ambassador to the Persian Court, an Athenian who is a brother-in-law of Cimon. Athens agrees to end its support for the Egyptian rebels still holding out in parts of the Nile Delta, while the Persians agree not to send ships of war into the Aegean Sea. Athens now effectively controls all the Greek city states in Ionia.

title: 449 BC


slug: cisalpine-gaul

label: Cisalpine Gaul

description: Roman province

year_label: 390 BCE

section: Conflict & Security

date: July 18

text: July 18 – Battle of the Allia: Brennus, a chieftain of the Senones of the Adriatic coast of Italy, leads an army of Cisalpine Gauls in their attack on Rome. They capture the entire city of Rome except for the Capitoline Hill, which is successfully held against them. However, seeing their city devastated, the Romans attempt to buy their salvation from Brennus. The Romans agree to pay one thousand pounds weight of gold.

title: 390 BC

section: Events › By place › Roman Republic

year_label: 225 BCE

text: A coalition of Cisalpine Gallic tribes (Taurini, Taurisces, Insubres, Lingones, Salasses, Agones, and Boii), reinforced by large numbers of Transalpine adventurers called Gaesatae (Gaesati), invade Italy. Avoiding the Romans at Ariminum, the Gauls cross the Apennines into Etruria and plunder the country.

title: 225 BC

year_label: 224 BCE

text: The Romans, led by Consuls Gaius Atilius Regulus and Lucius Aemilius Papus, decisively defeat the coalition of Cisalpine Gallic tribes at the Battle of Telamon thus extending Roman influence over northern Italy. On the Roman side Gaius Atilius Regulus, commander of the Roman cavalry, is killed in the battle. On the Gallic side, one of the leaders, Concolitanus, is captured in battle, while the leader of the Gaesatae, Aneroëstes, kills himself when the battle is lost.

title: 224 BC

year_label: 223 BCE

text: Gaius Flaminius is elected consul for the first time and, with his co-consul Publius Furius Philus, he forces the Gauls south of the Alps to submit to Rome, creating the province of Cisalpine Gaul.

title: 223 BC

year_label: 191 BCE

text: Cisalpine Gaul becomes a Roman province.

title: 191 BC

year_label: 151 BCE

text: Roman forces help the thriving Greek commercial port of Massilia combat raids from the Celts from Cisalpine Gaul.

title: 151 BC

year_label: 89 BCE

text: Lex Pompeia grants Latin rights to cities in Cisalpine Gaul.

title: 89 BC

year_label: 72 BCE

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

title: 72 BC

year_label: 58 BCE

section: Exploration & Expansion

text: Winter – Caesar leaves his legions in winter quarters among the Sequani (located in modern-day Burgundy) far to the north of the formal boundary of Gallia Transalpina. He returns to Gallia Cisalpina, carrying out judicial and administrative activities.

title: 58 BC

year_label: 49 BCE

date: January

text: January – Caesar leads his army across the Rubicon, which separates his jurisdiction in Cisalpine Gaul from that of the Senate in Rome, and thus initiates a civil war.

title: 49 BC

section: Events › By place and Date › Roman Republic

year_label: 44 BCE

date: June

text: June – Antony is granted a five-year governorship of northern and central Transalpine Gaul (France) and Cisalpine Gaul (Northern Italy).

title: 44 BC


slug: cistercians

label: Cistercians

description: Roman Catholic order of the Benedictine reform in the tradition of the monastery of Citaux

text: Robert of Molesme, founder of the Cistercian Order (d. 1111)

title: 1028

section: Religion & Belief

date: March 21

text: March 21 – Cîteaux Abbey, the first Cistercian monastery, is established by a group of French monks under Robert of Molesme in southern France.

title: 1089

section: Events › By topic › Religion

text: March 21 – Cîteaux Abbey, located in Saint-Nicolas-lès-Cîteaux, is founded by Robert of Molesme, founder of the Cistercian Order.

title: 1098

text: Aelred of Rievaulx, English Cistercian monk and abbot (d. 1167)

title: 1110

text: Pontigny Abbey, a Cistercian monastery, is founded (located in Burgundy).

title: 1114

text: Maurice of Carnoet, French Cistercian abbot (d. 1191)

title: 1117

text: Ascelina, French Cistercian nun and mystic (d. 1195)

title: 1121

date: November 24

text: November 24 – Waverley Abbey is founded by Bishop William Giffard in the south of England. The first abbot and 12 Cistercian monks are brought from L'Aumône Abbey in Normandy.

title: 1128

date: May 9

text: May 9 – Tintern Abbey is founded in Wales by Cistercian monks in the Wye Valley.

title: 1131

text: Melrose Abbey (located in the Scottish Borders) is founded by Cistercian monks at the request of David.

title: 1136

text: The first Cistercian monastery in Spain is founded in Fitero. The order enjoys a rapid expansion in the region in the following 15 years.

title: 1140

text: Woburn Abbey is founded by the Cistercians in England. A colony of monks arrive from Fountains Abbey to establish a community that will survive until 1234.

title: 1145

text: Adam of Perseigne, French Cistercian abbot (d. 1221)

title: 1145

text: Congregation of Savigny is affiliated to the Cistercians.

title: 1147

section: Culture & Society

text: Approximate date – King Béla III of Hungary invites Cistercian and Premonstratensian monks to Hungary. They introduce advanced agricultural methods in the realm.

title: 1173

section: Events › By topic › Agriculture

date: July 17

text: July 17 – Saracen pirates, from the Balearic Islands, raid the Cistercian monastery of Saint Honorat on the Lérins Islands, and the city of Toulon, killing an estimated 300 and taking captives. The surviving captives are freed from the Balearic Islands in 1185.

title: 1178

section: Events › By place › Europe

text: Ida of Nivelles, Belgian Cistercian nun and mystic (d. 1231)

title: 1190

text: Rueda Abbey is founded by Cistercians at Sástago, in the Kingdom of Aragon (modern Spain).

title: 1202

text: April 21 – John of Ford, English Cistercian prior and abbot

title: 1214

text: Adam of Perseigne, French Cistercian abbot (b. 1145)

title: 1221

text: Adam of Harcarse, Scottish Cistercian priest and abbot

title: 1245

date: June 11

text: June 11 – Alice of Schaerbeek, Flemish Cistercian lay sister (b. c. 1220)

title: 1250

date: November 1

text: November 1 – Edward marries Eleanor of Castile in the Cistercian monastery of Las Huelgas at Burgos.

title: 1254

section: Events › By place › England

text: Pope Benedict XII begins to reform the Cistercians.

title: 1335

section: Events › Date unknown

date: April 24

text: April 24 – The Sedlec Abbey, a monastery for the Cistercians order in Bohemia, is looted and burned by Hussites led by Jan Žižka, and several of the monks inside are killed.

title: 1421

section: Events › April–June

date: April 4

text: April 4 – Under a plan organized by Sister Katharina von Bora and Protestant reformer Martin Luther, fish merchant Leonhard Köppe helps carry out the rescue of Von Bora and other Cistercian Catholic nuns from the Nimbschen Abbey in Germany near Grimma and Leipzig. On the day before Easter, Köppe arrives at the convent under the pretext of bringing delivering herring and other foods to the Abbey, then uses empty barrels to smuggle the nuns to Wittenberg. Von Bora will later become Luther's wife.

title: 1523

text: Austere reforms introduced in the Cistercian La Trappe Abbey in Normandy by Armand de Rancé, origin of the Trappists.

title: 1664


slug: city-of-london

label: City of London

description: central business district of London, England

text: The church of St Helen's Bishopsgate in the City of London is founded, as a priory of Benedictine nuns.

title: 1210

text: The Worshipful Company of Cordwainers and Curriers are granted rights to regulate the leather trade in the City of London. The Fishmongers Company receive its first Royal Charter.

title: 1272

section: Technology & Infrastructure

text: A guild of stationers is founded in the City of London. As the Worshipful Company of Stationers and Newspaper Makers (the "Stationers' Company"), it continues to be a livery company in the 21st century.

title: 1403

section: Disasters & Accidents

text: A serious fire occurs at Baynard's Castle in the City of London, England.

title: 1428

section: Crime & Justice

date: September 3

text: September 3 – Sir Thomas More becomes undersheriff of the City of London.

title: 1510

section: Events › July–September

text: Merchant Taylors' School is founded in the City of London by Sir Thomas White, Sir Richard Hilles, Emanuel Lucar, and Stephen Hales.

title: 1561

date: June 4

text: June 4 – The spire of Old St Paul's Cathedral in the City of London catches fire and crashes through the nave roof, probably as the result of a lightning strike. The spire is not rebuilt.

title: 1561

text: September 3–12 – Messengers from over 100 Baptist churches assemble in the City of London to discuss and endorse the 1677 document that will become known as the 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith.

title: 1689

date: January 7

text: January 7 – The first recorded full peal is rung, at St Sepulchre-without-Newgate in the City of London, marking a new era in change ringing.

title: 1690

section: Events › January–March

date: March 22

text: March 22 (March 11 Old Style) – The first regular English-language national newspaper, The Daily Courant, begins publication on Fleet Street in the City of London, initially by Elizabeth Mallet; it covers only foreign news.

title: 1702

date: May 24

text: May 24 – John Wesley, newly returned from America, experiences a spiritual rebirth at a Moravian Church meeting in Aldersgate, in the City of London, essentially launching the Methodist movement; the day is celebrated annually by Methodists as Aldersgate Day (his younger brother Charles had a similar experience three days earlier).

title: 1738

date: March 25

text: March 25 – A fire in the City of London starts at Change Alley in Cornhill and continues for two days. Dr. Samuel Johnson later writes, "The conflagration of a city, with all its turmoil and concominant distress, is one of the most dreadful spectacles which this world can afford to human eyes". Another history notes more than a century later that "the fire led to a great increase in the practice of fire insurance", after the blaze causes more than £1,000,000 worth of damage.

title: 1748


slug: claudius

label: Claudius

description: fourth Roman emperor (41–54)

year_label: 36 BCE

section: Births

date: January 31

text: January 31 – Antonia Minor, daughter of Mark Antony and Octavia Minor, mother of the emperor Claudius

title: 36 BC

year_label: 10 BCE

date: August 1

text: August 1 – Claudius, Roman emperor (d. AD 54)

title: 10 BC

year_label: 5 BCE

text: Aemilia Lepida, Roman noblewoman and fiancée of Claudius (d. AD 43)

title: 0s BC

section: Births › 5 BC

year_label: 8 CE

text: AD 8 – Vipsania Julia is exiled. Lucius Aemilius Paullus and his family are disgraced. Augustus breaks off the engagement of Claudius to Paullus' daughter Aemilia Lepida. An effort is made to betroth Claudius to Livia Medullina Camilla.

title: 0s

section: Events › Roman Empire

year_label: 16 CE

text: Claudius Drusus, son of Claudius and Plautia Urgulanilla (approximate date)

title: 10s

section: Births › 16 AD

year_label: 22 CE

text: Valeria Messalina, third wife of Emperor Claudius (d. 48 AD)

title: 20s

section: Births › 22 AD

year_label: 29 CE

section: Conflict & Security

text: Aulus Plautius, later military leader of the invasion of Britain under Emperor Claudius, becomes suffect consul alongside Lucius Nonius Asprenas.

title: 20s

section: Events › 29 AD › Roman Empire

year_label: 38 CE

text: Claudius and Messalina are most likely married at this point in time.

title: 30s

section: Events › 38 AD › Roman Empire

year_label: 40 CE

text: Claudia Octavia, daughter of Claudius and Messalina (d. AD 62)

title: 40s

section: Births › AD 40

year_label: 41 CE

date: February 12

text: February 12 – Tiberius Claudius Caesar Britannicus, son of Claudius (d. AD 55)

title: 40s

section: Births › AD 41

date: January 24

text: January 24 – Claudius succeeds his nephew, Caligula, as emperor.

title: 40s

section: Timeline › AD 41

year_label: 42 CE

text: Claudius begins construction of Portus, a harbour bearing a lighthouse on the right bank of the Tiber.

title: 40s

section: Timeline › AD 42

year_label: 43 CE

date: September

text: September – Emperor Claudius, who arrives with reinforcements including war elephants, leads the march on Camulodunum (modern Colchester). Eleven British kings, probably including those of the Iceni and Brigantes, submit without a fight. Plautius becomes the first Governor of Roman Britain.

title: 40s

section: Timeline › AD 43

year_label: 44 CE

text: Emperor Claudius returns from his British campaign in triumph, the south-east part of Britannia now held by the Roman Empire, but the war will rage for another decade and a half.

title: 40s

section: Timeline › AD 44

year_label: 45 CE

text: Emperor Claudius expels the Jews from Rome (estimated date, more probably later, 47-49 AD).

title: 40s

section: Timeline › AD 45

year_label: 47 CE

text: Claudius revives the censorship and ludi saeculares, and organises the order of the Haruspices, with 60 members.

title: 40s

section: Timeline › AD 47

year_label: 48 CE

text: Emperor Claudius invests Agrippa II with the office of superintendent of the Temple in Jerusalem.

title: 40s

section: Timeline › AD 48

section: Deaths

text: Valeria Messalina, wife of Claudius

title: 40s

section: Deaths › AD 48

year_label: 49 CE

text: Emperor Claudius marries his niece Agrippina the Younger (approximate date), and most of the real power falls to Agrippina.

title: 40s

section: Timeline › AD 49

year_label: 50 CE

text: Roman emperor Claudius appoints Agrippa II governor of Chalcis.

title: 50s

section: Events › 50 AD › Roman Empire

year_label: 51 CE

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

text: Emperor Claudius and future emperor Titus Flavius Vespasianus become Roman Consuls.

title: 50s

section: Events › 51 AD › Roman Empire

year_label: 52 CE

text: Emperor Claudius attempts to control the Fucine Lake by digging a 5.6 km tunnel through Monte Salviano, requiring 30,000 workers and eleven years.

title: 50s

section: Events › 52 AD › Roman Empire

year_label: 53 CE

text: Emperor Claudius removes Herod Agrippa II from the tetrarchy of Chalcis in Greece.

title: 50s

section: Events › 53 AD › Roman Empire

year_label: 54 CE

date: October 13

text: October 13 – Emperor Claudius dies (possibly after being poisoned by Agrippina, his wife and niece), and is succeeded by Nero.

title: 50s

section: Events › 54 AD › Roman Empire

text: October 13 – Claudius, Roman emperor, possibly poisoned by his wife Agrippina (b. 10 BC)

title: 50s

section: Deaths › 54 AD

year_label: 55 CE

date: February 11

text: February 11 – Britannicus, son of Claudius (b. AD 41)

title: 50s

section: Deaths › 55 AD

year_label: 66 CE

text: Claudia Antonia, daughter of Claudius (b. AD 30)

title: AD 66

year_label: 74 CE

text: Caenis, Roman slave and secretary of Antonia Minor (mother of Emperor Claudius) and mistress of Emperor Vespasian

title: AD 74

text: Hadrian restores the monarchist policy of Claudius and Domitian. The equestrian order is given full legal status, and attains the second order of the state.

title: AD 131

section: Events › By place › Roman Empire


slug: cleomenes-iii

label: Cleomenes III

description: king of Sparta

year_label: 235 BCE

text: The ephor, Lysander, claims to have seen a sign from the gods against King Leonidas II of Sparta so Leonidas flees to avoid his trial. In his absence Leonidas is deposed from the throne and replaced by his son-in-law Cleomenes III.

title: 235 BC

section: Events › By place › Greece

year_label: 228 BCE

section: Crime & Justice

text: Archidamus V, brother of the murdered Spartan King Agis IV, is called back to Sparta by the Agiad King Cleomenes III, who has no counterpart on the throne by then. However, Archidamus V is assassinated shortly after returning.

title: 228 BC

year_label: 226 BCE

section: Conflict & Security

text: The Spartan King Cleomenes III captures Mantinea and defeats the Achaean League under Aratus of Sicyon at Hecatombaeum, near Dyme in north-eastern Elis.

title: 226 BC

year_label: 224 BCE

text: After the Spartan King Cleomenes III takes on Pellene, Phlius and Argos, Aratus of Sicyon is forced to call upon King Antigonus III of Macedonia for assistance. Antigonus III's forces fail to pierce Cleomenes' lines near Corinth, but a revolt against Cleomenes at Argos put the Spartans on the defensive.

title: 224 BC

year_label: 223 BCE

section: Disasters & Accidents

text: The Spartan king Cleomenes III destroys and burns the city of Megalopolis but the inhabitants are saved by Philopoemen who leads the defence of the city until the inhabitants can escape.

title: 223 BC

year_label: 222 BCE

text: Battle of Sellasia: Cleomenes III of Sparta is defeated by Antigonus III of Macedon and his allies (the Achaean League, the Boeotian League, the Acarnanians, Epirus and the Illyrians under the command of Demetrius of Pharos) near Sellasia (north of Sparta) and flees to Egypt under the protection of King Ptolemy III. Antigonus III's forces occupy Sparta, which is the first time this city has ever been occupied.

title: 222 BC

year_label: 221 BCE

text: King Cleomenes III of Sparta, who is in exile in Egypt, is imprisoned by Ptolemy IV on a charge of conspiracy.

title: 221 BC

section: Events › By place › Egypt

year_label: 219 BCE

text: The former King of Sparta, Cleomenes III, escapes from his Egyptian prison and, after failing to raise a revolt in Alexandria, takes his own life.

title: 219 BC

text: Cleomenes III, Spartan king from 235 BC to 222 BC, who reorganized Sparta's political structure and struggled unsuccessfully to destroy the Achaean League.

title: 219 BC


slug: cleopatra

label: Cleopatra

description: queen of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt from 51 to 30 BCE

year_label: 83 BCE

section: Births

text: Mark Antony, Roman politician and General (who later married Cleopatra) (approximate date) (d. 30 BC)

title: 83 BC

year_label: 70 BCE

text: Cleopatra VII, queen of Egypt (d. 30 BC)

title: 70 BC

year_label: 69 BCE

text: Cleopatra VII Philopator, queen of Egypt (d. 30 BC)

title: 69 BC

year_label: 51 BCE

section: Deaths

text: by March 22 – Pharaoh Ptolemy XII Auletes dies and is succeeded by his eldest surviving daughter Cleopatra VII and her younger brother Ptolemy XIII as co-rulers of the Ptolemaic Kingdom. By August 29, official documents start listing Cleopatra as sole ruler.

title: 51 BC

year_label: 34 BCE

text: Autumn – The Donations of Alexandria: Antony distributes the eastern kingdoms as a gift to the children of Cleopatra; he declares Caesarion, Caesar's illegitimate son, as co-ruler of Egypt and Cyprus. Alexander Helios receives Armenia and Media; to Cleopatra Selene II he gives the kingdoms of Cyrenaica and Libya. His youngest son Ptolemy Philadelphus receives the Egyptian possessions in Phoenicia, Syria and Cilicia. Antony establishes Cleopatra as a Hellenistic monarch at Alexandria and gives her the title of "Queen of Kings".

title: 34 BC

section: Events › By place › Roman Republic

year_label: 32 BCE

text: Sparta under Caius Iulius Eurycles, whose father Antony had been ordered to be executed for piracy, declares his support for Octavian. Lappa (modern Argyroupoli) in Attica and Kydonia in Crete revolt against Cleopatra.

title: 32 BC

year_label: 30 BCE

text: c. August 12 – Cleopatra VII, queen of Ptolemaic Egypt (likely suicide) (b. 69 BC)

title: 30 BC

text: August 1 – Octavian Caesar captures Alexandria. This marks the official annexation of Ancient Egypt to the Roman Republic. Cleopatra evacuates her court and treasury to Berenice on the west coast of the Red Sea, but king Malchus of Nabatea attacks from the desert and burns the Egyptian ships.

title: 30 BC

section: Religion & Belief

date: March

text: March – Hypatia of Alexandria, Neoplatonist philosopher, is murdered by a Christian mob of Nitrian monks at the church (former temple conceived by Cleopatra VII) called Caesareum. Having driven out the Jews, Alexandria's new patriarch, Cyril, has instigated the mob after taking offense at Hypatia's scientific rationalism (approximate date).

title: 415

section: Events › By topic › Religion


slug: clonfert

label: Clonfert

description: human settlement in County Galway, Ireland

text: Flaithniadh mac Congal, abbot of Clonfert

title: 776

text: Mac Flaithniadh, abbot of Clonfert (Ireland)

title: 778

text: Tibraide mac Cethernach, abbot of Clonfert

title: 817

text: Olcobhar mac Cummuscach, abbot of Clonfert

title: 820

text: Rechtabhra, bishop of Clonfert

title: 848

text: Connagan, bishop of Clonfert (Ireland)

title: 849

text: Aedh mac Ailell, abbot of Clonfert

title: 914

text: Fiachra Ua Focarta, abbot of Clonfert (Ireland)

title: 1006

date: December 27

text: December 27 – Petrus Ua Mórda, bishop of Clonfert

title: 1171


slug: clovis-i

label: Clovis I

description: first king of the Franks (c. 466-511)

text: Merovech, Founder of the Merovingian dynasty and grandfather of Clovis I (approximate date)

title: AD 411

text: Chlodio, semi legendary Frankish king and supposed great-grandfather of Clovis I (approximate date) (b.390)

title: 450

text: Clovis I, first king of the Franks (approximate date)

title: 466

text: Clotilde, Christian wife of Clovis I, ancestress of the succeeding Merovingian kings (Approximate date) (d.545)

title: 474

text: King Childeric I dies at Tournai after a 24-year reign. He is succeeded by his 15-year-old son Clovis, who becomes ruler of the Salian Franks in the province Gallia Belgica (modern Belgium) until his death in 511.

title: 481

section: Events › By place › Europe

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

title: 486

section: Culture & Society

text: Theodoric the Great allies with the Franks and marries Audofleda, sister of Clovis I. He also marries his own female relatives to princes or kings of the Burgundians, Vandals and Visigoths, establishing a political alliance with the Germanic kingdoms in the West.

title: 493

text: Battle of Tolbiac: King Clovis I defeats the Alamanni at Zülpich (Germany). Gibuld, last king of the Alamanni, is killed in battle and the territory is incorporated into the Frankish Kingdom.

title: 496

text: Burgundian Civil War: Battle of Dijon: A coalition of Franks and Burgundians crush the forces under Gundobad. King Clovis I pursues him to Avignon, where he surrenders and promises to pay a yearly tribute.

title: AD 500

text: Clotilde, daughter of Clovis I (approximate date)

title: AD 500

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

title: 507

section: Exploration & Expansion

text: Emperor Anastasius I formally recognizes Clovis I of the Salian Franks as ruler of Gaul. He sends a Byzantine fleet of 100 warships to raid the coasts of Italy.

title: 508

section: Events › By place › Byzantine Empire

text: King Clovis I fails in an effort to take the walled city of Carcassonne (Southern Gaul). He establishes Paris (Lutetia) as his capital and gets baptized, making Roman Catholicism the official religion of the Kingdom of the Franks.

title: 508

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

text: Clovis I (Chlodowech) becomes the first Catholic king of the Franks, uniting all the Frankish tribes under his rule. He controls an immense territory in Gaul (modern France), and delivers a major blow for the Church against the Arian heresy.

title: 509

date: November 27

text: November 27 – King Clovis I dies at Paris (Lutetia) at age 45, and is buried in the Abbey of St. Genevieve. The Merovingian dynasty is continued by his four sons (Theuderic I, Chlodomer, Childebert I and Chlothar I), who divide the Frankish Kingdom and rule from the capitals at Metz, Orléans, Paris and Soissons, respectively.

title: 511

text: November 27 – Clovis I, king of the Franks

title: 511

text: King Chlothar I takes part in an expedition against Burgundy and captures the town of Autun. Now about 26, he makes plans to expand the territory he inherited from his late father, Clovis I.

title: 523

text: Clotilde, Visigoth queen and daughter of Clovis I

title: 531

text: Clotilde returns with the Frankish army and dies on the journey home. She is buried in Paris alongside her father Clovis I.

title: 531

date: June 3

text: June 3 – Clotilde, Christian wife of Clovis I and ancestress of the succeeding Merovingian dynasty (b.474)

title: 545


slug: cnut-the-great

label: Cnut the Great

text: Cnut (the Great), king of Denmark, Norway and England (d. 1035)

title: 995

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

title: 1013

section: Events › By place › England

date: February 3

text: February 3 – King Sweyn Forkbeard dies at Gainsborough after a reign of five weeks. He is succeeded by Harald II who becomes king of Denmark, while Cnut is elected by the Vikings of the Danelaw as king of England.

title: 1014

text: Summer – King Cnut the Great of Denmark launches an invasion of Mercia and Northumbria in England.

title: 1015

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

title: 1016

date: March 26

text: March 26 – Pope John XIX crowns Conrad II ("the Elder") and his wife Gisela of Swabia as Holy Roman Emperor and Empress, respectively, in Old St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. Cnut the Great, King of Denmark and England, attends the coronation, proving his position as sole ruler of the Danish North Sea Empire.

title: 1027

section: Events › By Place › Europe

text: Cnut the Great sails from England to Norway with a fleet of 50 ships. He defeats Olaf Haraldsson and is crowned king of Norway. Cnut becomes the sole ruler of England, Denmark and part of Sweden (known as the Danish North Sea Empire).

title: 1028

date: November 12

text: November 12 – King Cnut the Great dies at Shaftesbury, leaving the rule of England in dispute between his sons Harthacnut and Harold Harefoot. The earls of Northumbria and Mercia support Harold's claim, while Godwin (Earl of Wessex) supports Harthacnut. Harold is elected as regent (or joint ruler) of England. Cnut is buried in the Old Minster, in Winchester.

title: 1035

text: November 12 – Cnut, king of Denmark, Norway and England

title: 1035


slug: coalition-australia

label: Coalition (Australia)

date: February 9

text: February 9 – Billy Hughes, having resigned as Prime Minister of Australia, after the Country Party refuses to govern in coalition with him as the leader of the Nationalist Party, is succeeded by Stanley Bruce. A Liberal–National Coalition will persist in the politics of Australia for at least 100 years.

title: 1923

section: Events › January–February

date: November 14

text: November 14 – 1925 Australian federal election: Stanley Bruce's Nationalist/Country Coalition Government is re-elected with an increased majority, defeating the Labor Party led by Matthew Charlton.

title: 1925

section: Events › November

date: November 17

text: November 17 – 1928 Australian federal election: Stanley Bruce's Nationalist/Country Coalition Government is re-elected with a decreased majority, defeating the Labor Party led by James Scullin.

title: 1928

date: October 12

text: October 12 – 1929 Australian federal election: The Labor Party, led by James Scullin, defeats the Nationalist/Country Coalition Government, led by Prime Minister Stanley Bruce. Scullin will be sworn in on October 22. Notably, this is the first occasion in Australian political history where a sitting prime minister loses his own seat (the second being John Howard in 2007).

title: 1929

section: Events › October

date: December 19

text: December 19 – The UAP/Country Coalition, led by Joseph Lyons, defeats the Australian Labor Government, led by Prime Minister James Scullin. Coming in the aftermath of two splits in the Labor Party, the election comes about due to the defeat of the Scullin government on the floor of the House of Representatives – to date, it is the last federal election where a one-term government was defeated. Lyons will be sworn in January 6th the following year, but not before disbanding the Coalition, after the UAP wins enough seats to form a government in its own right.

title: 1931

section: Events › December

date: September 15

text: September 15 – 1934 Australian federal election: Joseph Lyons' UAP government is re-elected with a decreased majority, defeating the Labor Party, led by former Prime Minister James Scullin. Consequently, Lyons is forced to resume the Coalition with the Country Party, and include them in his government. Scullin steps down from the Labor leadership shortly after; he is replaced by future Prime Minister John Curtin.

title: 1934

section: Events › September–October

date: October 23

text: October 23 – 1937 Australian federal election: Joseph Lyons' UAP/Country Coalition government is re-elected with a slightly increased majority, defeating the Labor Party led by John Curtin.

title: 1937

date: September 21

text: September 21 – 1940 Australian federal election: Robert Menzies' UAP/Country Coalition Government is re-elected as a minority government, narrowly defeating the Labor Party led by John Curtin. It is the last federal election to result in a minority government until 2010.

title: 1940

section: Events › September

date: October 7

text: October 7 – John Curtin becomes the 14th Prime Minister of Australia, following the defeat of Arthur Fadden's Country/UAP Coalition government, on the floor of the House of Representatives.

title: 1941

date: August 21

text: August 21 – 1943 Australian federal election: John Curtin's Labor government defeats the Country/UAP Coalition, led by former Prime Minister Arthur Fadden. Labor achieves its greatest ever electoral result, including winning every seat (except one) outside of the eastern states. Notably, this election marked the first time that a woman has been elected to both the Senate and the House of Representatives. Fadden will step down from the Opposition leadership, handing it over to Robert Menzies, who will go on to dissolve the UAP and form the Liberal Party shortly after.

title: 1943

section: Events › August

date: December 10

text: December 10 – 1949 Australian federal election: The Liberal/Country Coalition led by Robert Menzies defeats the Labor government, led by Prime Minister Ben Chifley. Menzies is sworn in on December 19, his second stint as prime minister; he will hold the office for over 16 years until his retirement in 1966 and Labor will not win office again until 1972, under Gough Whitlam.

title: 1949

date: May 29

text: May 29 – 1954 Australian federal election: Robert Menzies' Liberal/Country Coalition Government is re-elected with a decreased majority, defeating the Labor Party led by H.V. Evatt. The election has come shortly after the Petrov Affair, arguably helping the Government survive what was initially predicted to be a defeat.

title: 1954

section: Events › May

text: December 10 – 1955 Australian federal election: Robert Menzies' Liberal/Country Coalition Government is re-elected with a substantially increased majority, defeating the Labor Party led by H. V. Evatt. This election comes in the immediate aftermath of the devastating split in the Labor Party, which leads to the formation of the Democratic Labor Party. The DLP will preference against Labor, and keep the Coalition in office until 1972.

title: 1955

section: Technology & Infrastructure

date: November 22

text: November 22 – 1958 Australian federal election: Robert Menzies' Liberal/Country Coalition Government is re-elected with a slightly increased majority, defeating the Labor Party led by H.V. Evatt. This is the first election where television is used as a medium for communicating with voters. Evatt will eventually resign as Labor leader and will be replaced by his deputy Arthur Calwell.

title: 1958

date: December 9

text: December 9 – 1961 Australian federal election: Robert Menzies' Liberal/Country Coalition Government is re-elected with a one-seat majority, narrowly defeating the Labor Party led by Arthur Calwell. One of the closest election results in Australian history, such a result will not be replicated again until 2016. Notably, former Prime Minister Earle Page loses his seat, although he dies a few days later, never knowing the result.

title: 1961

date: November 30

text: November 30 – 1963 Australian federal election: Robert Menzies' Liberal/Country Coalition Government is re-elected with an increased majority to an unprecedented eighth term in office, defeating the Labor Party led by Arthur Calwell. (This would be the final lower house election won by Menzies, who would retire from office during the term as the longest-serving Prime Minister in Australian history; he would be replaced by Harold Holt.)

title: 1963

date: December 5

text: December 5 – Australian Senate election, 1964: The Liberal/Country Coalition Government led by Prime Minister Robert Menzies hold their status quo, while the Labor Party led by Arthur Calwell lose one seat to the Democratic Labor Party, who hold the balance of power in the Senate alongside independent Reg Turnbull.

title: 1964

date: November 25

text: November 25 – 1967 Australian Senate election: The Liberal/Country Coalition government led by Prime Minister Harold Holt lost two seats, while the Labor Party led by Gough Whitlam failed to make any gains. The Democratic Labor Party won the two seats from the Liberals and gained the sole balance of power in the Senate.

title: 1967

date: October 25

text: October 25 – 1969 Australian federal election: John Gorton's Liberal/Country Coalition government is narrowly re-elected with a sharply reduced majority, defeating a resurgent Labor Party led by Gough Whitlam. Prime Minister Gorton survived a leadership challenge by his deputy William McMahon as well as David Fairbairn in the immediate aftermath of the election.

title: 1969

date: November 21

text: November 21 – 1970 Australian Senate election: The Liberal/Country Coalition government led by Prime Minister John Gorton and the Labor Party led by Gough Whitlam each end up with 26 seats, both suffering a swing against them. The Democratic Labor Party wins an additional seat and holds the balance of power in the Senate. This is the last occasion on which a Senate election is held without an accompanying House of Representatives election.

title: 1970

date: May 18

text: May 18 – 1974 Australian federal election: Gough Whitlam's Labor government is re-elected with a reduced majority, defeating the Liberal/Country Coalition led by Billy Snedden. Whitlam consequently becomes the first Labor Prime Minister to be re-elected in his own right. The Democratic Labor Party meanwhile loses all five of their Senate seats, effectively wiping them out as a political force.

title: 1974

section: Events › May–June

date: December 13

text: December 13 – 1975 Australian federal election: The Liberal/National Country Coalition led by Malcolm Fraser defeats the recently dismissed Labor government led by Gough Whitlam. The Fraser government achieves what is so far the largest parliamentary majority in federal Australian political history. Whitlam would subsequently survive a leadership challenge against him.

title: 1975

date: November 11

text: November 11 – Australian constitutional crisis of 1975: Governor-General of Australia Sir John Kerr controversially dismisses the Whitlam Labor government and commissions Malcolm Fraser of the Liberal/National Country Coalition as caretaker Prime Minister.

title: 1975

text: December 10 – 1977 Australian federal election: Malcolm Fraser's Liberal/National Country Coalition government is re-elected with a slightly reduced majority, defeating the Labor Party led by former Prime Minister Gough Whitlam. Consequently, Whitlam resigns as ALP leader after holding the job for nearly 11 years; he is replaced by former treasurer Bill Hayden.

title: 1977

date: October 18

text: October 18 – 1980 Australian federal election: Malcolm Fraser's Liberal/National Country Coalition government is re-elected with a substantially reduced majority, defeating the Labor Party led by Bill Hayden. The Government also loses control of the Senate, with the Australian Democrats winning the balance of power.

title: 1980

date: March 5

text: March 5 – Australian federal election: The Labor Party led by Bob Hawke defeats the Liberal/National Coalition government led by Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser. Hawke is to be sworn in on March 11. As soon as the results become clear, Fraser resigns from the Liberal leadership; he is replaced by outgoing Minister for Industry and Commerce Andrew Peacock.

title: 1983

section: Events › March

date: December 2

text: December 2 – 1984 Australian federal election: Bob Hawke's Labor government is re-elected with a reduced majority, defeating the Liberal/National Coalition led by Andrew Peacock.

title: 1984

date: March 24

text: March 24 – 1990 Australian federal election: Bob Hawke's Labor government is re-elected with a reduced majority, narrowly defeating the Liberal/National Coalition led by Andrew Peacock.

title: 1990

date: March 13

text: March 13 – 1993 Australian federal election: Paul Keating's Labor government is re-elected with an increased majority, defeating the Liberal/National Coalition led by John Hewson.

title: 1993

date: March 2

text: March 2 – 1996 Australian federal election: The Liberal/National Coalition led by John Howard defeats the Labor government led by Prime Minister Paul Keating. Howard was sworn in on March 11.

title: 1996

date: October 3

text: October 3 – 1998 Australian federal election: John Howard's Liberal/National Coalition government is re-elected with a substantially reduced majority, defeating the Labor Party led by Kim Beazley.

title: 1998

date: November 10

text: November 10 – 2001 Australian federal election: The Coalition government, led by John Howard, is re-elected with a slightly increased majority, defeating the Labor Party led by Kim Beazley.

title: 2001

date: November 24

text: November 24 – 2007 Australian federal election: The Labor Party led by Kevin Rudd defeats the Liberal/National Coalition government led by Prime Minister John Howard. Rudd would be sworn in on December 3.

title: 2007

text: August 21 – 2010 Australian federal election: Julia Gillard's Labor government is re-elected, narrowly defeating the Liberal/National Coalition led by Tony Abbott.

title: 2010

text: September 7 – 2013 Australian federal election: The Liberal/National Coalition led by Tony Abbott defeats the Labor Government led by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd. Abbott is sworn in on September 18.

title: 2013

text: May 18 – 2019 Australian federal election: Scott Morrison's Liberal/National Coalition government is narrowly re-elected, defeating the Labor Party led by Bill Shorten.

title: 2019

text: May 21 – 2022 Australian federal election: The Labor party, led by Anthony Albanese, defeats the Liberal-National Coalition government led by Prime Minister Scott Morrison. Albanese is sworn in as Prime Minister two days later.

title: 2022


slug: coele-syria

label: Coele-Syria

description: region of Syria in classical antiquity

year_label: 311 BCE

section: Conflict & Security

text: Ptolemy tries to occupy Syria; he himself campaigns in Coele Syria (southern Syria) while he sends Killes, one of his generals, into northern Syria to finish off the remnants of Demetrius Poliorcetes' army. Demetrius defeats Killes at Myus and Antigonus enters Syria in force. So, after only a few months, Ptolemy evacuates his forces from Syria.

title: 311 BC

section: Events › By place › Asia Minor/Syria/Palestina

year_label: 217 BCE

text: Although holding the initiative after the Battle of Raphia, Ptolemy IV, on his chief minister Sosibius' advice, negotiates a peace, and the Seleucid army withdraws from Coele Syria. Antiochus III gives up all his conquests except the city of Seleucia-in-Pieria.

title: 217 BC

section: Events › By place › Egypt

year_label: 202 BCE

text: During this period of confusion and change amongst Egypt’s leadership, armies under the Seleucid king, Antiochus III, make serious inroads into the Egyptian territories in Coele-Syria.

title: 202 BC

year_label: 200 BCE

text: Antiochus III's forces continue their invasion of Coele Syria and Palestine.

title: 200 BC

section: Events › By place › Seleucid Empire

year_label: 198 BCE

text: The Battle of Panium is fought between Seleucid forces led by Antiochus III and Ptolemaic forces led by Scopas of Aetolia. The Seleucids win the battle which allows Antiochus III to obtain entire possession of Palestine and Coele-Syria from King Ptolemy V of Egypt. Though the Romans send ambassadors to Ptolemy V, they are unable to lend him any serious assistance against Antiochus III.

title: 198 BC

year_label: 175 BCE

text: During this period of uncertainty in Syria, the Egyptian ruler, Ptolemy VI, lays claim to Coele Syria, Palestine, and Phoenicia, which the Seleucid king Antiochus III has previously conquered. Both the Syrian and Egyptian parties appeal to Rome for help, but the Roman Senate refuses to take sides.

title: 175 BC

year_label: 170 BCE

text: With the guardians of the young king Ptolemy VI Philometor demanding the return of Coele-Syria to Egyptian control, the Seleucid king, Antiochus IV Epiphanes, decides on a preemptive strike against Egypt and invades the country, conquering all but the city of Alexandria. He is also able to capture Ptolemy VI.

title: 170 BC

year_label: 148 BCE

text: Demetrius II Nicator, claimant to the Seleucid throne had challenged Alexander Balas, in view of the threat of such an invasion Ptolemy VI Philometor entered Coele-Syria, passing through the cities of Ashdod and Jaffa, to Ptolemais.

title: 148 BC

section: Events › By place › Hellenistic Egypt

year_label: 63 BCE

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

title: 63 BC

section: Events › By place › Roman Republic


slug: coenwulf-of-mercia

label: Coenwulf of Mercia

description: King of Mercia from 796 to 821

section: Deaths

text: King Offa of Mercia and Charlemagne seal a trading agreement, and a marriage alliance is proposed. However, Offa dies after a 39-year reign, that has incorporated Kent, Essex, Sussex, and East Anglia into the Mercian realm. Offa is buried at Bedford, and succeeded for a short time by his son Ecgfrith, and then a distant cousin, Coenwulf.

title: 796

section: Events › By place › Britain

text: Battle of Rhuddlan: Welsh forces, including those of Powys and Dyfed, clash with Mercians. King Coenwulf tries to re-assert his domination of northeast Wales. King Caradog ap Meirion of Gwynedd is killed during the fighting (approximate date).

title: 797

text: King Coenwulf of Mercia invades Gwynedd (modern Wales), and kills his rival Caradog ap Meirion during the fighting in Snowdonia. Kings Cynan and Hywel retake the throne. Coenwulf also defeats and captures King Eadberht Præn of Kent. He is blinded and his hands are cut off. He introduces his brother Cuthred as a sub-king of Kent (approximate date).

title: 798

section: Religion & Belief

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

title: 800

section: Events › By topic › Religion

text: King Eardwulf of Northumbria leads an army into Mercia against his rival, Coenwulf, in order to flush out other claimants to the Northumbrian throne.

title: 801

date: October 12

text: October 12 – The Synod of Clofesho (possibly Brixworth) is held, at which the Archbishopric of Lichfield is demoted to an ordinary bishopric, with papal permission obtained by King Coenwulf of Mercia.

title: 803

text: King Cuthred of Kent dies. His brother, King Coenwulf of Mercia, takes control over Kent himself.

title: 807

text: Synod of Chelsea: King Coenwulf of Mercia calls for a council about his right to appoint abbots and monasteries in England.

title: 816

text: The Anglo-Saxons, led by King Coenwulf of Mercia, raid Dyfed in Wales (approximate date).

title: 818

text: King Coenwulf of Mercia dies in Basingwerk near Holywell (Wales), while preparing for another assault on Powys, and is buried in Winchcombe Abbey. He is briefly succeeded by his son Cynehelm, but he is killed, probably fighting the Welsh, though supposedly through the treachery of his sister Cwenthryth. The Mercian throne passes to Coenwulf's brother, Ceolwulf I.

title: 821


slug: coimbra

label: Coimbra

description: municipality in Portugal

text: Reconquista: King Alfonso III of Asturias conquers the city of Coimbra (modern Portugal), which is under the Umayyad Caliphate.

title: 878

section: Events › By place › Arabian Empire

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

text: In Portugal, the count of Coimbra, Hermenegildo Gutiérrez, reconquers Coimbra, which was temporarily lost after the first conquest of 878.

title: 889

section: Events › By place › Europe

text: In Portugal, for the third time in less than 30 years, the Christians take control of Coimbra, this time for almost a century.

title: 904

text: Summer: Al-Mansur, the de facto ruler of Al-Andalus, continues his effort in the north of the Iberian Peninsula and plunders the city of Coimbra (modern Portugal).

title: 986

text: Al-Mansur, the de facto ruler of Al-Andalus, occupies the city of Coimbra (modern Portugal).

title: 987

text: Summer – King Ferdinand I (the Great) conquers more territory in modern-day Portugal and captures Coimbra. He appoints Sisnando Davides to reorganise the economy and administer the lands encircling the city.

title: 1064

text: Almoravid forces under Syr ibn Abi Bakr capture Santarém and Sintra in Portugal. The efforts of the Berbers to reconquer lost ground also lead to the sack of Coimbra. The same year the city revolts against their lord.

title: 1111

section: Exploration & Expansion

text: The Almoravids briefly reconquer Coimbra (modern Portugal).

title: 1117

date: July 1

text: July 1–October 25 – Siege of Lisbon: King Afonso I of Portugal conquers Lisbon from the Taifa of Badajoz after a four-month siege, with support of English, Flemish and German Crusaders. The garrison surrenders on the guarantee that their lives will be spared. The Crusaders break the terms and take part in a bloody massacre. Afonso rules from his capital at Coimbra, takes Sintra and Santarém, and sacks Palmela.

title: 1147

section: Events › By place › Second Crusade

date: March 26

text: March 26 – King Sancho I of Portugal ("the Populator") dies after a 25-year reign at Coimbra. He is succeeded by his son Afonso II ("the Fat") as ruler of Portugal. During his reign, he designs the first set of Portuguese written laws.

title: 1211

text: King Afonso III of Portugal ("the Boulonnais") moves his residence and royal court from Lisbon to Coimbra, which becomes the capital of Portugal.

title: 1255

date: April 6

text: April 6 – At Coimbra, João, Master of Aviz, son of the late King Pedro I of Portugal, is declared by the Cortes of Coimbra to be the new King of Portugal.

title: 1385

section: Events › April–June