slug: vikings

label: Vikings

description: Norse people, farmers, merchants, explorers, raiders and pirates

text: Battle of Hehil: The West Saxons are defeated by a combined Viking and Cornish army, at Cornovii in Cornwall (approximate date).

title: 722

text: The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records the first appearance of Vikings in England. The Viking raid on Portland in Dorset is the first of its kind recorded in the British Isles, including Ireland. The reeve of Dorchester (a local high-ranking official) goes to greet them after they land, perhaps accustomed to welcoming Scandinavian merchants. He is killed. Viking attacks increase in intensity over the coming decades.

title: 789

text: Offa arranges coastal defences to fend off Viking attacks. He forms an alliance with Essex, Kent and Sussex, in an attempt to unify England (approximate date).

title: 792

section: Religion & Belief

text: Vikings sack the Monkwearmouth–Jarrow Abbey in Northumbria (the second monastery target in England of the Vikings, after the raids on Lindisfarne in 793).

title: 794

text: In the earliest recorded Viking raid on Ireland, they attack the monasteries at Iona (Inner Hebrides), Inishbofin and Inishmurray (approximate date).

title: 795

text: The Vikings raid the island of Noirmoutier, and attack the monastery of Saint Philibert of Jumièges.

title: 799

text: The Vikings plunder the treasures of Iona Abbey, on the west coast of Scotland (approximate date).

title: 802

text: Vikings massacre Columba's monks, and all the inhabitants on the island of Iona (Scotland). Other monks flee to safety in the monastery of Kells (Ireland). They take with them the Book of Kells.

title: 806

text: The Vikings land on the Cornish coast, and form an alliance with the Cornish to fight against Wessex.

title: 807

title: AD 808

text: King Godfred of the Danes leads 200 Viking ships to plunder the Frisian coast, and forces the merchants to pay 100 pounds of silver. He claims Northern Frisia as Danish territory.

title: 810

text: Danish Viking raiders, led by King Horik I, attack Vestfold (modern Norway), due to its insubordination (approximate date).

title: 813

section: Births

text: Godfrid Haraldsson, Danish Viking king (approximate date)

title: 820

section: Crime & Justice

text: Vikings raid Bangor (modern Wales) for the second time, and plunder the bishopric (approximate date).

title: 824

text: Viking chieftain Halfdan the Black becomes king of Agder (modern Norway). He expands his realm through military conquest and political negotiations, dividing the kingdom of Vestfold with his half-brother Olaf.

title: 829

text: The town of Clondalkin (modern Ireland) is sacked by Vikings from Denmark, and the monastery is burnt to the ground.

title: 832

section: Events › By place › Britain and Ireland

text: Ragnar Lodbrok, a Norse Viking ruler, rises to power. He becomes the scourge of France and England (approximate date).

title: 835

text: Battle of Carhampton: Danish Vikings arrive in the Wessex areas of Somerset and North Devon. Ecgberht, King of Wessex fights them but is forced to withdraw.

title: 836

text: Battle of Hingston Down: Ecgberht, King of Wessex, leads his men to defeat a combined force of Cornish and Danish Vikings at Hingston Down in Cornwall.

title: 838

text: Battle of 839: Eóganan mac Óengusa, King of the Picts, his brother Bran, Áed mac Boanta, King of Dál Riata, "and others almost innumerable" are killed in a battle fought by the men of Fortriu in Scotland against Vikings. Alpín mac Echdach (Alpín II) apparently succeeds Áed.

title: 839

text: Approximate date – Danish Vikings return to ravage the Frisian coast (sacking Dorestad for the second time).

title: 839

text: Vikings from Norway capture Dublin and establish a Norse kingdom in Ireland, and also at about this date make their first overwintering at Lough Neagh in the north of Ireland.

title: 840

text: Summer – Vikings sail up the River Seine and devastate the city of Rouen in Normandy. They burn the Benedictine monastery of Jumièges Abbey; 68 captives are taken, and returned on payment of a ransom, by the monks of St. Denis.

title: 841

text: Vikings attack the Irish monastery at Clonmacnoise from bases in Ireland.

title: 842

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

title: 843

title: 847

text: Danish Vikings land in the Breton March (western part of Gaul). Duke Nominoe of Brittany fails to withstand them in battle, but succeeds in buying them off with gifts and persuading them to leave (approximate date).

title: 847

text: Summer – Bordeaux, capital of Aquitaine, falls into the hands of Viking raiders. King Charles the Bald sends a Frankish fleet to lift the siege. Despite destroying some Viking longships on the Dordogne River, they fail to save the city. The Abbey of Saint-Pierre in Brantôme is sacked.

title: 848

text: Danish Viking raiders, led by King Rorik, conquer Dorestad and Utrecht (modern-day Netherlands). Emperor Lothair I recognizes him as ruler of most of Friesland.

title: 850

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

title: 851

text: Emperor Lothair I and his (half) brother Charles the Bald join forces to remove the Vikings from the island of Oscelles, in the River Seine. After this fails, Charles again pays them tribute (Danegeld).

title: 852

text: Danish Vikings attempt to subjugate the Curonians on the shoreline of the Baltic Sea, but they are repulsed. King Olof leads Swedish Vikings in retaliation, and attacks the towns of Seeburg and Apuolė (modern Courland).

title: 853

text: Viking chieftains Rorik and Godfrid Haraldsson return to Denmark, to gain power after the death of King Horik I. During a civil war, they are forced to go back to Friesland.

title: 854

text: King Charles the Bald cedes the county of Maine to Erispoe, ruler (duke) of Brittany—this in return for an alliance against the Vikings.

title: 856

text: A Danish Viking fleet raids the cities of Dorestad, Paris and Orléans. Others sail up the Oise River, ravaging Beauvais and the abbey of Saint-Germer-de-Fly (approximate date).

title: 857

text: Viking raiders, led by Björn Ironside, set fire to the earliest church on the site of Chartres Cathedral. Charles the Bald pays him tribute (Danegeld) to save Verberie (Northern France).

title: 858

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

title: 859

section: Technology & Infrastructure

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

title: 860

text: Summer – Viking raiders sack the cities of Paris, Cologne, Aachen, Worms and Toulouse.

title: 861

date: March

text: March – Viking raiders led by Weland are trapped at Trilbardou Bridge (Northern France), and submit to King Charles the Bald. He and his family accept Christianity (they are baptised) before leaving Neustria.

title: 862

section: Events › By place › Central Europe

text: Danish Vikings loot along the Rhine. They settle on an island near Cologne, but are driven off by the combined forces of Lothair II and the Saxons.

title: 863

date: July 25

text: July 25 – Edict of Pistres: King Charles the Bald orders defensive measures against the Vikings. He creates a large force of cavalry, which inspires the beginning of French chivalry.

title: 864

text: The Great Heathen Army (probably no more than 1,000 men) of Vikings, led by Ivar the Boneless and Halfdan Ragnarsson, invades East Anglia. King Edmund of East Anglia buys peace with a supply of horses.

title: 865

text: The Great Heathen Army of the Vikings rides north to Northumbria. The Northumbrians are preoccupied with a civil war, and the Danes enter York unopposed.

title: 866

date: July 2

text: July 2 – Battle of Brissarthe: Frankish forces, led by Robert the Strong, are defeated by a joint Breton-Viking army.

title: 866

text: Vikings or "Danes" (the two terms were often used interchangeably at the time), comprising the Great Heathen Army, advance northward from bases in the Kingdom of East Anglia, into the Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of Northumbria.

title: 867

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

title: 868

text: August 8 – Treaty of Meerssen: King Louis the German forces his half-brother Charles the Bald to accept a peace treaty, which partitions the Middle Frankish Kingdom into two larger east and west divisions. Louis receives most of Austrasia (which evolves into the Kingdom of Germany), and Charles receives territory in Lower Burgundy (which evolves into the Kingdom of France). However, large parts of the Frisian coast are under Viking control.

title: 870

text: January 4 – Battle of Reading: A West Saxon force, under the command of King Æthelred I and his brother Alfred, is defeated by the Danes at Reading. Among the many dead on both sides is Æthelwulf. The Saxon troops are forced to retreat, allowing the Vikings to continue their advance into Wessex.

title: 871

text: 18 July (traditional date) – Battle of Hafrsfjord: Norse chieftain Harald Fairhair wins a great naval victory at Hafrsfjord, outside Stavanger. He becomes (at age 18) the first king of Norway. Harald's conquests and taxation system lead many Viking chiefs and their followers to emigrate to the British Isles, and (later) to Iceland.

title: 872

text: The Danish Great Heathen Army, led by the Viking leaders Halfdan and Guthrum, attack Mercia and capture the royal centre at Repton (Derbyshire). The Vikings establish an encampment with a U-shape ditch, on the south bank of the River Trent and spend the winter there.

title: 873

text: The Danish Vikings (from their base at Repton) drive King Burgred of Mercia into exile, and sack Tamworth. They conquer his kingdom and install his political opponent, Ceolwulf II, as sub-king.

title: 874

text: Battle of Dollar: Invading Danish Vikings defeat the Scots and the Picts, under King Constantine I, at Dollar. They occupy Caithness, Sutherland, Ross and Moray, far to the north.

title: 875

text: The Great Heathen Army, led by Guthrum, captures the fortress of Wareham (Dorset), and is met by a Viking army (3,500 men) from the sea, which lands at Poole Harbour. King Alfred the Great traps the Vikings, and demands hostages in return for a peace agreement. The Danes divide their forces; half flees to Exeter, where they besiege the town while the other half escape in their ships, but are lost in a storm near Swanage.

title: 876

text: King Alfred the Great establishes a series of fortified villages (or burhs) to protect Wessex against Viking raids. He creates a standing army to defend the strategic ports, and builds a network of well-maintained army roads (known as herepaths).

title: 879

text: Battle of Thimeon: King Louis III ("the Younger") defeats Vikings (probably Norsemen) from England, near Charleroi, north of the River Sambre. During the battle 5,000 Vikings are killed.

title: 880

text: April 11 – Battle of Remich: A Frankish army under Bishop Wala of Metz is defeated by Vikings, who are on a raid, near Remich (modern Luxembourg). During the fighting Wala is killed.

title: 882

text: Spring – Viking raiders ravage Flanders, and sack the abbey at Saint-Quentin. King Carloman II blocks their passage at Laviers, which had been on the banks of the Somme. Meanwhile, Vikings enter the Rhine, but are turned back by Henry of Franconia (possibly a margrave of Saxony). They over-winter at Duisburg.

title: 883

text: Summer – King Carloman II reverts to the former fall-back of 'pay and pray', buying (with Danegeld) a truce at Amiens, while he raises 12,000 lbs of silver for the Vikings to depart.

title: 884

text: Eric Bloodaxe, Norwegian Viking ruler (d. 954)

title: 885

text: November 25 – Siege of Paris: Viking forces, under the Norse chieftains Sigfred and Sinric, sail up the River Seine for eastern France, with a fleet of 300 longships (10,000 men). They appear before Paris, and offer to spare the city if they are allowed free passage, by paying them tribute (Danegeld). Their request is denied.

title: 885

text: October – Siege of Paris: Count Odo slips through Viking-controlled territory, to ask the king of West Francia Charles the Fat for support. He returns with a relief force, and reaches safety within the walls. Charles arrives later with a large army, and establishes a camp at Montmartre. After negotiations he promises the Vikings tribute (Danegeld) worth 700 Livres (equivalent to 257kg of silver), and allows them to sail up the River Seine, to over-winter in Burgundy.

title: 886

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

title: AD 888

text: Kings Eochaid and Giric of Alba and Strathclyde (modern Scotland) are deposed by Viking invaders. They are succeeded by Donald II, the son of the late Constantine I, who becomes king of Scotland.

title: 889

text: Ohthere of Hålogaland, a Norse Viking seafarer, narrates the story of his travels to Alfred the Great, who arranges for it to be written down.

title: 890

text: Gorm the Old, Danish Viking king (approximate date)

title: 890

text: Autumn – A Viking force with a fleet of 250 longships arrives at the river mouth of the settlement of Lympne (East Kent). They attack the small fortification (called Eorpeburnan).

title: 892

text: Spring – Prince Edward, the son of King Alfred the Great, defeats the Danish Viking raiders at Farnham, and forces them to take refuge on Thorney Island. At the same time, Danes from East Anglia sail around the Cornish coast, and besiege Exeter.

title: 893

text: The Vikings in Northumbria and East Anglia swear allegiance and hand over hostages to King Alfred the Great, but promptly break their truce by attacking the southwest of England. A Viking force returns from Exeter and sails along the coast, in an attempt to plunder Chichester. They are defeated by the Saxon garrison, losing many ships and men.

title: 894

text: Autumn – King Alfred the Great blockades the Lea River and builds fortifications, trapping the Danish Vikings at Hertford. They abandon their longships and escape to Bridgnorth, located in the Severn Valley.

title: 895

text: Summer – King Alfred the Great orders the building of English warships (almost twice as long as the longships) on the Itchen at Southampton, against the Danish Viking raiders in Wessex.

title: 896

text: October 26 – King Alfred the Great dies after a 28-year reign in which he has forced invading Danish Vikings to withdraw, consolidated England around Wessex, divided parts of Mercia into shires, compiled the best laws of earlier kings, encouraged learning by bringing famous scholars to Wessex and made his own translations of Latin works. He is succeeded by his eldest son, Edward the Elder as king of Wessex.

title: 899

text: Fall – Æthelwold (a son of Æthelred I) rebels against his cousin, King Edward the Elder. He comes with a fleet to Essex, and encourages the Danish Vikings of East Anglia to rise up.

title: 901

text: December 13 – Battle of the Holme: The Anglo-Saxon army is defeated by the Danish Vikings under Æthelwold (a son of Æthelred I) at Holme. Æthelwold is killed, ending his revolt against King Edward the Elder.

title: 902

text: The Danish Vikings invade Anglesey after being driven out of Dublin (see 902). They fail to gain a foothold in Wales, and sail on to Chester.

title: 903

text: Norse settlers under the Viking warlord Ingimundr, revolt against the Mercians and try to capture the city of Chester. They are beaten off.

title: 905

text: Lady Æthelflæd of Mercia refortifies Chester against Viking attacks. King Edward the Elder founds Romsey Abbey (Hampshire).

title: 907

text: Edward the Elder despatches an Anglo-Saxon army to attack the Northumbrian Vikings, and ravages Scandinavian York.

title: 909

text: Gamle Eirikssen, Norwegian Viking ruler (d. 955)

title: 910

text: August 5 – Battle of Tettenhall: King Edward the Elder attacks the joint-Kings Eowils and Halfdan of Norse York. All three Viking monarchs are killed in battle (one chronicle mentions a third brother) and the Viking army is decisively defeated by allied forces of Mercia and Wessex. The co-Kings are succeeded by Ragnall ua Ímair.

title: 910

text: Autumn – King Charles III (the Simple) and Rollo, leader of the Vikings, sign a peace agreement (Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte). In return for his homage and conversion to Christianity, Rollo becomes a vassal and is made Count of Rouen; this is the beginning of the duchy of Normandy. He divides the lands between the rivers Epte and Risle among his chieftains, and prevents any other Vikings sailing up the Seine to attack the West Frankish Kingdom.

title: AD 911

text: Lady Æthelflæd expands her policy by building defensive burghs at Shrewsbury and Bridgnorth. The fortifications are needed to protect Mercia against plundering Vikings from the Danelaw (Danish territory in England).

title: 912

text: Vikings devastate the Welsh coast and move up the Severn River. They capture Bishop Cyfeilliog of Ergyng, and he is ransomed by King Edward the Elder. The Vikings are defeated by levies from Hereford and Gloucester.

title: 914

text: Battle of Confey: The Norse Vikings under Sigtrygg Caech defeat and kill King Augaire mac Ailella of Leinster in battle. Sigtrygg re-captures Dublin and establishes himself as king, while his kinsman Ragnall ua Ímair returns to England to become King of Northumbria.

title: 917

text: Battle of Corbridge: High-Reeve Ealdred I persuades King Constantine II of Scotland to help him reclaim his position in Bernicia. They mount an invasion of his now Norse controlled lands. The Vikings under Ragnall ua Ímair (or Rægnald) defeat the Scots and their allies at Corbridge (Northern Northumbria), but take heavy casualties themselves.

title: 918

text: Ottir (the Black), Norse Viking chieftain

title: 918

text: September 14 – Battle of Islandbridge: High King Niall Glúndub is killed while leading an Irish coalition against the Dublin-based Vikings of Uí Ímair, led by King Sitric Cáech.

title: 919

text: Henry I conquers Utrecht (modern-day Netherlands), which has been in possession of the Vikings for 70 years. Balderic, bishop of Utrecht, moves his seat back from Deventer to Utrecht (approximate date).

title: 920

text: July 12 – King Æthelstan of Wessex receives the submission of High-Reeve Ealdred I of Bamburgh and probably also of Owain ap Dyfnwal, King of Strathclyde, at Eamont Bridge. He also secures a pledge from King Constantine II of Scotland, that he will not ally with the Viking kings. This summer also Kings Hywel Dda of Deheubarth and Owain of Glywysing and Gwent submit to the overlordship of Æthelstan at Hereford. The borders between England and Wales are set at the River Wye.

title: 927

text: Rollo, duke of Normandy, dies at Rouen after an 11-year reign. He is the first leader of the Viking settlers to establish an independent dukedom (a vassal of the West Frankish Kingdom). His eldest son, William Longsword, becomes the second ruler of Normandy (approximate date).

title: 931

text: King Henry I ("the Fowler") pacifies the territories to the north, where the Danish Vikings have been harrying the Frisians by sea. He defeats the Danes petty King Gnupa, and conquers Hedeby.

title: 934

text: October 27 – King Æthelstan dies at Gloucester after a 15-year reign. He is buried at Malmesbury Abbey and succeeded by his half-brother, Edmund I ("the Magnificent"). After Æthelstan's death Olaf Guthfrithson (or his cousin, Anlaf Cuaran) a Viking leader who rules Dublin, is proclaimed king of York (south of Northumbria).

title: 939

text: Erik the Red, Norse Viking explorer (d. 1003)

title: 950

text: Eric I (Bloodaxe), Norwegian Viking king

title: 954

text: Battle of Fitjar – A Viking force under the sons of Eric Bloodaxe lands on Hordaland. King Haakon the Good defeats the rebelling force, but is killed. Harald Greycloak becomes ruler of the western part of Norway.

title: 961

text: Indulf, king of the Scots and Picts, dies after an 8-year reign. He is killed while fighting Vikings near Cullen, at the Battle of Bauds. Indulf is succeeded by his nephew Dub (Dub mac Maíl Coluim) as ruler of Scotland.

title: 962

text: Sigurd Haakonsson, Norse Viking nobleman

title: 962

text: Snorri Goði, Icelandic Viking chieftain (d. 1031)

title: 963

text: Battle of Sulcoit in Ireland: The Irish of the Dál gCais led by Brian Boru defeats the Viking forces of Limerick. After the battle the Dál gCais seize and burn the Viking stronghold of Limerick. Ending of Norse expansion in Ireland.

title: 968

text: Skagul Toste leads a Viking expedition to England and demands Danegeld.

title: 970

text: Leif Erikson, Norse Viking explorer (approximate date)

title: 970

text: Ivar of Limerick, Norse Viking king

title: 977

text: March 18 – King Edward the Martyr is murdered at Corfe Castle (Dorsetshire) upon the orders of his step-mother Ælfthryth (or Elfrida). He is succeeded by his half-brother Æthelred II (the Unready) who becomes king of England. During his reign Æthelred tries to keep his realm from being overrun by Danish Viking invaders.

title: 978

text: Viking raids from Scandinavia threaten the southern English coast after a pause of 25 years. Hampshire and the Isle of Thanet are ravaged.

title: 980

text: Gunnhild, Norwegian Viking queen (approximate date)

title: 980

text: Erik the Red leaves Norway, to survey west of Iceland in Viking longships, that carry nearly 700 people with cattle, horses, and other necessities for starting a colony on the island. Erik finds land and calls it Greenland.

title: 981

text: Torstein Knarresmed, Norse Viking warrior (approximate date)

title: 981

text: Erik the Red establishes the first Viking colonies in Greenland (see 981).

title: 982

text: King Harald Bluetooth rebels against the overlordship of Otto II. A Danish Viking army under his son Sweyn Forkbeard invades the March of Schleswig – along the northern border of modern Denmark. The Sorb Slavs in northern Germany overrun and conquer the March of Zeitz (Marca Geronis) from Saxon control.

title: 983

text: Ragnhild Eriksdotter, Norse Viking noblewoman

title: 984

text: Approximate date – Norse Viking settlers establish a mint in Dublin (Ireland), to produce silver pennies.

title: 992

title: 994

text: Bishop Aldhun consecrates a cathedral (later Durham Cathedral) at a site in England where the remains of St. Cuthbert had been moved to in AD 995 from Lindisfarne because of the danger of Viking raids.

title: AD 999

text: Battle of Pinhoe: Vikings defeat the Anglo-Saxons in Devon.

title: 1001

text: Vikings, led by Leif Erikson, establish small settlements in and around Vinland in North America (approximate date).

title: 1001

text: King Sweyn I (Forkbeard) lands with a Danish Viking fleet in East Anglia, ravaging the countryside. Northumbria surrenders to him (approximate date).

title: 1003

text: Summer – Danish Viking raiders under Sweyn Forkbeard continue to ravage the cities (mostly poorly defended) in southern England. A famine strikes Sweyn's army, which has to live off the land.

title: 1005

text: Summer–Autumn – Danish Viking raiders led by Sweyn Forkbeard raid south-eastern England from the Isle of Wight to Reading in the Thames Valley where they overwinter at the Wallingford river crossing.

title: 1006

text: King Æthelred the Unready pays the Danish Vikings a sum of 36,000 pounds of silver (Danegeld) to stop further invasions.

title: 1007

text: Danish Viking raiders led by Sweyn Forkbeard repeatedly attack southern England, destroying the land to avenge the St. Brice's Day massacre of 1002.

title: 1009

text: September 29 – Siege of Canterbury: Danish Viking raiders led by Thorkell the Tall pillage Canterbury after a siege, taking Ælfheah, archbishop of Canterbury, as a prisoner.

title: 1011

text: April – King Æthelred the Unready resumes the payment of Danegeld (48,000 pounds of silver) in an attempt to buy off Viking raiders.

title: 1012

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

title: 1013

text: 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: Sviatopolk I dies, and is succeeded by his brother Yaroslav I (the Wise). He becomes the Grand Prince of Kiev with the support of the Novgorodians and the help of Varangian (Viking) mercenaries. Yaroslav consolidates the Kievan state, through both cultural and administrative improvements, and military campaigns.

title: 1019

text: Einar Sigurdsson, Norse Viking nobleman

title: 1020

text: Vikings known to be residing L'Anse aux Meadows on Newfoundland (island).

title: 1021

text: Battle of Lemnos: Kievan Viking raiders (800 men) sail through the straits at Abydos to the Aegean Sea. From there they make for the island of Lemnos, but are defeated by a Byzantine fleet of the Cibyrrhaeot Theme.

title: 1024

text: Tora Torbergsdatter, Norwegian Viking queen

title: 1025

text: Haakon Ericsson, Norwegian Viking nobleman (approximate date)

title: 1029

text: July 29 – Torstein Knarresmed, Norwegian Viking warrior

title: 1030

text: Snorri Goði, Icelandic Viking warrior and chieftain (b. 963)

title: 1031

text: Hárek of Tjøtta, Norwegian Viking chieftain

title: 1036

title: 1048

text: Heregeld, commonly known as Danegeld, is abolished by Edward the Confessor. It has been collected for many years to provide funds for defending the country from Viking raiders.

title: 1051


slug: vilnius

label: Vilnius

description: capital and largest city of Lithuania

date: January 25

text: January 25 – Vilnius, now the capital of Lithuania is first mentioned as a city, when the second of the Letters of Grand Duke Gediminas of the Duchy of Lithuania are sent to German cities inviting German Jews and other Germans to resettle in the city of "Vilna".

title: 1323

section: Events › January – March

section: Culture & Society

text: Vilnius, Lithuania receives its coat-of-arms, granted to the city in the seventh year of its existence.

title: 1330

section: Events › January–December

date: March 12

text: March 12 – Pope Urban VI issues a papal bull permitting the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius, to establish a cathedral, acknowledging that pagan objects have been discarded and that Christianity has come to the Baltic nation.

title: 1388

section: Events › January–March

section: Conflict & Security

date: September 11

text: September 11 – Lithuanian Civil War: The coalition of Vytautas and the Teutonic Knights begins a 5-week siege of Vilnius. The Duke of Hereford (the future King Henry IV of England) is among the western European knights serving with the coalition.

title: 1390

section: Events › July–September

date: September 30

text: September 30 – A delegation from Poland, led by the Bishop of Kraków, Cardinal Zbigniew Oleśnicki, arrives in Vilnius and brings a message Grand Duke Sigismund that King Władysław II Jagiełło of Poland recognizes Sigismund as Lithuania's ruler, for life.

title: 1432

text: Sheikh Ahmed, the final leader of the Great Horde, is last heard of as a Lithuanian prisoner at Vilnius until 1527 when he was released, after which he came to rule over the Astrakhan Khanate.

title: 1504

section: Events › Date unknown

date: July 31

text: July 31 – Russo-Polish War (1654–67): The Russian army enters the capital of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Vilnius, which it holds for 6 years.

title: 1655

date: March 29

text: March 29 – Acting in his capacity of Grand Duke of Lithuania, Poland's King Stanisław August Poniatowski issues a proclamation allowing Jews in the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius to live anywhere except for two public streets, the Pilies street and the Galves Street.

title: 1742

section: Disasters & Accidents

date: December 5

text: December 5 – A fire at a factory in the Russian city of Vilana (modern-day Vilnius in Lithuania) kills 15 women and girls, most of whom die after jumping from the windows.

title: 1898

section: Events › December

date: July

text: A German SS unit arrives in Vilnius, Lithuania, and begins the Ponary massacre, the systematic execution of up to 100,000 people over the next three years.

title: 1941

section: Events › July

date: January 1

text: January 1 – Asunción, the capital of Paraguay, becomes the American Capital of Culture and Vilnius and Linz become the European Capitals of Culture.

title: 2009

section: Events › January


slug: virginia

label: Virginia

description: state of the United States of America

section: Exploration & Expansion

date: June 4

text: June 4 – Walter Raleigh sends Philip Amadas and Arthur Barlowe to explore the Outer Banks of Virginia (modern-day North Carolina), with a view to establishing an English colony; they locate Roanoke Island.

title: 1584

section: Events › April–June

date: August 2

text: August 2 – Jamestown's Deputy Governor Sir Thomas Gates returns to Virginia with 280 people, provisions and cattle on six ships and assumes control, ruling that the fort must be strengthened.

title: 1611

section: Economy & Finance

text: With small profits to show, the Virginia Company decides to distribute land in Virginia to shareholders according to the number of shares owned. Each stockholder can set up a "particular" plantation and pay associated expenses, receiving 100 acre km2 of land for each share and 50 acre m2 for each person transported (the "headrights" system).

title: 1616

section: Events › November-December

date: December 4

text: December 4 – Thirty-eight colonists from England disembark in Berkeley Hundred, Virginia from the Margaret of Bristol and have a day of celebration to give thanks to God, in what is considered by some historians to be the first Thanksgiving in the Americas.

title: 1619

section: Events › October–December

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

text: "A Dutch Ship, putting in this Year [of 1620, before June], sold 20 Negroes to the Colony [as slaves], which were the first of that Generation, that were ever brought to Virginia."

title: 1620

date: June 14

text: June 14 – The first breach-of-promise lawsuit: Rev. Gerville Pooley, in Virginia, files against Cicely Jordan, but loses.

title: 1623

section: Health & Medicine

date: March 5

text: March 5 – The first American temperance law is enacted, in Virginia.

title: 1623

date: September 24

text: September 24 – The first ship of de Sauce's emigrants arrive at Southampton Hundred, on the James River in Virginia.

title: 1630

date: May 29

text: May 29 – The Treaty of Middle Plantation establishes peace between the Virginia colonists and the local Indians.

title: 1677

text: About 1,200 Irish families sail from Barbados to Virginia and the Carolinas.

title: 1678

date: November 22

text: November 22 – Citing violations of the amnesty agreement with Blackbeard, Virginia Governor Alexander Spotswood sends a Royal Navy contingent to North Carolina, where they battle Blackbeard and his crew in Ocracoke Inlet. Blackbeard is killed in action, after receiving five musketball wounds and twenty sword lacerations.

title: 1718

section: Events › October –December

text: July 31 – At a summit in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, the British colonies of Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania conclude a treaty with the Six Nations, conceding that the member tribes are entitled to the territory west of the Appalachian mountains and north of the Ohio River.

title: 1743

date: October 31

text: October 31 – Virginia Lieutenant Governor Dinwiddie commissions 21-year-old militia Major George Washington to dissuade the French from occupying the Ohio Country.

title: 1753

date: October 10

text: October 10 – Dunmore's War – Battle of Point Pleasant: Cornstalk is forced to make peace with Dunmore at the Treaty of Camp Charlotte, ceding Shawnee land claims south of the Ohio (modern Kentucky) to Virginia.

title: 1774

text: December 5 – The Phi Beta Kappa society is founded at the College of William & Mary in Virginia.

title: 1776

section: Events › November–December

date: December 6

text: December 6 – The General Assembly of Virginia votes to create Kentucky County as the portion of the colony's Fincastle County that is located west of the Cumberland Mountains.

title: 1776

date: June 7

text: June 7 – American Revolution: Lee Resolution – Richard Henry Lee of Virginia proposes to the Second Continental Congress (meeting in Philadelphia) that "these united colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent states."

title: 1776

section: Events › May–June

section: Science & Discovery

date: June 24

text: June 24 – A total solar eclipse takes place across parts of North America, from Texas to Virginia.

title: 1778

date: January 2

text: January 2 – Virginia passes a law ceding its western land claims, paving the way for Maryland to ratify the Articles of Confederation.

title: 1781

date: September 7

text: September 7 – The portion of the District of Columbia in the United States that was ceded by Virginia in 1790 is re-ceded to Virginia.

title: 1846

date: August 1

text: August 1 – Virginia closes its Reform Constitutional Convention, deciding that all white men have the right to vote.

title: 1851

date: November 2

text: November 2 – 1852 United States presidential election: Democrat Franklin Pierce of New Hampshire defeats Whig Winfield Scott of Virginia.

title: 1852

date: October 16

text: October 16 – John Brown raids the Harpers Ferry Armory in Harper's Ferry, Virginia, in an unsuccessful bid to spark a general slave rebellion.

title: 1859

date: December

text: U.S. President Abraham Lincoln signs an act that admits West Virginia to the Union, thus dividing Virginia into two.

title: 1862

date: March 8

text: March 8 – Ironclad (formerly USS Merrimack) is launched at Hampton Roads, Virginia; the Battle of Hampton Roads starts the same day.

title: 1862

section: Events › March

date: April 26

text: April 26 – Union cavalry corner John Wilkes Booth in a Virginia barn, and cavalryman Boston Corbett fatally shoots the assassin.

title: 1865

section: Events › April

date: March 25

text: March 25 – American Civil War: In Virginia, Confederate forces capture Fort Stedman from the Union, although it is retaken the same day. Lee's army suffers heavy casualties: about 2,900, including 1,000 captured in the Union counterattack. Confederate positions are weakened. After the battle, Lee's defeat is only a matter of time.

title: 1865

date: January 26

text: January 26 – Reconstruction Era (United States): Virginia rejoins the Union. This year it adopts a new Constitution, drawn up by John Curtiss Underwood, expanding suffrage to all male citizens over 21, including freedmen.

title: 1870

date: October 23

text: October 23 – The Kappa Delta sorority is founded in Farmville, Virginia.

title: 1897

section: Events › October

date: September 17

text: September 17 – At Fort Myer, Virginia, Thomas Selfridge becomes the first person to die in an airplane crash. The pilot, Orville Wright, is severely injured in the crash but recovers.

title: 1908

section: Events › September


slug: visigothic-kingdom

label: Visigothic Kingdom

description: Period of Germanic rule on the Iberian Peninsula (418–720) as a successor state to the Western Roman Empire.

section: Conflict & Security

text: King Ataulf leads the Goths into Gaul at the instigation of Honorius, who promises to recognise a Visigothic Kingdom if he defeats the several usurpers who threaten the Roman Empire.

title: AD 411

section: Events › By place › Roman Empire

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

title: 418

text: Thorismund succeeds his father Theodoric I as king of the Visigoths. He is crowned in the capital at Toulouse, and extends the Visigothic Kingdom in Hispania.

title: 451

section: Events › By place › Europe

section: Crime & Justice

text: King Theodoric II is killed by his younger brother Euric, who succeeds him on the throne. He conquers Hispania and the harbor city of Marseille (Southern Gaul), adding them to the existing Visigothic Kingdom.

title: 466

section: Births

text: Amalaric, king of the Visigoths (d. 531)

title: AD 502

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

title: 507

text: Ostrogothic King Theodoric the Great assumes the regency over Amalaric, his grandson and future king of the Visigothic Kingdom - Theodoric now rules over territory stretching from the Atlantic Ocean to the Adriatic Sea.

title: 511

text: Toledo becomes the capital of the Visigothic Kingdom that controls the Iberian Peninsula. King Theudis expands Visigoth rule in the southern regions (Hispania Baetica).

title: 534

text: Theudigisel, Visigothic general, proclaims himself ruler over the Visigothic Kingdom, after King Theudis is assassinated.

title: 548

section: Deaths

text: The Visigoths under King Liuvigild invade the Byzantine province of Spania (modern Andalusia), and seize the city of Córdoba. After the death of his brother Liuva I, he becomes sole ruler of the Visigothic Kingdom (approximate date).

title: 571

text: The Visigoths under King Liuvigild invade Cantabria (Northern Spain), and destroy the city of Amaya (Burgos). He massacres the inhabitants and adds the province to the Visigothic Kingdom.

title: 574

text: The Visigoths under King Liuvigild invade the Suebian Kingdom (Northern Spain). Intermarriage between Goths and non-Goths is allowed in the Visigothic Kingdom (approximate date).

title: 575

section: Religion & Belief

text: King Liuvigild calls for an Arian synod in Toledo (central Spain), which modifies several doctrines; he tries to unify the Christians within the Visigothic Kingdom.

title: 580

text: The filioque clause is first used in the Nicene Creed, against the Arians in Visigothic Spain (approximate date).

title: 587

section: Events › By topic › Religion

text: King Sisebut orders in the Council of Toledo that Jews are to convert to Christianity. Children are taken from their parents and put in monasteries, where they learn the teaching of evangelism in the Visigothic Kingdom.

title: 616

text: King Sisebut dies after a 9-year reign and is succeeded by his son Reccared II (just a child). Reccared is placed on the throne by the Visigothic nobility, but dies after two months. Suintila, his half-uncle and regent, becomes king of the Visigothic Kingdom.

title: 621

text: King Suintila is overthrown after a 10-year reign by his son Sisenand, with the aid of Dagobert I. The Visigothic nobles offer him a 500-pound plate made of pure gold. Sisenand becomes new king of the Visigothic Kingdom and declares his father a tyrant for his many crimes.

title: 631

text: Introduction of elective monarchy in The Visigothic Kingdom.

title: 633

section: Events › By place › Spain

date: June 30

text: June 30 – Fifth Council of Toledo: Chintila orders a meeting in the church of St. Leocadia; the bishops accept a decree that only Gothic nobility (with military functions) may be king of the Visigothic Kingdom.

title: 636

text: King Chintila dies of natural causes after a 3-year reign, in which he permitted the bishops wide authority in Hispania, Septimania and Galicia. He is succeeded by his son Tulga, who becomes ruler of the Visigothic Kingdom (approximate date).

title: 640

date: January

text: January – Chindasuinth, at the urging of bishop Braulio of Zaragoza, confirms his son Recceswinth as co-ruler of the Visigothic Kingdom.

title: 649

text: King Wamba is deposed after an 8-year reign, and forced to retire to a monastery. He is succeeded by Erwig who becomes ruler of the Visigothic Kingdom.

title: 680

text: King Erwig dies after a 7-year reign, and is succeeded by his son-in-law Ergica as ruler of the Visigothic Kingdom.

title: 687

text: Roderick becomes king of the Visigoths, but the Visigothic nobles in Septimania rebel, and proclaim the previous ruler's son Akhila king. The Visigothic Kingdom is divided into two sub-kingdoms, suffering the first Muslim raid expedition against the southern Iberian Peninsula.

title: 710

date: April 27

text: April 27 – Umayyad conquest of Hispania: Muslim troops (7,000 men) led by Tariq ibn Ziyad land at Gibraltar, and begin their invasion of the Iberian Peninsula (now Spain and Portugal). Tariq begins his Islamic conquest of the Visigothic Kingdom, which during the decade he occupies and brings under Umayyad sovereignty.

title: AD 711

section: Events › By place › Arabian Empire

text: Umayyad conquest of Hispania: The Visigothic Kingdom is finally defeated at the Battle of Segoyuela (Castile and León). Prince Theudimer signs the Treaty of Orihuela with Abd al-Aziz, governor of Al-Andalus, and is permitted to retain his authority in the area subsequently known as Tudmir. He keeps the citadel of Orihuela and several other settlements, including Alicante and Lorca on the Mediterranean Sea.

title: 713

text: Umayyad conquest of Gaul (first major Muslim attack upon Visigothic Septimania, in southern France): Governor Al-Samh takes or re-takes Narbonne (Arbouna for the Arabs), before raiding the Toulouse area. Many town defenders and inhabitants are killed in the aftermath by the Umayyad forces.

title: 719

text: Umayyad conquest of Gaul: Governor Al-Samh continues his campaign; he makes Narbonne the capital city of Muslim Septimania (Southern France), and uses it as a base for razzias. King Ardo is killed, and becomes the last ruler of the Visigothic Kingdom of Hispania. Some Visigoths refuse to adopt the Muslim faith, and flee north to Aquitaine. This marks the end of the Visigothic Kingdom.

title: 720


slug: visigoths

label: Visigoths

description: Germanic people of late antiquity and the early Middle Ages

text: The Goths separate into the Ostrogoths and the Visigoths.

title: 257

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

text: The Visigoths first appear as distinct people.

title: 268

date: July 3

text: July 3 – Battle of Adrianople: Emperor Constantine the Great defeats his rival Licinius near Adrianople, forcing him to retreat to Byzantium. Constantine then invades Thrace with a Visigothic force and raids the countryside.

title: 324

section: Events › Roman Empire

text: The Visigoths are converted to Arianism by Wulfila.

title: 346

text: The Huns invade the Pontic steppes by the thousands, spreading terror as they take over territories held for generations by Alans, Heruls, Ostrogoths and Visigoths.

title: AD 360

section: Technology & Infrastructure

text: Valens builds a pontoon bridge across the Danube, and drives the Visigoths further north, where they will come under pressure from the advancing Huns.

title: 366

text: Fritigern becomes king of the Visigoths; amidst hostilities with his rival Athanaric, he asks Valens and the Thracian field army to intervene. They end the civil war, and Fritigern converts to Christianity.

title: 369

text: Alaric I (or Alaricus), king of the Visigoths (d. 410)

title: 370

text: Gothic War: Emperor Valens permits the Visigothic chieftain Fritigern and his people to cross the Danube from Thrace (later Romania), and settle on Roman soil in Lower Moesia, on the condition that they provide soldiers to the legions. The Visigoths embark by troops on boats and rafts, and canoes made from hollowed tree trunks. The river is swollen by frequent rains; a large number try to swim and are drowned in their struggle against the force of the stream.

title: 376

date: January 19

text: January 19 – Emperor Gratian elevates Flavius Theodosius at Sirmium, giving him the title Augustus with power over all the eastern provinces. Theodosius comes to terms with the Visigoths and settles them in the Balkans as military allies (foederati).

title: 379

text: Fritigern, king of the Visigoths

title: 380

section: Deaths › Date unknown

text: The Visigothic chieftain Fritigern dies after ravaging the Balkans; his rival Athanaric becomes king of the entire Gothic nation.

title: 380

text: The Visigothic chieftain Athanaric becomes the first foreign king to visit the Eastern Roman capital of Constantinople. He negotiates a peace treaty with emperor Theodosius I that makes his people foederati as "one body within the imperial soldiery". Athanaric dies 2 weeks later after an 18-year reign in which he has been undisputed king of all the Goths for just 1 year. The peace will continue until Theodosius's death in 395.

title: 381

text: Athanaric, king of the Visigoths

title: 381

date: October 3

text: October 3 – Emperor Theodosius I commands his general Saturninus to conclude a peace treaty with the Visigoths, allowing them to settle south of the Danube. They are installed as foederati in Moesia and Thrace with the title of "Allies of the Roman People", in exchange for furnishing a contingent of auxiliary troops to defend the borders.

title: 382

text: The Visigoths and Huns, led by Alaric, invade Thrace. Stilicho, high-ranking general (magister militum) of Vandal origin, raises an army and begins a campaign against the Goths.

title: 390

text: Stilicho, Roman general (magister militum), defeats the Visigoths and Huns in Thrace. Emperor Theodosius I permits Alaric to go free on condition he provides, as foederati, military services to the Roman Empire.

title: 392

date: September 6

text: September 6 – Battle of the Frigidus: Emperor Theodosius I defeats and kills the usurper Eugenius. The forces of Theodosius are bolstered by numerous auxiliaries, including 20,000 Visigoth federates under Alaric. The Frankish general Arbogast (magister militum) escapes into the Alps and commits suicide.

title: 394

text: Alaric, Visigothic leader of the foederati, renounces Roman fealty and is declared king, waging war against both parts of the Roman Empire, and ending a 16-year period of peace.

title: 395

text: Revolt of Alaric I: The Visigoths, led by Alaric I, rampage through Greece and plunder Corinth, Argos and Sparta. They destroy the Temple of Eleusis, and harry the Peloponnese. Stilicho makes peace with the Goths, and allows them to settle in Epirus (Balkans).

title: 396

text: Revolt of Alaric I: Stilicho traps the Visigoths under King Alaric in the Peloponnese, but decides to abandon the campaign against the Visigoths in Greece, thus allowing King Alaric to escape north to Epirus with his loot. Presumably, Stilicho has left Greece in order to prepare for military action in northern Africa, where a rebellion (see Gildonic Revolt in 398) seems imminent.

title: 397

date: November 18

text: November 18 – The Visigoths, led by king Alaric I, cross the Alps and invade northern Italy.

title: 401

text: The Visigoths advance on Mediolanum (modern Milan) and besiege Asti in Liguria. King Alaric I sends envoys to negotiate a peace, but the Roman government refuses to make deals with "barbarians."

title: 402

date: June

text: June – Battle of Verona: The Visigoths, under command of King Alaric I, invade Italy again, and advance through the Brenner Pass. Stilicho, with an army of 30,000 men, defeats the Goths north of Verona. Alaric makes a truce, and withdraws eastward to Illyricum.

title: 403

text: Flavius Aetius is sent as a child hostage at the court of Alaric I, king of the Visigoths.

title: 405

date: September

text: September – Rex Alaric I of the Visigoths crosses the Julian Alps with an army of 30,000 men, and marches into the Roman heartland. He lays siege to Rome, and Gothic auxiliaries desert to join Alaric's forces. After much bargaining, the Senate agrees to pay him a ransom of 5,000 pounds of gold, 30,000 pounds of silver, 4,000 silken tunics, and 3,000 hides dyed scarlet.

title: 408

text: The Visigothic king Alaric I lays siege to Rome a second time, bringing the inhabitants close to starvation. Emperor Honorius, safe in inaccessible Ravenna, refuses to negotiate for peace, despite repeated offers from Alaric, who then comes to terms with the Senate and sets up a rival emperor, Priscus Attalus, prefect (praefectus urbi) of the city.

title: 409

text: Alaric I, king of the Visigoths

title: 410

text: The Visigoths, led by King Ataulf, move into the south of Gaul. He establishes his residence at Narbonne, and makes an alliance with Emperor Honorius, against the usurper Jovinus.

title: 412

date: May 8

text: May 8 – Honorius signs an edict providing tax relief for the Italian provinces Tuscia, Campania, Picenum, Samnium, Apulia, Lucania and Calabria, which were plundered by the Visigoths.

title: 413

section: Culture & Society

date: January 1

text: January 1 – Galla Placidia, half-sister of emperor Honorius, is married to the Visigothic king Ataulf at Narbonne. The wedding is celebrated with Roman festivities and magnificent gifts from the Gothic booty.

title: 414

text: Constantius, Roman general (magister militum), drives the Visigoths out of Gaul. He captures the usurper Priscus Attalus, and sends him under military escort to Ravenna.

title: 415

date: August 15

text: August 15 – Athaulf, king of the Visigoths, assassinated

title: 415

text: The Visigoths continue their invasion of Hispania, and take control of Tarraconensis. King Wallia occupies the gold mines at Las Médulas, and forces Jewish citizens to convert to Christianity.

title: 416

text: The Visigoths are granted Aquitaine, and become allies (foederati) of the Western Roman Empire. King Wallia establishes his capital at Toulouse.

title: 417

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

title: 418

text: Euric, king of the Visigoths (d. 484)

title: AD 420

text: Flavius Aetius gains appointment as master of both services (magister militum praesentalis), after gaining victories in Gaul over Visigoth and Frankish forces.

title: 428

text: In the Gothic War (436-439) besieges king Theodoric I the city of Narbonne; the Visigoths obtain access to the Mediterranean Sea and the roads to the Pyrenees.

title: 436

text: Flavius Aetius, Roman general (magister militum) beats Tibatto and ends temporary the uprising of the Baguads. Then he secures the besieged city of Narbonne (Southern Gaul) against King Theodoric I. He concludes a peace treaty with the Visigoths, and becomes consul for the second time.

title: 437

text: In the Gothic War (436-439) besieges Flavius Aetius over the Visigoths in the Battle of Mons Colubrarius.

title: 438

text: Gothic War (436-439): Litorius, Roman general (Magister militum per Gallias), lays siege to Toulouse. During the decisive battle before the walls he suffers a severe defeat and is killed, and only the heavy loss of Visigoths makes King Theodoric I decide to agree to a provisional restoration of the status quo.

title: 439

text: Flavius Aetius, Roman general (magister militum), returns as triumphator back to Rome, after several years' fighting the Burgundians and Visigoths in Gaul. He is honoured by a statue erected by the Senate, and by order of Emperor Valentinian III.

title: 440

text: Euric, Visigothic king and son of Theodoric I (d. 484)

title: 440

text: Rechiar succeeds his father Rechila as king of the Suebi in Galicia (Northern Spain). He marries a daughter of the Visigoth king Theodoric I and converts to Catholicism.

title: 448

text: Theodoric I, king of the Visigoths

title: 451

text: June – Attila approaches Aurelianum (modern Orléans) and the city's inhabitants close the gates, forcing him to lay siege. After learning of the Hun invasion, Flavius Aetius (magister militum) moves quickly from Italy into Gaul, and joins forces with Visigoth king Theodoric I.

title: 451

text: Theodoric II succeeds his brother Thorismund as king of the Visigoths, Thorismund having been murdered after he violated the alliance with the Western Roman Empire.

title: 453

text: Thorismund, king of the Visigoths, assassinated

title: 453

text: September 21 – Emperor Valentinian III stabs his commander-in-chief Flavius Aetius to death, during a meeting of the imperial council at Ravenna. He has accused Aetius of plotting against him to seize power. After his assassination, the Western Roman Empire has no effective defender against its hostile barbarian neighbors (Alans, Franks, Ostrogoths, Vandals and Visigoths).

title: 454

text: Maximus appoints Avitus, most trusted general, to the rank of magister militum and sends him on an embassy to Toulouse, to gain the support of the Visigoths. He elevates his son Palladius to Caesar and has him marry Eudocia, eldest daughter of Valentinian III.

title: 455

text: October 5 – The Visigoths under King Theodoric II, acting on orders of Avitus, invade Spain with an army of Burgundians, Franks and Goths, led by their kings Chilperic I and Gondioc. They defeat the Suebi under King Rechiar on the Urbicus River, near Astorga (Gallaecia); this shatters the power of the Suebi.

title: 456

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

title: 458

text: The Visigoths under king Theodoric II recapture Septimania (Southern Gaul) after the assassination of Majorian, and invade Hispania again.

title: 461

text: In the Gothic war against Aegidius, Childeric I, king of the Salian Franks, allies with the Roman general Aegidius. This war is ended by the battle near Orléans, where the Visigoths under King Theodoric II are defeated by the Franks, while crossing the Loire River.

title: 463

text: King Remismund establishes a policy of friendship with the Visigoths, and promotes the conversion of the Suebi into Arianism in Galicia (Northern Spain).

title: 465

text: Theodoric II, king of the Visigoths

title: 466

text: Revolt of Euric: Roman forces under Paulus and Childeric I stop the Aquitanian Goths at Bourges and briefly recaptured Tours in 470. All the loot they had stolen fell into the hands of Paul.

title: 470

text: Revolt of Euric: The Aquitanian Goths under Euric defeat a Roman army that was sent by Emperor Anthemius near Arles and conquer a large part of the Provence (Southern Gaul). The city of Clermont-Ferrand in Auvergne is besieged.

title: 471

text: King Euric orders the invasion of Italy, but is defeated by Glycerius. The Visigoths withdraw to Gaul, and conquer the cities of Arles and Marseille.

title: 473

text: Summer – Emperor Julius Nepos grants the Visigoth King Euric legal tenure of his conquests, which include Provence (region of Gaul), in exchange for full independence.

title: 475

text: Spring - Spanish War of Euric: The comes Hispaniarum Vincentius capitulates against the Aquitanian Goths; Euric completes his conquest of Spain.

title: 475

text: The Visigoths under King Euric march into Italy, and suffer defeat against the forces of Odoacer. Emperor Zeno concludes a peace treaty between the Goths and Odoacer surrenders the newly conquered territory in Gaul. Euric pledges himself to undertake no further hostilities.

title: 476

text: The Visigoths under King Euric extend their rule from the Loire to Gibraltar (approximate date).

title: 480

text: Eutharic, Visigothic prince (approximate date)

title: 480

text: December 28 – The Visigoth king Euric dies and is succeeded by his son Alaric II. Euric has built a rampart to protect the city of Carcassonne southeast of Toulouse, on a bend of the Aude River.

title: 484

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

text: King Alaric II supports Theodoric in his conquest of Italy, by dispatching a Visigoth army to raise Odoacer's siege of Pavia.

title: 490

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: February 2 – King Alaric II issues the "Lex Romana Visigothorum" or Breviary of Alaric, an abstract of Roman laws and imperial decrees, compiled by a commission appointed to provide a law code for Alaric's Roman subjects. The "Lex Romana" will be the standard for justice in the Visigothic realm.

title: 506

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

title: 507

text: Alaric II, king of the Visigoths

title: 507

text: King Theodoric the Great sends an Ostrogoth army, led by his sword-bearer Theudis, drives the Franks out of Provence, and recovers Septimania (Languedoc) from the Visigoths.

title: 508

text: Gesalic, king of the Visigoths

title: 511

text: Gesalec, king of the Visigoths (approximate date)

title: 513

text: Amalaric, age 20, is proclaimed king of the Visigoths. His kingdom is threatened from the north by the Burgundians.

title: 522

text: Liuvigild, king of the Visigoths (d. 586)

title: 525

text: Amalaric, age 24, becomes king of the Visigoths, and assumes full royal power.

title: 526

text: Childebert I defeats the Visigoths and conquers the capital Narbonne. Amalaric flees south to Barcelona, where he is assassinated by his own men.

title: 531

text: Amalaric, king of the Visigoths (assassinated)

title: 531

text: Toledo becomes the capital of the Visigothic Kingdom that controls the Iberian Peninsula. King Theudis expands Visigoth rule in the southern regions (Hispania Baetica).

title: 534

text: Theudigisel, Visigothic general, proclaims himself ruler over the Visigothic Kingdom, after King Theudis is assassinated.

title: 548

text: Theudis, king of the Visigoths

title: 548

text: Agila I succeeds Theudigisel as king of the Visigoths, after he is murdered by a group of conspirators during a banquet in Seville.

title: 549

text: Theudigisel, king of the Visigoths (assassinated)

title: 549

text: Athanagild revolts against the Visigothic king Agila. Their armies meet at Seville (Andalusia), and Agila is defeated.

title: 551

text: Athanagild is crowned as king of the Visigoths and succeeds Agila I. He acknowledges the suzerainty of the Byzantine Empire.

title: 554

text: March - Agila I, king of the Visigoths

title: 554

text: Reccared I, king of the Visigoths (d. 601)

title: 559

text: Chindasuinth, king of the Visigoths (d. 653)

title: 563

text: Sisebut, king of the Visigoths (approximate date)

title: 565

text: Liuva I succeeds his predecessor Athanagild, after an interregnum of five months, and becomes king of the Visigoths.

title: 567

text: Athanagild, king of the Visigoths

title: 567

text: Liuvigild is declared co-king and heir after the second year of the reign of his brother Liuva I. He becomes ruler over the Visigoths in Hispania Citerior (Eastern Spain).

title: 568

text: Ingund, princess, spouse of Visigoth prince Hermenegild (d. 584)

title: 568

text: The Visigoths under King Liuvigild invade the Byzantine province of Spania (modern Andalusia), and seize the city of Córdoba. After the death of his brother Liuva I, he becomes sole ruler of the Visigothic Kingdom (approximate date).

title: 571

text: Liuva I, king of the Visigoths (or 572)

title: 571

text: Liuva I, king of the Visigoths (or 571)

title: 572

text: The Visigoths under King Liuvigild invade Cantabria (Northern Spain), and destroy the city of Amaya (Burgos). He massacres the inhabitants and adds the province to the Visigothic Kingdom.

title: 574

text: The Visigoths under King Liuvigild invade the Suebian Kingdom (Northern Spain). Intermarriage between Goths and non-Goths is allowed in the Visigothic Kingdom (approximate date).

title: 575

text: The Visigoths under King Liuvigild establish the capital of their kingdom in Toledo, located in central Spain (approximate date).

title: 576

text: Hermenegild, son of Visigothic king Liuvigild, marries Ingund. He rebels against his father, starting in Seville (Southern Spain), and declares himself Catholic.

title: 579

text: The Visigoths under King Liuvigild capture the city of Mérida (western central Spain), which is under the political control of its popular bishop Masona. He is arrested and exiled for 3 years.

title: 582

text: Liuva II, king of the Visigoths (d. 603)

title: 583

text: The Visigoths under King Liuvigild capture the city of Seville, after a siege of nearly 2 years. His rebellious son Hermenegild seeks refuge in a church at Córdoba, but is arrested and banished to Tarragona. His wife Inguld flees with her son to Africa.

title: 584

text: Ingund, wife of Visigoth prince Hermenegild

title: 584

text: The Visigoths under King Liuvigild devastate the Suevic Kingdom in Gallaecia (northwest Spain).

title: 585

text: April 13 – Hermenegild, Visigothic prince (or 586)

title: 585

text: April 21 – Liuvigild, king of the Visigoths

title: 586

text: King Reccared I renounces Arianism and adopts Catholicism. Many Visigothic nobles follow his example, but in Septimania (Southern Gaul) there are Arian uprisings.

title: 587

text: Suintila, king of the Visigoths (approximate date)

title: 588

text: The Third Council of Toledo, called by King Reccared I of the Visigoths, renounces Arianism and embraces Catholicism.

title: 589

text: Liuva II, age 18, succeeds his father Reccared I as king of the Visigoths. Reccared dies a natural death at the capital in Toledo after a 15-year reign.

title: 601

text: Reccared I, king of the Visigoths (b. 559)

title: 601

text: Spring – Witteric is appointed commander-in-chief of the Visigoth army, and receives orders from King Liuva II to expel the Byzantines from Hispania.

title: 602

text: Spring – Witteric, counting on the support of the nobles, attacks the royal palace in Toledo, and overthrows King Liuva II. He cuts off his right hand, and has him executed. Witteric becomes the new king of the Visigoths.

title: 603

text: Liuva II, king of the Visigoths (b. 583)

title: 603

text: Sisenand, king of the Visigoths (approximate date)

title: 605

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

title: 607

text: King Witteric is assassinated during a banquet at Toledo, by a faction of Catholic nobles. He is succeeded by Gundemar, duke of Narbonne, who becomes king of the Visigoths in Hispania.

title: 610

text: Ergica, king of the Visigoths (approximate date)

title: 610

text: Sisebut succeeds Gundemar as king of the Visigoths. He begins a campaign against the remains of Byzantine power in Spania.

title: 612

text: c. February–March – Gundemar, king of the Visigoths

title: 612

text: The city of Málaga, in southern Spain in the province of Spania, is conquered by the Visigoths.

title: 621

text: Reccared II, king of the Visigoths

title: 621

title: 621

text: The Visigoths under King Suintila recapture the Byzantine territories of Spania (Andalusia), after 70 years of occupation. Only the Balearic Islands stay a part of the Byzantine Empire.

title: 624

title: 631

title: 633

text: December 5 – Fourth Council of Toledo: King Sisenand orders a meeting in the church of St. Leocadia; the bishops accept a decree that all Visigoths must take an oath to preserve the stability of the Gothic nation.

title: 633

text: Chintila is elected by a convention of bishops and nobles (in accordance with the 75th canon of the Fourth Council of Toledo) as ruler of the Visigoths, after the death of King Sisenand.

title: 636

text: Sisenand, king of the Visigoths

title: 636

text: Chintila, king of the Visigoths (approximate date)

title: 640

text: April 30 – Chindasuinth, a Gothic warlord (already 79 years old), commences a rebellion and deposes King Tulga in Toledo, Spain. He is proclaimed king by the Visigothic nobility and anointed by the bishops. Tulga is tonsured and sent out to live his days in a monastery.

title: 642

text: Chindasuinth, king of the Visigoths

title: 653

text: King Recceswinth draws up the Liber Judiciorum at Toledo, a Visigothic code based on Roman law, that establishes equality between Goths and Hispano-Romans without regard to racial or cultural differences.

title: 654

text: Wamba succeeds Recceswinth as king of the Visigoths. After ascending to the throne he faces a revolt from Hilderic, governor of Nîmes, who has himself aspired to the kingship. He is supported by Gumild, bishop of Maguelone. Wamba sends dux Paulus to Septimania (Southern France) to end the hostilities, but on his arrival at Narbonne, Paulus proclaims himself king.

title: 672

text: Recceswinth, king of the Visigoths

title: 672

text: September 3 – King Wamba of the Visigoths puts down the revolt by Hilderic, governor of Nîmes and rival for the throne. He captures the rebel leaders, who are brought to trial and, for their crimes, scalped and imprisoned for life.

title: 673

text: January 9 – Twelfth Council of Toledo: King Erwig of the Visigoths initiates a council, in which he implements diverse measures against the Jews. Laws against violence to slaves are suppressed.

title: 681

text: King Erwig of the Visigoths continues oppression of the Jews in Spain. He makes it illegal to practice any Jewish rites (brit milah), and presses for the conversion or emigration of the remaining Jews.

title: 682

text: Wittiza, king of the Visigoths (approximate date)

title: 687

text: Sisebert, archbishop of Toledo, leads a rebellion against King Ergica of the Visigoths. He plans to assassinate Ergica and his wife Liuvigoto but fails, and is defrocked and excommunicated.

title: 693

text: November 9 – King Ergica of the Visigoths accuses the Jews of aiding the Muslims, and sentences all Jews to slavery.

title: 694

text: Egica, king of the Visigoths (or 703)

title: 701

text: King Egica dies, possibly assassinated in a plot led by Roderic. He is succeeded by his son Wittiza as king of the Visigoths (approximate date).

title: 701

text: Ergica, king of the Visigoths (or 701)

title: 703

title: 710

title: 710

text: Roderic, king of the Visigoths (or 712)

title: AD 711

text: July 19 – Battle of Guadalete: The Muslim Arabs defeat the Visigothic army (33,000 men) under King Roderick, who dies in battle. The Visigoth capital of Toledo opens its city gates; Tariq ibn Ziyad sends Moorish detachments to capture the cities of Córdoba and Seville (Andalusia).

title: AD 711

text: Tariq ibn Ziyad conquers the cities of Barcelona and Narbonne, where Visigothic nobles accept Umayyad overlordship, in return for autonomy in Septimania (Southern France). Muslims also raid Avignon and Lyon (approximate date).

title: 714

text: In Septimania, local Visigothic nobles of the anti-Roderick party are offered peace terms similar to those of Prince Theodemir (see 713), and accept Muslim overlordship. Other Visigoths revolt and proclaim Ardo as king. Visigothic refugees gather in the Picos de Europa in the mountains of Asturias.

title: 714

text: Achila II, king of the Visigoths (approximate date)

title: 714

title: 720

text: Ardo, king of the Visigoths (or 721)

title: 720

text: Ardo, king of the Visigoths (or 720)

title: 721

text: Anbasa ibn Suhaym Al-Kalbi is appointed governor of Al-Andalus, after the death of Al-Samh. The Muslims under Abdul Rahman al-Ghafiqi withdraw to Narbonne. The Visigothic duke Amrus of the Lerida area recognises Umayyad rule.

title: 721

text: Summer – Battle of Covadonga: Visigothic nobleman Pelagius (Don Pelayo) defeats the Umayyad forces under Munuza, provincial governor of Asturias, at Picos de Europa (near Covadonga). This marks the beginning of the Reconquista, the Christian reconquest of the Iberian Peninsula. He founds the Kingdom of Asturias, and establishes a military base at Cangas de Onís (northwest of Spain) (or 718).

title: 722

text: Siege of Narbonne: Pepin III lays siege to the fortress city of Narbonne, occupied by Gothic-Muslim forces. The garrison and residents are able to withstand the attacks, thanks to the supplies provided by sea by the Arab fleet.

title: 752

text: Siege of Narbonne: The Franks under King Pepin III ("the Short") retake Narbonne from the Muslims, after a 7-year siege. He pushes them back across the Pyrenees, and the Muslims retreat to the Andalusian heartland after 40 years of occupation. The government of the city is assigned to the Visigothic count Miló.

title: 759

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

title: 778


slug: viterbo

label: Viterbo

description: Italian commune (comune) in Lazio

text: Spring – Eugene III leaves Viterbo and travels to France. At the start of April he meets Louis VII at Dijon. It is agreed that Abbot Suger, Louis' adviser, governs France while Louis is away.

title: 1147

date: June 17

text: June 17 – Stephen Langton is consecrated as archbishop of Canterbury in England by Innocent III at Viterbo.

title: 1207

text: Siege of Viterbo: Emperor Frederick II besieges Viterbo on request of the rebel citizens. The defenders are able to set fire to the siege towers and after signing a peace treaty, Frederick is persuaded to withdraw his army.

title: 1243

date: May 25

text: May 25 – Pope Alexander IV dies after a pontificate of 6-years at Viterbo. He is succeeded by Urban IV as the 182nd pope of the Catholic Church.

title: 1261

date: August 18

text: August 18 – Adrian V (Hadrian) dies after a 2-month reign at Viterbo. He is succeeded by John XXI as the 187th pope of Rome (until 1277).

title: 1276

date: May 20

text: May 20 – John XXI dies after an 8-month pontificate at Viterbo. He is succeeded by Nicholas III as the 188th pope of the Catholic Church (until 1280).

title: 1277

text: July 3 – Treaty of Orvieto: Charles I, Giovanni Dandolo, doge of Venice, and Philip I, Latin emperor, make an agreement to recover the Latin Empire. The treaty is signed in the Papal Palace, which Martin IV has moved to Orvieto after Viterbo is placed under an interdict for imprisoning two cardinals.

title: 1281

date: October 17

text: October 17 – Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor and Pope Urban V meet at Viterbo in Italy and make plans to enter Rome together after the Pope's travel from Avignon.

title: 1368

section: Events › October–December


slug: vizier-fatimid-caliphate

label: Vizier (Fatimid Caliphate)

description: title for senior minister of the Egyptian Fatimid Caliphate

text: Egyptian military commander Isa ibn Nasturus ibn Surus appointed Vizier of Egypt.

title: 993

section: Events › By place › Africa

text: Egyptian military commander Abu'l-Ala Fahd ibn Ibrahim appointed Vizier of Egypt.

title: AD 999

section: Exploration & Expansion

text: Egyptian military commander Zar'ah ibn Isa ibn Nasturus appointed Vizier of Egypt.

title: 1010

text: Egyptian military commander Sa'id ibn Isa ibn Nasturus appointed Vizier of Egypt.

title: 1018

text: Egyptian military commander Abu Sa'd Mansur ibn Zunbur known as al-sayyid, al-afḍal appointed Vizier in Egypt.

title: 1066

section: Events › Africa

text: Egyptian official Abu'l-Ala Abd al-Ghani ibn Nasr ibn Sa'id al-Dayf appointed Vizier in Egypt.

title: 1073

text: Egyptian military commander Ridwan ibn Walakhshi appointed Vizier in Egypt.

title: 1137

text: Egyptian military commander Shawar appointed Vizier of Egypt.

title: 1162

text: Egyptian military commander Shawar appointed Vizier of Egypt for a second term.

title: 1163

section: Events


slug: vlad-the-impaler

label: Vlad the Impaler

description: 15th-century ruler of Wallachia

text: Vlad the Impaler, Prince of Wallachia, A member of the House of Drăculești, as well as the Voivode of Wallachia 1456-1462

title: 1431

date: December 13

text: December 13 – Vlad, future Prince of Wallachia as Vlad II Dracul, is made a member of the Order of the Dragon. Because of this, his son Vlad the Impaler will inspire the literary figure named Dracula.

title: 1431

date: November

text: November or December – Vlad the Impaler, Prince of Wallachia (d. 1476)

title: 1431

section: Conflict & Security

date: October

text: October – Vlad the Impaler becomes reigning Prince of Wallachia for two months, before being deposed in November by Vladislav II of Wallachia.

title: 1448

date: November 15

text: November 15 – The conflict between Vladislav II of Wallachia and John Hunyadi escalates, so the latter decides to support Vlad the Impaler for the throne of Wallachia, the following year.

title: 1455

date: August 20

text: August 20 – Vladislav II, reigning Prince of Wallachia, is killed in hand-to-hand combat by the former Prince, Vlad the Impaler, who succeeds him.

title: 1456

section: Events › July–September

text: June 17 – In the "Night Attack at Târgoviște", Vlad the Impaler ("Dracula") attempts to assassinate Mehmed II, forcing him to retreat from Wallachia.

title: 1462

section: Events › April–June

date: November 26

text: November 26 – Vlad the Impaler declares himself reigning Voivode (Prince) of Wallachia for the third and last time. He is killed on the march to Bucharest, probably before the end of December. His head is sent to his old enemy, Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II.

title: 1476

section: Events › October –December

text: September – Vlad Călugărul, Wallachian half-brother of Vlad the Impaler

title: 1495

date: April 23

text: April 23 – Prince Mihnea cel Rău, son of Vlad the Impaler, becomes the Voivode of Wallachia, with a palace at Târgoviște (now in Romania), upon the death of his cousin Radu IV the Great.

title: 1508


slug: vladimir-putin

label: Vladimir Putin

description: President of Russian Federation

date: December 31

text: December 31 – Boris Yeltsin resigns as President of Russia, leaving Prime Minister Vladimir Putin as the acting president until a new election can be held.

title: 1999

section: Events › December

date: March 26

text: March 26 – 2000 Russian presidential election: Vladimir Putin is elected President of Russia.

title: 2000

section: Events › March

date: May 24

text: May 24 – United States President George W. Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin sign the Strategic Offensive Reductions Treaty.

title: 2002

section: Events › May

date: March 14

text: March 14 – Vladimir Putin is reelected president of Russia with 71.2 percent of the vote.

title: 2004

date: May 7

text: May 7 – Vladimir Putin is sworn in for a second term as Russia's president.

title: 2004

date: March 4

text: March 4 – Vladimir Putin is elected President of Russia.

title: 2012

section: Economy & Finance

date: April 28

text: April 28 – United States President Barack Obama's new economic sanctions against Russia go into effect, targeting companies and individuals close to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

title: 2014

section: Events › April

date: March 21

text: March 21 – Russia formally annexes Crimea after President Vladimir Putin signs a bill formalizing the process.

title: 2014

date: September 1

text: September 1 – Russian President Vladimir Putin expels 755 diplomats in response to United States sanctions.

title: 2017

section: Events › September

date: March 18

text: March 18 – In the Russian presidential election, Vladimir Putin is elected for a fourth term.

title: 2018

section: Science & Discovery

date: April 25

text: April 25 – North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visits Russia to hold a series of summits with Russian leaders, including President Vladimir Putin.

title: 2019

section: Health & Medicine

date: August 11

text: August 11 – COVID-19 pandemic: Russian President Vladimir Putin announces that Russia has approved the world's first COVID-19 vaccine.

title: 2020

section: Events › August

section: Climate & Environment

date: June 3

text: June 3 – Russian President Vladimir Putin declares a state of emergency after 20,000 tons of oil leaked into the Ambarnaya River near the Siberian city of Norilsk within the Arctic Circle on May 26, 2020. The World Wildlife Fund said the accident is believed to be the second-largest in modern Russian history.

title: 2020

section: Events › June

date: February 21

text: February 21 – February 24 – Russian President Vladimir Putin signs a decree declaring the Luhansk People's Republic and Donetsk People's Republic as independent from Ukraine, and, despite international condemnation and sanctions, launched the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine; at dawn on 24 February missiles strike Kyiv. Ukraine severs diplomatic relations with Russia, followed by the Federated States of Micronesia on 25 February.

title: 2022

section: Events › February

section: Crime & Justice

date: March 17

text: March 17 – The International Criminal Court issues an arrest warrant for Russian president Vladimir Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova, Russian Commissioner for Children's Rights, marking the first arrest warrant against a leader of a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council.

title: 2023

date: March 15

text: March 15–17 – 2024 Russian presidential election: Incumbent Vladimir Putin is reelected for a fifth term.

title: 2024

date: February 18

text: February 18 – Vladimir Putin announces that Russia and the United States have officially agreed to restore diplomatic relations. A four-hour summit between the US and Russia is held in Saudi Arabia.

title: 2025


slug: vladimir-russia

label: Vladimir, Russia

description: city in the center of European Russia

section: Religion & Belief

text: The Virgin of Vladimir icon is taken by Grand Prince Andrey Bogolyubsky to Vladimir from Suzdal.

title: 1155

section: Events › By place › Europe

section: Conflict & Security

text: Andrey Bogolyubsky, Grand Prince of Vladimir-Suzdal, sacks Kiev (with help from allies) and makes Vladimir the capital of Kievan Rus'. He installs relatives on the throne at Kiev.

title: 1169

section: Deaths

date: June 28

text: June 28 – Andrei Bogolyubsky, prince of Vladimir

title: 1174

section: Births

date: February 8

text: February 8 – Yaroslav II, Grand Prince of Vladimir (d. 1246)

title: 1191

text: Swedish-Novgorodian War: Grand Prince Yaroslav II of Vladimir leads an attack from the Novgorod Republic on Baltic Finnic peoples in eastern Fennoscandia, called "Yem", whom he devastates.

title: 1227

text: Battle of Voronezh River: Grand Prince Yuri II of Vladimir supported by border princes of Ryazan, Murom, and Pronsk gathers his forces and make a stand on the Voronezh River, waiting for reinforcements from Vladimir. The Mongols under Batu Khan overrun the Rus' forces, who are scattered. Yuri retreats to Ryazan, while some troops withdraw to Kolomna and join the army of Vladimir-Suzdal.

title: 1237

section: Events › By place › Mongol Empire

text: Andrey II Yaroslavich, Grand Prince of Vladimir (b. 1222)

title: 1264

text: Yury of Moscow (Yuri III Danilovich), Grand Prince of Vladimir (d. 1325)

title: 1281

date: October 12

text: October 12 – Dmitri Donskoi, Grand Duke of Muscovy and Vladimir (d. 1389)

title: 1350

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

text: Dmitri Donskoi, ruler of Moscow and Vladimir, makes peace with Dmitri Konstantinovich, former ruler of Vladimir.

title: 1366

section: Events › Date unknown

text: Khan Tokhtamysh of the Golden Horde overruns Muscovy, as punishment for Grand Prince Dmitry Donskoy's resistance to Khan Mamai of the Blue Horde in the 1370s. Dmitry Donskoy pledges his loyalty to Tokhtamysh, and is allowed to remain as ruler of Moscow and Vladimir.

title: 1382


slug: vladimir-suzdal

label: Vladimir-Suzdal

description: Russian duchy in 12th-14th century

text: Andrey Bogolyubsky, Prince of Vladimir-Suzdal (d. 1174)

title: 1111

date: October 19

text: October 19 – Vsevolod the Big Nest, Grand Prince of Vladimir-Suzdal (d. 1212)

title: 1154

title: 1169

text: Roman Mstislavich (the Great), Grand Prince of Vladimir-Volhynia, unites his realm with its westerly neighbor Galicia (after the death of Vladimir II). He makes the Kingdom of Galicia-Volhynia more powerful than Kiev.

title: 1199

date: April 22

text: April 22 – Battle of Lipitsa: The Kievan princes Mstislav Mstislavich and Konstantin of Rostov defeat Konstantin's younger brothers Yuri II and Yaroslav II for the rule of the Principality of Vladimir-Suzdal (modern Russia).

title: 1216

section: Events › By continent › Europe

title: 1237

section: Exploration & Expansion

text: Alexander Nevsky quarrels with the nobles (boyars) and merchants of Novgorod, probably about peaceful trade with the westerners. He is banished, along with his mother, wife and his druzhina to take up residence in the region around Moscow, a minor town on the western border of the Grand Principality of Vladimir.

title: 1240

date: September

text: September – 1240 Izborsk and Pskov campaign: An alliance of the Livonian Order, the Bishopric of Dorpat and the pretender-prince Yaroslav Vladimirovich of Pskov besiege and conquer the border fortress of Izborsk in the Pskov Land. After Pskovian defenders fail to retake the town, the allied forces advance to the capital Pskov itself, compelling it to surrender, resulting in the brief overthrow of the pro-Suzdalian faction that supports prince Alexander Nevsky.

title: 1240

section: Culture & Society

date: November 2

text: November 2 – Dmitry of Tver, nicknamed "Dmitry of the Fearsome Eyes", Grand Prince of Tver in Russia, becomes the new monarch of the Grand Principality of Vladimir.

title: 1322

section: Events › October – December


slug: vladimir-the-great

label: Vladimir the Great

description: Grand Prince of Kiev

text: Vladimir I (the Great), Grand Prince of Kiev (d. 1015)

title: 958

text: Winter – Vladimir I (the Great), grand prince of Kiev, returns from Norway with a Varangian mercenary army and re-captures Novgorod. On his way to Kiev, he marches against the forces of his brother Yaropolk I.

title: 978

date: June 11

text: June 11 – Vladimir I (the Great), grand prince of Kiev, consolidates the Kievan realm from modern Ukraine to the Baltic Sea. Vladimir is proclaimed ruler (knyaz) of all Kievan Rus'.

title: 980

date: February 7

text: February 7 – Bardas Phokas (the Younger) and Bardas Skleros, two members of the military elite, begin a wide-scale rebellion against Emperor Basil II. They overrun Anatolia, and Phokas declares himself Emperor. Basil applies for military assistance from Prince Vladimir the Great, ruler of Kievan Rus', who agrees to help him and sends a Varangian army (6,000 men).

title: 987

section: Events › By place › Byzantine Empire

text: Grand Prince Vladimir the Great, ruler of Kievan Rus', marries Anna Porphyrogenita (sister of Basil II) and converts to Christianity. He is baptized at Cherson in the Crimea, taking the Christian name of Basil (in honor of his brother-in-law). Vladimir returns in triumph to Kiev, and begins the Christianization of Kievan Rus' to the Eastern Orthodox Church.

title: 988

section: Events › By topic › Religion

text: The Grand Prince of Kyiv and ruler of Kievan Rus' Vladimir the Great laid the first foundations of Saint Sophia Cathedral, Kyiv.

title: 1011

date: July 15

text: July 15 – Vladimir the Great, Grand Prince of Kiev

title: 1015

text: July 15 – Vladimir the Great dies at Berestove after a 35-year reign. He is succeeded by his son Sviatopolk I as Grand Prince of Kiev.

title: 1015

text: Grand Prince Yaroslav the Wise of Kiev makes an agreement with Duke Casimir I the Restorer of Poland that recognizes Chervyen as part of Kiev. The agreement is sealed with a double marriage – Casimir to Maria Dobroniega (a daughter of Vladimir the Great), and Iziaslav to Gertrude, Casimir's sister.

title: 1043


slug: vladislaus-ii-of-hungary

label: Vladislaus II of Hungary

description: King of Bohemia and Hungary

date: March 1

text: March 1 – Vladislaus II, king of Bohemia, Hungary and Croatia (d. 1516)

title: 1456

date: August 22

text: August 22 – Vladislav Jagellion is crowned as King of Bohemia at Prague.

title: 1471

section: Events › July–September

date: May 27

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

title: 1471

section: Events › April–June

date: June 10

text: June 10 – Emperor Frederick II confirms his support of Vladislav Jagellonský as King of Bohemia, leading to Matthias Corvinus declaring war on the Holy Roman Empire.

title: 1477

date: April 2

text: April 2 – The Peace of Olomouc is signed between King Matthias Corvinus of Hungary and King Vladislaus II of Bohemia, bringing the Bohemian–Hungarian War (1468–1478) to an end.

title: 1479

text: July 15 – King Vladislaus of Bohemia is proclaimed as the new King of Hungary by a majority of the Hungarian nobility, prompting the Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian to plan an invasion and conquest of the Hungarian Kingddom.

title: 1490

date: February 20

text: February 20 – Jan I Olbracht, son of King Casimir IV or Poland and, like his older brother Vladislaus, a claimant to the throne of the Kingdom of Hungary, renounces all of his claims in return for the Duchy of Głogów.

title: 1491

section: Events › January–March

date: March 11

text: March 11 – The Parliament of Bohemia adopts a new constitution that limits the power of King Vladislav II and subsequent Bohemian monarchs.

title: 1500

date: September 29

text: September 29 – Anne of Foix-Candale is proclaimed Queen of Hungary upon her marriage to Vladislaus II, King of Hungary and Bohemia, at a ceremony in Székesfehérvár.

title: 1502

date: August 20

text: August 20 – A previous treaty between Vladislaus II of Hungary and Bayezid II, which was finalized on June 11, goes into effect. The treaty suppresses warfare along the Hungarian-Ottoman border. Stephen III of Moldavia is also included in this treaty, but it preserves his nation's independence on the condition Moldavia pays an annual tribute to the Ottoman Empire.

title: 1503

date: March 30

text: March 30 – King Vladislaus II of Hungary and Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor sign a treaty to arrange the marriage of Vladislaus's daughter and Maximilian's son.

title: 1506

date: June 4

text: June 4 – The coronation of Prince Lajos as the designated successor to his father, King Vladislaus II of Hungary, takes place in Székesfehérvár.

title: 1508

date: July 22

text: July 22 – At the First Congress of Vienna, a double wedding takes place to cement agreements. Louis, only son of King Vladislaus II of Hungary, marries Mary of Austria, granddaughter of Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor; and Mary's brother, Archduke Ferdinand, marries Vladislaus' daughter, Anna.

title: 1515


slug: volsci

label: Volsci

description: italic Osco-Umbrian tribe in Ancient Italy

year_label: 495 BCE

text: The Volsci launch an invasion against Rome, but are defeated, and in retaliation Rome plunders Suessa Pometia.

title: 495 BC

section: Events › Roman Republic

year_label: 494 BCE

text: The Roman consul Aulus Verginius Tricostus Caeliomontanus defeats the Volsci, and a Roman colony is planted at Velitrae.

title: 494 BC

section: Events › By place › Roman Republic

year_label: 493 BCE

text: The Roman army, led by Postumus Cominius Auruncus defeats the Volsci and the Romans capture the towns of Longula, Pollusca and Corioli. Gaius Marcius distinguishes himself in the battle for Corioli, and earns the cognomen Coriolanus.

title: 493 BC

year_label: 492 BCE

text: War with the Volsci is averted because a pestilence affects the Volsci. Rome sends additional colonists to Velitrae and establishes a new colony in Norba.

title: 492 BC

section: Events › By place › Rome

year_label: 491 BCE

section: Climate & Environment

text: During this year there was a famine in Rome. General Gais Marcius Coriolanus suggested that people should not receive grains unless they agree to abolish the Office of Tribune. Because of this, the Tribunes had him exiled. In response, Coriolanus takes refuge with the leader of the Volsci, eventually leading the Volscian army in a war against Rome. It was only due to entreaties from his mother and wife that he abandoned his war against Rome.

title: 491 BC

year_label: 488 BCE

text: Gaius Marcius Coriolanus and Attius Tullius, leading an army of the Volsci, besiege Rome. Coriolanus' mother and wife convince him to break off the siege. In recognition of the service of these women, a temple is erected in Rome dedicated to Fortuna. Subsequently, the Volsci and their allies the Aequi have a falling out, and their armies fight as a result, significantly diminishing the strength of each of them.

title: 488 BC

year_label: 484 BCE

text: The Romans defeat the Volsci and Aequi in battle.

title: 484 BC

year_label: 446 BCE

text: In the Battle of Corbione, Titus Quinctius Capitolinus Barbatus leads Roman troops to a victory over the Aequi of north-east Latium and the Volsci of southern Latium.

title: 446 BC

year_label: 431 BCE

text: The Romans defeat the Aequi and the Volsci at the Battle of Mount Algidus.

title: 431 BC

year_label: 358 BCE

text: The Romans defeat the Volsci, annex most of their territory, and settle it with Roman colonists. The Romans also force the Latin League to renew its close alliance with Rome, an alliance which was weakened by Rome’s defeat at the hands of the Gauls in 390 BC.

title: 358 BC

year_label: 338 BCE

text: With the fall of their chief city, Antium, to the Romans, the Volsci finally abandon their resistance against the Romans and accept an alliance with Rome.

title: 338 BC

year_label: 313 BCE

text: The Romans establish colonies at the Volscian island of Pontiae, the Volscian town of Interamna Sucasina and at Suessa Aurunca.

title: 313 BC

section: Events › By place › Italy


slug: voltaire

label: Voltaire

description: French writer, historian and philosopher (1694–1778)

section: Crime & Justice

text: François-Marie Arouet is sentenced to imprisonment in the Bastille for eleven months, because of a satirical verse against the Régent of France and his infamous daughter Marie Louise Élisabeth d'Orléans, who is hiding an illegitimate pregnancy and soon to give birth; Arouet will emerge with the pseudonym Voltaire and the completed text of his first play, Œdipe.

title: 1717

date: November 18

text: November 18 – Voltaire's first play, Oedipus, premières at the Comédie-Française in Paris. This is his first use of the pseudonym.

title: 1718

section: Events › October –December

date: May 1

text: May 1 – Voltaire begins his exile in England.

title: 1726

text: Late Summer – Voltaire ends his exile in England.

title: 1728

date: August 19

text: August 19 – Voltaire's controversial play Fanatacism, or Mahomet the Prophet is first performed, in Paris, to a theatre audience filled with French nobility.

title: 1742

date: January 15

text: January 15 – Voltaire's satire Candide is published simultaneously in five countries.

title: 1759

text: Voltaire - Dictionnaire philosophique

title: 1764

section: Events › Publications

date: March 9

text: March 9 – After a public campaign by the writer Voltaire, judges in Paris posthumously exonerate Jean Calas of murdering his son. Calas had been tortured and executed in 1762 on the charge, though his son may have committed suicide.

title: 1765

date: July 1

text: July 1 – François-Jean de la Barre, a young French nobleman, is tortured and beheaded, before his body is burnt on a pyre, along with a copy of Voltaire's Dictionnaire philosophique nailed to his torso, supposedly for the crime of not saluting a Roman Catholic religious procession in Abbeville, and for other sacrileges, including desecrating a crucifix.

title: 1766

section: Religion & Belief

date: July 11

text: July 11 – The ashes of Voltaire are transferred to the Panthéon in Paris.

title: 1791


slug: vulgate

label: Vulgate

description: 4th-century Latin translation of the Bible mainly by Jerome

text: The Council of Rome establishes Biblical canon in the Catholic Church. Pope Damasus I commissions a revision of the Vetus Latina, eventually resulting in the Vulgate of Jerome.

title: 382

text: Jerome, Christian prophet, writes his celebrated letter "De custodia virginitatis" (vow of virginity) to Eustochium, daughter of the ascetic Paula. He has by this time completed his Vulgate translation of the Gospels.

title: 384

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

section: Events › By place › Roman Empire

text: Jerome's Vulgate translation of the Bible into Latin is completed by his translations of the Tanakh from the Hebrew language.

title: 405

section: Deaths

date: September 30

text: September 30 – Saint Jerome, priest and translator of the Bible

title: AD 420

date: April 8

text: April 8 – The Council of Trent, by a vote of 24 to 15, with 16 abstentions, issues the Decretum de Canonicis Scripturis for the scripture considered to be canon by the Roman Catholic Church. The decree recites that if anyone declines to receive all parts of the Vulgate edition of the Bible, they are in contempt of the Church and should be excommunicated. and approves the 4th century Vulgate of Jerome as its official Bible

title: 1546

text: The Douay–Rheims Bible Old Testament translation from the Vulgate into English vol. 1 is published in Reims.

title: 1609

section: Events › Date unknown

text: Publication is completed of the Douay–Rheims Bible (The Holie Bible Faithfully Translated into English), a translation of the Bible from the Latin Vulgate into English made by members of the English College, Douai, in the service of the Catholic Church.

title: 1610

date: May 13

text: May 13 – French theologian Louis-Isaac Lemaistre de Sacy is imprisoned in the Bastille after his conviction for heresy in connection with the Jansenist movement. Sacy uses his two and one-half years of incarceration (which lasts until November 14, 1668), to create the Bible du Port-Royal, a first French language rendition of the Bible, finishing a translation of the Old Testament from the Vulgate, written in Latin, that had been started by his brother Antoine, and then beginning work on the New Testament.

title: 1666