slug: philip-v-of-spain

label: Philip V of Spain

description: King of Spain from 1700 to 1746 (1683–1746)

section: Births

date: October 25

text: October 25 – Elisabeth Farnese, queen of Philip V of Spain (d. 1766)

title: 1692

section: Births › October–December

date: November 1

text: November 1 – Charles II, the last Spanish king of the House of Habsburg, dies at the Royal Alcazar of Madrid aged 38, leaving no children; his last will makes Philip of Anjou his heir.

title: 1700

section: Culture & Society

date: November 2

text: November 2 – King Philip V of Spain marries for the first time, to 13-year-old Maria Luisa Gabriella of Savoy, who serves as Queen Consort until her death from tuberculosis at the age of 25.

title: 1701

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

date: July 11

text: July 11 – José de Grimaldo, the Marquis of Grimaldo, becomes the head of government of Spain after being appointed by King Philip V as the Secretary of the Universal Bureau.

title: 1705

date: August 4

text: August 4 – War of the Spanish Succession: The Spanish Bourbon armies of King Philip V retake Madrid from the Portuguese and Habsburg Austria troops that had entered the city in June.

title: 1706

date: June 28

text: June 28 – War of the Spanish Succession: Troops dispatched from Portugal capture Madrid and proclaim the Habsburg dynasty's Archduke Charles of Austria to be the King Carlos III of Spain, after the Bourbon ruler, Philip V, has fled.

title: 1706

text: March 31 – The last Courts (parliament) of the Principality of Catalonia are finished; their dissolution is presided over by King Philip V of Spain.

title: 1706

date: May 8

text: May 8 – The siege of Játiva within the Spanish kingdom of Valencia begins as 9,000 Castilian and French troops, at the direction of King Philip V attack Játiva, defended by troops of the Kingdom of Aragon. Játiva (modern Xàtiva) falls on June 6.

title: 1707

date: October 31

text: October 31 – King Philip V of Spain establishes the Biblioteca Nacional de España as the Palace Public Library (Biblioteca Pública de Palacio) in Madrid.

title: 1712

date: July 9

text: July 9 – The Junta de Braços (parliament) of the Principality of Catalonia votes in favour of staying in the War of the Spanish Succession against Philip V of Spain. Army of Catalonia raised.

title: 1713

date: March 27

text: March 27 – First Treaty of Utrecht between Great Britain and Spain: Philip V is accepted by Britain and Austria as king of Spain; Spain cedes Gibraltar and Menorca to Britain.

title: 1713

date: May 13

text: May 13 – King Philip V of Spain issues an auto accordado that changes the order of succession for the Spanish throne allowing a female descendant within the House of Bourbon to rule. The change will allow his great-great-granddaughter to ascend the throne in 1833 as Queen Isabella II.

title: 1713

date: November 30

text: November 30 – King Philip V of Spain issues a decree reorganizing the Spanish government to create four ministries, with the Secretary of State being the chief minister, predecessor to the office of Prime Minister of Spain. José de Grimaldo becomes the first person to have the chief ministry.

title: 1714

text: Around this year, a breech loading firearm is made for Philip V of Spain.

title: 1715

date: June 9

text: June 9 – King Philip, ruler of the Crown of Castile and the Crown of Aragon unifies the two monarchies into a single state, centralizing rule of a unified Kingdom of Spain.

title: 1715

date: January 16

text: January 16 – The application of the Nueva Planta decrees to Catalonia make it subject to the laws of the Crown of Castile, and abolishes the Principality of Catalonia as a political entity, concluding the unification of Spain under Philip V.

title: 1716

date: October 9

text: October 9 – King Philip V of Spain orders the closure of all universities in Catalonia, including the historic Estudi General de Lleida.

title: 1717

date: April 4

text: April 4 – Great Britain, France and the Dutch Republic agree on the phasing out of the authority of the House of Medici over the semi-independent Grand Duchy of Tuscany by declaring that Gian Gastone de' Medici will be the last of the Medici family to rule the Italian duchy and that Spain's House of Borbón will eventually control the Tuscan monarchy. Don Carlos of Spain, the two-year old son of King Philip V, is designated as the eventual heir, despite the objections of the 75-year old Grand Duke, Cosimo III de' Medici.

title: 1718

section: Events › April – June

date: April 26

text: April 26 – King Philip V of Spain departs Madrid and leads 15,000 men of the Spanish Army into Navare to fight the French under Berwick.

title: 1719

date: December 22

text: December 22 – Philip V of Spain signs a Royal Decree in Lerma, transforming the Seminary of Saint Rose of Lima in Caracas into the Universidad Real y Pontificia de Caracas.

title: 1721

section: Events › October –December

date: August 31

text: August 31 – Louis I of Spain dies of smallpox, aged 17, after a reign of seven months, and his father Philip V resumes the throne.

title: 1724

date: January 15

text: January 15 – King Philip V of Spain abdicates the throne in favour of his 16-year-old son Louis I.

title: 1724

text: April 30 – Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor and King Philip V of Spain sign the Treaty of Vienna.

title: 1725

date: December 12

text: December 12 – Johan Willem Ripperda of the Netherlands, the former Dutch Ambassador to Spain, arrives in Madrid and claims that King Philip V has appointed him as the new Prime Minister. The bluff is successful and he is granted authority by the King's advisers, but after four months, he is forced to resign.

title: 1725

date: February 14

text: February 14 – King Philip V of Spain issues a royal cedula, directing an effort to offer incentives to families from the Canary Islands for settlements in New Spain north of the Rio Grande in the modern-day U.S. state of Texas (→ Canarian Americans).

title: 1729

date: January 19

text: January 19 – At the age of 14, Joseph (José), Prince of Brazil, son of King John V of Portugal, is married to the 10-year-old Princess Mariana Victoria of Spain, eldest daughter of King Philip V of Spain. In 1750, the couple become King Joseph I and Queen Consort Mariana Victoria of Spain.

title: 1729

date: April 18

text: April 18 – Spain's Royal Academy of History (Real Academia de la Historia) is established by decree of King Philip V of Spain.

title: 1738

date: June 27

text: June 27 – The Spanish Empire's Council of the Indies votes, 6 to 4, to re-establish the Viceroyalty of New Granada, incorporating modern-day Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela and Panama. King Philip V issues the order on August 20, 1738.

title: 1738

date: August 20

text: August 20 – The Viceroyalty of New Granada, incorporating modern-day Colombia, Ecuador, and Venezuela is re-established by the royal cedula of King Philip V of Spain, 16 years after it had been dissolved, and adds the territory of Panama as well.

title: 1739

date: December 10

text: December 10 – King Louis XV of France informs King Philip V of Spain of his intent to try to restore the House of Stuart to the throne of the United Kingdom. James Francis Edward Stuart was briefly the Crown Prince of England and Scotland until his father, King James II, was deposed in 1688 and, as Pretender to the Throne, would become King James III if the attack, planned for January 1, 1744 succeeds.

title: 1743

date: February 23

text: February 23 – The royal wedding of the crown prince of France takes place at Versailles: the Dauphin Louis Ferdiand, eldest son of King Louis XV, is united in marriage to Princess Maria Teresa Rafaela of Spain, daughter of King Philip V. The Dauphin never takes the throne, dying in 1765, eight years before the death of his father.

title: 1745

text: July 11 – Elisabeth Farnese, queen of Philip V of Spain (b. 1692)

title: 1766


slug: philippi

label: Philippi

description: ancient city in eastern Macedonia, in the Edonis region

year_label: 356 BCE

section: Conflict & Security

text: With Pydna and Potidaea occupied, Philip II decides to keep Amphipolis anyway. He also takes the city of Crenides from the Odrysae and renames it Philippi.

title: 356 BC

section: Events › By place › Greece

year_label: 42 BCE

section: Exploration & Expansion

text: Brutus and Cassius advance to Philippi and build fortifications. Antony links up with Norbanus and Saxa at Amphipolis, Octavian arrives on a litter 10 days later.

title: 42 BC

section: Events › By place › Roman Republic

year_label: 49 CE

section: Religion & Belief

text: Christianity spreads into Europe, especially at Rome and at Philippi (probable date according to chronology derived from the Acts of the Apostles).

title: 40s

section: Timeline › AD 49

year_label: 50 CE

text: Paul travels to Philippi, Thessaloniki, Beroea, and Athens (second missionary journey).

title: 50s

section: Events › 50 AD › Greece

year_label: 56 CE

text: The apostle Paul writes his second Epistle to the Corinthians, probably from Philippi.

title: 50s

section: Events › 56 AD › Greece

section: Deaths

text: Theodoric Strabo defeats the Bulgars in Thrace, and moves with an army (13,000 men) towards Constantinople. After logistical problems, he is forced to return to Greece. In an encampment at Stabulum Diomedis, near Philippi, he falls from an unruly horse onto a spear and dies.

title: 481

section: Events › By place › Europe

text: Presian I, ruler (khan) of the Bulgarian Empire, sends his prime-minister Isbul against the Smolyani (a Slavic tribe in Byzantine territory near the Struma River). The Bulgarian army campaigns along the Aegean coasts, and conquers most of Thrace and Macedonia, including the fortress city of Philippi, as recorded in the Presian Inscription.

title: 837

text: Byzantine–Bulgarian War: The Bulgarians violate the peace treaty (see 815), and invade Macedonia along the River Struma. The cities of Serres and Philippi are devastated.

title: 846

section: Events › By place › Byzantine Empire


slug: philippines

label: Philippines

description: archipelagic country in Southeast Asia

date: April 21

text: April 21 – Namwaran and his children, Lady Angkatan and Bukah, are granted pardon by the Lakan (ruler) of Tondo, as represented by Jayadewa, Lord Minister of Pila, which released them of all their debts as inscribed in the Laguna Copperplate Inscription (Philippines).

title: 900

section: Events › By place › Asia

date: March 17

text: March 17 – The Buddhist ruler of Butuan, in the Philippines (P’u-tuan in the Sung Dynasty records), Sari Bata Shaja, makes the first tributary mission to China.

title: 1001

text: The Namayan Kingdom formed by a confederation of barangays, reaches its peak on Luzon (modern Philippines).

title: 1175

date: November 17

text: November 17 – The Sultanate of Sulu is established on the Sulu Archipelago, off the coast of Mindanao in the Philippines.

title: 1405

section: Events › October–December

date: April 27

text: April 27 – Battle of Mactan: Ferdinand Magellan is killed in the Philippines when he confronts Lapulapu, the chief of the island.

title: 1521

section: Events › April–June

date: March 16

text: March 16 – Ferdinand Magellan reaches the Philippines, in eastern Samar.

title: 1521

section: Events › January–March

date: February 13

text: February 13 – Spanish Conquistador Miguel López de Legazpi lands with his troops on the shores of Cebu Island in the Philippines.

title: 1565

date: August 29

text: August 29 – Liliw, Laguna, Philippines is founded by Gat Tayaw, followers and residents as a municipality of Laguna.

title: 1571

section: Events › July–September

date: June 24

text: June 24 – On the island of Luzon in the Philippines, Miguel López de Legazpi of Spain establishes a Spanish fortress at Manila Bay and, after making a peace pact with the Crown Prince of Luzon, Rajah Sulayman declares Manila to be the administrative capital of the Spanish East Indies.

title: 1571

date: June 3

text: June 3 – Following the Battle of Bangkusay Channel, the conquest of the Kingdom of Maynila is complete; Spanish Conquistador Miguel López de Legazpi makes Manila a city, and the capital of the Philippines.

title: 1571

text: The first Spanish galleon, laden with silver for the porcelain and silk trade with the Ming Dynasty of China, lands at Manila in the Philippines. This occasion marks the beginning of the Spanish silver trade to China, that will trump that of the Portuguese, the latter of whom acted as an intermediary between the silver mines of Japan, and the luxury items in China to be purchased with that silver. Most of the silver entering China comes from what is now Mexico, Bolivia, and Peru in the New World.

title: 1573

section: Events › Date unknown

date: June 10

text: June 10 – Manila, Philippines gains cityhood.

title: 1574

text: The municipality of Boac in Marinduque, Philippines is founded.

title: 1579

text: 12 million pesos of silver cross the Pacific. Although it is unknown just how much silver flowed from the Spanish base of Manila in the Philippines to the Ming Dynasty of China, it is known that the main port for the Mexican silver trade—Acapulco—shipped out 150,000 to 345,000 kg (4 to 9 million taels) of silver annually from this year to 1602.

title: 1597

text: January 19 – San Agustin Church, Manila, is officially completed; by the 21st century it will be the oldest church in the Philippines.

title: 1607

section: Economy & Finance

text: The municipality of Buenavista in Marinduque, Philippines is founded.

title: 1609

date: April 28

text: April 28 – The Colegio de Nuestra Señora del Santísimo Rosario is established in Manila, the Philippines (later renamed Colegio de Santo Tomas, and later still the University of Santo Tomas).

title: 1611

date: September 17

text: September 17 – Los Baños, Laguna, is founded by Spanish colonists on Luzon island in the Philippines.

title: 1615

section: Climate & Environment

date: February 19

text: February 19 – The first recorded eruption of Mayon Volcano, the Philippines' most active volcano, takes place.

title: 1616

section: Events › January–February

date: April 14

text: April 14 – Second Battle of Playa Honda: The Spanish navy defeats a Dutch fleet in the Philippines.

title: 1617

text: The Japanese shōgun expels the Spanish from Japan, and severs trade with the Philippines.

title: 1624

date: March 15

text: March 15 – Start of the Battles of La Naval de Manila, a series of five naval battles fought between the Dutch Republic and Spain in the waters of the Philippines.

title: 1646

date: May 4

text: May 4 – The Municipality of Ilagan is founded in the Philippines.

title: 1686

section: Science & Discovery

date: November 27

text: November 27 – Annular solar eclipse is visible through Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, eastern China, Myanmar and northern Philippines.

title: 1704

date: January 24

text: January 24 – The Dagohoy rebellion in the Philippines begins, with the killing of Father Giuseppe Lamberti.

title: 1744

section: Health & Medicine

date: November 30

text: November 30 – The Balmis Expedition starts in Spain, with the aim of vaccinating millions against smallpox in Spanish America and the Philippines.

title: 1803

date: December 31

text: December 31 – This date is omitted from the calendar in the Philippines in order to align it with the calendar elsewhere in East Asia, essentially moving the International Date Line to the east of the archipelago.

title: 1844

date: January 1

text: January 1 – The Philippines began reckoning Asian dates by hopping the International Date Line through skipping Tuesday, December 31, 1844. That time zone shift was a reform made by Governor–General Narciso Claveria on August 16, 1844, in order to align the local calendars in the country with the rest of Asia as trade interests with Imperial China, Dutch East Indies and neighboring countries increased, after Mexico became independent in 1821. The reform also applied to Caroline Islands, Guam, Marianas Islands, Marshall Islands, and Palau as part of the Captaincy General of the Philippines.

title: 1845

date: September 29

text: September 29 – The Port of Iloilo in the Philippines is opened to international trade, by Queen Isabella II of Spain. This year also the ports of Sual (modern-day Pangasinan) and Zamboanga City are opened to international trade.

title: 1855

date: May 1

text: May 1 – The province of Isabela is created in the Philippines, in honor of Queen Isabella II of Spain.

title: 1856

date: February 17

text: February 17 – Filipino priests José Burgos, Mariano Gomez and Jacinto Zamora, collectively known as Gomburza, are executed in Bagumbayan Fields, Manila, Philippines by the authorities of New Spain, on charges of subversion arising from the 1872 Cavite mutiny.

title: 1872

section: Events › February

date: June 12

text: June 12 – Philippine Declaration of Independence: After 333 years of Spanish dominance, General Emilio Aguinaldo declares the Philippines' independence from Spain.

title: 1898

section: Events › June

date: April 11

text: April 11 – U.S. President William McKinley declares the Spanish–American War to be at an end as the Treaty of Paris between the U.S. and Spain goes into effect. Puerto Rico, the Philippines and Guam are ceded to the U.S. and Cuba becomes an American protectorate.

title: 1899

section: Events › April

date: July 27

text: July 27 – Felix Ysagun Manalo registers the Iglesia ni Cristo (Church of Christ) with the government of the Philippines.

title: 1914

section: Events › July

date: March 10

text: March 10 – The Province of Batangas is formally founded, as one of the Philippines' first encomiendas.

title: 1917

text: January 17 – The United States Congress votes in favour of Philippines independence, against the wishes of U.S. President Herbert Hoover.

title: 1933

text: March 24 – The Tydings–McDuffie Act is passed, allowing the Philippines a greater degree of self-government from the United States.

title: 1934

text: April 3 – WWII: Japanese forces begin the last phase of the Battle of Bataan, an all-out assault on the United States and Filipino troops on the Bataan Peninsula.

title: 1942

text: October 14 – José P. Laurel takes the oath of office as President of the Philippines (Second Philippine Republic).

title: 1943

text: The capital of the Philippines, Manila, is liberated by combined American and Filipino ground troops. The suburb of Intramuros is devastated.

title: 1945

text: Raid at Cabanatuan: 121 American soldiers and 800 Filipino guerrillas free 813 American prisoners of war from the Japanese-held camp in the city of Cabanatuan, in the Philippines.

title: 1945

text: October 23 – Alto Broadcasting System (ABS) in the Philippines makes the first television broadcast in southeast Asia, through DZAQ-TV. Alto Broadcasting System is the predecessor of what will later become ABS-CBN Corporation.

title: 1953

text: May 8 – The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) is formed in Manila, Philippines.

title: 1954

text: September 6 – The Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) treaty is signed in Manila, Philippines.

title: 1954

text: March 17 – 1957 Cebu Douglas C-47 crash: Philippine President Ramon Magsaysay and 24 others are killed in a plane crash.

title: 1957

text: September 28 – Taal Volcano in Luzon, Philippines, erupts, killing hundreds.

title: 1965

text: January 17 – Ferdinand Marcos becomes President for Life of the Philippines.

title: 1973

text: October 15 – Typhoon Ruth crosses Luzon, Philippines, killing 27 people and causing $5 million in damage.

title: 1973

text: August 17 – The 8.0 Moro Gulf earthquake hits off the coast of Mindanao, Philippines, triggering a destructive tsunami, killing between 5,000 and 8,000 people and leaving more than 90,000 homeless.

title: 1976

text: February 17–22 – Pope John Paul II visits the Philippines.

title: 1981

text: August 21 – Benigno Aquino Jr., Philippines opposition leader, is assassinated in Manila just as he returns from exile.

title: 1983

text: February 22 – The People Power Revolution begins in the Philippines to remove President Ferdinand Marcos from office.

title: 1986

text: February 25 – People Power Revolution: President Ferdinand Marcos of the Philippines is ousted from power and goes into exile in Hawaii after 20 years of dictatorial rule; Corazon Aquino becomes the first Filipino woman president and forms an interim government with Salvador Laurel becoming her Vice-president and Prime Minister.

title: 1986

text: June 27 – A commercial HS 748 (Philippine Airlines Flight 206) crashes near Baguio, Philippines, killing 50.

title: 1987

text: November 25 – Category 5 Typhoon Nina smashes the Philippines with 265 km/h mph winds and a devastating storm surge, causing destruction and 812 deaths.

title: 1987

text: December 1 – A military coup attempt begins in the Philippines against the government of Philippine President Corazon C. Aquino. It is crushed by United States intervention ending by December 9.

title: 1989

text: July 16 – 1990 Luzon earthquake: An earthquake measuring kills more than 2,400 in the Philippines.

title: 1990

text: June 14 – 1990 Panay earthquake: An earthquake measuring struck Panay in the Philippines, killing 8 and injuring 41.

title: 1990

text: May 13 – In the Philippines, gunmen kill two United States Air Force airmen near Clark Air Base on the eve of talks between the Philippines and the United States over the future of American military bases in the Philippines.

title: 1990

text: October 4 – Moro conflict: Rebel forces seize two military posts on the island of Mindanao, Philippines before surrendering on October 6.

title: 1990

text: November 5 – Tropical Storm Thelma causes flash floods in the Philippine city of Ormoc, killing more than 4,900 people.

title: 1991

text: June 26–28 – Typhoon Koryn causes massive damage to the Philippines, China and Macau.

title: 1993

text: November 15 – 1994 Mindoro earthquake A 7.1 earthquake hits the central Philippine island of Mindoro, killing 78 people, injuring 430 and triggering a tsunami up to 8.5 m ft high.

title: 1994

text: November 7 – Typhoon Angela leaves the Philippines and Vietnam devastated, with 882 deaths and US$315 million in damage. The typhoon is the strongest to strike the Philippines in 25 years, with wind speeds of 130 mi/h km/h and gusts of 180 mi/h km/h.

title: 1995

text: August 1 – Sarah Balabagan returns to the Philippines.

title: 1996

text: February 14 – Violent clashes erupt between Filipino soldiers and Vietnamese boat people, as the Filipino government attempts to forcibly repatriate hundreds of Vietnamese asylum seekers.

title: 1996

text: March 18 – The Ozone Disco Club fire in Quezon City, Philippines, kills 163 people.

title: 1996

text: March 24 – The Marcopper mining disaster on the island of Marinduque, Philippines takes place.

title: 1996

text: February 2 - Cebu Pacific Flight 387 crashes into a mountain, this crash marked deadliest aviation accident in Philippines until 2000.

title: 1998

text: June 30 – Philippine Vice President Joseph Estrada is sworn in as the 13th President of the Philippines.

title: 1998

text: April 19 – Air Philippines Flight 541, a Boeing 737-200, crashes during approach at Davao City, Philippines, killing 131 people, making it the deadliest air disaster in the Philippines.

title: 2000

text: May 5 – After originating in the Philippines, the ILOVEYOU computer virus spreads quickly throughout the world.

title: 2000

text: November 23 – In the Philippines, at least 58 people are abducted and killed in the province of Maguindanao, in what the Committee to Protect Journalists called the single deadliest attack on journalists in history.

title: 2009

text: December 16 – Tropical Storm Washi causes 1,268 flash flood fatalities in the Philippines, with 85 people officially listed as missing.

title: 2011

text: February 6 – A magnitude 6.7 earthquake strike in the central Philippines island of Negros, leaving 112 people dead.

title: 2012

text: November 8 – Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda), one of the strongest tropical cyclones on record, hits the Philippines and Vietnam, causing devastation with at least 6,241 people dead.

title: 2013

text: July 12 – The Philippines wins the arbitration case they filed at the Permanent Court of Arbitration regarding the legality of China's "nine-dash line" claim over the South China Sea under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

title: 2016

text: November 18 – The remains of Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos are buried in a private ceremony at the Libingan ng mga Bayani prompting protests throughout the Philippines.

title: 2016

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

title: 2018

text: April 10 – Fossil fragments found in the Callao Cave in the Philippines reveal the existence of a new species of human, the Homo luzonensis. The species is named after Luzon, where the fossils were discovered.

title: 2019

text: August 10 – 32 are killed and 1,000,000 evacuated as Typhoon Lekima makes landfall in Zhejiang, China. Earlier it had caused flooding in the Philippines.

title: 2019

text: December 19 – A court in the Philippines convicts Andal Ampatuan Jr., his brother Zaldy Ampatuan and 31 others including three members of the Ampatuan clan, of 57 counts of murder and sentences them to life imprisonment without parole for their role in the Maguindanao massacre.

title: 2019

text: December 2 – Typhoon Kammuri hits the Philippines, causing the evacuation of 200,000 people, but without reports of injuries or serious damage.

title: 2019

text: January 12 – The Taal Volcano in the Philippines has had its first major eruption since 1977.

title: 2020

text: Typhoon Vamco makes landfall in Vietnam, after crossing the Philippines and killing at least 69 people. The storm causes the worst floods in the region since Typhoon Ketsana in 2009.

title: 2020

text: July 27 – A 7.0 earthquake strikes the island of Luzon in the Philippines killing 11 people and injuring over 600.

title: 2022

text: March 11 – The former President of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte, is arrested in the Philippines after being served an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity.

title: 2025

text: November 21 – December 7 – The 2025 FIFA Futsal Women's World Cup is held in the Philippines, and is won by Brazil.

title: 2025

text: November 4 – Typhoon Kalmaegi leaves more than 288 people dead in the Philippines, Vietnam, and Thailand.

title: 2025

text: September 12–28 – The 2025 FIVB Men's Volleyball World Championship is held in Pasay and Quezon City, the Philippines, and is won by Italy.

title: 2025


slug: philology

label: Philology

description: study of language in written historical sources

year_label: 257 BCE

section: Births

text: Aristophanes of Byzantium, Greek scholar and grammarian (approximate date)

title: 257 BC

year_label: 74 BCE

section: Deaths

text: Lucius Aelius Stilo Praeconinus, Roman philologist

title: 74 BC

text: Ibn Duraid, Muslim poet and philologist (d. 933)

title: 837

text: Menahem ben Saruq, Spanish Jewish philologist (d. 970)

title: 920

text: Ibn Duraid, Arab poet and philologist (b. 837)

title: 933

text: Menahem ben Saruq, Jewish philologist (approximate date)

title: 970

date: April

text: April – Abu Mansur Mauhub al-Jawaliqi, Arab philologist (d. 1144)

title: 1074

text: Ibn al-Jawzi, Arab historian and philologist (d. 1201)

title: 1116

date: July 17

text: July 17 – Abu Mansur Mauhub al-Jawaliqi, Arab philologist (b. 1074)

title: 1144

text: Abu Musa al-Jazuli, Almohad philologian and writer (d. 1211)

title: 1146

text: Muhammad Aufi, Persian historian and philologist (d. 1242)

title: 1171

date: June 16

text: June 16 – Ibn al-Jawzi, Arab historian and philologist (b. 1116)

title: 1201


slug: philopoemen

label: Philopoemen

description: ancient Greek general

year_label: 252 BCE

text: Philopoemen, Greek general and statesman (d. 183 BC)

title: 252 BC

year_label: 223 BCE

section: Disasters & Accidents

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

title: 223 BC

section: Events › By place › Greece

year_label: 209 BCE

section: Conflict & Security

text: As strategos of the Achaeans, the Greek general Philopoemen is responsible for turning the Achaean League into an aggressive military power. He builds up the League's military capability. The Achaean League's army and cavalry under Philopoemen then defeat the Aetolians on the Elean frontier.

title: 209 BC

year_label: 207 BCE

text: The general leading the Achaean League, Philopoemen, introduces heavier Macedonian armour and phalanx tactics. His army then crushes the Spartans under the Spartan regent and general, Machanidas, in the battle of Mantinea. Machanidas is killed by Philopoemen during the battle.

title: 207 BC

year_label: 205 BCE

text: After the peace, the Spartan king, Nabis, goes to war with the Achaean League. The Achaean general Philopoemen expels Nabis of Sparta from Messene.

title: 205 BC

year_label: 201 BCE

text: The Spartan king, Nabis, once more invades and captures Messene. However, the Spartans are forced to retreat when the Achaean League army of Philopoemen intervenes. Nabis' forces are decisively defeated at Tegea by Philopoemen and Nabis is forced to check his expansionist ambitions for the time being.

title: 201 BC

year_label: 193 BCE

text: Flamininus attempts to rally the Greeks against Antiochus III and to counter the pro-Seleucid policy of the Aetolians. When the Aetolians call on Antiochus III for aid, Flamininus persuades the Achaean League to declare war on both parties. He also prevents Philopoemen from taking Sparta.

title: 193 BC

year_label: 192 BCE

text: Not waiting for the Roman fleet to arrive, the Achaean army and navy head towards Gythium under the command of Philopoemen. The Achaean fleet under Tiso is defeated by the Spartan fleet. On land, the Achaeans are unable to defeat the Spartan forces outside Gythium and Philopoemen retreats to Tegea.

title: 192 BC

year_label: 188 BCE

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

text: The leader of the Achaean League, Philopoemen, enters northern Laconia with his army and a group of Spartan exiles. His army demolishes the wall that the former tyrant of Sparta, Nabis, has built around Sparta. Philopoemen then restores Spartan citizenship to the exiles and abolishes Spartan law, introducing Achaean law in its place. Sparta's role as a major power in Greece ends, while the Achaean League becomes the dominant power throughout the Peloponnese.

title: 188 BC

year_label: 183 BCE

text: The town of Messene rebels against the Achaean League. When the Achaean League's general, Philopoemen, intervenes to try to control the rebellion, he is captured during a skirmish and imprisoned. He is then given poison to take so that he can die honourably.

title: 183 BC

text: Philopoemen, Greek general and statesman, strategos of the Achaean League on eight occasions and a major figure in the demise of Sparta as a Greek power (b. 253 BC)

title: 183 BC


slug: philosophy

label: Philosophy

description: study of questions concerning being, thought, knowledge, and conduct for which no objective answers have been established, using logical reasoning

year_label: 487 BCE

text: Gorgias, Greek philosopher (approximate date) (d. c. 376 BC)

title: 487 BC

year_label: 481 BCE

text: Protagoras, Greek presocratic philosopher (d. c. 420 BC)

title: 481 BC

year_label: 480 BCE

text: Xenophanes, Greek philosopher (b. 570 BC)

title: 480 BC

year_label: 479 BCE

text: Confucius, Chinese philosopher (b. 551 BC)

title: 479 BC

year_label: 470 BCE

text: Mozi (or Mo Tzu), Chinese philosopher (d. c. 391)

title: 470 BC

year_label: 420 BCE

text: Protagoras, Greek presocratic philosopher (b. c. 490 BC)

title: 420 BC

year_label: 372 BCE

text: Mencius, Chinese philosopher (d. c. 289 BC)

title: 372 BC

year_label: 310 BCE

text: Xun Zi, Chinese philosopher (approximate date) (d. c. 230 BC)

title: 310 BC

year_label: 287 BCE

text: Archimedes of Syracuse, Greek mathematician, physicist, engineer, astronomer and philosopher (approximate date) (d. c. 212 BC)

title: 287 BC

year_label: 279 BCE

text: Chrysippus, Greek Stoic philosopher (approximate date)

title: 279 BC

year_label: 238 BCE

title: 238 BC

year_label: 233 BCE

text: Han Fei, Chinese philosopher who, along with Li Si, has developed Xun Zi's philosophy into the doctrine embodied by the School of Law (or Legalism) (b. c. 280 BC)

title: 233 BC

year_label: 206 BCE

title: 206 BC

text: Plutarch of Athens, Greek philosopher (approximate date);

title: 350

text: Hypatia, Greek philosopher, distinguishes herself as one of the first female scientists and becomes head of the Neo-Platonist school at Alexandria.

title: 400

section: Events › By topic › Physics

text: Plutarch of Athens, Greek philosopher

title: 430

text: Boethius, Roman philosopher and writer (d. 524)

title: 480

text: John Philoponus, Aristotelian commentator and philosopher (d. 570)

title: 490

text: Boethius, Roman philosopher and writer (b. 480)

title: 524

text: Boethius, Roman philosopher and writer (or 524)

title: 525

text: Adi Shankara, Indian philosopher and theologian (d. 832)

title: 788

text: Anandavardhana, Indian philosopher (d. 890)

title: 820

text: Vasugupta, Indian writer and philosopher (d. 925)

title: 860

text: Anandavardhana, Indian philosopher (b. 820)

title: 890


slug: phoenicia

label: Phoenicia

description: ancient Semitic maritime civilization

section: Technology & Infrastructure

text: c. 1500 BC: The Phoenicians develop an alphabet—see Timeline of communication technology.

title: 1500s BC (decade)

section: Events and trends

year_label: 493 BCE

section: Exploration & Expansion

text: A Phoenician-manned Persian fleet restores Persian control of Cyprus.

title: 493 BC

section: Events › By place › Persian Empire

year_label: 478 BCE

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

title: 478 BC

year_label: 466 BCE

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

title: 466 BC

year_label: 410 BCE

text: Evagoras re-establishes his family's claim as kings of Salamis which has been under Phoenician control for a number of years.

title: 410 BC

section: Events › By place › Cyprus

year_label: 396 BCE

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

title: 396 BC

year_label: 361 BCE

text: With the Persian empire weakening, revolts occur in many parts of the empire, including Sidon, a prosperous and rich Phoenician city.

title: 361 BC

year_label: 351 BCE

text: Encouraged by a failed effort at invasion of Egypt by King Artaxerxes III, Phoenicia and Cyprus revolt against Persia.

title: 351 BC

year_label: 333 BCE

text: From Issus, Alexander marches south into Syria and Phoenicia, his object being to isolate the Persian fleet from its bases and so to destroy it as an effective fighting force. The Phoenician cities of Marathus and Aradus do not resist Alexander's armies. Parmenion is sent ahead to try to secure Damascus and its rich booty, including Darius' war chest.

title: 333 BC

section: Events

year_label: 331 BCE

text: Alexander departs from Egypt and leads his forces towards Phoenicia. He leaves Cleomenes of Naucratis as the ruling nomarch to control Egypt.

title: 331 BC

section: Events › By place › Macedonia

year_label: 323 BCE

text: Laomedon governing Syria and Phoenicia;

title: 323 BC

section: Events › By place › Macedonian Empire

year_label: 319 BCE

text: Eumenes allies himself with the regent Polyperchon. He manages to escape from the siege of Nora, and his forces soon threaten Syria and Phoenicia. Polyperchon recognises Eumenes as the royal general in Asia Minor.

title: 319 BC

year_label: 313 BCE

text: Antigonus, after finding a pass across the Taurus Mountains that was still open, marches his main army into Asia Minor and goes into winter quarters in Celaenae in Phrygia. Meanwhile, Antigonus' admiral Medius is ordered to sail the new Antigonid fleet from Phoenicia into the Aegean. On route he captures one of Cassander's fleets (the one that had escorted Prepelaus to Asia Minor).

title: 313 BC

section: Events › By place › Asia Minor

year_label: 301 BCE

text: In the Battle of Ipsus in Phrygia, the armies of Antigonus, the ruler of Syria, Asia Minor, Phoenicia and Judea, and his son Demetrius Poliorcetes are defeated by the forces of Lysimachus and Seleucus. Antigonus is killed in the battle.

title: 301 BC

year_label: 294 BCE

text: Ptolemy gains control over Cyprus and the Phoenician coastal towns of Tyre and Sidon.

title: 294 BC

section: Events › By place › Egypt

year_label: 281 BCE

text: The Battle of Corupedium in Lydia is the last battle of the Diadochi, the rival successors to Alexander the Great. It is fought between the armies of Lysimachus, King of Thrace, Macedonia, Western Anatolia and Seleucus, ruler of Eastern Anatolia, Syria, Phoenicia, Judea, Babylonia and Iran. Seleucus kills Lysimachus during the battle.

title: 281 BC

year_label: 272 BCE

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

title: 272 BC

section: Events › By place › Seleucid Empire

year_label: 253 BCE

text: The second Syrian War between the Seleucids and the Ptolemies ends. Antiochus II regains much of Anatolia from Ptolemy II, including the cities of Miletus and Ephesus, and also the Phoenician coast.

title: 253 BC

year_label: 175 BCE

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

title: 175 BC

year_label: 40 BCE

text: Mark Antony leaves Alexandria. After receiving news of the outcome at Perusia while en route to Phoenicia, he sets sail for Italy meeting the ambassadors of Sextus Pompey in Athens.

title: 40 BC

section: Events › Asia minor › Egypt

year_label: 39 BCE

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

title: 39 BC

section: Events › By place › Roman Republic

year_label: 34 BCE

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

title: 34 BC

text: Valens concludes a peace with the Persian Empire and leaves enough troops to defend the eastern frontier. The Saracens under Queen Mavia revolt and devastate a swath of territory stretching from Phoenicia and Palestine as far as the Sinai (Egypt). Valens successfully brings the uprising under control.

title: 377

section: Events › By place › Roman Empire


slug: photios-i-of-constantinople

label: Photios I of Constantinople

description: 9th Century Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople

section: Births

text: Photius I, patriarch of Constantinople (approximate date)

title: 810

section: Conflict & Security

date: June 18

text: June 18 – Byzantine–Rus' War: A fleet of about 200 Rus' vessels sails into the Bosphorus, and starts pillaging the suburbs of Constantinople. The raiders set homes on fire, and drown and kill the citizens. Unable to do anything to repel the invaders, Patriarch Photios I urges his flock to implore the Theotokos to save the Byzantine capital. Having devastated the suburbs, the Rus' Vikings pass into the Sea of Marmara and attack the Isles of the Princes, plundering the local monasteries.

title: 860

section: Events › By place › Byzantine Empire

section: Religion & Belief

text: Nicholas I excommunicates Patriarch Photios I of Constantinople.

title: 863

section: Events › By topic › Religion

date: October 5

text: October 5 – The Fourth Council of Constantinople, called by Basil I and Pope Adrian II, opens. The council will condemn Photius I and depose him as patriarch, reinstating his predecessor Ignatios.

title: 869

section: Deaths

date: October 23

text: October 23 – Photius I is reinstated as patriarch of Constantinople, after the death of Ignatius.

title: 877

text: Fourth Council of Constantinople: Emperor Basil I calls for a synod, and reinstates Photius I as patriarch of Constantinople.

title: 879

text: May 1 – The Nea Ekklesia is inaugurated in Constantinople, by Patriarch Photius I, setting the model for all later cross-in-square Orthodox churches.

title: 880

date: December

text: December – Emperor Leo VI dismisses Patriarch Photius I, who has been his tutor, and replaces him with his own brother Stephen I.

title: 886

date: March 1

text: March 1 – Nicholas Mystikos, a layman close to Photios, becomes Patriarch of Constantinople.

title: 901


slug: phrygia

label: Phrygia

description: ancient kingdom in Asia Minor

year_label: 696 BCE

text: 696 BC—Cimmerian forces begin a conquest of Phrygia (modern Turkey), having failed in their efforts to defeat the Assyrians and moved into Anatolia.

title: 690s BC

section: Events and trends

year_label: 408 BCE

text: King Darius II of Persia decides to continue the war against Athens and give support to the Spartans. His wife, Parysatis, persuades him to appoint his younger son, Cyrus, as satrap (governor) of Lydia, Phrygia, and Cappadocia and commander in chief of the Achaemenian forces in Asia Minor in place of Tissaphernes.

title: 408 BC

section: Events › By place › Persian Empire

year_label: 404 BCE

text: Emerging after the Spartan victory at Aegospotami, the former Athenian leader, Alcibiades, takes refuge in Phrygia in northwestern Asia Minor with the Persian satrap, Pharnabazus, and seeks their assistance for the Athenians. The Spartans discover his plans and arrange with Pharnabazus to have him assassinated.

title: 404 BC

section: Events › By place › Greece

year_label: 396 BCE

text: Agesilaus II, the King of Sparta, campaigns successfully in Asia Minor against the Persian satraps Pharnabazus and Tissaphernes and inflicts a major defeat on Tissaphernes at Sardis. Agesilaus agrees to a three months' truce with the Persians under Tissaphernes, the satrap of Lydia and Caria. Negotiations conducted during that time prove fruitless, and on its termination, Agesilaus raids Phrygia, where he easily captures an immense amount of booty, since Tissaphernes has concentrated his troops in Caria.

title: 396 BC

year_label: 395 BCE

section: Crime & Justice

text: The Persian satrap Tissaphernes' enemy Parysatis, mother of Cyrus, succeeds in persuading Persian King Artaxerxes II to have him executed at Colossae, Phrygia (now Turkey). Parysatis cannot forgive Tissaphernes for the rough treatment he has handed out to her favourite son, the late Cyrus.

title: 395 BC

year_label: 356 BCE

text: Having blamed their defeats to Philip II in Thessaly and Chalcidice on his colleagues (Iphicrates and Timotheus), Chares is left in sole command of the Athenian fleet. Chares, in need of money for his war effort, frowns upon asking it from Athens, so, partly compelled by his mercenaries, he enters the service of the insurgent Achaemenid satrap of Phrygia Artabazus who rewards Chares very generously.

title: 356 BC

year_label: 334 BCE

text: As the Persian satraps have gathered for a war council at Zeleia, Memnon argues that it is preferable for the Persians to avoid a pitched battle and adopt a scorched earth tactic. Arsites, the satrap of Hellespontine Phrygia, will not allow his land to be burned and agrees with other satraps to reject this cautious advice.

title: 334 BC

text: Alexander makes one of his officers, Nearchus, satrap of the newly conquered Lycia and Pamphylia in Anatolia and he appoints his general, Antigonus, satrap of Phrygia.

title: 333 BC

year_label: 320 BCE

text: Alexander the Great's various generals control different parts of Alexander's empire. Ptolemy controls Egypt, Seleucus controls Babylon and Syria, Antipater and his son Cassander control Macedon and Greece, Antigonus controls Phrygia and other parts of Asia Minor, Lysimachus controls Thrace and Pergamum and Eumenes controls the Cappadocia and Pontus areas.

title: 320 BC

text: Polyperchon's authority is challenged by Antipater's son Cassander, who refuses to acknowledge the new regent. With the aid of Antigonus, ruler of Phrygia, and with the support of Ptolemy and Lysimachus, Cassander seizes most of Greece including Macedonia.

title: 319 BC

section: Exploration & Expansion

text: Antigonus, after finding a pass across the Taurus Mountains that was still open, marches his main army into Asia Minor and goes into winter quarters in Celaenae in Phrygia. Meanwhile, Antigonus' admiral Medius is ordered to sail the new Antigonid fleet from Phoenicia into the Aegean. On route he captures one of Cassander's fleets (the one that had escorted Prepelaus to Asia Minor).

title: 313 BC

year_label: 312 BCE

text: At the start of the year, Asander (Antigonus' governor of Caria) rebels, forcing Antigonus (wintering with his main army in Phrygia) to invade Caria. Calling all his forces from their winter quarters, he divides them into four columns: the first is sent to take Miletus; the second, under his nephew Ptolemy, campaigns through central Caria from east to west; a third marches to and takes Theangela; Antigonus himself with the main army campaigns from north to south capturing Tralles, Iasus and Kaunos. Caria is taken in the space of weeks.

title: 312 BC

year_label: 302 BCE

text: Docimus, the regent of Phrygia, and Phoenix, the strategos of Lycia, desert Antigonus.

title: 302 BC

text: In the Battle of Ipsus in Phrygia, the armies of Antigonus, the ruler of Syria, Asia Minor, Phoenicia and Judea, and his son Demetrius Poliorcetes are defeated by the forces of Lysimachus and Seleucus. Antigonus is killed in the battle.

title: 301 BC

year_label: 223 BCE

text: The Seleucid king Seleucus III is assassinated by members of his army while on campaign against Attalus of Pergamon in Phrygia.

title: 223 BC

year_label: 188 BCE

text: Through the peace treaty of Apamea (in Phrygia), the Romans force the Seleucid king, Antiochus III, to surrender all his Greek and Anatolian possessions as far east as the Taurus Mountains, to pay 15,000 talents over a period of 12 years and to surrender to Rome the former Carthaginian general Hannibal, his elephants and his fleet, and furnish hostages, including the king's eldest son, Demetrius. Rome is now the master of the eastern Mediterranean while Antiochus III's empire is reduced to Syria, Mesopotamia, and western Iran.

title: 188 BC

text: Following the peace of Apamea, Eumenes II receives the provinces of Phrygia, Lydia, Lycia, Pisidia, and Pamphylia from his Roman allies, as the Romans have no desire to actually administer territory in Hellenistic Anatolia but want to see a strong, friendly state in Anatolia as a buffer zone against any possible Seleucid expansion in the future.

title: 188 BC

year_label: 88 BCE

date: May

text: May – King Mithridates VI of Pontus invades Greece. Defeating the Roman forces four times in succession, he conquers Bithynia, Phrygia, Mysia, Lycia, Pamphylia, Ionia and Cappadocia. The Roman province of Asia is dismantled. On the king's orders, the local authorities in every city of the province round up and put to death all resident Italians in a single day (App.Mith.§§85–91). Plutarch (Sulla 24.4) says that 150,000 are killed, other sources calculate a figure of 80,000 people.

title: 88 BC

text: Emperor Elagabalus, age 15, is initiated into the worship of the Phrygian gods Cybele and Attis.

title: 219

text: Byzantine–Persian War: King Khosrau II invades Armenia, and raids deep into Anatolia through the Byzantine provinces of Cappadocia, Phrygia, Galatia, and Bithynia.

title: 608

text: Arab–Byzantine War: Arab forces (95,000 men) under Harun al-Rashid, son of the Abbasid caliph Al-Mahdi, cross the Taurus Mountains and capture the Byzantine border fortress of Magida. Harun leaves his lieutenant Al-Rabi' ibn Yunus to besiege the city of Nakoleia (Phrygia), while another force (30,000 men), probably under Yahya ibn Khalid, is sent to raid the western coastlands of Asia Minor. Harun himself, with the main army, advances to the Opsician Theme.

title: 782

section: Events › By place › Abbasid Empire

text: Battle of Krasos: Emperor Nikephoros I refuses to pay the tribute imposed by Caliph Harun al-Rashid of the Abbasid Caliphate. A Muslim-Arab expeditionary force invades Asia Minor. During a surprise attack, Nikephoros suffers a major defeat against the Saracens at Krasos in Phrygia. According to Arabian sources, the Byzantines lose 40,700 men and 4,000 pack animals, while Nikephoros himself is almost killed, but saved by the bravery of his officers.

title: 804

section: Events › By place › Abbasid Caliphate


slug: piacenza

label: Piacenza

description: Italian comune

year_label: 187 BCE

text: The construction of the Via Aemilia, a trunk road in the north Italian plains, running from Ariminum (Rimini), on the Adriatic coast, to Placentia (Piacenza) on the river Padus (Po), is completed.

title: 187 BC

year_label: 43 BCE

text: Antony marches to Parma (which is sacked) and Placentia. He then crosses the Ligurian Alps to Vada Sabatia, 50 km 0 south-west of Genoa, and joins with Aemilius Lepidus, soon after Decimus Brutus is killed by brigands. The Senate declares Antony a hostis, an enemy of the state. Sextus Pompey becomes supreme commander of the Roman navy and Gaius Cassius proconsul of Syria.

title: 43 BC

text: Battle of Placentia: The Iuthungi invade Italy and sack the city of Piacenza. A Roman army under Emperor Aurelian is ambushed and defeated.

title: 271

date: October 17

text: October 17 – Battle of Placentia: Ricimer, supported by Majorian (comes domesticorum), defeats the usurper Avitus near Piacenza (northern Italy). They compel him to renounce the purple, and Avitus is obliged to become bishop of Piacenza.

title: 456

date: August 28

text: August 28 – Orestes is arrested by Odoacer near Piacenza, and swiftly executed.

title: 476

date: March 5

text: March 5 – Adelard becomes the new Duke of Spoleto upon the death of his father, Suppo I, who ruled much of Italy including Brescia, Parma, Piacenza, Modena, and Bergamo. Adelard reigns for only five months before dying in August.

title: 824

section: Events › By date

date: August 8

text: August 8 – Lothair II, King of Middle Francia (Lotharingia), dies at Piacenza, on his way home from meeting Pope Adrian II at Rome, to get assent for a divorce. Lotharingia is subsequently divided between Lothair's uncles, Charles the Bald of France and Louis the German.

title: 869

section: Events › By place › Europe

date: March

text: March – Arnulf of Carinthia proceeds to Piacenza, and from there invades central Italy. After a successful campaign, he calls the invasion off and returns to Pavia – probably because Duke Rudolph I of Burgundy was threatening to invade Lorraine. Arnulf has himself proclaimed King of Italy at Pavia, leaving Berengar I as his vice-regent in Italy.

title: 894

date: March 6

text: March 6 – German forces led by Frederick Barbarossa, Holy Roman Emperor, capture Milan; much of the city is destroyed three weeks later on the emperor's orders. The fortifications are demolished and the churches are destroyed. The population is dispersed, and the commune abolished. The fate of Milan leads to the submission of Brescia, Piacenza, and many other northern Italian cities.

title: 1162

date: April 7

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

title: 1167

section: Culture & Society

date: July

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

title: 1236

date: November 16

text: November 16 – In the War of the Milanese Succession, Francesco Sforza, leader of the forces of the Ambrosian Republic of Milan, overwhelms the city of Piacenza after a siege that began on October 1. According to a contemporary account, Piacenza "endured every evil" from the Milanese over the next 50 days. Cristoforo da Soldo comments that "as for the ravaging of the land that was plundered, it would take a great pile of paper to write down the many cruelties. All the churches were robbed.. virgins, married women, widows, and nuns, all of them were shamed, abused and wrongly molested."

title: 1447

section: Events › October – December

date: September 10

text: September 10 – Conspirators led by Ferrante Gonzaga murder Pier Luigi Farnese, Duke of Parma and son of the Pope, and hang his body from a window of his palace in Piacenza.

title: 1547

section: Events › July–September

date: May 6

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

title: 1796

section: Events › April–June


slug: piast-dynasty

label: Piast dynasty

description: Polish royal dynasty

text: The tribe of the Polans begins the construction of the following fortified settlements (Giecz, Bnin, Ląd, Gniezno, Poznań, Grzybowo and Ostrów Lednicki) in Greater Poland. The Piast Dynasty under Duke Siemomysł gains control over other groups of Polans along the Upper Vistula, and establishes their rule around Giecz (approximate date).

title: 940

text: Mieszko I, a duke of the Piast Dynasty, becomes prince (de facto ruler) of Poland on the death of his father Siemomysł. Mieszko continues to subdue the neighbouring tribes under his control. Two obstacles to this plan are the Western Slav tribal group, the Veleti (also known as the Wilzi or "Wolf people") who are raiding Mieszko's lands for plunder; and the Saxon border dukes, who are pushing eastwards in search of new lands to conquer.

title: 960

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

title: 960

text: Otto Bolesławowic, Polish prince (House of Piast) (b. 1000)

title: 1033

date: August 2

text: August 2 – Mieszko the Younger, duke of Kalisz (House of Piast)

title: 1193

date: August 31

text: August 31 – Konrad I of Masovia, Polish nobleman (House of Piast)

title: 1247

section: Births

date: October 20

text: October 20 – Bolko I, Polish co-ruler (House of Piast) (d. 1313)

title: 1258

date: June 23

text: June 23 – Siemowit I of Masovia, Polish nobleman and knight (House of Piast)

title: 1262

date: December 26

text: December 26/31 – Bolesław II the Horned, Polish nobleman (House of Piast)

title: 1278

text: Beatrice of Silesia, queen of Germany (House of Piast) (d. 1322)

title: 1290

text: Kunigunde of Poland, Polish princess (House of Piast) (d. 1331)

title: 1298

date: March 10

text: March 10 – Casimir of Bytom, Polish nobleman (House of Piast)

title: 1312

date: April 20

text: April 20 – Bolesław II, Polish nobleman, prince and co-ruler (House of Piast)

title: 1313

date: June 27

text: June 27 – Mieszko I, Polish nobleman and knight (House of Piast)

title: 1315

text: May 6 – Bernard of Świdnica, Polish nobleman, knight and ruler (House of Piast)

title: 1326

date: January 19

text: January 19 – In Poland, the Duchy of Oświęcim, ruled jointly since 1434 by the three sons of the late Duke Casimir of the Piast dynasty, is divided between the three brothers. Wenceslaus I, the eldest, receives the Duchy of Zator, Przemysław becomes ruler of Toszek and Jan IV, the youngest of the brothers, receives the capital, Oświęcim, along with the towns of Kęty and Żywiec.

title: 1445

section: Events › January–March


slug: picardy

label: Picardy

description: cultural region of France

text: Queen Brunhilda pressures her grandson Theuderic II to go to war against his brother, Theudebert II of Austrasia. She puts Protadius, Mayor of the Palace, in charge of the Burgundian army. At the palace of Quierzy (Picardy), Theuderic assembles his army. The soldiers under Uncelen, Duke of Alemannia, refuse to fight against their countrymen, and declare that the king orders Protadius' death. He is killed by the Frankish warriors, and Theuderic is forced to sign a peace treaty.

title: 606

section: Religion & Belief

text: King Chlothar III of Neustria and queen regent Balthild found Corbie Abbey in Picardy (northern France), giving it immunity from taxation, and visits from local bishops in exchange for prayer.

title: 661

section: Conflict & Security

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

title: 718

section: Events › By place › Western Europe

date: June

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

title: 774

text: Order of Premonstratensians founded by Norbert of Xanten at Prémontré in Picardy.

title: 1120

section: Events › By topic › Religion

date: September 27

text: September 27 – Battle of Gisors: Richard I defeats the French forces led by Philip II (Augustus) at Courcelles-lès-Gisors, in Picardy. Richard captures three castles on the border of the Vexin. The French troops, many of them mounted, crowd the bridge leading into Gisors Castle but it collapses beneath them. The French king is among those who plunge into the water in his armor. Many French knights drown, but Philip is pulled to safety.

title: 1198

section: Events › By place › England

date: September

text: September – Hundred Years' War: The French burn Portsmouth, England; the English raid Picardy and Normandy.

title: 1369

date: July 4

text: July 4 – Brought on ships across the English Channel, an English fleet and army under the command of Thomas Howard, Earl of Surrey, attacks Brittany and Picardy after landing at Le Dourduff-en-Mer, near Calais, and burns and loots the countryside.

title: 1522

date: July 24

text: July 24 – Three days after the arrival of the peacekeeping team in Lyon, and 15 days after the legation had met with the Holy Roman Emperor to avoid war, troops of the Holy Roman Empire invade France, crossing over the Var river from Nizza in Italy (now Nice in France) as well as invading Picardie with a second force.

title: 1536

text: September–October – Landrecies in Picardy is besieged by forces under Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, but the siege is withdrawn on the approach of the French army.

title: 1543

date: August 12

text: August 12 – Battle of Renty: French forces led by François, Duke of Guise turn back an invasion of Picardy, by Charles V.

title: 1554

date: January 6

text: January 6 – Italian War of 1551–1559: Gaspard II de Coligny, the French governor of Picardy (in northern France), launches surprise attacks on Douai and Lens in the Spanish Netherlands and captures both cities for France.

title: 1557


slug: picts

label: Picts

description: ancient and medieval tribal confederation in northern Britain

year_label: 82 CE

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

text: Calgacus unites the Picts (30,000 men) in Scotland, and is made chieftain of the Caledonian Confederacy.

title: AD 82

section: Events › By place › Roman Empire

text: Emperor Hadrian orders that a 73-mile (117-kilometer) wall be built to mark the northern Roman Empire while personally visiting the area. Hadrian's Wall, as it comes to be known, is intended to keep the Caledonians, Picts and other tribes at bay.

title: AD 122

section: Crime & Justice

text: The Antonine Wall is overrun by the Picts in Britannia (approximate date).

title: AD 181

text: Summer – Constantine joins his father at Bononia (Boulogne) in Gaul; they cross the Channel to Britain and make their way to Eboracum (York), capital of Britannia Secunda and home to a large military base. They campaign with success against the Picts.

title: 305

text: A large Pictish raid southwards in Roman Britain is attempted.

title: 314

text: The Western Roman Emperor Constans I is in Britain, possibly in a military campaign against the Picts and Scots (the last visit to Britain by a legitimate emperor).

title: 343

text: Great Conspiracy: The Roman garrison on Hadrian's Wall revolts and allows Picts from Caledonia to devastate Britain. Simultaneously Attacotti, the Scotti from Hibernia (Ireland), and the Saxons from Germania invade the island's mid-western and south-eastern borders. They sack the cities and murder, rape or enslave Romano-British civilians.

title: 367

text: Great Conspiracy: Picts, Scotti and Saxons reach Roman London and plunder the city. Theodosius, a general (Comes Britanniarum), is sent with a relief force to Britannia. He marches from Richborough, Kent, to deal with the invaders.

title: 368

text: Emperor Valentinian I is engaged in operations against the Alamanni, Quadi and Sarmatians, while his subordinates are dealing with the Roman usurper Firmus in Africa and the Picts in Britain.

title: 372

text: Scottish missionary Ninian establishes a church (Candida Casa) at Whithorn, and begins his work among the Picts.

title: 397

text: King Vortigern invites a number of Germanic warriors to aid him in consolidating his position in Britain, according to the Historia Brittonum. He hires Saxons who are probably settled in Kent as mercenaries to fight against the Picts and the Scots beyond Hadrian's Wall.

title: 428

section: Climate & Environment

text: Period of civil war and famine in Britain, caused by rival kingdoms and Pictish invasions; the situation aggravates tensions between Pelagian and Roman factions. Pro-Roman citizens migrate towards Gaul.

title: 443

text: The Britons and Anglo-Saxon mercenaries, under King Vortigern, appeal to Flavius Aetius (magister militum of Gaul) for military assistance in their struggle against the Picts and Irish. Aetius has enough problems with Attila the Hun and is unable to send any help (according to Groans of the Britons).

title: 446

text: Traditional date – Hengist and Horsa, by tradition chieftains of the Jutes, land at Isle of Thanet, according to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle at the invitation of Vortigern. The Britons form a military alliance with them against the Picts and Scoti. Bede considers this the beginning of the Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain.

title: 449

section: Deaths

text: Drest I, king of the Picts (approximate date)

title: 452

text: Talorc I, king of the Picts (approximate date)

title: 456

text: Domangart Réti succeeds his father Fergus Mór, after he dies during a campaign against the Picts. He becomes the new king of Dál Riata (modern Scotland) (according to the Annals of Tigernach).

title: 501

section: Events › By place › Britannia

text: Drest II, king of the Picts (approximate date)

title: 510

text: Galan Erilich, king of the Picts (approximate date)

title: 522

text: Drest III, king of the Picts (approximate date)

title: 530

text: Drest IV, king of the Picts (approximate date)

title: 531

text: Cailtram, king of the Picts (approximate date)

title: 538

text: Columba, Irish missionary monk, travels to Scotland with twelve companions. He lands on the Kintyre Peninsula, near Southend, and begins his evangelising mission to the Picts. On the island of Iona, he founds a monastery (Iona Abbey) on the west coast in the Inner Hebrides.

title: 563

text: Columba, an Irish missionary, spots the Loch Ness Monster on the River Ness (in present day Scotland) and saves the life of a Pict (approximate date).

title: 565

section: Events › By place › Britain

text: Galam Cennalath, king of the Picts

title: 580

text: Approximate date – Bridei I, king of the Picts

title: 584

text: Gartnait II, king of the Picts

title: 595

text: Battle of Raith: An invading force of Angles lands on the Fife coast near Raith (Kirkcaldy) and defeats an alliance of Scots, Britons and Picts, under King Áedán mac Gabráin of Dál Riata (Scotland).

title: 596

text: King Rædwald of East Anglia conquers Northumbria (Northern England) at the Battle of the River Idle. King Æthelfrith is killed during the fighting and his children are forced to flee north. His heir, prince Eanfrith (age 26), seeks refuge with his mother's family, probably in Gododdin (modern Scotland), and moves further north into Pictland. Princes Oswald (age 12), Oswiu (age 4) and others escape to the court of King Eochaid Buide of Dál Riata, where they are converted to Christianity by the monks of Iona.

title: 616

text: Nechtan II, king of the Picts (approximate date)

title: 616

text: Cinaed mac Luchtren, king of the Picts

title: 631

text: Osric succeeds his uncle Edwin as king of Deira. Prince Eanfrith returns from Pictland to claim his rightful crown of Bernicia (Northern England). Both revert to paganism.

title: 633

text: Battle of Heavenfield: Oswald, possibly accompanied by a force of Scots (or Picts), defeats and kills Cadwallon with a Welsh army near Hexham (northern England). He reunites Deira with Bernicia, and becomes king of Northumbria.

title: 634

text: King Gartnait III dies after a 4-year reign, and is succeeded by his brother Bridei II, as ruler of the Picts.

title: 635

text: Gartnait III, king of the Picts

title: 635

text: King Bridei II dies after a 5-year reign, and is succeeded by his brother Talorc III as ruler of the Picts.

title: 641

text: King Oswiu of Northumbria invades Pictland (modern Scotland). He establishes overlordship of, at least, the Southern Pictish sub-kingdoms of Fortriu and Fib (and possibly Circinn).

title: 663

text: Gartnait IV, king of the Picts (approximate date)

title: 663

section: Health & Medicine

text: Adomnan of Iona, a contemporary Irish abbot and saint, writes that the epidemic affects all of Ireland and Great Britain, except for Dál Riata and Pictland.

title: 664

section: Events › By place › Great Britain & Ireland

text: Battle of Two Rivers: King Ecgfrith of Northumbria defeats the Picts under King Drest VI, in the vicinity of Moncreiffe Island, near Perth (Scotland). After the battle the Picts are reduced to slavery, and subject to the yoke of captivity for the next 14 years.

title: 671

text: Máel Ruba, Irish abbot, founds one of the first Christian monasteries in Applecross (Scotland) located in hostile Pictish territory.

title: 672

text: Bridei III, King of the Picts, campaigns violently against Orkney.

title: 682

date: May 20

text: May 20 – Battle of Dun Nechtain: The Picts under King Bridei III revolt against their Northumbrian overlords. Cuthbert, bishop of Lindisfarne, advises King Ecgfrith of Northumbria (Bridei's cousin) not to invade Pictland (modern Scotland). Undeterred, Ecgfrith marches his army north to engage the enemy near Dunnichen. The Picts, possibly with Scottish and Strathclyde Briton help, defeat the Saxon guard, killing Ecgfrith, who has reigned for 15 years, routing his army and forcing the Anglo-Saxons to withdraw south of the River Forth.

title: 685

text: Berhtred, Anglo-Saxon nobleman, is killed leading a Northumbrian army against the Picts. The kingdom of Cait (or Cat) in northern Scotland is absorbed (approximate date).

title: 698

text: Beorhtfrith fights against the Picts between Haefe and Caere (assumed to be between the rivers Avon and Carron, which flow into the Firth of Forth in Scotland).

title: 710

text: Dux Berhtfrith leads a Northumbrian campaign against the Picts, and defeats them in Manaw Gododdin (modern Scotland) (approximate date).

title: AD 711

text: King Nechtan mac Der-Ilei invites the Northumbrian clergy to establish Christianity amongst the Picts.

title: 715

text: King Osred I of Northumbria is killed in battle, possibly by the Picts in Manau Gododdin (Scotland). He is succeeded by his distant cousin, Coenred.

title: 716

section: Events › Byzantine Empire › Britain

text: Nechtan mac Der-Ilei, king of the Picts, expels the monks from the island of Iona (Scotland).

title: 717

text: King Óengus I of the Picts invades the neighbouring kingdom of Dál Riata, which is subjugated. He takes the fortress of Dunadd, and establishes his rule in Scotland for over two decades.

title: 736

text: King Eadberht of Northumbria marches his army north to attack the Picts. King Æthelbald of Mercia takes advantage of his absence, and ravages the city of York. Internal struggles re-emerge in Northumbria with the murder of Eardwine, probably the son of the late usurping king Eadwulf I.

title: 740

text: Battle of Mugdock: The Strathclyde Britons under King Teudebur defeat Prince Talorgan of the Picts. This leads to the decline of the power of King Óengus I.

title: 750

text: King Teudebur of Alt Clut dies. His son, Dumnagual III, succeeds to the throne and loses Kyle to a joint invasion, by kings Óengus I of the Picts and Eadberht of Northumbria. (Most records show Dumnagual III succeeds Rotri in 754 AD. Erroneous statement suspected)

title: 752

text: Battle of Newanbirig: Kings Óengus I of the Picts and Eadberht of Northumbria attack King Dumnagual III of Strathclyde, at Dumbarton Castle (modern Scotland). However, Eadberht's entire force is subsequently wiped out, probably by the Britons.

title: 756

text: Bridei V succeeds his brother Óengus I as king of the Picts (modern Scotland).

title: 761

text: Ciniod I succeeds Bridei V, as king of the Picts (modern Scotland).

title: 763

text: Unrest in the Northumbrian Church appears to lead to the expulsion of King Alhred, who is driven from his capital York. He sails from Bamburgh into exile amongst the Picts, where he is received by King Ciniod I. He is replaced by Æthelred I, the 11-year-old son of the late king Æthelwald Moll.

title: 774

text: Constantine I is installed as king of the Picts. He becomes one of the greatest Scottish monarchs in the Viking period.

title: 789

text: April 18 – King Æthelred I of Northumbria is murdered, probably at Corbridge, by his ealdormen, Ealdred and Wada. Another rival, Torhtmund, slays Ealdred in revenge. Northumbria is plunged into chaos. The patrician Osbald is placed on the throne, but is deserted by his supporters after only 27 days. He flees from Lindisfarne to Pictland. Another faction brings back Æthelred I's old back-from-the-dead rival, Eardwulf, as the new king. He dismisses his wife and publicly takes a concubine. Eardwulf is alienated from Archbishop Eanbald of York.

title: 796

text: Conall mac Taidg, king of the Picts (approximate date)

title: 807

text: Causantín mac Fergusa, king of the Picts

title: 820

text: The Flag of Scotland: According to legend, King Óengus II of Fortriu leads an army of Picts and Scots, against the invading Angles from Northumbria, near Athelstaneford.

title: 832

text: King Óengus II dies after a 14-year reign. He is succeeded by his nephew Drest IX, as ruler of the Picts.

title: 834

text: King Drest IX dies after a 3-year reign. He is succeeded as ruler of the Picts by his cousin Eóganan mac Óengusa.

title: 837

text: Eóganan mac Óengusa, king of the Picts

title: 839

text: Uurad of the Picts dies after a 3-year reign, and is succeeded by his son Bridei VI, who contests his power with rival groups, led by Bruide son of Fokel and Kenneth MacAlpin.

title: 842

text: Bridei VI, king of the Picts (Scotland)

title: 843

text: King Æthelred II of Northumbria sends military assistance to the Picts, in their fight against the invading Scots (approximate date).

title: 846

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: Donald II, king of the Picts (Scotland)

title: 900

text: King Æthelstan of Wessex and Mercia annexes Northumbria, and forces Wales and Strathclyde to accept his sovereignty along with the Picts and the Scots (approximate date).

title: 926

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


slug: piedmont

label: Piedmont

description: region in North-West Italy

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

title: 688

section: Events › By place › Europe

text: Abbo of Provence, Frankish nobleman, founds Novalesa Abbey in Piedmont (Northern Italy).

title: 726

text: Moors under Uqba ibn Al-Hajjaj cross the Pyrenees into France. Uqba fortifies Narbonne and reconquers Avignon, Arles, Nimes. He then advances into Provence, and penetrates as far as Piedmont; he then heads North, and conquers Dauphiné, destroying the city of Saint-Paul, taking Valence, Vienne and Lyon, which he uses as a base to attack Bourgogne.

title: 738

text: Summer – The Franks under Pepin III invade Italy, and defeat the Lombards under King Aistulf, in the Susa Valley (Piedmont). He enforces the terms, including cession of the Exarchate of Ravenna to Rome.

title: 754

text: Battle of Fraxinet: King Hugh of Provence launches an attack on Fraxinet, the Moorish fortress on the Côté d'Azur that had taken control of the Piedmontese valleys. With the assistance of a Byzantine fleet sent by Emperor Romanos I, Hugh lays siege to the Moorish fortress with the help of Hungarian auxiliary troops (Kabars).

title: 942

text: Otto I takes his army to lay siege at San Giulio, an island within Lake Orta (Piedmont), where Queen Willa (the wife of King Berengar II) has barricaded herself. She surrenders and is allowed to go free by Otto. Willa departs for Montefeltro to join her husband.

title: 962

date: November 27

text: November 27 – Battle of Cortenuova: Frederick II defeats the forces of the Lombard League; about 5,000 Lombards are captured. Frederick makes a triumphal entry into the allied city of Cremona in the manner of an ancient Roman emperor, with the captured carroccio (later sent to the commune of Rome), and an elephant. During the winter campaign, Frederick captures the Piedmontese cities of Lodi, Novara, Vercelli, Chieri, and Savona.

title: 1237

date: February 25

text: February 25 – Battle of Montebruno: Guelph forces under Thomas II of Savoy invade the Ghibelline territory of Asti (located in the Piedmont region), but he is defeated by the Astigiani army, led by William VII, at Garzigliana (Northern Italy). Thomas retreats and takes refuge in Turin; however, he is later captured by the Ghibellines.

title: 1255

date: December 12

text: December 12 – Battle of Roccavione: Ghibelline forces defeat a Neapolitan army at Roccavione (Piedmont).

title: 1275

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

title: 1311

section: Events › January – March

date: August 16

text: August 16 – In Italy, Pagano della Torre, Patriarch of Aquileia, is defeated in battle at Vaprio d'Agogna in Piedmont in his attempt to reclaim Milan from the Visconti family, and abandons further crusades.

title: 1324

section: Events › July – September

section: Disasters & Accidents

date: April 8

text: April 8 – In the Italian region of Piedmont, a landslide causes the village of Bosia to sink into the ground and then get buried, killing 200 inhabitants. The village is then rebuilt at another site and continues to exist.

title: 1679

section: Events › April–June

date: September 11

text: September 11 – The Italian region of Piedmont becomes a part of the French First Republic.

title: 1802

section: Events › July–September

date: November 4

text: November 4 – Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour becomes the Piedmontese prime minister.

title: 1852

section: Events › October–December

date: April 29

text: April 29 – Austrian troops begin to cross the Ticino River to Piedmont.

title: 1859

date: November 6

text: November 6 – A flood in Piedmont, Italy, kills dozens of people.

title: 1994

section: Events › November


slug: piracy

label: Piracy

description: act of robbery or criminality at sea

year_label: 220 BCE

section: Exploration & Expansion

text: Together with fellow Illyrian, Scerdilaidas, Demetrius of Pharos attacks Illyrian cities under Roman protection and leads a piratical squadron into Greek waters. They unsuccessfully attack Pylos, an Achaean town on the Messenian coast, in the Peloponnesus of Greece.

title: 220 BC

section: Events › By place › Greece

year_label: 78 BCE

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

title: 78 BC

section: Events › By place › Roman Republic

year_label: 74 BCE

text: Marcus Antonius (father of Mark Antony), a praetor, receives wide-ranging powers and considerable resources to fight the pirates in the Mediterranean Sea.

title: 74 BC

year_label: 71 BCE

text: Marcus Antonius is defeated by the Cretans, who have made an alliance with the pirates. He is compelled to concede a humiliating peace. Antonius dies in office the same year and is awarded, posthumously, with the cognomen Creticus.

title: 71 BC

year_label: 68 BCE

text: Ostia, the harbour city of Ancient Rome, is sacked by pirates. The port is set on fire and the consular war fleet is destroyed.

title: 68 BC

section: Conflict & Security

text: Summer – Vandal War (461-468): King Genseric extends his pirate raids in the Mediterranean Sea; the Vandals sack and enslave the people living in Illyricum, the Peloponnese and other parts of Greece. Leo I joins forces with the Western Empire.

title: 467

section: Events › By place › Roman Empire

text: After pirates plunder an Arab ship near the mouth of the Indus River (Pakistan), Umayyad Arabs under Muhammad ibn Qasim invade India with 10,000 men and 6,000 horses, establishing a sultanate in Sindh. Qasim sends expeditions to Surashtra, where he makes peaceful treaty settlements with the Rashtrakuta.

title: AD 711

section: Events › By place › Asia

text: Summer – Battle of Ostia: A Saracen Arab fleet from Sardinia sets sail towards Rome. In response, Pope Leo IV forms a coalition of maritime Italian cities, including Naples, Amalfi and Gaeta, led by Admiral Caesar — which is assembled off the re-fortified port of Ostia — and repels the Saracen marauders. Their navy is scattered, resulting in many sunken vessels. Rome is saved from plunder and the expansion of the Aghlabids.

title: 849

text: A ship carrying about twenty Arab freebooters, from Pechina in Al-Andalus (modern Spain), sets anchor in the Gulf of Saint-Tropez in Provence. They establish a fortified base at Fraxinet (modern-day La Garde-Freinet). After raiding the surrounding area, the Muslim colony is bolstered by contingents of Saracen adventurers.

title: 889

text: A Viking pirate army under Hastein (a son of Ragnar Lodbrok) ravages the Welsh kingdoms of Brycheiniog and Gwent (approximate date).

title: 896


slug: piraeus

label: Piraeus

description: city and port of Attica region, Greece

year_label: 493 BCE

section: Technology & Infrastructure

text: Themistocles starts the construction of a fortified naval base at Piraeus, the port town of Athens.

title: 493 BC

year_label: 458 BCE

text: The Athenians start constructing the Long Walls to protect the route from the main city to their main port (Piraeus).

title: 458 BC

year_label: 457 BCE

text: Athens goes on to defeat Aegina later in the year, and to finish the construction of the Long Walls to the Athenian port of Piraeus (an action opposed by Sparta).

title: 457 BC

year_label: 449 BCE

text: Pericles begins a great building plan including the re-fortification of Athens main port Piraeus and its long walls extending to Athens main city.

title: 449 BC

year_label: 448 BCE

text: The Athenians begin constructing the middle component of the Long Walls from their main city to its port of Piraeus.

title: 448 BC

year_label: 447 BCE

text: The middle component of the Long Walls from Athens to the port of Piraeus is completed.

title: 447 BC

year_label: 411 BCE

text: When a mutiny breaks out amongst the troops who are fortifying Piraeus (the harbour for Athens), the Council sends Theramenes to quell it. Instead, he puts himself at the head of the mutineers. After Phrynichus, the leader of the extremists, is assassinated, an ensuing meeting of the Athenian Assembly deposes the Council and restores the traditional constitution, but restricts some of the privileges of citizenship to a body called the Five Thousand. The Assembly resumes its old form in being a committee of all citizens.

title: 411 BC

year_label: 405 BCE

text: The Spartan king Pausanias lays siege to Athens while Lysander's fleet blockades Piraeus. This action closes the grain route through the Hellespont, thereby starving Athens.

title: 405 BC

year_label: 403 BCE

text: The Battle of Piraeus is fought between Athenian exiles, who have defeated the government of the Thirty Tyrants and occupied Piraeus, and a Spartan force sent to combat them. In the battle, the Spartans narrowly defeat the exiles, with both sides suffering large numbers of casualties. After the battle, the Agiad King of Sparta, Pausanias arranges a settlement between the two parties which allows the reunification of Athens and Piraeus, and the re-establishment of democratic government in Athens. The remaining oligarchic Thirty Tyrants are allowed to flee to Eleusis.

title: 403 BC

year_label: 393 BCE

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

text: Pharnabazus dispatches Conon with substantial funds and a large part of the fleet to Attica, where he joins in the rebuilding of the long walls from Athens to Piraeus, a project that had been initiated by Thrasybulus in the previous year. The construction is soon completed and Athens quickly takes advantage of its walls and its fleet to seize the islands of Scyros, Imbros, and Lemnos, on which it establishes cleruchies (citizen colonies).

title: 393 BC

year_label: 322 BCE

section: Crime & Justice

text: The Athenian orator and diplomat, Demades, regains his citizenship so that he and Phocion can negotiate a peace with Antipater, thus concluding the Lamian War. Before setting out he persuades the citizens of Athens to pass the death sentence upon Demosthenes and his followers (including Hypereides, leader of the Athenian patriotic party). Demades' embassy results in a peace disadvantageous to the Athenians, with the Athenians forced to accept the occupation of Athens' port, Piraeus, by the Macedonians.

title: 322 BC

date: July 12

text: July 12 – In the fourth year of the Ottoman–Venetian War, Admiral Vettore Cappello of the Republic of Venice Navy lands on the Greek mainland at Piraeus and the Venetians begin marching toward Athens to free it from Ottoman control.

title: 1466

date: April 9

text: April 9 – Morean War: The Venetian forces under Francesco Morosini evacuate Athens and Piraeus.

title: 1688

date: January 5

text: January 5 – Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin, British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, begins removal of the Elgin Marbles from the Parthenon in Athens, claiming they are at risk of destruction during the Ottoman occupation of Greece; the first shipment departs Piraeus on board Elgin's ship, the Mentor, "with many boxes of moulds and sculptures", including three marble torsos from the Parthenon.

title: 1802

section: Events › January–March

date: February 8

text: February 8 – In Greece, 20 fans of Olympiacos F.C. and 1 fan of AEK Athens die, while 54 are injured, after a stampede at the Karaiskakis Stadium in Piraeus, possibly because Gate 7 does not open immediately after the end of the game.

title: 1981

section: Events › February


slug: pisa

label: Pisa

description: city in Tuscany, Central Italy

year_label: 183 BCE

text: Roman colonies are established at Mutina (later Modena), Pisa and Parma in northern and central Italy.

title: 183 BC

year_label: 56 BCE

section: Culture & Society

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

title: 56 BC

text: Summer – The Viking chieftains Hastein and Björn Ironside ravage upstream and move to Italy, sacking Luna (believing it to be Rome). They sail up the River Arno to sack the cities of Pisa and Fiesole (Tuscany).

title: 860

section: Events › By place › Europe

text: Summer – Fatimid caliph al-Qa'im dispatches a naval expedition under Ya'qub ibn Ishaq al-Tamimi to raid the coast of Provence and Liguria, sacking Genoa on 16 August and attacking Pisa. Ya'qub also raids Corsica and Sardinia before returning to Mahdia with some 8,000 prisoners.

title: 935

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

title: 968

text: Fall – Otto II departs with an expeditionary force from Rome, and invades Apulia (Southern Italy) to punish the Saracens. He demands a fleet from Pisa, and imposes a trade embargo against Venice.

title: 981

text: Saracen pirates under the Balearic emir Mugahid sack Pisa, destroying nearly one-quarter of the city.

title: 1004

text: Summer – An Arab Saracen fleet appears before Pisa, but departs again. The Pisans take their fleet to sea and chase the Arabs down to Southern Italy where, in the Battle of Reggio Calabria, the Pisan fleet defeats the Arabs.

title: 1006

text: Construction of the Piazza dei Miracoli (known as Piazza del Duomo) at Pisa in Tuscany begins.

title: 1064

section: Events › By topic › Religion

text: Genoa, Venice and Pisa gain trading privileges from the Crusader states, in return for their service during the conquest of the coastal cities.

title: 1100

section: Events › By place › Levant

section: Religion & Belief

date: July 24

text: July 24 – Despite an appeal by Pope Gregory XI to cities in Tuscany to remain allied to the Catholic Church in a war with the Republic of Florence, the city of Pisa enters a defensive alliance with the Visconti family of Florence and supplies are sent by Florence for lance-bearing soldiers, as well as archers and infantry as part of a federation of Tuscan communes.

title: 1375

date: February 19

text: February 19 – The Principality of Piombino is formed after Prince Gherardo Appiani sells the city of Pisa to the Duchy of Milan for 200,000 florins and possession of five cities and three islands (including Elba).

title: 1399

date: November 8

text: November 8 – Facing little opposition in his march across Italy, King Charles VIII of France captures Pisa.

title: 1494

date: June 29

text: June 29 – A combined force of troops from the Kingdom of France and from the Republic of Florence lay siege to the city of Pisa.

title: 1500

text: In Florence, Leonardo da Vinci and Niccolò Machiavelli become involved in a scheme to divert the Arno River, cutting the water supply to Pisa to force its surrender: Colombino, the project foreman, fails to follow da Vinci's design, and the project is a major failure.

title: 1504

section: Events › Date unknown

date: May 16

text: May 16 – Five Roman Catholic cardinals, including Federico di Sanseverino, sign a document calling upon Pope Julius II to convene a council in Pisa to discuss reform of the Roman Catholic Church, to take place on September 1. After the Pope threatens him with excommunication, Sanseverino elects not to attend.

title: 1511


slug: pittsburgh

label: Pittsburgh

description: city and county seat in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States

date: June 13

text: June 13 – The Treaty of Logstown is signed by representatives of the Iroquois Confederation, Lenape and Shawnee leaders, and commissioners from Virginia, headed by Joshua Fry. Christopher Gist and William Trent represent the Ohio Company. The treaty grants control over lands south and east of the Ohio River to the English, along with permission to build a fort on the site of what is now Pittsburgh.

title: 1752

section: Events › April–June

date: May 24

text: May 24 – France completes the construction of Fort Duquesne, its new base to the west of the British colony of Pennsylvania. The British capture the fort during the French and Indian War and rename it Fort Pitt. The site, at the junction of the Allegheny River and the Monongahela River, is now Pittsburgh.

title: 1755

date: November 25

text: November 25 – Seven Years' War: French and Indian War: French forces abandon Fort Duquesne to the British, who then name the area Pittsburgh.

title: 1758

section: Events › October–December

date: September 14

text: September 14 – Seven Years' War – French and Indian War: Battle of Fort Duquesne: A British attack on Fort Duquesne (modern-day Pittsburgh) is defeated.

title: 1758

section: Events › July–September

text: George Anschutz constructs the first blast furnace in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

title: 1792

section: Disasters & Accidents

date: April 10

text: April 10 – The Great Fire of Pittsburgh destroys much of the American city of Pittsburgh.

title: 1845

date: January 9

text: January 9 – The Teutonia Männerchor in Pittsburgh is founded to promote German culture.

title: 1854

text: Heyl & Patterson Inc., a pioneer in coal unloading equipment, is founded by Edmund W. Heyl and William J. Patterson in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

title: 1887

date: November 2

text: November 2 – In the United States, KDKA AM of Pittsburgh (owned by Westinghouse) starts broadcasting as a commercial radio station. The first broadcast is the results of the presidential election.

title: 1920

section: Events › November

date: August 5

text: August 5 – The first radio baseball game is broadcast: Harold Arlin announces the Pirates-Phillies game from Forbes Field over Westinghouse KDKA in Pittsburgh.

title: 1921

section: Events › August

date: October 5

text: October 5 – The World Series baseball game in North America is first broadcast on the radio, by Newark, New Jersey, station WJZ, Pittsburgh station KDKA, and a group of other commercial and amateur stations throughout the eastern United States.

title: 1921

section: Events › October

date: November 14

text: November 14 – Pittsburgh gasometer explosion: Three Equitable Gas storage tanks in the North Side of Pittsburgh explode, killing 26 people and causing damage estimated between $4.0 million and $5.0 million.

title: 1927

date: January 11

text: January 11 – The first "networked" television broadcasts take place, as KDKA-TV in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, goes on the air, connecting east coast and mid-west programming in the United States.

title: 1949

section: Events › January

section: Health & Medicine

date: February 23

text: February 23 – The first mass vaccination of children against polio begins in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States.

title: 1954

date: July 16

text: July 16 - Three Rivers Stadium opens in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania, home to NFL Steelers and MLB Pirates.

title: 1970

section: Events › July

date: September 30

text: September 30 - U.S Steel Tower opens in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania.

title: 1971

section: Events › September

date: July 1

text: July 1 – In the U.S., telephone services go down in Washington, D.C., Pittsburgh, Los Angeles and San Francisco as a result of a software bug, affecting nearly 12 million customers.

title: 1991


slug: plague-disease

label: Plague (disease)

description: specific contagious and frequently fatal human disease caused by Yersinia pestis

text: Plague sweeps North Africa in the wake of a locust invasion that destroys large areas of cropland. The plague kills as many as 500,000 in Numidia and possibly 150,000 on the coast before moving to Italy, where it takes so many lives that villages and towns are abandoned. (or was it around 125 BC)

title: AD 125

section: Events › By place › Africa

text: Emperor Marcus Aurelius crosses the Danube with an expeditionary force. He subdues the Marcomanni and their allies and then, in a pact signed with the Germanic tribes, he imports them into the Roman Empire to occupy areas that have been depopulated by the plague.

title: AD 172

section: Events › By place › Roman Empire

text: In Rome, Hostilian, son of Decius, succeeds his father, while Trebonianus Gallus is proclaimed Emperor by the troops. Gallus accepts him as co-emperor, but an outbreak of plague strikes the city, and kills Hostilian.

title: 251

text: Constantine I assigns convicts to grind Rome's flour, in a move to hold back the rising price of food in an empire whose population has shrunk as a result of plague.

title: 321

section: Events › By topic › Food and Drink

text: Rome is threatened by Attila but not attacked, due to a last-minute effort by Leo I. Threatened by news of reinforcements from the Eastern Roman Empire and the plague breaking out among the Huns, Attila is persuaded to withdraw.

title: 452

text: The Avars rout the Byzantine forces of Comentiolus (south of Haemus Mons), and capture Drizipera (Thrace). A large part of their troops are killed by the plague, after many cities are devastated in the Balkan Peninsula.

title: 598

section: Events › By place › Byzantine Empire

section: Deaths

date: January 10

text: January 10 – Pope Agatho dies at Rome of plague after a 2½-year reign, in which he has persuaded Constantine IV to abolish the tax heretofore levied at the consecration of a newly elected pope.

title: 681

text: Muhammad II, emir of the Aghlabids, dies and is succeeded by his brother Ibrahim II. Towards the end of his reign, a caravan of pilgrims from Mecca introduces the plague in Ifriqiya (Tunisia).

title: 875

section: Events › By place › Arabian Empire

text: An episode of plague and famine breaks out in North Africa.

title: 1004

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

title: 1022

text: The plague breaks out in Florence.

title: 1479

section: Events › Ongoing