slug: constantius-i

label: Constantius I

section: Conflict & Security

text: Emperor Diocletian campaigns successfully against Sarmatian raids. The future emperor Constantius defeats the 'Bosporian Sarmatians'.

title: 286

text: Around this time, the future emperor Constantius defeats and captures a Germanic king, the latter having prepared an ambush against the Romans.

title: 287

text: Around this time, an army loyal to Maximian, probably led by the future emperor Constantius, defeats the usurper Carausius or his Frankish allies in northern Gaul. In this or the following year, Carausius withdraws his military forces and administrative presence from Gaul, confining himself to Roman Britain.

title: 288

section: Religion & Belief

date: March 1

text: March 1 – Emperors Diocletian and Maximian appoint Constantius I and Galerius as Caesars. This is considered the beginning of the Tetrarchy, known as the Quattuor Principes Mundi ("Four Rulers of the World"). (Some sources and scholars date Galerius' elevation to May 21.)

title: 293

text: Caesar Constantius I wins a victory over the Franks (approximate date).

title: 300

text: An invasion of Gaul by the Alemannic Lingones almost traps Caesar Constantius I between the enemy and the walls of a town. Constantius himself is carried onto the wall via a crane. However, within the same day, Constantius sallies forth from the walls and defeats the enemy in a major battle.

title: 302

text: Caesar Constantius I wins a victory over Germanic invaders in the battle of Vindonissa.

title: 303

text: Caesar Constantius I besieges a Germanic raiding force on an island in the Rhine and forces their surrender.

title: 304

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

text: Constantius I and Galerius are declared Augusti; Flavius Valerius Severus and Maximinus Daza are appointed Caesars.

title: 305

section: Deaths

date: July 25

text: July 25 – Constantius I dies outside Eboracum (modern-day York). Constantine, aged 23 or 24, is declared emperor by his troops. Emperor Galerius grants Constantine the title of Caesar, and elevates Flavius Valerius Severus to emperor in the Western part of the Roman Empire.

title: 306


slug: constantius-ii

label: Constantius II

description: Roman emperor (317-361)

section: Births

date: August 7

text: August 7 – Constantius II, Roman emperor (d. 361)

title: 317

date: November 8

text: November 8 – Emperor Constantine declares his son, Flavius Julius Constantius, to the rank of caesar, designating Flavius as his successor. Flavius will ascend the throne as Constantine the Second in 337 AD.

title: 324

section: Events › Roman Empire

date: September 9

text: September 9 – Constantine II, Constantius II, and Constans succeed their father Constantine I as co-emperors. The Roman Empire is divided between the three Augusti.

title: 337

section: Events › By place › Roman Empire

text: Emperor Constantius II intervenes against the Persians in Armenia.

title: 338

text: Emperor Constantius II hastens to his territory in the East, where a revived Persia under King Shapur II is attacking Mesopotamia. For the next 11 years, the two powers engage in a war of border skirmishing, with no real victor.

title: 339

text: Constantinople, capital of Emperor Constantius II, becomes the largest city in the world, taking the lead from Rome, capital of his brother Constans I.

title: 340

text: Constans is left sole ruler of the Western part of the Roman Empire, with his other brother, Constantius II, emperor of the Eastern portion.

title: 340

text: The Eastern Roman Emperor Constantius II campaigns in Adiabene, a vassal kingdom of Armenia (Persian Empire).

title: 343

text: The Eastern Roman Emperor Constantius II campaigns in eastern Mesopotamia, against the Sassanid Persians.

title: 344

section: Exploration & Expansion

text: Wulfila escapes religious persecution by the Gothic chieftain Athanaric, obtains permission from Constantius II to migrate with his flock of converts to Moesia, and settles near Nicopolis ad Istrum (Bulgaria).

title: 348

section: Events › By place › Europe

text: March 1 – Vetranio is asked by Constantina, sister of Constantius II, to proclaim himself Caesar. Constantius accepts the new emperor and sends him funds to raise an army.

title: 350

section: Culture & Society

date: March 15

text: March 15 – Emperor Constantius II elevates his 25-year-old cousin Constantius Gallus to Caesar at Sirmium (Pannonia). He arranges a marriage with his sister Constantina, and puts him in charge of the Eastern portion of the Roman Empire.

title: 351

text: Emperor Constantius II invades northern Italy in pursuit of the usurper Magnus Magnentius, who withdraws with his army to Gaul. He declares an amnesty for Magnentius' soldiers, many of whom desert to him.

title: 352

text: Battle of Mons Seleucus: Emperor Constantius II defeats the usurper Magnentius, who commits suicide in Gaul in order to avoid capture. Constantius becomes sole emperor, and reunifies the Roman Empire.

title: 353

section: Crime & Justice

text: Emperor Constantius II recalls his Caesar (and cousin) Constantius Gallus to Constantinople after hearing unfavorable reports about him. Gallus, Caesar of the East, has suppressed revolts in Syria Palaestina and central Anatolia. Constantius strips him of his powers and later has him executed in Pola (Croatia).

title: 354

date: November 6

text: November 6 – In Mediolanum (Italy), Emperor Constantius II raises his cousin Julian the Apostate to the rank of Caesar. He takes command of the western provinces and marries Constantius' sister, Helena.

title: 355

date: February 19

text: February 19 – Emperor Constantius II issues a decree closing all pagan temples in the Roman Empire, and ordering the banishment once again of the anti-Arian patriarch of Alexandria, Athanasius. He tries to have him arrested during a vigil service, but Athanasius flees to the Nitrian desert in Upper Egypt.

title: 356

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

title: 357

section: Events › By topic › Religion

date: April 28

text: April 28 – Emperor Constantius II enters Rome for the first time to celebrate his victory over Magnentius. He address the Senate and the Roman people.

title: 357

text: Emperor Constantius II builds new forts to secure upper Mesopotamia. Persia's king Shapur II sends an emissary to Constantinople with gifts and a letter wrapped in white silk. He requests that Constantius return the lands of his ancestors from the Euphrates to the frontier of Macedonia. Constantius tactfully refuses to cede any territories.

title: 358

date: July

text: July – Emperor Constantius II convenes the Council of Rimini, to resolve the crisis over Arianism in the Church. Some 400 bishops of the Western portion of the Roman Empire attend, while the Eastern bishops simultaneously hold a meeting at Seleucia. Given Saint Jerome's comment that, "The whole world groaned in astonishment to find itself Arian", it appears to have failed. Pope Liberius rejects the new creed at Rimini.

title: 359

text: Emperor Constantius II and Julian exchange several letters, both hoping to avoid a civil war.

title: AD 360

text: July – Julian begins leading his troops eastwards against Constantius II.

title: 361

date: November

text: November – Constantius II, Roman Emperor (b. 317)

title: 361

text: Flavia Maxima Constantia, daughter of Constantius II (approximate date)

title: 362

title: AD 383


slug: consul

label: Consul

description: magistrate or title in various republics and city-states

year_label: 224 BCE

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

title: 224 BC

section: Events › By place › Roman Republic

year_label: 147 BCE

text: Despite being the five years below the minimum age required, Scipio Aemilianus is elected Consul under popular pressure.

title: 147 BC

year_label: 121 BCE

text: Consul Quintus Fabius Maximus, allied with the Aedui, defeats the Arverni and Allobroges in Transalpine Gaul, thus establishing the province for Rome.

title: 121 BC

year_label: 100 BCE

text: Consuls: Lucius Valerius Flaccus, Gaius Marius (Marius's sixth consulship).

title: 100 BC

year_label: 99 BCE

text: Consuls: Aulus Postumius Albinus and Marcus Antonius.

title: 99 BC

year_label: 98 BCE

text: Consuls: Quintus Caecilius Metellus Nepos and Titus Didius.

title: 98 BC

year_label: 97 BCE

text: Consuls: Gnaeus Cornelius Lentulus and Publius Licinius Crassus.

title: 97 BC

year_label: 95 BCE

text: Consuls: Lucius Licinius Crassus and Quintus Mucius Scaevola Pontifex

title: 95 BC

section: Events › By place › Rome

year_label: 94 BCE

text: Consuls: Gaius Coelius Caldus and Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus.

title: 94 BC

year_label: 92 BCE

text: Consuls: Gaius Claudius Pulcher and Marcus Perperna.

title: 92 BC

year_label: 90 BCE

text: Consuls: Lucius Julius Caesar and Publius Rutilius Lupus.

title: 90 BC

year_label: 89 BCE

text: Consuls: Gnaeus Pompeius Strabo and Lucius Porcius Cato.

title: 89 BC

year_label: 69 BCE

text: Consuls: Quintus Caecilius Metellus Creticus and Quintus Hortensius.

title: 69 BC

year_label: 68 BCE

text: Consuls: Lucius Caecilius Metellus and Quintus Marcius Rex.

title: 68 BC

year_label: 67 BCE

text: Consuls: Manius Acilius Glabrio and Gaius Calpurnius Piso.

title: 67 BC

year_label: 66 BCE

text: Consuls: Manius Aemilius Lepidus and Lucius Volcatius Tullus.

title: 66 BC

year_label: 59 BCE

text: Consuls: Gaius Julius Caesar and Marcus Calpurnius Bibulus (known in jest as "the consulship of Julius and Caesar" due to Bibulus' Social withdrawal from public view to "consult the heavens" in an effort to invalidate Caesar's intended legislation).

title: 59 BC

year_label: 58 BCE

text: Consuls: Lucius Calpurnius Piso Caesoninus and Aulus Gabinius.

title: 58 BC

year_label: 57 BCE

text: Consuls: Publius Cornelius Lentulus Spinther and Quintus Caecilius Metellus Nepos.

title: 57 BC

year_label: 56 BCE

text: Roman Consuls are Gnaeus Cornelius Lentulus Marcellinus and Lucius Marcius Philippus.

title: 56 BC

year_label: 55 BCE

text: Consuls: Marcus Licinius Crassus and Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus.

title: 55 BC

year_label: 54 BCE

text: Consuls: Appius Claudius Pulcher and Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus.

title: 54 BC

year_label: 53 BCE

text: Consuls: Marcus Valerius Messalla and Gnaeus Domitius Calvinus.

title: 53 BC

year_label: 52 BCE

text: Consuls: Quintus Caecilius Metellus Pius Scipio Nasica and Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus.

title: 52 BC

year_label: 51 BCE

text: Consuls: Marcus Claudius Marcellus and Servius Sulpicius Rufus.

title: 51 BC

year_label: 50 BCE

text: Consuls: Lucius Aemilius Paullus and Gaius Claudius Marcellus.

title: 50 BC

year_label: 49 BCE

text: Consuls: Lucius Cornelius Lentulus Crus, Gaius Claudius Marcellus.

title: 49 BC

section: Events › By place and Date › Roman Republic

year_label: 48 BCE

text: Consuls: Gaius Julius Caesar and Publius Servilius Vatia Isauricus. Caesar is named consul for a period of five years.

title: 48 BC

year_label: 47 BCE

text: Consuls: Quintus Fufius Calenus, Publius Vatinius.

title: 47 BC

year_label: 46 BCE

text: Consuls: Gaius Julius Caesar, Marcus Aemilius Lepidus.

title: 46 BC

year_label: 44 BCE

text: Consuls: Gaius Julius Caesar and Mark Antony.

title: 44 BC

year_label: 41 BCE

text: Consuls: Lucius Antonius and Publius Servilius Vatia Isauricus.

title: 41 BC

year_label: 40 BCE

text: Consuls: Gnaeus Domitius Calvinus and Gaius Asinius Pollio.

title: 40 BC

text: Consuls: Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa and Titus Statilius Taurus.

title: 37 BC

text: Lucius Aelius Sejanus is named co-Consul to Emperor Tiberius. However, Tiberius becomes aware of Sejanus' treachery and has him arrested and executed.

title: 30s


slug: continental-army

label: Continental Army

description: colonial army during the American Revolutionary War

date: June 19

text: June 19 – Johann de Kalb, Bavarian-French military officer who served as a major general in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War (d. 1780)

title: 1721

date: January 17

text: January 17 – Hugh Mercer, brigadier general in the American Continental Army, and a close friend to George Washington (d. 1777)

title: 1726

text: James Armstrong, American politician and Major of the Continental Army (d. 1800) (est. year of birth)

title: 1728

date: February 6

text: February 6 – Charles Lee, general of the Continental Army (d. 1782)

title: 1732

date: January 24

text: January 24 – Benjamin Lincoln, major general in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, and politician (d. 1810)

title: 1733

date: May 14

text: May 14 – Louis Lebègue Duportail French military leader in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War (d. 1802)

title: 1743

date: April 1

text: April 1 – Robert H. Harrison, American jurist and lieutenant colonel of the Continental Army (d. 1790)

title: 1745

date: April 4

text: April 4 (March 24, old style) – Under the command of British Army General William Pepperrell, the first 4,300 American colonists in the New England Army depart Boston to liberate the French North American colony of Nova Scotia. The flotilla of 80 military transports and 18 armed escorts is scattered by a storm, but the first troops disembark at Canso, Nova Scotia, on April 15 and begin training while waiting for the arrival of the Royal Navy squadron commanded by Admiral Peter Warren.

title: 1745

section: Events › April–June

text: July 25 – Henry Knox, military officer of the Continental Army and later the United States Army, 1st United States Secretary of War (d. 1806)

title: 1750

text: The Second Continental Congress meets, elects John Hancock president, raises the Continental Army under George Washington as commander and authorizes the colonies to adopt their own constitutions.

title: 1775

section: Events › January–June

date: December 31

text: December 31 – American Revolution: Battle of Quebec – British forces repulse an attack by Continental Army generals Richard Montgomery and Benedict Arnold at Quebec; Montgomery is killed.

title: 1775

section: Events › July–December

date: June 14

text: June 14 – American Revolution: The Continental Congress names George Washington as commander of the Continental Army.

title: 1775

section: Technology & Infrastructure

date: June 16

text: June 16 – The post of chief engineer of the Continental Army is created.

title: 1775

date: May 15

text: May 15–26 – American Revolution: Battle of the Cedars – British forces skirmish with the American Continental Army around Les Cèdres, Quebec.

title: 1776

section: Events › May–June

date: November 16

text: November 16 – American Revolutionary War: Battle of Fort Washington – Hessian forces under Lieutenant General Wilhelm von Knyphausen capture Fort Washington (Manhattan) from the American Continental Army.

title: 1776

section: Events › November–December

date: October 18

text: October 18 – American Revolutionary War: Battle of Pell's Point – Troops of the American Continental Army resist a British and Hessian force in The Bronx.

title: 1776

section: Events › September–October

date: April 13

text: April 13 – American Revolutionary War – Battle of Bound Brook: A British and Hessian force led by Charles Cornwallis surprises a Continental Army outpost in New Jersey, commanded by Major General Benjamin Lincoln.

title: 1777

date: December 19

text: December 19 – American Revolutionary War – George Washington's Continental Army goes into winter quarters at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania.

title: 1777

text: General John Cadwalader shoots and seriously wounds Major General Thomas Conway in a duel after a dispute between the two officers over Conway's continued criticism of General George Washington's leadership of the Continental Army.

title: 1778

section: Events › January–March

date: August 29

text: August 29 – American Revolutionary War: The tactically inconclusive Battle of Rhode Island takes place, after which the Continental Army abandons its position on Aquidneck Island.

title: 1778

section: Events › July–September

date: June 28

text: June 28 – American Revolutionary War: Battle of Monmouth – George Washington's Continental Army battles British general Sir Henry Clinton's army to a draw, near Monmouth County, New Jersey.

title: 1778

date: August 19

text: August 19 – Johann de Kalb, Bavarian-French military officer who served as a major general in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War (b. 1721)

title: 1780

date: June 23

text: June 23 – American Revolutionary War – Battle of Springfield: The Continental Army defeats the British in New Jersey.

title: 1780

text: January 17 – American Revolutionary War – Battle of Cowpens: The American Continental Army, under Daniel Morgan, decisively defeats British forces in South Carolina.

title: 1781

date: October 2

text: October 2 – Charles Lee, Continental Army general during the American War of Independence (b. 1732)

title: 1782

date: December 23

text: December 23 – General George Washington resigns his commission as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army to the Congress of the Confederation in the Maryland State House in Annapolis, Maryland, and retires to his home at Mount Vernon. Washington's resignation, described by historian Thomas Fleming as "the most important moment in American history," affirms the United States' commitment to the principle of civilian control of the military, and prompts King George III to call Washington "the greatest character of the age."

title: 1783

section: Events › October–December

date: February 26

text: February 26 – The United States Continental Army's Corps of Engineers is disbanded.

title: 1783

date: January 15

text: January 15 – William Alexander, Lord Stirling, American major-general in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War (b. 1726)

title: 1783

text: March 15 – Newburgh Conspiracy: A potential uprising in the Continental Army stationed at Newburgh, New York, is defused, when George Washington asks the officers to support the supremacy of the United States Congress.

title: 1783

date: November 3

text: November 3 – The American Continental Army is disbanded as the first act of business by the Confederation Congress, after Thomas Mifflin is elected the new President to succeed Elias Boudinot.

title: 1783

text: June 19 – Nathanael Greene, major general in the Continental Army, 3rd Quartermaster General (b. 1742)

title: 1786

date: April 2

text: April 2 – Robert H. Harrison, American jurist and lieutenant colonel of the Continental Army (b. 1745)

title: 1790

date: August 12

text: August 12 – Louis Lebègue Duportail French military leader in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War (b. 1743)

title: 1802

section: Deaths › July–December

date: May 9

text: May 9 – Benjamin Lincoln, major general in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War (b. 1733)

title: 1810


slug: continental-congress

label: Continental Congress

description: convention of delegates that became the governing body of the United States

section: Births

date: February 17

text: February 17 – John Sullivan, American General in the American Revolutionary War, delegate in the Continental Congress (d. 1795)

title: 1740

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

date: May 17

text: May 17 – The colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations issues the first call for an "Intercolonial Congress" that eventually is set up as the Continental Congress.

title: 1774

date: October 14

text: October 14 – The Continental Congress in America adopts the Declaration of Rights and Resolves, with 10 principles.

title: 1774

date: October 26

text: October 26 – The first Continental Congress adjourns in Philadelphia.

title: 1774

date: June 19

text: June 19 – The post of Commanding General is created by the Continental Congress.

title: 1775

date: April 12

text: April 12 – American Revolution: The Royal Colony of North Carolina produces the Halifax Resolves, making it the first British colony to officially authorize its Continental Congress delegates to vote for independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain.

title: 1776

section: Events › March–April

date: June 11

text: June 11 – American Revolution: The Continental Congress appoints a Committee of Five to draft a Declaration of Independence.

title: 1776

date: September 9

text: September 9 – The Continental Congress officially names its union of states the United States (previously the United Colonies).

title: 1776

section: Conflict & Security

date: June 13

text: June 13 – American Revolution: The Marquis de Lafayette lands near Georgetown, South Carolina, to help the Continental Congress train its army.

title: 1777

date: June 14

text: June 14 – The Stars and Stripes is adopted by the Continental Congress as the flag of the United States.

title: 1777

date: November 15

text: November 15 – American Revolution: After 16 months of debate, the Continental Congress approves the Articles of Confederation, in the temporary American capital at York, Pennsylvania.

title: 1777

date: September 26

text: September 26 – American Revolutionary War – British troops occupy Philadelphia; members of the Continental Congress flee to Lancaster, Pennsylvania, where they meet and hold a one day session as the Fifth Congress before fleeing again.

title: 1777

date: September 30

text: September 30 – American Revolutionary War – The Sixth Continental Congress opens its session at York, Pennsylvania, and continues for 272 days until June 27, 1778.

title: 1777

date: September 19

text: September 19 – The Continental Congress passes the first budget of the United States.

title: 1778

text: The Bank of North America is chartered by the Continental Congress.

title: 1781

section: Events › Date unknown

date: March 1

text: March 1 – The United States Continental Congress implements the Articles of Confederation, forming its Perpetual Union as the United States in Congress Assembled.

title: 1781

date: January 22

text: January 22 – The Congress of the Confederation, effectively a caretaker government until the United States Constitution can be ratified by at least nine of the 13 states, elects Cyrus Griffin as its last president.

title: 1788

date: October 21

text: October 21 – The 14th and last session of the Continental Congress and (the 6th as Congress under the Articles of Confederation) is adjourned.

title: 1788

section: Deaths

date: January 23

text: January 23 – John Sullivan, American general in the American Revolutionary War, delegate in the Continental Congress (b. 1740)

title: 1795

section: Deaths › January–March


slug: copan

label: Copán

description: maya archaeological site in western Honduras

section: Religion & Belief

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

title: 426

section: Events › By place › Mesoamerica

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

title: 437

text: K'inich Popol Hol, king of the Maya city of Copán

title: 470

text: A major expansion of Copán's ceremonial center, the Acropolis complex, is undertaken by B'alam Nehn (Waterlily Jaguar), the seventh ruler (ajaw) of the southeastern Maya city (approximate date).

title: 504

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

title: 507

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

title: 578

section: Events › By place › Central America

date: October 22

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

title: 578

date: June 15

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

title: 695

text: During the Third Tikal–Calakmul War, Kʼakʼ Tiliw Chan Yopaat gives himself the title k’uhul ajaw, thus declaring Quiriguá's independence from Copán.

title: 734

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

title: 736

text: The Mayan city-state Xukpi (Copán) is defeated by a rival city-state, Quiriguá. Xukpi leader Uaxaclajuun Ub'aah K'awiil ("Eighteen Rabbit") is deposed thereafter.

title: 738

date: February 18

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

title: 749

date: July 2

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

title: 763

section: Health & Medicine

date: February 6

text: February 6 – Ukit Took becomes the last ruler (ajaw) of the Mayan city-state Copán (modern Guatemala). After his death in 830, the kingdom is wiped out, most likely from an epidemic.

title: 822

section: Exploration & Expansion

text: Archaeological excavation at the Mayan site of Copán begins.

title: 1839


slug: copenhagen

label: Copenhagen

description: capital and largest city of Denmark

text: Absalon, Danish archbishop and statesman, leads the first synod at Lund. He is granted land around the city of "Havn" (modern-day Copenhagen) and fortifies the coastal defence against the Wends.

title: 1167

section: Events › By topic › Religion

text: The Danish city of Copenhagen receives its city charter from Bishop Jacob Erlandsen.

title: 1254

section: Events › By topic › Cities and Towns

date: July 7

text: July 7 – Battle of Copenhagen: A Norwegian expeditionary force under King Eric II, supported by Danish outlaws, sets sail to Copenhagen and attacks the city. But they are repelled and forced to withdraw to Zealand.

title: 1289

section: Events › By place › Europe

date: April 6

text: April 6 – Dano-Hanseatic War (1426–1435): The bombardment of Copenhagen, capital of Denmark, by ships of the Northern German Hanseatic League takes place and is repelled by the Danish Navy.

title: 1428

section: Events › April–June

section: Culture & Society

date: September 12

text: September 12 – In a royal wedding at the Church of Our Lady in Copenhagen, King Christoffer III of Denmark (who also rules Sweden and Norway) marries Dorothea of Brandenburg, daughter of John the Alchemist, Margrave of Brandenburg. After King Christoffer's death in 1448, Dorothea marries King Christian I of Denmark in 1449.

title: 1445

date: May 18

text: May 18 – The coronation of Hans of Oldenburg as King of Denmark takes place at the Church of Our Lady in Copenhagen.

title: 1483

date: March 26

text: March 26 – Frederick I is provisionally declared as King of Denmark by Danish nobles at Viborg, although loyalists at Copenhagen refuse to recognize his claim to the throne.

title: 1523

date: August 7

text: August 7 – The coronation of Frederick I of Denmark takes place in Copenhagen.

title: 1524

date: August 13

text: August 13 – The coronation of Sophie of Pomerania as Queen consort of Denmark takes place in Copenhagen, a little more than a year after her husband's coronation as King Frederick I. She is granted Lolland and Falster, the castles in Kiel and Plön, and several villages in Holstein for her income.

title: 1525

date: June 23

text: June 23 – Copenhagen opens its gates to Count Christopher of Oldenburg, leading the army of Lübeck (and the Hanseatic League), nominally in the interests of the deposed King Christian II of Denmark. The surrenders of Copenhagen and, a few days later, of Malmö represent the high point of the Count's War for the forces of the League. These victories presumably lead the Danish nobility to recognize Christian III as King on July 4.

title: 1534

date: July 29

text: July 29 – The Count's Feud ends when Copenhagen surrenders to King Christian III of Denmark. On August 6 he marches into the city and on August 12 arrests the country's bishops, thus consolidating the Protestant Reformation in Denmark.

title: 1536

text: The world's oldest, intact, surviving amusement park, Dyrehavsbakken, is founded north of Copenhagen.

title: 1583

date: February 26

text: February 26 – Valkendorfs Kollegium is founded in Copenhagen, Denmark.

title: 1589

date: August 29

text: August 29 – The coronation of Christian IV as King of Denmark and King of Norway takes place at the Vor Frue Kirke cathedral in Copenhagen. The Bishop of Zealand, Peder Virstrup, places the crown upon the head of King Christian IV, who had become the monarch in 1588 at the age of 11.

title: 1596

text: Danish natural philosopher Ole Worm collects materials that will later be incorporated into his museum in Copenhagen. His museum is the nucleus of the University of Copenhagen Zoological Museum.

title: 1616

date: August 5

text: August 5 – Just six months after winning territory from Denmark-Norway in war and subsequent treaty, Sweden's King Charles X Gustav declares a second war against Denmark. By August 11, the King's troops have surrounded Denmark's capital, Copenhagen, while the Swedish Navy blocks the harbor to prevent the city from being resupplied, and begins bombardment.

title: 1658

date: June 7

text: June 7 – The coronation ceremony of Christian V of Denmark-Norway takes place at the Frederiksborg Castle in Hillerød, north of Copenhagen. Christian had assumed the throne on February 9, 1670, upon the death of his father, Frederick III.

title: 1671

section: Crime & Justice

date: February 27

text: February 27 – Gabriel Milan, the controversial Governor of the Danish West Indies since 1684, is removed from office by order of King Frederick III and placed under arrest for treason. Three years later, after being found guilty in a trial after being brought back to Copenhagen, Milan is beheaded on March 26, 1689.

title: 1686

date: April 15

text: April 15 – The coronation of King Frederick IV of Denmark takes place at Frederiksborg Castle in Copenhagen.

title: 1700

date: November 26

text: November 26 – The inauguration of the newly built Kastelskirken takes place in Copenhagen, Denmark.

title: 1704

text: The first public theatre in Denmark, Lille Grønnegade Theatre, is founded in Copenhagen.

title: 1722

date: March 30

text: March 30 – The Rigshospitalet, national hospital of Denmark, is founded at Copenhagen.

title: 1757

date: September 2

text: September 2–7 – Battle of Copenhagen: The British Royal Navy bombards Copenhagen with fire bombs and phosphorus rockets, to prevent the Dano-Norwegian navy from surrendering to Napoleon; 30% of the city is destroyed, and 2,000 citizens are killed.

title: 1807

date: June 25

text: June 25 – A large riot breaks out in Copenhagen Prison, and the army is sent to quell it.

title: 1817

date: August 15

text: August 15 – Tivoli Gardens, one of the oldest amusement parks in the world still intact, opens in Copenhagen, Denmark.

title: 1843

section: Technology & Infrastructure

date: June 26

text: June 26 – The first passenger railway wholly within modern-day Denmark opens, from Copenhagen to Roskilde.

title: 1847

date: November 10

text: November 10 – The first brew of Carlsberg beer is finished in Copenhagen.

title: 1847

date: August 21

text: August 21 – The International Secretariat of National Trade Union Centres is founded in Copenhagen.

title: 1901

section: Events › July–August

date: August 23

text: August 23 – The Little Mermaid statue is finished in Copenhagen, Denmark.

title: 1913

section: Events › August

section: Disasters & Accidents

date: May

text: German auxiliary cruiser Orion is sunk on her way to Copenhagen carrying refugees, with a loss of over 3,800 lives.

title: 1945

section: Events › May

section: Science & Discovery

date: November 20

text: November 20 – The first official passenger flight over the North Pole is made, from Los Angeles to Copenhagen.

title: 1952

section: Events › November–December

text: November 20 – One of the first successful gender-affirming surgeries is performed in Copenhagen on Christine Jorgensen.

title: 1952

date: January 30

text: January 30 – Danish passenger/cargo ship , returning to Copenhagen after its maiden voyage to Greenland, strikes an iceberg and sinks off the Greenland coast with the loss of all 95 on board.

title: 1959

section: Events › January

date: April 25

text: April 25 – Thieves steal the head of the Little Mermaid statue in Copenhagen, Denmark. Although the attack is attributed to Jørgen Nash, the Danish media blame painter Henrik Bruun, who never confesses to the crime.

title: 1964

section: Events › April

text: May 6–10 – The Eurovision Song Contest 2014 takes place in Copenhagen, Denmark, and is won by Austrian entrant Conchita Wurst with the song "Rise Like a Phoenix".

title: 2014

text: February 14–15 – A lone gunman leaves 2 people dead in a terrorist attack in Copenhagen, Denmark.

title: 2015


slug: coptic-orthodox-church-of-alexandria

label: Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria

year_label: 42 CE

section: Religion & Belief

text: Traditional date of foundation of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria by the apostle Mark the Evangelist.

title: 40s

section: Timeline › AD 42

year_label: 43 CE

text: In Coptic Orthodox Christianity, Mark the Evangelist becomes the first Pope of Alexandria, thus establishing the Christian Church in Africa.

title: 40s

section: Timeline › AD 43

section: Deaths

date: October 22

text: October 22 – Demetrius I, patriarch of Alexandria (b. 127)

title: 232

text: The Coptic Orthodox Church (Egypt) splits from the Chalcedonian Orthodox Church of Alexandria.

title: 460

text: Damian, Coptic Orthodox Patriarch of Alexandria

title: 605

text: Agatho, pope of the Coptic Orthodox Church

title: 680

text: The Church of Nubia transfers its allegiance, from the Eastern Orthodox Church to the Coptic Church (approximate date).

title: 719

text: Gabriel I becomes Pope of the Coptic Orthodox Church in Alexandria (Egypt).

title: 910

text: Pope Christodolos ends his reign as leader of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria (modern Egypt).

title: 1077

date: April 5

text: April 5 – Gabriel II, patriarch of Alexandria

title: 1145

date: February 18

text: February 18 – Mark Ibn Kunbar, Egyptian Coptic priest

title: 1208

date: May 19

text: May 19 – Master Malati, a Coptic Christian leader, is beheaded by a Muslim mob in Cairo, Egypt.

title: 1803

section: Births

date: August 3

text: August 3 – Pope Shenouda III of Alexandria, Pope of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria (d. 2012)

title: 1923

section: Births › August

date: July 13

text: July 13 – The Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria and Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Churches reach an agreement, leading to the promotion of the Ethiopian church to the rank of an autocephalous Patriarchate. Five bishops are immediately consecrated by the Patriarch of Alexandria and the successor to Abuna Qerellos IV is granted the power to consecrate new bishops, who are empowered to elect a new Patriarch for their church.

title: 1948

section: Events › July


slug: corcyra

label: Corcyra

year_label: 664 BCE

section: Conflict & Security

text: First naval battle in Greek recorded history, between Corinth and Corcyra.

title: 664 BC

section: Events

year_label: 435 BCE

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

text: A dispute arises between Epidamnus' oligarchs and democratic forces in the Greek colony. Most of the colony's inhabitants originate from Corinth or Corcyra (Corfu). Epidamnus' oligarchs are exiled and then appeal to Corcyra for help, while the democrats enlist the support of Corinth. Corcyra is then attacked by Corinth as the dispute heats up.

title: 435 BC

section: Events › By place › Greece

year_label: 433 BCE

text: Pericles concludes a defensive alliance with Corcyra (Corfu), the strong naval power in the Ionian Sea, which is the bitter enemy of Corinth. As a result, Athens intervenes in the dispute between Corinth and Corcyra, and, at the Battle of Sybota, a small contingent of Athenian ships play a critical role in preventing a Corinthian fleet from capturing Corcyra. Following this, Athens places Potidaea, a tributary ally of Athens but a colony of Corinth, under siege.

title: 433 BC

year_label: 428 BCE

text: Despite encouragement from the Ionian leaders to engage the Athenians, Alcidas declines. Rather, Alcidas leads his fleet to Cyllene where the Spartans resolve to strengthen the fleet and send it to Corcyra where a revolution has broken out. Spartan leaders, Brasidas and Alcidas, then defeat a fleet of Corcyran ships. However, they retire when word reaches them that 60 Athenian ships from Leucas under the command of Eurymedon have been dispatched to intercept them.

title: 428 BC

year_label: 427 BCE

text: The civil war in Corcyra, in which the Athenians and the Spartans have interfered ineffectually, results in a victory of the democrats (who support an alliance with Athens) over the oligarchs.

title: 427 BC

year_label: 373 BCE

section: Exploration & Expansion

text: Iphicrates leads an Athenian expedition which successfully relieves Corcyra of a Spartan siege.

title: 373 BC

year_label: 230 BCE

section: Crime & Justice

text: With Roman merchants being killed by the Illyrian pirates, envoys are sent by Rome to Illyria. After the Roman ambassador Lucius Coruncanius and the Issaean ambassador Cleemporus are murdered at sea by Illyrian soldiers after causing offence to Queen Teuta, Roman forces occupy the island of Corcyra with the aim of humbling Teuta.

title: 230 BC

section: Events › By place › Roman Republic

year_label: 229 BCE

text: The First Illyrian War started when the Roman Senate dispatched an army under the command of the consuls Lucius Postumius Albinus and Gnaeus Fulvius Centumalus to Illyria. Rome forced the withdrawal of Illyrian garrisons in the Greek cities of Epidamnus, Apollonia, Corcyra and Pharos and establishes a protectorate over these Greek towns.

title: 229 BC

section: Events › By place › Illyria

year_label: 215 BCE

text: Philip V of Macedon and Hannibal negotiate an alliance under which they pledge mutual support and defence. Specifically, they agree to support each other against Rome, and that Hannibal shall have the right to make peace with Rome, but that any peace would include Philip and that Rome would be forced to give up control of Corcyra, Apollonia, Epidamnus, Pharos, Dimale, Parthini and Atintania and to restore to Demetrius of Pharos all his lands currently controlled by Rome.

title: 215 BC

year_label: 210 BCE

text: After allying with Hannibal, Philip V of Macedon attacks the Roman positions in Illyria, but fails to take Corcyra or Apollonia, which are protected by the Roman fleet. Rome's command of the sea prevents his lending any effective aid to his Carthaginian ally in Italy. The Aetolians, Sparta and King Attalus of Pergamum join the Romans in the war against Philip V. This coalition is so strong that Philip V has to stop attacking Roman territory.

title: 210 BC


slug: cordoba-spain

label: Córdoba, Spain

description: municipality in the province of Córdoba, Spain

year_label: 1 CE

text: AD 1 – Seneca the Younger, Roman stoic philosopher born in Cordoba (d. AD 65)

title: 0s

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

title: 571

section: Events › By place › Europe

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

title: 584

date: July 19

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

title: AD 711

section: Events › By place › Arabian Empire

text: Abd al-Aziz ibn Musa, governor of Al-Andalus (modern Spain), is assassinated on order of Caliph Sulayman ibn Abd al-Malik. He is succeeded by his cousin Ayyub ibn Habib al-Lakhmi, who becomes interim "protector" (wali) for 6 months, and moves the capital to Córdoba, until replaced by Al-Hurr ibn Abd al-Rahman al-Thaqafi.

title: 716

section: Events › Byzantine Empire › Arabian Empire

text: Duke Eudes of Aquitaine seeks an alliance with Munuza, governor of Cerdagne (eastern Pyrenees), currently in rebellion against the central Umayyad government at Córdoba in Andalusia (probably not cemented until 729).

title: 725

text: Al-Andalus: A grave rebellion breaks out in the suburbs of Cordoba, against the Emirate of Córdoba. Andalucian Arab refugees arrive in Fez (modern Morocco).

title: 818

date: June 18

text: June 18 – Perfecto, a Christian priest in Muslim Córdoba, is executed (beheaded) after he refuses to retract critical comments he made about Muhammad.

title: 850

section: Events › By topic › Religion

text: Abd al-Rahman II, Umayyad emir of Córdoba, dies after a 30-year reign in which he has made additions to the Mosque–Cathedral at Córdoba. He is succeeded by his son Muhammad I, who will put down several revolts of the Muwalladun and Mozarabs in Muslim controlled areas in al-Andalus (modern Spain).

title: 852

section: Events › By place › Al-Andalus

text: Muhammad I, Umayyad emir of Córdoba, invades Pamplona (Pyrenees), and captures Crown Prince Fortún Garcés in Milagro, along with his daughter Onneca Fortúnez, and takes them as hostages to Córdoba.

title: 860

section: Events › By place › Iberian Peninsula

text: Al-Mundhir, Moorish emir of Córdoba, dies after a two-year reign (possibly murdered by his brother Abdullah ibn Muhammad al-Umawi, who succeeds him as ruler of the Emirate of Córdoba).

title: AD 888

date: January 16

text: January 16 – Emir Abd al-Rahman III of Córdoba, Spain, proclaims himself caliph and creates the Caliphate of Córdoba. He breaks his allegiance to, and ties with, the Fatimid and Abbasid caliphs.

title: 929

text: Córdoba, capital of Al-Andalus, becomes the largest city of the world, taking the lead from Baghdad, capital of the Abbasid Caliphate.

title: 935

text: Abd al-Rahman III the Caliph of Córdoba declares Jihad, preparing a large army & conquers the city of Lugo in the extreme North of Iberia. This raid shows to be one of the furthest raids Muslims in Spain ever conducted, done as a show of strength of the Muslim State in Al-Andalus.

title: 949

text: Sancho III of Pamplona became King of Aragon and Navarre. The Reconquista was gaining some ground, but the southern Iberian peninsula would still be dominated by Islam for centuries to come; Córdoba was the world's largest city at this time, with 450,000 inhabitants.

title: AD 1000

section: Events › Christendom

date: November 1

text: November 1 – Berber forces led by Sulayman ibn al-Hakam defeat the Umayyad caliph Muhammad II in the battle of Alcolea. He enters the city of Córdoba, which is sacked by Berbers and Castillans. Sulayman is elected as caliph of the Caliphate of Córdoba.

title: 1009

text: Kaifeng, capital of China, becomes the largest city of the world, taking the lead from Córdoba in Al-Andalus (modern Spain).

title: 1013

section: Events › By place › Asia

date: December

text: December – Abbad I declares the Taifa of Seville independent from Córdoban rule. Abd ar-Rahman V is proclaimed Caliph at Córdoba.

title: 1023

section: Events › October–December

text: A third Almoravid expedition is launched in Al-Andalus, designed to finally subdue the Taifa's Kingdoms. The cities of Córdoba, Seville, Granada, Málaga, Almería and Ronda fall to the troops of Sultan Yusuf ibn Tashfin.

title: 1090

text: A large rebellion takes place in Córdoba (modern Spain) against the ruling Almoravid dynasty.

title: 1121

text: Raymond of Fitero, Spanish monk and abbot, pledges to defend the fortress of Calatrava (guarding the roads to Córdoba and Toledo) from incoming Muslim raiders. It is the founding moment of the Order of Calatrava, the spearhead of the Iberian armies during the Reconquista.

title: 1158

date: February

text: February – King Ferdinand III (the Saint) announces his intention to resume the Reconquista against the realm of the Almohad Caliphate. Caliph Yusuf II al-Mustansir dies and is succeeded by Abu Muhammad al-Wahid, but in Al-Andalus, two competing pretenders also claim their rights to the throne: Abu Muhammad Ibn al-Mansur al-Adil in Seville and Abu Muhammad abu Abdallah al-Bayyasi in Córdoba. The chronic political instability on the Almohad site allows Ferdinand to begin his campaign victoriously in October, with the capture of Quesada in Spain.

title: 1224

section: Events › January – March

date: June 29

text: June 29 – Siege of Córdoba: Castilian forces under King Ferdinand III ("the Saint") capture Muslim Córdoba from Emir Ibn Hud as part of the Reconquista of the Iberian Peninsula.

title: 1236

date: August

text: August – Marinid forces led by Sultan Abu Yusuf cross the Strait of Gibraltar and marches north, ravaging the districts of Jerez de la Frontera, Seville and Córdoba.

title: 1277

text: August – Castilian forces under Sancho lay siege to Badajoz, but eventually retreat as the combined armies of Alfonso X relieve the city. Shortly after, Alfonso marches to Córdoba and demands the key of the city. This is refused by Diego López V de Haro, speaking on behalf of the magnates. Meanwhile, the Marinids plunder the Guadalquivir valley.

title: 1282

text: June 29 – Sultan Abu Yusuf Yaqub ibn Abd al-Haqq sets out for a punitive expedition and marches from Córdoba to Jaén and Úbeda, and then northwards through difficult terrain. On the third day after crossing al-burt, the Marinid forces attack Montiel (a fortress belonging to the Order of Santiago) and Almedina.

title: 1283

text: August – The 17-year-old King Ferdinand the Summoned, supervised by his mother, Queen-Regent María de Molina, signs a peace treaty at Córdoba with Granada for three years. In return, Muhammad III renews his vassalage with Castile and pays the same tribute given as to his father, the late King Sancho the Brave. The strategic port city of Tarifa remains in Castilian hands.

title: 1303

section: Events › July–September

text: June 25 – Battle of the Vega of Granada: Castilian forces of 12,000 troops, led by the regents Don Pedro of Castile and Don Juan of Castile are defeated by a Moorish relief army at Granada during their attempt. Both regents are killed in the fighting. Pedro and Juan had summoned their Castilian vassals to assemble an expeditionary army in Córdoba, as part of an attempt to restore the deposed Sultan Nasr to the Granadan throne.

title: 1319

section: Events › April – June

date: October 6

text: October 6 – In Córdoba, in the Spanish kingdom of Andalusia, members of the nobility and the general public revolt against the Spanish inquisitor Diego Rodriguez de Lucero and General Inquisitor Diego de Deza. The mob liberates the people incarcerated at the Córdoba prison.

title: 1506

date: February 13

text: February 13 – After seizing Jaén, Córdoba, Seville and Granada, Napoleonic troops enter Málaga under the command of General Horace Sebastiani.

title: 1810

section: Events › January–March


slug: corfu

label: Corfu

description: Greek island in the Ionian Sea

year_label: 600 BCE

section: Technology & Infrastructure

text: The Temple of Artemis, Korkyra in Corfu begins to be built (approximate date).

title: 600 BC

section: Events › By topic › Art and architecture

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

text: A dispute arises between Epidamnus' oligarchs and democratic forces in the Greek colony. Most of the colony's inhabitants originate from Corinth or Corcyra (Corfu). Epidamnus' oligarchs are exiled and then appeal to Corcyra for help, while the democrats enlist the support of Corinth. Corcyra is then attacked by Corinth as the dispute heats up.

title: 435 BC

section: Events › By place › Greece

section: Conflict & Security

text: Pericles concludes a defensive alliance with Corcyra (Corfu), the strong naval power in the Ionian Sea, which is the bitter enemy of Corinth. As a result, Athens intervenes in the dispute between Corinth and Corcyra, and, at the Battle of Sybota, a small contingent of Athenian ships play a critical role in preventing a Corinthian fleet from capturing Corcyra. Following this, Athens places Potidaea, a tributary ally of Athens but a colony of Corinth, under siege.

title: 433 BC

year_label: 410 BCE

text: An Oligarchic revolt in Corcyra is unsuccessful.

title: 410 BC

date: October 18

text: October 18 – Battle of Dyrrhachium: After taking the island of Corfu, Robert Guiscard advances to Dyrrhachium (modern-day Durrës), and lays siege to the city. Alexios I Komnenos attempts to defend Illyria from the Normans (the first recorded mention of Albania), but is defeated by Guiscard, outside Dyrrhachium, the Byzantine capital city of Illyria.

title: 1081

section: Events › By place › Byzantine Empire

text: Robert Guiscard returns with 150 warships in Illyria (modern Albania), and occupies Corfu and Kefalonia with the support of Ragusa and the Dalmatian city-states.

title: 1084

section: Exploration & Expansion

date: August 8

text: August 8 – A Venetian fleet under Doge Domenico Michiel with well over a hundred ships sets sail from Venice, carrying an army of around 15,000 men and siege-material on the Venetian Crusade. The fleet departs for Palestine – but the Venetians pause to attack Corfu (this in retaliation for the refusal of John II to renew exclusive trading privileges). For six months, throughout the winter of 1122–23, the Venetians lay siege to the Byzantine island.

title: 1122

date: April 18

text: April 18 – King Baldwin II of Jerusalem is captured by Turkish forces under Belek Ghazi – while preparing to practice falconry near Gargar on the Euphrates. Most of the Crusader army is massacred, and Baldwin is taken to the castle at Kharput. To save the situation the Venetians are asked to help. Doge Domenico Michiel lifts the siege of Corfu (see 1122) and takes his fleet to Acre, arriving at the port in the end of May.

title: 1123

section: Events › By date › April–June

text: A Sicilian fleet (some 70 ships) under George of Antioch attacks Corfu, the island surrenders and welcomes the Normans as their liberators. Leaving a garrison of 1,000 men, George sails to the Peloponnesus. He pillages the cities of Corinth, Athens and Thebes. King Roger II begins an 11-year war between Sicily and the Byzantine Empire.

title: 1147

text: Spring – Emperor Manuel I Komnenos recovers Corfu with the help of the Venetians, who defeat the Sicilian fleet. During the three-month siege, Byzantine admiral Stephen Kontostephanos is killed by a stone thrown by a catapult. Manuel prepares an offensive against the Normans; King Roger II sends a fleet (some 40 ships) under George of Antioch, to pillage the suburbs of Constantinople.

title: 1149

date: April 20

text: April 20 – The Crusader army evacuates Zara (modern Zadar) and sets sail to Corfu; Boniface of Montferrat and Doge Enrico Dandolo stay behind to await Prince Alexios Angelos. After a brief pause at Durrës (modern Albania), the fleet reaches Corfu. Meanwhile, news of its approach (through spies) has reached Emperor Alexios III Angelos at Constantinople. He gives order to strengthen the city walls and the fortifications.

title: 1203

section: Events › By place › Fourth Crusade

text: Spring – The Epirote–Nicaean conflict (1257–59) begins between the Despotate of Epirus and the Empire of Nicaea. Despot Michael II Komnenos Doukas revolts and defeats the Nicaean army under George Akropolites. The Epirote and Serbian forces join their attacks against Michael, who sends his forces into Macedonia and marches on to Thessalonica. In response, Michael is attacked – on the west coast of Epirus – by Manfred of Sicily. Manfred first occupies the major Ionian Islands, including Corfu. Then he lands on the Albanian coast and takes Durazzo, Berat, Valona and their environs.

title: 1257

section: Religion & Belief

text: Summer – Count Charles of Valois founds the Diocese of Corfu, Zakynthos and Cephalonia with its seat in Corfu. It is, comprising the Ionian Islands of Corfu, Zakynthos and Cephalonia.

title: 1310

text: February 13 – The Republic of Venice takes control of the island of Corfu.

title: 1386

date: March 11

text: March 11 – The Venetian arsenal on the island of Corfu, containing 72000 lb of gunpowder and 600 bombshells, explodes during a fire, killing 180 bystanders and knocking down a seawall.

title: 1789

date: June 28

text: June 28 – French troops disembark in Corfu, beginning the First period of French rule in the Ionian Islands.

title: 1797

section: Events › April–June


slug: cornwall

label: Cornwall

description: historic county of England and Celtic nation

text: The Britons of Strathclyde (Scotland), Wales, and Cornwall are all separated by the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms.

title: 600

section: Events › By place › Britain

text: King Geraint of Dumnonia grants land at Maker (Cornwall) to Sherborne Abbey, in an attempt to strengthen his position in the disputed regions of Dorset (approximate date).

title: 705

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

title: 722

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

title: 807

text: King Egbert of Wessex ravages the territories of the remaining British kingdom Dumnonia, known as the West Welsh (Cornwall).

title: 815

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

title: 838

section: Events › By place › British Isles

section: Climate & Environment

text: Donyarth, the last recorded king of Cornwall, drowns in what is thought to be the River Fowey.

title: 875

section: Deaths

text: Donyarth, king of Cornwall (approximate date)

title: 875

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

title: 893

text: King Æthelstan sets the border between the Kingdom of England and Cornwall as the east bank of the River Tamar.

title: 936

section: Events › By place › England

text: King Edward the Confessor unites the English dioceses of Devon and Cornwall. He moves the see from Crediton to Exeter and gives the order to build a cathedral. Leofric becomes the first bishop of Exeter.

title: 1050

section: Events › By topic › Religion

text: The Pseudo-Ingulf's Croyland Chronicle records Cornwall as a nation distinct from England.

title: 1120

section: Culture & Society

text: John of England captures a party of 18 French knights and many men-at-arms, in the ongoing conflict against France. His brother, King Richard I (the Lionheart) introduces a new Great Seal – in an attempt to keep the war against France funded. The government proclaims that charters previously struck with the old seal are no longer valid and must be renewed with a fresh payment. The office of Lord Warden of the Stannaries is also introduced, to tax the produce of tin mines in Cornwall and Devon.

title: 1198

date: September 30

text: September 30 – The Earl of Oxford, John de Vere, seizes St Michael's Mount in Cornwall and defends it for the next five months against 6,000 troops of King Edward IV.

title: 1473

date: July 23

text: July 23 – The Spanish raid Cornwall, England.

title: 1595

date: March 15

text: March 15 – During Spain's Brittany Campaign during the Anglo-Spanish War, a Spanish ship carrying 25 soldiers invades England after arriving at Cawsand Bay in Cornwall. After starting a fire, the Spanish retreat.

title: 1596

text: October 18 – The 3rd Spanish Armada, a fleet of 140 ships, departs from the port of La Coruña with 12,634 soldiers and sailors and a plan to invade the British Isles with a landing at Falmouth in Cornwall.

title: 1597

date: July

text: July – The Barbary pirates first attack south-western England. In August they enslave about 60 people from Mount's Bay in Cornwall.

title: 1625

date: February 18

text: February 18 – Eighty Years' War: Battle off Lizard Point – Off the coast of Cornwall, England, a Spanish fleet intercepts an Anglo-Dutch merchant convoy of 44 vessels escorted by six warships, destroying or capturing 20 of them.

title: 1637

section: Disasters & Accidents

date: September 23

text: September 23 – The English ship Merchant Royal sinks off Cornwall along with its cargo of 100000 lb of gold and 18 of its 58 crew. More than 380 years later, treasure seekers will still not have located the wreckage.

title: 1641

date: September 2

text: September 2 – English Civil War: Second Battle of Lostwithiel (in Cornwall) – Charles I and the Royalists gain their last major victory.

title: 1644

date: January 19

text: January 19 – Sir Richard Grenville, 1st Baronet, a Royalist fighting for Prince Charles against Oliver Cromwell's Commonwealth, is imprisoned for insubordination after proposing to make Cornwall self-governing in order to win Cornish support for the Royalists. After being incarcerated at the tidal island of St Michael's Mount off of the coast of Cornwall, he is allowed to escape in March to avoid capture by Cromwell's troops.

title: 1646

date: March 2

text: March 2 – The future Charles II of England escapes from Cornwall into exile across the English Channel.

title: 1646

date: May 16

text: May 16 – England's Commonwealth Army massacres 70 Cornish royalists at Penzance, leading to a rebellion against England's Parliamentarians.

title: 1648

date: July 10

text: July 10 – Thomas Pellow of Cornwall finally escapes captivity, 23 years after having been captured by Barbary pirates and held as a slave in Morocco. He arrives in British territory when the ship he is on sails into Gibraltar Bay on July 21, and later recounts his story in the book The Adventures of Thomas Pellow, of Penryn, Mariner: Three and Twenty Years in Captivity Among the Moors.

title: 1738

date: July 13

text: July 13 – All 276 people on board the Dutch East India Company ship Hollandia drown after the ship strikes a rock off of the Isles of Scilly in England near Cornwall. The wreckage is located in 1971.

title: 1743

date: February 21

text: February 21 – Cornishman Richard Trevithick's newly built Penydarren steam locomotive operates on the Merthyr Tramroad, between Penydarren in Merthyr Tydfil and Abercynon in South Wales, following several trials since February 13, the world's first locomotive to work on rails.

title: 1804

text: The Miners Association is established in Cornwall, England, UK.

title: 1858

section: Events › Date unknown

date: May 4

text: May 4 – The Cornwall Railway opens across the Royal Albert Bridge, linking the counties of Devon and Cornwall in England.

title: 1859

text: Redruth Mining School opens in Cornwall.

title: 1882

text: The Camborne School of Mines is founded in Cornwall, England.

title: 1888

date: June 9

text: June 9 – American boxer James J. Jeffries wins the world heavyweight boxing championship when he knocks out Cornish-born Bob Fitzsimmons at Coney Island, New York.

title: 1899

section: Events › June

date: July 31

text: July 31 – Loss of MV Darlwyne: a pleasure cruiser disappears off the Cornwall coast of England with the loss of all 31 aboard.

title: 1966

section: Events › July

date: December 20

text: December 20 – The Penlee lifeboat disaster: While attempting to rescue those on board the Union Star off the coast of South-West Cornwall (England), the lifeboat Solomon Browne is lost with all crew. Sixteen people in all are killed.

title: 1981

section: Events › December


slug: corsica

label: Corsica

description: French single territorial collectivity and island in the Mediterranean Sea

year_label: 255 BCE

section: Conflict & Security

text: The Battle of Adis (or Adys) is fought near the city of that name, 40 mi km southeast of Carthage, between Carthaginian forces and a Roman army led by Marcus Atilius Regulus. The Romans inflict a crushing defeat upon the Carthaginians, and the latter then sue for peace. The ensuing negotiations between the parties lead to Regulus demanding Carthage agree to an unconditional surrender, cede Sicily, Corsica and Sardinia to Rome, renounce the use of their navy, pay an indemnity, and sign a vassal-like treaty. These terms are so harsh that the people of Carthage resolve to keep fighting.

title: 255 BC

section: Events › By place › Roman Republic

year_label: 238 BCE

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

text: Rome captures Corsica and Sardinia

title: 238 BC

section: Events › By place › Rome

year_label: 234 BCE

text: Corsica, Sardinia and Liguria rebel unsuccessfully against Rome.

title: 234 BC

year_label: 227 BCE

text: Sardinia and Corsica are made a combined province. Rome appoints, and in the future annually elects, two praetors (with autocratic consular powers) for this province and for Sicily.

title: 227 BC

text: Sextus Pompey dispatches Menas with four legions and captures Sardinia, driving out Octavian's governor Marcus Lurius. He seizes the capital, Caralis and occupies Corsica. Sextus besieges Cosenza in Bruttium and Thurii in Lucania, ravaging the territory with his cavalry.

title: 40 BC

year_label: 41 CE

text: Messalina, wife of Claudius, persuades Claudius to have Seneca the Younger banished to Corsica on a charge of adultery with Julia Livilla.

title: 40s

section: Timeline › AD 41

date: October 28

text: October 28 – Maxentius, son of former Western Emperor Maximian, leads a revolt by the Praetorian Guard and members of the Senate in Rome, and is proclaimed Emperor. Southern Italy supports Maxentius, as do Africa, Corsica, Sardinia and Sicily. Maxentius recalls Maximian from retirement, who joins his son in Rome.

title: 306

section: Events › By place › Roman Empire

text: The city of Aléria on the island of Corsica is devastated by a huge fire, destroying its port and most of its inhabitants.

title: 410

section: Events › By place › Europe

section: Exploration & Expansion

text: Emperor Avitus sends a Germanic naval expedition under command of Ricimer, to defend Sicily. They defeat the Vandals twice: on land at the Battle of Agrigentum, and in a sea battle off Corsica.

title: 456

text: Winter – Zeno recognizes the full extent of the Vandal Kingdom, including all of western Africa, the Balearic Islands, Corsica, Sardinia and Sicily. King Gaiseric gives Sicily, with the exception of the city of Lilybaeum, to Odoacer in return for tribute.

title: 476

date: February 24

text: February 24 – King Huneric passes the Edict of 484, a law banning Catholicism within the Vandal Kingdom. A few weeks later, King Huneric removes Catholic bishops from their offices and banishes some to Corsica. A few are martyred, including former proconsul Victorian along with Frumentius and other merchants. They are killed at Hadrumetum after refusing to become Arians.

title: 484

section: Events › By place › Africa

text: Amalasuintha rules the Ostrogothic Kingdom that extends throughout the Italian Peninsula, Dalmatia, Sicily, Sardinia and Corsica.

title: 526

text: Summer – Totila plunders Sicily, after he subdues Corsica and Sardinia. He sends a Gothic fleet to raid the coasts of Greece.

title: 550

section: Events › By place › Byzantine Empire

text: A Muslim fleet raids the Byzantine-ruled Balearic Islands, as well as Byzantine Sardinia and Lombard Corsica.

title: 724

section: Events › By place › Arabian Empire

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

title: 725

text: King Charlemagne conquers the Lombard Kingdom, and establishes Frankish rule in Pavia, Venetia, Istria, Emilia, Tuscany, and Corsica. Charlemagne visits Rome; he confirms the Donation of Pepin (see 756) while insisting on his own sovereignty. Pope Adrian I grants him the title of patrician. Charlemagne puts down immediate insurrections in Friuli.

title: 774

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

title: 781

text: King Charles the Younger, a son of Charlemagne, conquers Corsica and Sardinia (approximate date).

title: 798

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

date: September 1

text: September 1 – Pope Gregory VII appoints Landulf as bishop of Pisa. He makes him permanent legate of the Holy See in Corsica.

title: 1077

text: Genoa takes Bonifacio (in Corsica) from Pisa. Pope Gregory VIII reconciles the differences between the states so that both may be used to expedite shipments to the Holy Land.

title: 1187

date: November

text: November – Charles I orders his officials to take all Genoese prisoner within his territories, except for the Guelphs and to seize their property. The Sicilian fleet occupies Ajaccio on Corsica. Pope Gregory X condemns the aggressive policy of Charles and proposes that the Genoese elect Guelph officials.

title: 1272

text: Boniface VIII attempts to end the rivalry between Genoa and Pisa over the Tyrrhenian islands of Sardinia and Corsica, naming King James II of Aragon ("the Just") as regent of the islands.

title: 1297

text: July 31 – Pisa and Genoa agree to a thirty-year truce. Part of the treaty includes the end of the Pisan military support to Genoa's enemies in Corsica.

title: 1299

section: Technology & Infrastructure

date: October

text: October – The first Martello tower, the Tour de Mortella, designed by Giovan Giacomo Paleari Fratino (el Fratin), is completed as part of the Genovese defence system at Mortella (Myrtle) Point, in Upper Corsica.

title: 1565

section: Events › October–December

text: The Ottoman fleet crosses into the Western Mediterranean and raids the Italian coastline. In Corsica, the towns of Sartene and Arbellara are sacked (summer).

title: 1583

date: September 14

text: September 14 – Vincenzo Durazzo is elected to a 2-year term as the new Doge of the Republic of Genoa (including the island of Corsica), succeeding the outgoing Doge, Domenico Maria De Mari.

title: 1707

section: Events › July– September

date: May 13

text: May 13 – Rebels in Corsica agree to allow the Republic of Genoa to resume its administration of the island in return for amnesty and promised reforms.

title: 1732

date: May 15

text: May 15 – After the Treaty of Versailles, the island of Corsica is ceded by Genoa to France.

title: 1768

date: August 21

text: August 21 – British troops capture Corsica following the bombardment by Nelson.

title: 1794

section: Events › July–September

date: July 12

text: July 12 – Horatio Nelson loses the sight in his right eye in the British Siege of Calvi in Corsica.

title: 1794

date: May 3

text: May 3 – Battle of Tolentino: Austria defeats the Kingdom of Naples, which quickly ends the Neapolitan War. Joachim Murat, the defeated King of Naples, is forced to flee to Corsica, and is later executed.

title: 1815

section: Events › May

section: Crime & Justice

date: November 8

text: November 8 – French police launch a large-scale raid against Corsican bandits.

title: 1931

section: Events › November

date: August 20

text: August 20 – The French government ousts King Mohammed V of Morocco, and exiles him to Corsica.

title: 1953

section: Events › August

date: September 7

text: September 7 – The crash of Air France Flight 1611 kills 95 people, including French Army General René Cogny, as the Caravelle jetliner plunges into the Mediterranean Sea following a fire while making its approach to Nice following its departure from the island of Corsica.

title: 1968

section: Events › September–October

date: September 15

text: September 15 – The French department of Corse, comprising the entire island of Corsica, is divided into two departments: Haute-Corse (Upper Corsica) and Corse-du-Sud (Southern Corsica).

title: 1975

section: Events › September

date: December 1

text: December 1 – An Inex-Adria Aviopromet McDonnell Douglas MD-80 strikes a mountain peak and crashes while approaching Ajaccio Airport in Corsica, killing all 180 people on board.

title: 1981

text: May 5 – Armand Césari Stadium disaster in Bastia on Corsica: 18 people are killed and 2,300 are injured when one of the terraces collapses before a football match between SC Bastia and Olympique de Marseille.

title: 1992


slug: costa-rica

label: Costa Rica

description: country in Central America

text: Diquis culture (modern Costa Rica) starts in Central America (approximate date).

title: 700

section: Events › By place › Mesoamerica

date: May 9

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

title: 1502

section: Events › April–June

date: September 18

text: September 18 – Christopher Columbus lands at Central America at what is now Costa Rica.

title: 1502

date: January 26

text: January 26 – Spanish conquistador Gil González Dávila sets out from the gulf of Panama to explore the Pacific coast of Central America. He explores Nicaragua and names Costa Rica when he finds copious quantities of gold in Pacific beaches.

title: 1522

section: Events › January–March

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

date: November 5

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

title: 1838

section: Conflict & Security

date: March 20

text: March 20 – Filibuster War: Battle of Santa Rosa: – Costa Rican troops rout Walker's soldiers.

title: 1856

text: November – The first free elections are held in Costa Rica.

title: 1889

date: March 5

text: March 5 – Two U.S. Navy cruisers are sent to Central America to protect American interests in a dispute between Nicaragua and Costa Rica.

title: 1900

section: Events › March

text: December 1 – José Figueres Ferrer abolishes the army in Costa Rica, making it the first country in history to do so.

title: 1948

section: Events › December

section: Health & Medicine

text: August 21 – Deportivo Saprissa enters Costa Rican soccer's first division.

title: 1949

section: Climate & Environment

date: July 29

text: July 29 – Arenal Volcano erupts in Costa Rica for the first time in centuries.

title: 1968

section: Events › July–August

text: May 15 – The last golden toad is seen in Costa Rica; the species is subsequently classified as extinct.

title: 1989

date: April 22

text: April 22 – A 7.7 Limon earthquake strikes Costa Rica and Panama with a maximum Mercalli intensity, causing between 47 and 87 deaths and up to 759 injuries.

title: 1991

section: Events › April

date: October 4

text: October 4 – The World Bank praises Costa Rica for its remarkable success in raising life expectancy and lowering infant mortality.

title: 1998

section: Events › October

section: Culture & Society

date: May 26

text: May 26 – Costa Rica becomes the first Central American country to legalise same-sex marriage.

title: 2020


slug: council-of-basel

label: Council of Basel

section: Religion & Belief

date: October 15

text: October 15 – The Roman Catholic Council of Basel issues a formal invitation to the Hussites to take part in its deliberations.

title: 1431

section: Events › October–December

date: November 12

text: November 12 – Pope Eugene IV authorizes Cardinal Giuliano Cesarini to close the Council of Basel, but Cesarini declines to do so.

title: 1432

date: February 15

text: February 15 – Pope Eugene IV withdraws his papal bull of 1431 that had ordered the Council of Basel to be dissolved, and declares "that the said council from its very beginning was and is a legitimate council and it should continue as if no dissolution was made."

title: 1433

date: September 16

text: September 16 – A legate of Cardinal Niccolò Albergati, who had been determined to break up the Council of Basel, arrives at the Council and informs the group that Albergati is ready to negotiate.

title: 1433

section: Events › July–September

text: November 12 – Bishop Nils Ragvaldsson of Sweden delivers a speech at the Council of Basel, arguing the Kingdom of Sweden and its monarch, Eric of Pomerania deserve senior rank over the Spanish delegation.

title: 1434

date: January 24

text: January 24 – The Council of Basel, with only 16 bishops present, votes to suspend Pope Eugene from papal authority.

title: 1438

date: January 8

text: January 8 – Upset at the attempted reforms at the Council of Basel in Switzerland, Pope Eugene IV convenes a rival council at Ferrara in Italy, through Niccolò Albergati, the Roman Catholic Bishop of Bologna, with 40 prelates in attendance.

title: 1438

date: January 10

text: January 10 – Pope Eugene IV, who had convened the Council of Ferrara a year earlier to fight the reforms of the Council of Basel, orders the transfer of its participants from Ferrara to Florence.

title: 1439

date: June 25

text: June 25 – The Council of Basel formally declares that Pope Eugene IV is deposed.

title: 1439

date: May 16

text: May 16 – Pope Eugene, already found to be in contempt of the Council of Basel, is declared by the Council to be a heretic.

title: 1439

date: October 30

text: October 30 – The Council of Basel begins a conclave to elect its own successor to Pope Eugene IV, whom it had deposed on June 25.

title: 1439

date: April 20

text: April 20 — The Council of Florence, led by Pope Eugene IV, declares that the members of the Council of Basel are heretics and votes to excommunicate them, as well as affirming the superiority of the Pope over the Councils in the bull Etsi non dubitemus. In 1440, the Council of Basel had declared Eugene IV to be a heretic, deposed him as Pope, and excommunicated him.

title: 1441

date: July 25

text: July 25 – The Council of Basel, opposed to the Pope at Rome, moves to Lausanne and holds its first session, presided over by the antipope Felix V.

title: 1448

date: May 24

text: May 24 – Under an agreement with the Holy Roman Emperor, Friedrich III, the city council of Basel in Switzerland votes to expel all persons attending the Council of Basel, a group of clerics opposed to the Roman Catholic Pope.

title: 1448

date: April 19

text: April 19 – Pope Nicholas V is elected by the Council of Basel.

title: 1449

date: April 25

text: April 25 – The Council of Basel dissolves itself.

title: 1449


slug: council-of-ten

label: Council of Ten

description: Venice

date: July 10

text: July 10 – The Council of Ten (or simply "the Ten"), Il Consiglio dei Dieci is created to govern the Republic of Venice, by decree of Pietro Gradenigo, Doge of Venice. The council, the inner circle of oligarchical patricians, initially investigates the conspiracy of Bajamonte Tiepolo.

title: 1310

section: Events › July – September

date: June 15

text: June 15 – Tiepolo conspiracy: Leading Venetian nobles led by Bajamonte Tiepolo organise a conspiracy against Doge Pietro Gradenigo. Their plot fails due to treachery and the rebels are defeated near Piazza San Marco by forces faithful to the doge. During their retreat to the San Polo sestiere, the Rialto Bridge is burnt down. Later, Tiepolo surrenders himself and is exiled to Istria. The suppression of the revolt will lead to the creation of the Council of Ten.

title: 1310

section: Events › April – June

date: April 18

text: April 18 – In Venice, the Council of Ten beheads Doge Marin Falier, for conspiring to kill them.

title: 1355

section: Events

date: January 16

text: January 16 – After the Venetian Republic is victorious in the War of Padua against Francesco Novello da Carrara, the Venetian Consejo de i Diexe (Council of Ten) concludes that Novello and his sons are too dangerous to be left alive. Novello is taken from his cell at the Doge's Palace, where he has been held since November 23, and is strangled to death. His sons Francesco and Giacomo are executed the next day.

title: 1406

section: Deaths

date: March 29

text: March 29 – Venetian General Francesco Bussone da Carmagnola is arrested in Venice after reporting to a meeting with the Council of Ten and the Venetian Doge Tommaso Mocenigo. The Doge dies five days later.

title: 1432

date: October 22

text: October 22 – After serving as the Doge of the Republic of Venice for 34 years, Francesco Foscari is forced to abdicate by the Council of Ten. Foscari dies 10 days later on November 1 at the age of 84.

title: 1457

date: September 18

text: September 18 – The Great Council of the Republic of Venice curbs the power of the Council of Ten through legislation restricting them to acting on emergency matters.

title: 1468

section: Technology & Infrastructure

text: The Council of Ten discusses the advisability of proposing a scheme of a Suez Canal to the Sultan of Egypt, at the time Al-Ashraf Qansuh al-Ghuri, but the discussion is eventually abandoned.

title: 1504

section: Events › Date unknown

date: December 4

text: December 4 – The Consejo de i Diexe, governing body for the Republic of Venice, votes to replace the republic's treasury, made of wood, with the Zecca a structure that has stone vaults, and invites architects to submit designs.

title: 1535


slug: county-of-anjou

label: County of Anjou

description: Medieval French county (861–1360)

section: Conflict & Security

text: Ragenfrid, ex-mayor of the palace of Neustria, revolts against Charles Martel. He is easily defeated, and Ragenfrid gives up his sons as hostages, in return for being allowed to keep his lands in Anjou.

title: 724

section: Events › By place › Europe

text: Summer – Breton forces under Nominoe occupy the Frankish cities of Nantes and Rennes. He makes raids in Anjou and threatens Bayeux. King Charles the Bald recognizes him as duke of Brittany.

title: 846

date: June 27

text: June 27 – Battle of Conquereuil: The Angevins under Fulk III "the Black", Count of Anjou, defeat the forces of Conan I, duke of Brittany, who is killed in the battle at Conquereuil (France).

title: 992

text: Summer – Geoffrey II ("the Hammer"), count of Anjou, captures the city of Tours, and takes control of the county of Touraine.

title: 1044

date: November 14

text: November 14 – Geoffrey II, count of Anjou

title: 1060

text: Fulk IV, Count of Anjou, known as "the Quarreller", is at war with his brother Geoffrey III, contesting the lands of Anjou and Touraine left to them by their uncle Geoffrey II, Count of Anjou (Martel).

title: 1066

section: Events › Europe

date: April 14

text: April 14 – Fulk IV, count of Anjou (b. 1043)

title: 1109

text: Construction begins on Fontevraud Abbey in the French duchy of Anjou.

title: 1110

section: Events › By topic › Religion

text: King Henry I of England arranges the marriage of his daughter Matilda (the widow of Emperor Henry V) to the 14-year-old Geoffrey of Anjou (son of Count Fulk V). This is done to ensure an alliance between England and Anjou, and to prevent Fulk allying with Louis VI. Henry has the English nobles swear allegiance to Matilda as the rightful heir to the throne. Upon his death, her cousin Stephen of Blois crosses the channel and usurps her throne, becoming the King of England. She wages a lengthy civil war known as the Anarchy, which lasts from 1135–1154.

title: 1127

section: Events › By place › England

date: June 17

text: June 17 – King Henry I of England marries his only legitimate daughter, dowager Empress Matilda, to the 14-year-old Geoffrey Plantagenet ("the Fair"), count of Anjou, at Le Mans.

title: 1128

date: June 2

text: June 2 – Fulk V, count of Anjou, marries Melisende (daughter of King Baldwin II) the heir to the Kingdom of Jerusalem. Fulk gives up his title which passes to his 15-year-old son, Geoffrey V (the Fair).

title: 1129

date: March 21

text: March 21 – King Louis VII repudiates his marriage to Eleanor of Aquitaine and has it annulled on grounds of misconduct and consanguinity – returning her lands and titles. Within 6 weeks, Eleanor re-marries Henry of Anjou, who had claimed the counties of Anjou and Maine, and the province of Touraine upon the death of his father Geoffrey Plantagenet (the Fair), the previous year. With the addition of Eleanor's lands, he now controls territory stretching unbroken, from Cherbourg to Bayonne.

title: 1152

text: Eleanor of Aquitaine, queen consort of England, spends most of the year in Anjou. Her husband, Henry II, begins an affair with "the Fair" Rosamund Clifford.

title: 1165

section: Events › By place › British Isles

date: November

text: November – Richard of Poitou, son of Henry II, allies himself with Philip II and pays him homage. He promises to concede his rights to both Normandy and Anjou. Henry is overpowered by Richard's supporters, who chase him from Le Mans to Angers. They force him to accept peace by conceding to all demands, including the recognition of Richard as his successor.

title: 1188

text: Spring – King Philip II of France ("Augustus") summons John, King of England ("Lackland") to Paris to answer his charges against the Lusignans. On April 28, failing to attend Philip's court, John is declared to be a 'rebel' and to have forfeited the areas of Aquitaine, Poitou and Anjou. Philip tries to mediate the political problems between John and the Lusignans (who are charged with treason) but this is ignored by John. The lands are given to Arthur of Brittany. Philip supports Arthur's claim to the English throne and betrothes his 4-year-old daughter Marie.

title: 1202

date: April 30

text: April 30 – English invasion of France: King Henry III embarks from Portsmouth with a large expeditionary force. On May 2, he arrives on the island of Guernsey, and the next day the English army lands at Saint-Malo, where Peter I (de Dreux), duke of Brittany, meets Henry to pay him homage. The English forces march through the County of Anjou, taking the castle of Mirebeau in late July.

title: 1230


slug: county-of-apulia-and-calabria

label: County of Apulia and Calabria

description: Norman country

section: Births

text: Sikelgaita, Lombard duchess of Apulia (d. 1090)

title: 1040

text: Spring – A grand assembly at Melfi, with all the Norman and Lombard nobles acclaim Guaimar IV, duke of Apulia and Calabria. The territories are divided into 12 fiefdoms and distributed among Norman chieftains. William Iron Arm is granted Ascoli as a private fiefdom and his brother Drogo of Hauteville is granted Venosa. Count Rainulf II of Aversa, not present at the assembly, receives Siponto and recognizes Guaimar's suzerainty.

title: 1043

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

title: 1047

text: Summer – Drogo of Hauteville, count of Apulia and Calabria, meets Pope Leo IX in southern Italy – who has been sent by Emperor Henry III (the Black) to re-establish the "freedom of the Catholic Church". Drogo is forced to promise Pope Leo to stop the Normans from pillaging the Lombard countryside. On his way back (August 10), Drogo is assassinated near Bovino by a Byzantine conspiracy.

title: 1051

section: Events › By place › Continental Europe

date: June 18

text: June 18 – Battle of Civitate: Norman horsemen (3,000 men), led by Humphrey of Hauteville, count of Apulia and Calabria, rout the combined forces under Pope Leo IX, in Southern Italy. The Normans destroy the allied Papal army and capture Leo, who is imprisoned (as a hostage for 8 months) in Benevento.

title: 1053

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

date: August 23

text: August 23 – Robert Guiscard, count of Apulia and Calabria, signs the Treaty of Melfi with Pope Nicholas II. Nicholas recognises the Norman conquest of southern Italy, and accepts the titles of Guiscard as duke of Sicily.

title: 1059

text: Roger Borsa, duke of Apulia and Calabria (or 1060)

title: 1061

text: Norman conquest of southern Italy: Norman forces under Robert Guiscard (duke of Apulia and Calabria) lay siege to the Byzantine city of Bari.

title: 1068

date: April 16

text: April 16 – Sikelgaita, Lombard duchess of Apulia (b. 1040)

title: 1090

date: February

text: February – Norman conquest of Sicily: The Normans conquer Noto and complete the 30-year-long conquest of Sicily from the Moorish rulers. Duke Roger Borsa (a son of Robert Guiscard) surrenders his share in the castles of Calabria, and receives his inheritance of Palermo. He grants charters to various towns and encourages urban planning in Apulia and Calabria.

title: 1091

text: William II, duke of Apulia and Calabria (d. 1127)

title: 1095

text: Roger III, Norman duke of Apulia and Calabria (d. 1148)

title: 1118

text: Alberada of Buonalbergo, duchess of Apulia

title: 1122

text: Summer – King Roger II of Sicily claims the Hauteville possessions in Italy as well the overlordship of Capua. However, a coalition of Norman noblemen in Apulia and Calabria resist (supported by Pope Honorius II) against Sicilian rule. The same year, Roger regains control over Malta after a rebellion. Roger II also establishes a pact with the maritime Republic of Savona to guarantee the security of the Mediterranean Sea, probably following an Almoravid raid against the Sicilian realm.

title: 1127

date: July

text: July – William II, Norman duke of Apulia and Calabria (b. 1095)

title: 1127

date: August

text: August – Pope Honorius II invests Roger II of Sicily as duke of Apulia at Benevento, after his failure to form a coalition against Roger.

title: 1128

text: Summer – Emperor Lothair III invades southern Italy in response to the appeal of Emperor John II Komnenos (see 1135) and conquers Apulia from King Roger II of Sicily. Duke Grimoald of Bari, supported by Lothair III, rebels against Roger.

title: 1136

text: Roger IV, duke of Apulia and Calabria (d. 1161)

title: 1152

date: February 26

text: February 26 – King Roger II dies at Palermo after a 24-year reign. He is succeeded by his fourth son William I ("the Bad"') as ruler of Sicily. William appoints Maio of Bari, a man of low birth, to chancellor and his adviser. He pursues his father's policy of strengthening authority over the towns and the Italian nobles, who rally around his cousin Robert III, count of Loritello, in Apulia and Calabria.

title: 1154

text: Roger IV, duke of Apulia and Calabria (b. 1152)

title: 1161


slug: county-of-barcelona

label: County of Barcelona

description: countship

text: Charlemagne conquers Catalonia, as far south as the River Ebro and the Balearic Islands. The counties come under the rule of Bera, count of Barcelona. He signs a three-year peace treaty with the Emirate of Córdoba.

title: 812

text: Frankish forces under Count (comté) William of Septimania assume authority over the counties of Barcelona and Empúries (modern Spain).

title: 848

text: Sunyer, count of Barcelona (approximate date)

title: 870

section: Religion & Belief

text: Wilfred the Hairy, count of Barcelona, founds the Benedictine monastery at Ripoll, in Catalonia (Spain).

title: 879

text: Sunifred II of Urgell dies without descendants and is succeeded by his nephew Borrell II, count of Barcelona.

title: 948

text: Sunyer, count of Barcelona, Girona and Ausona

title: 950

text: Ermesinde, countess and regent of Barcelona (d. 1058)

title: 972

text: Borrell II, count of Barcelona, does not renew his allegiance to Hugh Capet. He becomes a de facto independent ruler, and starts minting its own currency – this will be confirmed legally by the Treaty of Corbeil (1258).

title: 988

text: Borrell II, count of Barcelona and Urgell

title: 993

text: Ramon Borrell, count of Barcelona (b. 972)

title: 1017

text: Ramon Berenguer I, count of Barcelona (d. 1076)

title: 1023

text: King Sancho III (the Great) of Pamplona captures León, after defeating a string of rivals. His rule now extends from the borders of Galicia in the west to the County of Barcelona in the east.

title: 1034

text: Berenguer Ramon II, count of Barcelona (approximate date)

title: 1053

date: March 1

text: March 1 – Ermesinde, countess and regent of Barcelona

title: 1058

date: May 26

text: May 26 – Ramon Berenguer I, count of Barcelona (b. 1023)

title: 1076

text: King Alfonso VI ("the Brave") of Castile exiles his most famous commander, El Cid, who goes into exile and offers his services to the twins – Counts Ramon Berenguer II and Berenguer Ramon II of Barcelona, but is turned down. He ends up in the service of Emir Yusuf al-Mu'taman ibn Hud of Zaragoza.

title: 1081

section: Crime & Justice

date: December 6

text: December 6 – Count Ramon Berenguer II of Barcelona is killed while hunting in the woods. He is succeeded by his twin brother Berenguer Ramon II as the sole ruler of Catalonia (modern Spain).

title: 1082

date: November 11

text: November 11 – Ramon Berenguer III, count of Barcelona (d. 1132)

title: 1082

date: February 3

text: February 3 – Ramon Berenguer III ("the Great"), count of Barcelona, obtains the county of Provence through his marriage to the heiress, Douce I. Ramon's dominion stretches as far east as Nice (modern France).

title: 1112

date: September 7

text: September 7 – The Republic of Pisa signs a treaty with Ramon Berenguer III ('the Great'), count of Barcelona. The Pisan fleet embarks on a campaign against the Moors in the Balearic Islands.

title: 1113

text: Battle of Martorell: The Almoravid governor of Zaragoza, Muhàmmad ibn al-Hajj, launches an expedition against the County of Barcelona, but is defeated in an ambush near Martorell.

title: 1114

text: Ramon Berenguer IV, count of Barcelona (d. 1162)

title: 1114

text: Ramon Berenguer III ("the Great"), count of Barcelona, inherits Cerdanya (located between the Pyrenees and the Ebro River) which becomes part of the Principality of Catalonia.

title: 1117

text: Ramon Berenguer III (the Great), count of Barcelona, dies after a 34-year reign. He leaves most of his Catalonian territories to his elder son Ramon Berenguer IV, who continues the fight against the Almoravid Muslims. His younger son Berenguer Ramon inherits Provence (Southern France) and will reign as Ramon I (until 1144).

title: 1131

text: Ramon Berenguer IV, count of Barcelona, launches a raid against Almoravid-held territories in Al-Andalus (modern Spain), and pillages the country all the way to Cádiz.

title: 1133

text: Called by Olegarius, the bishop of Tarragona, the Knights Templar establish their first stronghold in Catalonia.

title: 1134

section: Events › By place › Mediterranean

section: Exploration & Expansion

text: A Moorish fleet raids the Catalan port-town of Elna (Southern France).

title: 1135

text: Reverter de La Guardia, viscount of Barcelona (or 1144)

title: 1142

text: Reverter de La Guardia, viscount of Barcelona (or 1142)

title: 1144

text: The Republic of Genoa reaches a commercial agreement with Ramon Berenguer IV, count of Barcelona, granting privileges to merchants of both nations in the Catalan and Ligurian ports.

title: 1146

date: October 24

text: October 24 – Ramon Berenguer IV, count of Barcelona, conquers Lleida from the Almoravids, after a siege of seven months (as well as Fraga and Mequinenza).

title: 1149

text: Confronted with important financial difficulty due to the expenses of the Spanish crusade, the Republic of Genoa has to sell a third of the city of Tortosa (which they had conquered in 1148 during an expedition against the Almoravids) to Ramon Berenguer IV, count of Barcelona.

title: 1153

date: August 6

text: August 6 – Ramon Berenguer IV, count of Barcelona (b. 1114)

title: 1162


slug: county-of-boulogne

label: County of Boulogne

description: countship

text: Arnulf II, count of Boulogne (approximate date)

title: 972

text: Eustace II, count of Boulogne (approximate date)

title: 1015

text: Eustace I, count of Boulogne (House of Flanders)

title: 1047

text: Eustace II, count of Boulogne, visits England and is received with honour at the court by King Edward the Confessor. In Dover a fight breaks out between the Norman visitors and the locals, resulting in the deaths of several people. Edward blames the people of Dover and orders Godwin, earl of Wessex, to deal with them. Godwin refuses to obey Edward's order, and in response Edward raises an army and forces the Godwin family into exile.

title: 1051

text: Eustace II, count of Boulogne, supports the Kentishmen in an attempt to seize Dover Castle. The conspiracy fails, and Eustace is sentenced to forfeit his English fiefs.

title: 1067

text: Mary of Scotland, countess of Boulogne (d. 1116)

title: 1082

text: Mary of Scotland, countess of Boulogne (b. 1082)

title: 1116

text: Furness Abbey (or St Mary of Furness) is founded in England by Stephen, count of Boulogne, for the Order of Savigny.

title: 1123

text: King Henry I of England arranges a marriage between his nephew Stephen of Blois and the 20-year-old Matilda, daughter and heiress of Eustace III, count of Boulogne. This gives Stephen control of the County of Boulogne and also lands in England that have belonged to Eustace (who dies on his return from the Holy Land).

title: 1125

text: Marie I (or Mary), countess consort of Boulogne (d. 1182)

title: 1136

text: William I of Blois, count of Boulogne (d. 1159)

title: 1137

date: August 17

text: August 17 – Eustace IV, count of Boulogne (b. 1130)

title: 1153

date: July 25

text: July 25 – Maria I, countess of Boulogne (b. 1136)

title: 1182

date: June

text: June – Otto IV arrives in Flanders with a small army; four German nobles have joined him, but he is soon reinforced by troops of Renaud I, duke of Boulogne, Ferdinand, (jure uxoris) count of Flanders and the mercenaries under William Longespée. On July 26, Philip II arrives at the Flemish town of Tournai with his army (some 7,000 men), while the allied forces encamp 12 kilometers south at the Castle of Mortagne (France).

title: 1214


slug: county-of-cerdanya

label: County of Cerdanya

description: former country

text: Wilfred the Hairy, a Frankish nobleman, becomes count of Urgell and Cerdanya (modern-day Catalonia).

title: 870

text: Miró II, count of Cerdanya and Besalú (Spain)

title: 927

text: Ava of Cerdanya, countess regent of Cerdanya and Besalú

title: 961

text: Miró III, count of Cerdanya and Besalú (b. 920)

title: 984

text: Oliba Cabreta, count of Cerdanya and Besalú (Spain)

title: 990

text: Wifred II, count of Cerdanya and Berga

title: 1050

date: February 28

text: February 28 – Raymond IV dies at his castle of Mons Peregrinus ("Pilgrim's Mountain") near Tripoli. Raymond leaves his 2-year-old son Alfonso I by his third wife, Elvira of Castile, to rule the County of Tripoli. Raymond's nephew William-Jordan, count of Cerdagne, becomes regent over Alfonso. Bertrand, the eldest son of Raymond, inherits the title 'Count of Toulouse'.

title: 1105

section: Events › By place › Levant

text: William II, count of Cerdagne and Tripoli

title: 1109

text: Ramon Berenguer III ("the Great"), count of Barcelona, inherits Cerdanya (located between the Pyrenees and the Ebro River) which becomes part of the Principality of Catalonia.

title: 1117


slug: county-of-champagne

label: County of Champagne

description: countship

date: November 15

text: November 15 – Battle of Bar-le-Duc: Odo II, Count of Blois and Champagne, while invading the Duchy of Lorraine dies in battle with forces loyal to Gothelo I.

title: 1037

date: December

text: December – Henry I ("the Liberal"), count of Champagne (d. 1181)

title: 1127

text: King Louis VII the Younger of France becomes involved in a civil war with Theobald II ("the Great"), count of Champagne, by permitting his cousin Ralph I of Vermandois (seneschal of France) to repudiate his wife, Theobald's sister Eleanor of Champagne, and to marry Petronilla of Aquitaine, who was the sister of King Louis VII’s wife, Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine.

title: 1142

date: May 13

text: May 13 – Theobald III, count of Champagne (d. 1201)

title: 1179

text: Summer – Pope Innocent III calls for a fourth Crusade at Rome. Due to the preaching of Fulk of Neuilly, an army is organized at a tournament held at Ecry-sur-Aisne by Theobald III, count of Champagne, on November 28.

title: 1199

text: King Philip II of France ("Augustus") grants a "conduit" to merchants, going to the Champagne fairs (a trade fair organized in different towns of the County of Champagne), guaranteeing the safety of their travel – as any attempt made against them – is now to be considered a crime of lèse-majesté (an offense against the king). The decision increases again the appeal of the fairs to merchants from Italy and the Low Countries.

title: 1209

section: Events › By topic › Markets

section: Deaths

date: March 13

text: March 13 – Blanche of Navarre, countess and regent of Champagne

title: 1229

text: The County of Champagne is integrated into the kingdom of France; the region loses its haven characteristics for foreign merchants, and the Fairs of Troyes quickly dwindle into economic insignificance.

title: 1285