“A furore Normannorum libera nos, Domine” (“From the fury of the Northmen deliver us, O Lord”) This would be the despairing prayer uttered in coming years in churches and monastic institutions around Western Europe. June 8, 793 is often used to mark the beginning of the Viking age. A group of Norsemen (i.e. Northmen) suddenly …
In 1493, the year after Columbus sailed west and found “the Indies,” Pope Alexander VI (the notorious Borgia Pope) issued the Bulls of Donation dividing the New World between Spain and Portugal. The problem was that Portugal felt the Papal grant gave it too little land and prevented their hoped for conquest of India. So the …
This Day in History- June 7, 1494 – Treaty of Tordesillas Read More »
Until the early 17th century the Marathas were known for being hardy peasants, rather than warriors. It was Malik Ambar the Ethiopian born prime minister of the dying Nizam Shahi Sultanate of Ahmadnagar who recognized their military potential. Desperately trying to stop the Mughal Empire’s relentless march into the Deccan his Maratha guerrilla army stopped …
This day in History – June 6, 1674 – Coronation of Shivaji as Chhatrapati Read More »
They were not the first “barbarian” tribe to sack Rome. The Gauls first did it in 390 B.C. over 800 years earlier. The Visigoths sacked the city in 410 A.D. an event that shocked the Roman world. Atilla’s Huns never got as far south as Rome, but they so th0roughly sacked Aquileia in 452 that …
This day in History – June 2, 455 – The Vandals sack Rome earning linguistic infamy Read More »
“But what evil have I done? Whom have I killed?” – Last words of Didius Julianus On those pathetic last words ended the 9 week reign of an Emperor who bought the crown in a public auction, the second in the Year of the Five Emperors. Didius Julianus came from distinguished breeding. Raised by the …
This day in History – June 1,193 – Execution of Didius Julianus, Emperor of Rome Read More »
The biggest problem Republics have faced thoughout history is establishing a stable succession and transition from power. That failure ultimately doomed Oliver Cromwell’s Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland. Richard Cromwell never served in the English Civil Wars. He was passed over for the first Parliament nominated by Oliver Cromwell. He displayed no particular aptitude …
This day in History – May 25, 1659 – Richard Cromwell resigns as Lord Protector Read More »
It may not have been a beauty contest among goddesses that would lead to an elopement, a 10 year war, the destruction of an ancient city and the eventual formation of the Eternal City. But this was equally momentous. On this day the snobbery sustaining the French wine industry took a body blow. A British wine dealer …
This day in History – May 24, 1976 – The Judgment of Paris Read More »
Never get into a religious spat in Prague next to an upper story window. On July 30, 1419 a Hussite mob tossed the town council out of the window of the town hall where many were lynched. The First Defenestration of Prague set off the Hussite Wars. It took 20 bloody years for the radical …
For the last 13 years of his life he had been the sole ruler of the Roman Empire. The path to the throne was bloody. Elected emperor by his legions on the death of his father Constantius I Chlorus in 306 AD, Constantine spent the next 18 years walking a bloody trail through the civil …
This day in History – May 22, 337 – death of Constantine the Great Read More »
The Carolingians once ruled France, Germany and Northern Italy. Under Charlemagne, they had revived the Imperial title in the West. Western Europe’s borders and 1,000 years of war between France and Germany owe their roots to a family spat between three brothers that was papered over by the Treaty of Verdun in 843. The treaty …