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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 …

This day in History – May 23, 1618 – The Defenestration of Prague sparks the 30 Years War Read More »

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 …

This day in History – May 21, 987 – Death of Louis V of France, end of Carolingian dynasty Read More »

For all its noble goals the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons i.e. the NPT has always had a glaring hole.  It fixed the recognized nuclear weapon states as those that conveniently had tested a nuclear device prior to the ratification of the treaty.  Then while it envisaged nuclear disarmament, there was no way to …

This day in History – May 18, 1974 – “Buddha Smiles” – India’s first nuclear weapons test Read More »

Marta Skowrońska was a Lithuanian peasant of possibly Polish origins.  Details about her roots and early life are sketchy.  Possibly born in 1684 she was married off in 1702 to a Swedish dragoon in Latvia.  Swedish forces were in the region following their decisive victory at the Battle of Narva in 1700.  But 8 days after …

This day in History – May 17, 1727 – death of Yekaterina I Alekseyevna Empress of Russia Read More »

Caligula, Nero and now Commodus (thanks to two Hollywood blockbusters in 30 years) have been imprinted in popular imagination as the epitome of depraved Roman Emperors.   Their third century counterpart has not received the Hollywood treatment so far. The third century was a violent period with most Emperors dying with their boots on.  The …

This day in History – May 16, 218 – The Third Legion proclaims Elagabalus as Emperor of Rome Read More »

A revolt in Bohemia in 1618 ignited the religious tensions suppressed in Germany by the Peace of Augsburg.  Augsburg allowed German princes to choose between Lutheranism and Catholicism but made no provision for Calvinism.  Adding to the tensions was the power of the Hapsburgs who ruled Austria, Bohemia and Hungary with their Spanish branch controlling …

This day in History – May 15, 1648 – The Peace of Westphalia ends the Thirty Years War Read More »

The period from 897 to 1047 is possibly the nadir of the Papacy – even counting the Borgias.  Lowlights included: The Cadaver Synod where Pope Stephen VI (VII) exhumed the body of his predecessor Pope Formosus, put it on trial for perjury and tossed it into the Tiber.  This inspired the disgusted Roman mob to …

This day in History – May 14, 964 – Death of Pope John XII possibly while committing adultery Read More »