1.
March
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March is the third month of the year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. It is the month to have a length of 31 days. In the Northern Hemisphere, the beginning of spring occurs on the first day of March. The name of March comes from Latin Martius, the first month of the earliest Roman calendar. It was named after Mars, the Roman god of war, who was regarded as a guardian of agriculture. Martius remained the first month of the Roman calendar year perhaps as late as 153 BC, even in late antiquity, Roman mosaics picturing the months sometimes still placed March first. March 1 began the year in Russia until the end of the 15th century. Great Britain and its colonies continued to use March 25 until 1752, many other cultures and religions still celebrate the beginning of the New Year in March. March is the first month of spring in the Northern Hemisphere and these dates do not correspond to the modern Gregorian calendar. In Finnish, the month is called maaliskuu, which is believed to originate from maallinen kuu, during March, in Ukrainian, the month is called березень/berezenʹ, meaning birch tree, and březen in Czech. Historical names for March include the Saxon Lentmonat, named after the March equinox and gradual lengthening of days, saxons also called March Rhed-monat or Hreth-monath, and Angles called it Hyld-monath. In Slovene, the name is sušec, meaning the month when the earth becomes dry enough so that it is possible to cultivate it. The name was first written in 1466 in the Škofja Loka manuscript, other names were used too, for example brezen and breznik, the month of birches. The Turkish word Mart is given after the name of Mars the god, marchs birthstones are aquamarine and bloodstone. Its birth flower is the daffodil, the zodiac signs for the month of March are Pisces and Aries. This list does not necessarily imply either official status nor general observance, in Catholic tradition, March is the Month of Saint Joseph
2.
April
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April is the fourth month of the year in the Gregorian calendar, the fifth in the early Julian and the first month to have the length of 30 days. The Romans gave this month the Latin name Aprilis but the derivation of this name is uncertain, jacob Grimm suggests the name of a hypothetical god or hero, Aper or Aprus. April was the month of the earliest Roman calendar, before Ianuarius and Februarius were added by King Numa Pompilius about 700 BC. It became the month of the calendar year during the time of the decemvirs about 450 BC. The 30th day was added during the reform of the calendar undertaken by Julius Caesar in the mid-40s BC, the Venerable Bede says in The Reckoning of Time that this month ēastre is the root of the word Easter. He further states that the month was named after a goddess Eostre whose feast was in that month and it is also attested by Einhard in his work, Vita Karoli Magni. In China the symbolic ploughing of the earth by the emperor and princes of the blood took place in their third month, in Finnish April is huhtikuu, meaning slash-and-burn moon, when gymnosperms for beat and burn clearing of farmland were felled. In Slovene, the most established traditional name is mali traven and it was first written in 1466 in the Škofja Loka manuscript. In Ancient Rome, the festival of Cerealia was held for seven days from mid-to-late April, feriae Latinae was also held in April, with the date varying. Other ancient Roman observances include Veneralia, Megalesia, Fordicidia, Parilia, Vinalia Urbana, Robigalia, floralia was held April 27 during the Republican era, or April 28 on the Julian calendar, and lasted until May 3. However, these dates do not correspond to the modern Gregorian calendar, the Lyrids meteor shower appears on April 16-April 26 each year, with the peak generally occurring on April 22. Eta Aquariids meteor shower appears in April. It is visible from about April 21 to about May 20 each year with activity on or around May 6. The Pi Puppids appear on April 23, but only in years around the parent comets perihelion date, the Virginids also shower at various dates in April. The birth flower is typically listed as either the Daisy or the Sweet Pea, the zodiac signs for the month of April are Aries and Taurus. This list does not necessarily imply either official status nor general observance, in Catholic tradition, April is the Month of the Resurrection of the Lord. Seharane is celebrated by Kurdish Jews outside of Israel on this date. A. R. E, Day Fast and Prayer Day Air Force Day Kamakura Matsuri at Tsurugaoka Hachiman, lasts until third Sunday
3.
May
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May is the fifth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian Calendars and the third month to have the length of 31 days. May is also the month with the shortest name, may is a month of spring in the Northern Hemisphere and autumn in the Southern Hemisphere. Therefore, May in the Southern Hemisphere is the equivalent of November in the Northern Hemisphere. Late May typically marks the start of the vacation season in the United States and Canada and ends on Labor Day. The month May was named for the Greek goddess Maia, who was identified with the Roman era goddess of fertility, Bona Dea, whose festival was held in May. Mayovka, in the context of the late Russian Empire, was a picnic in the countryside or in a park in the days of May. Eventually, mayovka came to mean an illegal celebration of May 1 by revolutionary public, special devotions to the Virgin Mary take place in May. See May devotions to the Blessed Virgin Mary, eta Aquariids meteor shower appears in May. It is visible from about April 21 to about May 20 each year with activity on or around May 6. The Arietids shower from May 22-July 2, and peaks on June 7, the Virginids also shower at various dates in May. Under the calendar of ancient Rome, the festival of Bona Dea fell on May 1, Argei fell on May 14 or May 15, Agonalia fell on May 21, and Ambarvalia on May 29. Floralia was held April 27 during the Republican era, or April 28 on the Julian calendar, lemuria fell on 9,11, and 13 May under the Julian calendar. The College of Aesculapius and Hygia celebrated two festivals of Rosalia, one on May 11 and one on May 22, Rosalia was also celebrated at Pergamon on May 24–26. A military Rosalia festival also occurred on May 31, ludi Fabarici was celebrated on May 29-June 1. Mercury would receive a sacrifice on the Ides of May, tubilustrium took place on May 23 as well as in March. These dates do not correspond to the modern Gregorian calendar, mays birthstone is the emerald which is emblematic of love and success. The May birth flower is the Lily of the Valley and the Crataegus monogyna, the mayflower Epigaea repens is a North American harbinger of May, and the floral emblem of both Nova Scotia and Massachusetts. Its native range extends from Newfoundland south to Florida, west to Kentucky in the southern range, the zodiac signs for the month of May are Taurus and Gemini
4.
Leap year
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A leap year is a calendar year containing one additional day added to keep the calendar year synchronized with the astronomical or seasonal year. By inserting an additional day or month into the year, the drift can be corrected, a year that is not a leap year is called a common year. For example, in the Gregorian calendar, each year has 366 days instead of the usual 365. In the Bahai Calendar, a day is added when needed to ensure that the following year begins on the vernal equinox. For example, Christmas Day fell on a Tuesday in 2001, Wednesday in 2002, the length of a day is also occasionally changed by the insertion of leap seconds into Coordinated Universal Time, owing to the variability of Earths rotational period. Unlike leap days, leap seconds are not introduced on a regular schedule, in the Gregorian calendar, the standard calendar in most of the world, most years that are multiples of 4 are leap years. In each leap year, the month of February has 29 days instead of 28, adding an extra day to the calendar every four years compensates for the fact that a period of 365 days is shorter than a tropical year by almost 6 hours. Some exceptions to this rule are required since the duration of a tropical year is slightly less than 365.25 days. For example, the years 1700,1800, and 1900 were not leap years, over a period of four centuries, the accumulated error of adding a leap day every four years amounts to about three extra days. The Gregorian calendar therefore removes three leap days every 400 years, which is the length of its leap cycle and this is done by removing February 29 in the three century years that cannot be exactly divided by 400. The years 1600,2000 and 2400 are leap years, while 1700,1800,1900,2100,2200 and 2300 are common years, by this rule, the average number of days per year is 365 + 1⁄4 − 1⁄100 + 1⁄400 =365.2425. The rule can be applied to years before the Gregorian reform, the Gregorian calendar was designed to keep the vernal equinox on or close to March 21, so that the date of Easter remains close to the vernal equinox. The Accuracy section of the Gregorian calendar article discusses how well the Gregorian calendar achieves this design goal, the following pseudocode determines whether a year is a leap year or a common year in the Gregorian calendar. The year variable being tested is the representing the number of the year in the Gregorian calendar. Care should be taken in translating mathematical integer divisibility into specific programming languages, if then else if then else if then else February 29 is a date that usually occurs every four years, and is called leap day. This day is added to the calendar in leap years as a corrective measure, the Gregorian calendar is a modification of the Julian calendar first used by the Romans. The Roman calendar originated as a calendar and named many of its days after the syzygies of the moon, the new moon. The Nonae or nones was not the first quarter moon but was exactly one nundina or Roman market week of nine days before the ides and this is what we would call a period of eight days
5.
Gregorian calendar
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The Gregorian calendar is internationally the most widely used civil calendar. It is named after Pope Gregory XIII, who introduced it in October 1582, the calendar was a refinement to the Julian calendar involving a 0. 002% correction in the length of the year. The motivation for the reform was to stop the drift of the calendar with respect to the equinoxes and solstices—particularly the northern vernal equinox, transition to the Gregorian calendar would restore the holiday to the time of the year in which it was celebrated when introduced by the early Church. The reform was adopted initially by the Catholic countries of Europe, the last European country to adopt the reform was Greece, in 1923. Many countries that have used the Islamic and other religious calendars have come to adopt this calendar for civil purposes. The reform was a modification of a made by Aloysius Lilius. His proposal included reducing the number of years in four centuries from 100 to 97. Lilius also produced an original and practical scheme for adjusting the epacts of the moon when calculating the date of Easter. For example, the years 1700,1800, and 1900 are not leap years, but the years 1600 and 2000 are. The canonical Easter tables were devised at the end of the third century, when the vernal equinox fell either on 20 March or 21 March depending on the years position in the leap year cycle. As the rule was that the full moon preceding Easter was not to precede the equinox, the date was fixed at 21 March for computational purposes, the Gregorian calendar reproduced these conditions by removing ten days. To unambiguously specify a date, dual dating or Old Style, dual dating gives two consecutive years for a given date, because of differences in the starting date of the year, and/or to give both the Julian and the Gregorian dates. The Gregorian calendar continued to use the calendar era, which counts years from the traditional date of the nativity. This year-numbering system, also known as Dionysian era or Common Era, is the predominant international standard today, the Gregorian calendar is a solar calendar. A regular Gregorian year consists of 365 days, but as in the Julian calendar, in a leap year, in the Julian calendar a leap year occurs every 4 years, but the Gregorian calendar omits 3 leap days every 400 years. In the Julian calendar, this day was inserted by doubling 24 February. In the modern period, it has become customary to number the days from the beginning of the month, some churches, notably the Roman Catholic Church, delay February festivals after the 23rd by one day in leap years. Gregorian years are identified by consecutive year numbers, the cycles repeat completely every 146,097 days, which equals 400 years
6.
Battle of Megiddo (15th century BC)
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The Battle of Megiddo was fought between Egyptian forces under the command of Pharaoh Thutmose III and a large rebellious coalition of Canaanite vassal states led by the king of Kadesh. It is the first battle to have recorded in what is accepted as relatively reliable detail. Megiddo is also the first recorded use of the composite bow, all details of the battle come from Egyptian sources—primarily the hieroglyphic writings on the Hall of Annals in the Temple of Amun-Re at Karnak, Thebes, by the military scribe Tjaneni. The ancient Egyptian account gives the date of the battle as the 21st day of the first month of the third season, of Year 23 of the reign of Thutmose III. It has been claimed that this was April 16,1457 BC according to the Middle Chronology, the Battle of Megiddo was an Egyptian victory and resulted in a rout of the Canaanite forces, which fled to safety in the city of Megiddo. Their action resulted in the subsequent lengthy Siege of Megiddo, by reestablishing Egyptian dominance in the Levant, Thutmose III began a reign in which the Egyptian Empire reached its greatest expanse. During Thutmose IIIs first campaign in the Levant, his personal scribe, Tjaneni, the sequence of depictions indicate the New Kingdoms belief on the interactions of the gods with warfare, praise and offerings to the deities in exchange for their divine help in war. Additionally, the show the long-lasting effects of the battle of Megiddo. Depictions show international diplomacy through the giving of gifts from Babylon, the Hittite Empire, Pharaoh Thutmose III began a reign in which the Egyptian Empire reached its greatest expanse by reinforcing the long-standing Egyptian presence in the Levant. After waiting impatiently for the end of his regency by the Egyptian Pharaoh Hatshepsut, as Egyptian buffer provinces in the land of the Amurru along the border with the Hittites attempted to change their vassalage, Thutmose III dealt with the threat personally. The Canaanites are thought to have allied with the Mitanni. The driving and main force behind this revolt was the King of Kadesh, the powerful fortress of Kadesh offered protection to him and the city. The King of Megiddo, with a strong fortress, joined the alliance. The importance of Megiddo was its location along the southwestern edge of the Jezreel Valley just beyond the Mount Carmel ridge. From this location, Megiddo controlled the Via Maris, the trade route between Egypt and Mesopotamia. The Egyptian inscriptions of the campaign on the Temple of Karnak come from a journal kept by the scribe Tjaneni during the campaign. In the Egyptian account Thutmose III gathered an army of chariots and he expected that his enemy would come by way of Dothaim - Taanach, the main route from the Mediterranean lowlands into the Valley of Kishon, and from Egypt to Mesopotamia. The army assembled at the border fortress Tjaru and arrived ten days later at the city of Gaza
7.
Thutmose III
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Thutmose III was the sixth Pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty. During the first 22 years of Thutmoses reign he was co-regent with his stepmother and aunt, Hatshepsut, while he was shown first on surviving monuments, both were assigned the usual royal names and insignia and neither is given any obvious seniority over the other. He served as the head of her armies, during the final 2 years of his reign, he appointed his son and successor, Amenhotep II, as his junior co-regent. His firstborn son and heir to the throne, Amenemhat, predeceased Thutmose III, when Thutmose III died, he was buried in the Valley of the Kings as were the rest of the kings from this period in Egypt. Thutmose III was the son of Thutmose II by a secondary wife and his fathers great royal wife was Queen Hatshepsut. Her daughter Neferure was Thutmoses half-sister, Thutmosis III had little power over the empire while Hatshepsut exercised the formal titulary of kingship. Her rule was quite prosperous and marked by great advancements, when he reached a suitable age and demonstrated the capability, she appointed him to head her armies. Thutmosis III had several wives, Satiah, She may have been the mother of his firstborn son, an alternative theory is that the boy was the son of Neferure. Thutmoses successor, the prince and future king Amenhotep II, was the son of Merytre-Hatshepsut. Additional children include Menkheperre and daughters named Nebetiunet, Meryetamun, Meryetamun, Merytre-Hatshepsut was the daughter of the divine adoratrice Huy. Nebtu, she is depicted on a pillar in Thutmose IIIs tomb, menwi, Merti, Menhet three foreign wives. Neferure, Thutmose III may have married his half-sister, but there is no evidence for this marriage. It has been suggested that Neferure, instead of Satiah, may have been the mother of Amenemhat, Thutmose III reigned from 1479 BC to 1425 BC according to the Low Chronology of Ancient Egypt. This has been the conventional Egyptian chronology in academic circles since the 1960s and this document has no note of the place of observation, but it can safely be assumed that it was taken in either a Delta city such as Memphis or Heliopolis, or in Thebes. These two latitudes give dates 20 years apart, the High and Low chronologies, respectively, the length of Thutmose IIIs reign is known to the day thanks to information found in the tomb of the military commander Amenemheb-Mahu. Amenemheb-Mahu records Thutmose IIIs death to his masters 54th regnal year, widely considered a military genius by historians, Thutmose III made 16 raids in 20 years. He was an active expansionist ruler, sometimes called Egypts greatest conqueror or the Napoleon of Egypt and he is recorded to have captured 350 cities during his rule and conquered much of the Near East from the Euphrates to Nubia during seventeen known military campaigns. He was the first Pharaoh after Thutmose I to cross the Euphrates and his campaign records were transcribed onto the walls of the temple of Amun at Karnak, and are now transcribed into Urkunden IV
8.
Canaan
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Canaan was a Semitic-speaking region in the Ancient Near East during the late 2nd millennium BC. The name Canaan occurs commonly in the Hebrew Bible, in particular, the references in Genesis 10 and Numbers 34 define the Land of Canaan as extending from Lebanon southward to the Brook of Egypt and eastward to the Jordan River Valley. References to Canaan in the Bible are usually backward-looking, referring to a region that had something else. The term Canaanites serves as an ethnic catch-all term covering various indigenous populations—both settled, the Amarna Letters and other cuneiform documents use Kinaḫḫu, while other sources of the Egyptian New Kingdom mention numerous military campaigns conducted in Ka-na-na. Canaan had significant geopolitical importance in the Late Bronze Age Amarna period as the area where the spheres of interest of the Egyptian, Hittite, Mitanni and Assyrian Empires converged. Much of the knowledge about Canaan stems from archaeological excavation in this area at sites such as Tel Hazor, Tel Megiddo. The English term Canaan comes from the Hebrew כנען, via Greek Χαναάν Khanaan and it appears as KUR ki-na-ah-na in the Amarna letters, and knʿn is found on coins from Phoenicia in the last half of the 1st millennium. It first occurs in Greek in the writings of Hecataeus as Khna, scholars connect the name Canaan with knʿn, Kanaan, the general Northwest Semitic name for this region. An early explanation derives the term from the Semitic root knʿ to be low, humble, purple cloth became a renowned Canaanite export commodity which is mentioned in Exodus. The dyes may have named after their place of origin. The purple cloth of Tyre in Phoenicia was well known far, however, according to Robert Drews, Speisers proposal has generally been abandoned. The Late Bronze Age state of Ugarit is considered quintessentially Canaanite archaeologically, Jonathan Tubb states that the term ga-na-na may provide a third millennium reference to Canaanite while at the same time stating that the first certain reference is in the 18th century BC. See Ebla-Biblical controversy for further details, Mari letters A letter from Mutu-bisir to Shamshi-Adad I of the Old Assyrian Empire has been translated, It is in Rahisum that the brigands and the Canaanites are situated. It was found in 1973 in the ruins of Mari, an Assyrian outpost at that time in Syria, additional unpublished references to Kinahnum in the Mari letters refer to the same episode. Alalakh texts A reference to Ammiya being in the land of Canaan is found on the Statue of Idrimi from Alalakh in modern Syria. After a popular uprising against his rule, Idrimi was forced into exile with his mothers relatives to seek refuge in the land of Canaan, the other references in the Alalakh texts are, AT154 AT181, A list of Apiru people with their origins. All are towns, except for Canaan AT188, A list of Muskenu people with their origins, the letters are written in the official and diplomatic East Semitic Akkadian language of Assyria and Babylonia, though Canaanitish words and idioms are also in evidence. May the king ask Yanhamu about these matters, may the king ask his commissioner, who is familiar with Canaan EA151, Letter from Abimilku to the Pharaoh, The king, my lord wrote to me, write to me what you have heard from Canaan
9.
Kadesh (biblical)
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Kadesh or Qadhesh in Classical Hebrew, קָדֵשׁ, from the root קדש holy, is a place-name that occurs several times in the Hebrew Bible. The alternate spelling appears as Qadesh Barneaʿ, Barnea meaning wilderness wandering, the Bible associates the place-name Kadesh, with a number of biblical episodes, bestowing considerable importance to the site - or sites - in the narrative of the genesis of the Israelites. According to the Jewish historian, Josephus, Kadesh is identified with Petra, genesis 14,7 And they returned and came to Emmishpat, which Kadesh, and smote all the country of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites, that dwelt in Hazezon Tamar. Gen 16,14 Wherefore the well was called Beerlahairoi, behold, gen 20,1 And Abraham journeyed from thence toward the south country, and dwelled between Kadesh and Shur, and sojourned in Gerar. Numbers 20,1 Then came the children of Israel, the congregation, into the desert of Zin in the first month and the people abode in Kadesh, and Miriam died there. Numbers 33,36 And they removed from Eziongaber, and pitched in the wilderness of Zin, numbers 33,37 And they removed from Kadesh, and pitched in mount Hor, in the edge of the land of Edom. Deuteronomy 1,46 So ye abode in Kadesh many days, and in like manner they sent unto the king of Moab but he would not, and Israel abode in Kadesh. Psalm 29,8 The voice of the LORD shaketh the wilderness, ezekiel 47,19 And the south side southward, from Tamar to the waters of strife Kadesh, the river to the great sea. Ezekiel 48,28 And by the border of Gad, at the south side southward, Kadesh, or Kadesh Barnea, is described as an oasis south of Canaan, west of Arabah and east of the Brook of Egypt. It is 11 days march by way of Mt. Seir from Horeb, as many as eighteen sites have been proposed as the identification of biblical Kadesh. Part of the confusion may arise from the fact that Kadesh is sometimes mentioned in connection with the Desert of Paran and at other times in connection with the Zin Desert. This discrepancy has been noted since the time of the commentators, leading some to seek a reconciliatory model. A minority of modern scholarship has maintained there were two sites identified as Kadesh—western Kadesh and eastern Kadesh. This view seems to be represented by Josephus and Eusebius of Caesarea, the Nabataeans came to Petra in about 400 BCE knowing it to be an ancient burial ground of caves, and buried their dead on top of the graves used 100 years earlier by the Hebrews. Several Iron Age fortresses have been excavated there, the oldest, a small, elliptical structure, dates to the tenth century BCE, and was abandoned for some time after its first destruction. A second fort, constructed during the eighth century BCE, was destroyed during the seventh century BCE, two ostraca engraved in Hebrew have been recovered there, suggesting the Israelites did indeed occupy this site. However, these Kadesh Barnea ostraca are dated to the 8th or 7th century BCE, excavations at Ain el-Qudeirat conducted by Dr. On the other hand, Late Bronze Age, the time of the Exodus, is unattested in the Negev
10.
AD 73
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AD73 was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Domitianus and Catullus, the denomination AD73 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years. Spring – The Roman governor Lucius Flavius Silva lays siege to Masada, the Roman army surrounds the mountain fortress with a 7-mile long siege wall and builds a rampart of stones and beaten earth against the western approach. After the citadel is conquered,960 Zealots under the leadership of Eleazar ben Yair commit mass suicide when defeat becomes imminent, pliny the Elder serves as procurator in Hispania Tarraconensis. Titus Flavius Domitianus becomes Roman Consul, emperor Vespasian begins conquest of territory east of the upper Rhine and south of the Main. In addition, he reorganizes the defenses of the upper and lower Danube, ban Chao, competing with the Xiongnu, imposes a Chinese protectorate on the kings of Lop Nor and Khotan in the Tarim basin, with the aim of controlling the Silk Road. Martial writes a satire on military cowardice
11.
Masada
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Masada is an ancient fortification in the Southern District of Israel situated on top of an isolated rock plateau, akin to a mesa. It is located on the edge of the Judaean Desert. Herod the Great built palaces for himself on the mountain and fortified Masada between 37 and 31 BCE, Masada is one of Israels most popular tourist attractions. The cliff of Masada is, geologically speaking, a horst, as the cliffs on the east edge of Masada are about 400 m high, and the cliffs on the west are about 90 m high, the natural approaches to the cliff top are very difficult to navigate. The top of the plateau is flat and rhomboid-shaped, about 550 m by 270 m. Three narrow, winding paths led from below up to fortified gates, almost all historical information about Masada comes from the first-century Jewish Roman historian Josephus. Josephus writes that the site was first fortified by Alexander Jannaeus in the first century BCE, Herod the Great captured it in the power struggle that followed the death of his father Antipater. It survived the siege of the last Hasmonean king Antigonus II Mattathias, no Hasmonean-period building remains could be identified during archaeological excavations at Masada. According to Josephus, between 37 and 31 BCE, Herod the Great built a fortress on the plateau as a refuge for himself in the event of a revolt. In 66 CE, a group of Jewish rebels, the Sicarii, after the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE, additional members of the Sicarii fled Jerusalem and settled on the mountaintop after slaughtering the Roman garrison. According to Josephus, the Sicarii were an extremist Jewish splinter group antagonistic to a grouping of Jews referred to as the Zealots. Josephus said that the Sicarii raided nearby Jewish villages including Ein Gedi, in 73 CE, the Roman governor of Iudaea, Lucius Flavius Silva, headed the Roman legion X Fretensis and laid siege to Masada. The Roman legion surrounded Masada, built a wall and then a siege ramp against the western face of the plateau. According to Dan Gill, geological investigations in the early 1990s confirmed earlier observations that the 114 m high assault ramp consisted mostly of a spur of bedrock. The ramp was complete in the spring of 73, after two to three months of siege, allowing the Romans to finally breach the wall of the fortress with a battering ram on April 16. The Romans employed the X Legion and a number of units and Jewish prisoners of war, totaling some 15,000. A giant siege tower with a ram was constructed and moved laboriously up the completed ramp. Originally, Jewish rebels on top of Masada threw stones at those building and constructing the ramp, to counter this tactic, the Romans put captured Jewish prisoners from previously conquered towns to work at the ramp
12.
Roman Empire
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Civil wars and executions continued, culminating in the victory of Octavian, Caesars adopted son, over Mark Antony and Cleopatra at the Battle of Actium in 31 BC and the annexation of Egypt. Octavians power was then unassailable and in 27 BC the Roman Senate formally granted him overarching power, the imperial period of Rome lasted approximately 1,500 years compared to the 500 years of the Republican era. The first two centuries of the empires existence were a period of unprecedented political stability and prosperity known as the Pax Romana, following Octavians victory, the size of the empire was dramatically increased. After the assassination of Caligula in 41, the senate briefly considered restoring the republic, under Claudius, the empire invaded Britannia, its first major expansion since Augustus. Vespasian emerged triumphant in 69, establishing the Flavian dynasty, before being succeeded by his son Titus and his short reign was followed by the long reign of his brother Domitian, who was eventually assassinated. The senate then appointed the first of the Five Good Emperors, the empire reached its greatest extent under Trajan, the second in this line. A period of increasing trouble and decline began with the reign of Commodus, Commodus assassination in 192 triggered the Year of the Five Emperors, of which Septimius Severus emerged victorious. The assassination of Alexander Severus in 235 led to the Crisis of the Third Century in which 26 men were declared emperor by the Roman Senate over a time span. It was not until the reign of Diocletian that the empire was fully stabilized with the introduction of the Tetrarchy, which saw four emperors rule the empire at once. This arrangement was unsuccessful, leading to a civil war that was finally ended by Constantine I. Constantine subsequently shifted the capital to Byzantium, which was renamed Constantinople in his honour and it remained the capital of the east until its demise. Constantine also adopted Christianity which later became the state religion of the empire. However, Augustulus was never recognized by his Eastern colleague, and separate rule in the Western part of the empire ceased to exist upon the death of Julius Nepos. The Eastern Roman Empire endured for another millennium, eventually falling to the Ottoman Turks in 1453, the Roman Empire was among the most powerful economic, cultural, political and military forces in the world of its time. It was one of the largest empires in world history, at its height under Trajan, it covered 5 million square kilometres. It held sway over an estimated 70 million people, at that time 21% of the entire population. Throughout the European medieval period, attempts were made to establish successors to the Roman Empire, including the Empire of Romania, a Crusader state. Rome had begun expanding shortly after the founding of the republic in the 6th century BC, then, it was an empire long before it had an emperor
13.
1346
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Year 1346 was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. It was a year in the 14th century, in the midst of a known in European history as the Late Middle Ages. In Asia that year, the Black Plague came to the troops of the Golden Horde Khanate, the Indian kingdom of Vijayanagara won several victories over Muslim conquerors in the north in this year as well. In Eastern Europe, Stefan Dušan was proclaimed Tsar of Serbia on April 16 at Skopje, in the nearby Byzantine Empire, the Ottoman emir Orhan married Byzantine princess Theodora as part of an alliance between her father John VI Kantakouzenos and the Ottomans. Ongoing civil wars in both Bulgaria and Byzantium continued, Denmark sold its portion of Northern Estonia to the Livonian Order of the Teutonic Knights after finally quelling the St. Georges Night Uprising. In Central Europe, Charles IV of Luxembourg was elected Holy Roman Emperor on July 11, a number of banking families in Italy, including the Bardi family, faced bankruptcy in this year, and much of Italy suffered a famine. The Hundred Years War between the Kingdom of France and the Kingdom of England continued in Western Europe, as Edward III of England led an invasion onto the continent, spring – a severe Black Death epidemic begins in the Crimea. March 18 – the French prepare to defend channel coasts, April – The French besiege Aiguillon. April 16 – the Serbian Empire is proclaimed in Skopje by Dusan Silni, may–June – an English invasion fleet assembles at Portsmouth. June 9 – Battle of St Pol de Léon, English army defeats Charles of Blois in Brittany, june 20 – the English win a small victory at La Roche-Derrien in Brittany. June 24 – the leaders of Ghent, Bruges and Ypres agree to support Edward III, July – Edward III orders the closing of English ports to stop information from reaching France. July 3 – the English fleet attempts to sail from Portsmouth to Normandy but is forced back by contrary winds, July 11 – Charles IV, Count of Luxembourg and King of Bohemia, is elected King of the Romans. July 11–12 – Edward III and the English army cross the English Channel, July 12 – July 18 – the English raid and burn neighbouring towns and villages in the Cotentin Peninsula. August 26 – Battle of Crécy, in which the English defeat the French, September 4 – the English begin the siege of Calais. October 17 – Battle of Nevilles Cross, the English army defeats the Scots, october–November – several Mongol towns in the Crimea are cleared of inhabitants by the Black Death. Repairs are made in the Hagia Sophia, the Golden Hordes siege of Kaffa continued through 1346, despite a number of obstacles. They were struck with the Black Plague and forced to retreat, the many areas and peoples listed here represent much of Western Asia and the Caucasus. The European foreigners are those fighting with the Tartars in the Mongol-led siege of Kaffa and these Europeans would return to Europe the following year, carrying the plague with them
14.
Serbian Empire
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The Serbian Empire is a historiographical term for the empire in the Balkan peninsula that emerged from the medieval Serbian Kingdom. It was established in 1346 by King Stefan Dušan, known as the Mighty and he also promoted the Serbian Church to an Orthodox patriarchate. His son and successor, Uroš the Weak, lost most of the territory, the Serbian Empire effectively ended with the death of Stefan V in 1371 and the break-up of the Serbian state. Some successors of Stefan V claimed the title of Emperor in parts of Serbia until 1402, Stefan Dušan became King of Serbia by deposing father, Stefan Dečanski. By 1345, Dušan the Mighty had expanded his state to cover half of the Balkans, therefore, in 1345, in Serres, Dušan proclaimed himself Tsar. On 16 April 1346, in Skopje, he had himself crowned Emperor of the Serbs and Greeks, the ceremony was performed by the newly elevated Serbian Patriarch Joanikije II, the Bulgarian Patriarch Simeon, and Nicholas, the Archbishop of Ohrid. Tsar Dušan doubled the size of his kingdom, seizing territories to the south, southeast. Serbia held parts of modern Bosnia and Herzegovina, Moravian Serbia, Kosovo, Zeta, modern Macedonia, modern Albania and he did not fight a single field battle, instead winning his empire by besieging cities. Dušan undertook a campaign against the Byzantine Empire, which was attempting to avert a deteriorating situation after the destruction caused by the Fourth Crusade, Dušan swiftly seized Thessaly, Albania, Epirus, and most of Macedonia. Dušan thus ruled over the almost the entire Balkan peninsula, with only southern Greece, Salonica and he gave sanctuary to the former regent of the Byzantine Empire, John VI Kantakouzenos, in revolt against the government, and agreed to an alliance. In 1349 and 1354, Dušan enacted a set of known as Dušans Code. The Code was based on Roman-Byzantine law and the first Serbian constitution and it was a Civil and Canon law system, based on the Ecumenical Councils, for the functioning of the state and the Serbian Orthodox Church. In 1355, Dušan begin military preparations, assembling an army of 80,000 men, Dušan marched towards Constantinople, capturing Adrianople in a fierce battle. The Serbian army was proceeding to Constantinople, located 40 miles to the east and his expedition ended as well, and the army retreated carrying the dead body of the man who had elevated Serbia to the rank of a great power. Dušan was succeeded by his son, Stefan Uroš V, called the Weak, the combination of sudden conquest, backwards administration, and failure to consolidate its holdings led to the fragmentation of the empire. The period was marked by the rise of a new threat, the Ottoman Turkish sultanate gradually spread from Asia to Europe and conquered first Byzantine Thrace, and then the other Balkan states. Too incompetent to sustain the empire created by his father. The Serbian Empire of Stefan V fragmented into a conglomeration of principalities, Stefan Uroš V died childless on 4 December 1371, after much of the Serbian nobility had been killed by the Ottoman Turks during the Battle of Maritsa
15.
Balkans
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The Balkan Peninsula, or the Balkans, is a peninsula and a cultural area in Eastern and Southeastern Europe with various and disputed borders. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch from the Serbia-Bulgaria border to the Black Sea, the highest point of the Balkans is Mount Musala 2,925 metres in the Rila mountain range. In Turkish, Balkan means a chain of wooded mountains, the name is still preserved in Central Asia with the Balkan Daglary and the Balkan Province of Turkmenistan. A less popular hypothesis regarding its etymology is that it derived from the Persian Balā-Khāna, from Antiquity through the Middle Ages, the Balkan Mountains had been called by the local Thracian name Haemus. According to Greek mythology, the Thracian king Haemus was turned into a mountain by Zeus as a punishment, a reverse name scheme has also been suggested. D. Dechev considers that Haemus is derived from a Thracian word *saimon, a third possibility is that Haemus derives from the Greek word haema meaning blood. The myth relates to a fight between Zeus and the monster/titan Typhon, Zeus injured Typhon with a thunder bolt and Typhons blood fell on the mountains, from which they got their name. The earliest mention of the name appears in an early 14th-century Arab map, the Ottomans first mention it in a document dated from 1565. There has been no other documented usage of the word to refer to the region before that, there is also a claim about an earlier Bulgar Turkic origin of the word popular in Bulgaria, however it is only an unscholarly assertion. The word was used by the Ottomans in Rumelia in its meaning of mountain, as in Kod̲j̲a-Balkan, Čatal-Balkan, and Ungurus-Balkani̊. The concept of the Balkans was created by the German geographer August Zeune in 1808, during the 1820s, Balkan became the preferred although not yet exclusive term alongside Haemus among British travelers. Among Russian travelers not so burdened by classical toponymy, Balkan was the preferred term, zeunes goal was to have a geographical parallel term to the Italic and Iberian Peninsula, and seemingly nothing more. The gradually acquired political connotations are newer and, to a large extent, after the dissolution of Yugoslavia beginning in June 1991, the term Balkans again received a negative meaning, especially in Croatia and Slovenia, even in casual usage. A European Union initiative of 1999 is called the Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe, and its northern boundary is often given as the Danube, Sava and Kupa Rivers. The Balkan Peninsula has an area of about 470,000 km2. It is more or less identical to the known as Southeastern Europe. As of 1920 until World War II, Italy included Istria, the current territory of Italy includes only the small area around Trieste inside the Balkan Peninsula. However, the regions of Trieste and Istria are not usually considered part of the Balkans by Italian geographers, the Western Balkans is a neologism coined to describe the countries of ex-Yugoslavia and Albania
16.
1520
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Year 1520 was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. January 19 – King Christian II of Denmark and Norway defeats the Swedes at Lake Åsunden in Sweden, the Swedish regent Sten Sture the Younger is mortally wounded in the battle. He is rushed towards Stockholm, in order to lead the fight against the Danes from there, june – Moctezuma II, Aztec ruler of Tenochtitlan, is declared deposed due to his captivity by conquistador Hernán Cortés. His brother Cuitláhuac rises to the throne, june 7 – King Henry VIII of England and King Francis I of France meet at the famous Field of Cloth of Gold. June 10 – Revolt of the Comuneros, Blockade of Segovia, june 15 – Pope Leo X issues the bull Exsurge Domine, threatening Martin Luther with excommunication if he does not recant his position on indulgences and other Catholic doctrines. July 1 – La Noche Triste, The forces of Cuitláhuac, Aztec ruler of Tenochtitlan and this results in the death of about 400 conquistadors and some 2,000 of their Native American allies. However, Cortés and the most skilled of his men manage to escape, july 20 – The Spaniards defeat the Aztecs at Otumba near Lake Texcaco. August – Martin Luther writes To the Christian Nobility of the German Nation, september 7 – Christian II makes his triumphant entry into Stockholm, which has surrendered to him a few days earlier. September 22 – Suleiman I succeeds his father Selim I as Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, october – Cuitláhuac, Aztec ruler of Tenochtitlan, dies from smallpox. He is succeeded by his nephew Cuauhtémoc, october 21 – The islands of Saint Pierre and Miquelon are discovered by Portuguese explorer João Álvares Fagundes off Newfoundland. He names them Islands of the 11,000 Virgins in honour of Saint Ursula, november 1 – Christian II is elected king of Sweden. November 4 – Christian II is crowned king of Sweden, the coronation is followed by a three-day feast in Stockholm. November 7 – At the end of the day of Christians coronation feast. December 10 – Martin Luther burns a copy of The Book of Canon Law, the Franciscan friar Matteo Bassi is inspired to return to the primitive life of solitude and penance as practiced by St. Francis, giving rise to the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin. Aleksandra Lisowska is given as a gift to Suleiman I on the occasion of his accession to the throne
17.
Revolt of the Comuneros
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The Revolt of the Comuneros was an uprising by citizens of Castile against the rule of Charles V and his administration between 1520 and 1521. At its height, the rebels controlled the heart of Castile, ruling the cities of Valladolid, Tordesillas, the revolt occurred in the wake of political instability in the Crown of Castile after the death of Queen Isabella I in 1504. Joanna the Mad, Isabellas daughter, inherited the throne with her Burgundian husband King Philip I, however, Philip died two years into their reign, and their son Charles was only six years old. Due to his youth and Joannas mental instability, Castile was ruled by the nobles and her father, King Ferdinand II of Aragon, after Ferdinands death in 1516, the sixteen-year-old Charles was proclaimed king of both Castile and Aragon. Charles had been raised in the Netherlands with little knowledge of Castilian and he arrived in Spain in October 1517 accompanied by a large retinue of Flemish nobles and clerics. These factors resulted in mistrust between the new king and the Castilian social elites, who could see the threat to their power, in 1519, Charles was elected Holy Roman Emperor. He departed for Germany in 1520, leaving the Dutch cardinal Adrian of Utrecht to rule Castile in his absence, soon, a series of anti-government riots broke out in the cities, and local city councils took power. The rebels chose Charles own mother, Queen Joanna, as an alternative ruler, the rebel movement took on a radical anti-feudal dimension, supporting peasant rebellions against the landed nobility. On April 23,1521, after nearly a year of rebellion, the following day, rebel leaders Juan de Padilla, Juan Bravo, and Francisco Maldonado were beheaded. The army of the comuneros fell apart, only the city of Toledo kept alive the rebellion, until its surrender in October 1521. The character of the revolution is a matter of historiographical debate, according to some scholars, the revolt was one of the first modern revolutions, notably because of the anti-noble sentiment against social injustice and its basis on ideals of democracy and freedom. Others consider it a more typical rebellion against high taxes and perceived foreign control, from the 19th century onwards, the revolt has been mythologized by various Spaniards, generally liberals who drew political inspiration from it. Conservative intellectuals have traditionally adopted more pro-Imperial stances toward the revolt, with the end of Francos dictatorship and the establishment of the autonomous community of Castile and León, positive commemoration of the Comunidades has grown. April 23 is now celebrated as Castile and León Day, discontent had been brewing for years before the Revolt of the Comuneros. The second half of the 15th century saw profound political, economic, economic growth created new urban industries and offered a route to power and wealth not tied to the aristocracy. Support from these urban elites was critical to Ferdinand and Isabellas centralization of power, and they acted as a counterweight to the landed aristocracy, however, with Queen Isabella Is death in 1504, this alliance between the national government and the budding middle class faltered. The Castilian government decayed with each successive administration, becoming rife with corruption, King Philip I ruled for a mere two years, he was replaced by Archbishop Cisneros as regent for a short time, and then by Isabellas widower Ferdinand who ruled from Aragon. The landed nobility of Castile took advantage of the weak and corrupt Royal Council to illegally expand their territory, in response, the towns signed mutual defense pacts, relying on each other rather than the national government
