1.
January
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January is the first month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars and the first month to have the length of 31 days. The first day of the month is known as New Years Day and it is, on average, the coldest month of the year within most of the Northern Hemisphere and the warmest month of the year within most of the Southern Hemisphere. In the Southern hemisphere, January is the equivalent of July in the Northern hemisphere. Ancient Roman observances during this month include Cervula, and Juvenalia, celebrated January 1 and these dates do not correspond to the modern Gregorian calendar. January is named after the Latin word for door, since January is the door to the year, traditionally, the original Roman calendar consisted of 10 months totaling 304 days, winter being considered a month-less period. Around 713 BC, the successor of Romulus, King Numa Pompilius, is supposed to have added the months of January and February. Although March was originally the first month in the old Roman calendar, in contrast, each specific calendar year was identified by the names of the two consuls, who entered office on May 1 or March 15 until 153 BC, from when they entered office on January 1. Various Christian feast dates were used for the New Year in Europe during the Middle Ages, including March 25, however, medieval calendars were still displayed in the Roman fashion with twelve columns from January to December. Historical names for January include its original Roman designation, Ianuarius, in Slovene, it is traditionally called január. The name, associated with millet bread and the act of asking for something, was first written in 1466 in the Škofja Loka manuscript. According to Theodor Mommsen,1 January became the first day of the year in 600 AUC of the Roman calendar, a Lusitanian chief called Punicus invaded the Roman territory, defeated two Roman governors, and killed their troops. The Romans resolved to send a consul to Hispania, and in order to accelerate the dispatch of aid, januarys birthstone is the garnet, which represents constancy. Its birth flower is the cottage pink Dianthus caryophyllus or galanthus, the Chinese floral emblem of January is the Prunus mume. The Japanese floral emblem of January is the camellia, the photograph of a large tree covered with ice against a blue sky is a familiar scene during Finlands winter. The zodiac signs for the month of January are Capricorn and Aquarius, all Jewish observances begin on sundown of the day before the date listed and end on sundown of the day listed
2.
February
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February is the second month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars. It is the shortest month of the year as it is the month to have a length of less than 30 days. The month has 28 days in common years or 29 days in leap years, February is the third month of meteorological winter in the Northern Hemisphere. In the Southern Hemisphere, February is the last month of summer, February may be pronounced either as. Many people pronounce it as, as if it were spelled Feb-u-ary and this comes about by analogy with January, as well as by a dissimilation effect whereby having two rs close to each other causes one to change for ease of pronunciation. The Roman month Februarius was named after the Latin term februum, January and February were the last two months to be added to the Roman calendar, since the Romans originally considered winter a monthless period. They were added by Numa Pompilius about 713 BC, February remained the last month of the calendar year until the time of the decemvirs, when it became the second month. At certain intervals February was truncated to 23 or 24 days, the Straight Dope, How come February has only 28 days
3.
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
4.
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
5.
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
6.
Sixth Crusade
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The Sixth Crusade started in 1228 as an attempt to regain Jerusalem. It began seven years after the failure of the Fifth Crusade, however, Frederick again promised to go on a crusade after his coronation as emperor in 1220 by Pope Honorius III. In 1225 Frederick married Yolande of Jerusalem, daughter of John of Brienne, Frederick now had a claim to the truncated kingdom, and reason to attempt to restore it. In 1227, after Gregory IX became pope, Frederick and his army set sail from Brindisi, Italy, for Acre, Gregory stated that the reason for the excommunication was Fredericks reluctance to go on crusade, dating back to the Fifth Crusade. Frederick attempted to negotiate with the pope, but eventually decided to ignore him, Frederick claimed that his regency was illegitimate and demanded the surrender of Johns mainland fief of Beirut to the imperial throne. Here he erred, for John pointed out that the kingdoms of Cyprus and Jerusalem were constitutionally separate and this would have important consequences for the crusade, as it alienated the powerful Ibelin faction, turning them against the emperor. Acre, as the capital of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. Fredericks own army and the Teutonic Knights supported him, but Patriarch Gerald of Lausanne followed the papal line. Once news of Fredericks excommunication had spread, public support for him waned considerably, the native barons greeted Frederick enthusiastically at first, but were wary of the emperors history of centralization and his desire to impose imperial authority. This was largely due to Fredericks treatment of John of Ibelin in Cyprus, even with the military orders on board, Fredericks force was a mere shadow of the army that had amassed when the crusade had originally been called. He realised that his hope of success in the Holy Land was to negotiate for the surrender of Jerusalem as he lacked the manpower to engage the Ayyubid empire in battle. The Egyptian sultan, occupied with the suppression of rebellious forces in Syria, agreed to cede Jerusalem to the Franks, in addition, Frederick received Nazareth, Sidon, Jaffa, and Bethlehem. Other lordships may have returned to Christian control, but sources disagree. It was, however, a treaty of compromise, the Muslims retained control over the Temple Mount area of Jerusalem, the al-Aqsa Mosque, and the Dome of the Rock. The treaty, completed on 18 February 1229, safeguarded a 10-year truce, one of the results of the treaty was that Jews were once more prohibited from living in Jerusalem. This agreement should not be confused with the 1192 Treaty of Jaffa between Saladin and Richard Lionheart, Frederick entered Jerusalem on 17 March 1229, and attended a crown-wearing ceremony the following day. It is unknown whether he intended this to be interpreted as his coronation as King of Jerusalem, in any case the absence of the patriarch, Gerald. There is evidence to suggest that the crown Frederick wore was actually the imperial one, as Frederick had matters to attend to at home, he left Jerusalem in May
7.
Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor
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Frederick II was a Holy Roman Emperor and King of Sicily in the Middle Ages, a member of the House of Hohenstaufen. His political and cultural ambitions, based in Sicily and stretching through Italy to Germany, however, his enemies, especially the popes, prevailed, and his dynasty collapsed soon after his death. As such, he was King of Germany, of Italy, at the age of three, he was crowned King of Sicily as a co-ruler with his mother, Constance of Hauteville, the daughter of Roger II of Sicily. His other royal title was King of Jerusalem by virtue of marriage, Pope Gregory IX went so far as to call him an Antichrist. Speaking six languages, Frederick was a patron of science. He played a role in promoting literature through the Sicilian School of poetry. His Sicilian royal court in Palermo, from around 1220 to his death, saw the first use of a form of an Italo-Romance language. The poetry that emanated from the school had a significant influence on literature and he was also the first king who explicitly outlawed trials by ordeal as they were considered irrational. After his death, his line died out and the House of Hohenstaufen came to an end. Born in Iesi, near Ancona, Italy, Frederick was the son of the emperor Henry VI and he was known as the puer Apuliae. Some chronicles say that his mother, the forty-year-old Constance, gave birth to him in a square in order to forestall any doubt about his origin. In 1196 at Frankfurt am Main the infant Frederick was elected King of the Germans and his rights in Germany were disputed by Henrys brother Philip of Swabia and Otto of Brunswick. At the death of his father in 1197, Frederick was in Italy travelling towards Germany when the bad news reached his guardian, Conrad of Spoleto. Frederick was hastily brought back to his mother Constance in Palermo, Sicily, Constance of Sicily was in her own right queen of Sicily, and she established herself as regent. Upon Constances death in 1198, Pope Innocent III succeeded as Fredericks guardian, Fredericks tutor during this period was Cencio, who would become Pope Honorius III. However, Markward of Annweiler, with the support of Henrys brother, Philip of Swabia, reclaimed the regency for himself, in 1200, with the help of Genoese ships, he landed in Sicily and one year later seized the young Frederick. He thus ruled Sicily until 1202, when he was succeeded by another German captain, William of Capparone, Frederick was subsequently under tutor Walter of Palearia, until, in 1208, he was declared of age. His first task was to reassert his power over Sicily and southern Italy, Otto of Brunswick had been crowned Holy Roman Emperor by Pope Innocent III in 1209
8.
Ceasefire
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A ceasefire, also called cease fire, is a temporary stoppage of a war in which each side agrees with the other to suspend aggressive actions. Ceasefires may be declared as part of a treaty. A ceasefire is usually more limited than a broader armistice, which is an agreement to end fighting. Successful ceasefires may be followed by armistices, and finally by peace treaties, during World War I, on December 24,1914, there was an unofficial ceasefire on the Western Front as France, the United Kingdom, and Germany observed Christmas. No treaty was signed, and the war resumed after a few days, on November 29,1952, the newly U. S. president-elect Dwight D. Eisenhower, went to Korea to learn what might end the Korean War. Upon agreeing to the agreement, the belligerents established the Korean Demilitarized Zone, which has since been patrolled by the KPA and the joint ROKA, US. The Korean Demilitarized Zone runs northeast of the 38th parallel, to the south, the old Korean capital city of Kaesong, site of the armistice negotiations, originally lay in the pre-war ROK, but now is in the DPRK. The United Nations Command, the North Korean Korean Peoples Army, the Armistice also called upon the governments of South Korea, North Korea, China, and the United States to participate in continued peace talks. For his part, ROK President Syngman Rhee attacked the peace proceedings, the war is considered to have ended at this point, even though there was no peace treaty. On January 15,1973, President Richard Nixon of the USA ordered a ceasefire of the bombings in North Vietnam. The decision came after Dr. Henry Kissinger, the National Security Affairs advisor to the president, returned to Washington from Paris, combat missions continued in South Vietnam. By January 27,1973, all warring parties in the Vietnam War signed a ceasefire as a prelude to the Paris Peace Accord. After Iraq was driven by U. S. -led coalition forces out of Kuwait during Operation Desert Storm, Iraq, throughout the 1990s, the U. N. Security Council passed 16 Resolutions calling for Iraq to disarm the WMDs program unconditionally and immediately. The war remained in effect until 2003 when U. S. and United Kingdom forces invaded Iraq, a United Nations-mediated ceasefire was agreed between India and Pakistan on 1 January 1949, ending the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. The Security Council set up a dedicated United Nations Commission for India and Pakistan, the Security Council set up a United Nations Military Observer Group for India and Pakistan to monitor the ceasefire line. During World War I, Turkey, which was an ally of Germany, had its troops stationed both in the Balkan States in the west and at the Russian-Iranian border in the north and east. The Turkish government, who were angry at the Christians, had kept under pressure by the Russian Army. Simkos hope was that by annihilating the Assyrians he would get an autonomous rule for his people, who lived in both Turkey and Iran
9.
Al-Kamil
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Al-Kamil was a Kurdish ruler, the fourth Ayyubid sultan of Egypt. During his tenure as sultan, the Ayyubids defeated the Fifth Crusade and he was known to the Frankish crusaders as Meledin, a name by which he is still referred to in the Western world. As a result of the Sixth Crusade, he ceded Jerusalem to the Christians and is known to have met with Saint Francis, Al-Kamil was the son of sultan al-Adil, a brother of Saladin. Al-Kamils father was laying siege to the city of Mardin in 1199 when he was called urgently to deal with a security threat in Damascus. Al-Adil left al-Kamil to command the forces around Mardin continuing the siege, taking advantage of the Sultans absence, the combined forces of Mosul, Sinjar and Jazirat ibn Umar appeared at Mardin when it was on the point of surrender, and drew Al-Kamil into battle. He was badly defeated and retreated to Mayyafariqin, however dissent and weakness among his opponents meant that Al-Kamil was able to secure Ayyubid rule in the Jazira region by taking Harran. In 596/1200, after proclaiming himself Sultan, Al-Adil invited Al-Kamil to come from the Eastern Territories to join him in Egypt as his viceroy in that country, al-Adils second son, Al-Muazzam Isa, had already been made prince of Damascus in 594/1198. Al-Kamil remained viceroy until his fathers death in 1218 when he became Sultan himself, nominally the other two recognised Al-Kamils supremacy as Sultan. Al-Kamil took command of the forces which defended Damietta against the Crusaders, alerted to the conspiracy, Al-Kamil had to flee the camp to safety and in the ensuing confusion the Crusaders were able to tighten their grip on Damietta. Al-Kamil considered fleeing to Yemen, which was ruled by his son Al-Masud, Al-Kamil made many offers of peace to the Crusaders, all of which were rejected, due to the influence of the papal legate Pelagius. He offered to return Jerusalem and rebuild its walls, and to return the True Cross, at one point he even negotiated with Francis of Assisi, who had accompanied the crusade, and who apparently tried to convert the sultan. Due to famine and disease after the Nile failed to flood, al-Kamil could not defend Damietta, the sultan withdrew to al-Mansourah, a fortress further up the Nile. The Crusaders marched out towards Cairo, but al-Kamil simply opened the dams and allowed the Nile to flood, Al-Muazzam died in 1227, eliminating the need for a peace, but Frederick had already arrived in Palestine. After al-Muazzams death, al-Kamil and his other brother al-Ashraf negotiated a treaty, giving all of Palestine to al-Kamil, in February 1229 al-Kamil negotiated a ten-year peace with Frederick II and returned Jerusalem and other holy sites to the Crusader kingdom. The treaty of 1229 is unique in the history of the Crusades, by diplomacy alone and without major military confrontation, Jerusalem, Bethlehem, and a corridor running to the sea were ceded to the kingdom of Jerusalem. Exception was made for the Temple area, the Dome of the Rock, and the Aqsa Mosque, moreover, all current Muslim residents of the city would retain their homes and property. They would also have their own city officials to administer a justice system. The walls of Jerusalem, which had destroyed, were rebuilt
10.
Jerusalem
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Jerusalem is a city located on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is considered a city in the three major Abrahamic religions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. During its long history, Jerusalem has been destroyed at least twice, besieged 23 times, attacked 52 times, the part of Jerusalem called the City of David was settled in the 4th millennium BCE. In 1538, walls were built around Jerusalem under Suleiman the Magnificent, today those walls define the Old City, which has been traditionally divided into four quarters—known since the early 19th century as the Armenian, Christian, Jewish, and Muslim Quarters. The Old City became a World Heritage Site in 1981, and is on the List of World Heritage in Danger, Modern Jerusalem has grown far beyond the Old Citys boundaries. These foundational events, straddling the dawn of the 1st millennium BCE, the sobriquet of holy city was probably attached to Jerusalem in post-exilic times. The holiness of Jerusalem in Christianity, conserved in the Septuagint which Christians adopted as their own authority, was reinforced by the New Testament account of Jesuss crucifixion there, in Sunni Islam, Jerusalem is the third-holiest city, after Mecca and Medina. As a result, despite having an area of only 0, outside the Old City stands the Garden Tomb. Today, the status of Jerusalem remains one of the issues in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. During the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, West Jerusalem was among the captured and later annexed by Israel while East Jerusalem, including the Old City, was captured. Israel captured East Jerusalem from Jordan during the 1967 Six-Day War and subsequently annexed it into Jerusalem, one of Israels Basic Laws, the 1980 Jerusalem Law, refers to Jerusalem as the countrys undivided capital. All branches of the Israeli government are located in Jerusalem, including the Knesset, the residences of the Prime Minister and President, the international community does not recognize Jerusalem as Israels capital, and the city hosts no foreign embassies. Jerusalem is also home to some non-governmental Israeli institutions of importance, such as the Hebrew University. In 2011, Jerusalem had a population of 801,000, of which Jews comprised 497,000, Muslims 281,000, a city called Rušalim in the Execration texts of the Middle Kingdom of Egypt is widely, but not universally, identified as Jerusalem. Jerusalem is called Urušalim in the Amarna letters of Abdi-Heba, the name Jerusalem is variously etymologized to mean foundation of the god Shalem, the god Shalem was thus the original tutelary deity of the Bronze Age city. The form Yerushalem or Yerushalayim first appears in the Bible, in the Book of Joshua, according to a Midrash, the name is a combination of Yhwh Yireh and the town Shalem. The earliest extra-biblical Hebrew writing of the word Jerusalem is dated to the sixth or seventh century BCE and was discovered in Khirbet Beit Lei near Beit Guvrin in 1961. The inscription states, I am Yahweh thy God, I will accept the cities of Judah and I will redeem Jerusalem, or as other scholars suggest, the mountains of Judah belong to him, to the God of Jerusalem
11.
Nazareth
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Nazareth is the capital and the largest city in the Northern District of Israel. Nazareth is known as the Arab capital of Israel, in 2015 its population was 75,726. The inhabitants are predominantly Arab citizens of Israel, of whom 69% are Muslim and 30. 9% Christian, Nazareth Illit is built alongside old Nazareth, and had a Jewish population of 40,312 in 2014. The Jewish sector was declared a city in June 1974. In the New Testament, the town is described as the home of Jesus. One view suggests this toponym might be an example of a name used by resettling groups on their return from exile. The negative references to Nazareth in the Gospel of John suggest that ancient Jews did not connect the name to prophecy. Another theory holds that the Greek form Nazara, used in Matthew and Luke, may derive from an earlier Aramaic form of the name, or from another Semitic language form. If there were a tsade in the original Semitic form, as in the later Hebrew forms and this has led some scholars to question whether Nazareth and its cognates in the New Testament actually refer to the settlement known traditionally as Nazareth in Lower Galilee. In the Quran, Christians are referred to as naṣārā, meaning followers of an-Nāṣirī, in Lukes Gospel, Nazareth is first described as a town of Galilee and home of Mary. Following the birth and early epiphanial events of chapter 2 of Lukes Gospel, Mary, Joseph and Jesus returned to Galilee, to their own city, Nazareth. In English translations of the New Testament, the phrase Jesus of Nazareth appears seventeen times whereas the Greek has the form Jesus the Nazarēnos or Jesus the Nazōraios. One plausible view is that Nazōraean is a normal Greek adaptation of a reconstructed, Nazaréth is named twelve times in surviving Greek manuscript versions of the New Testament,10 times as Nazaréth or Nazarét, and twice as Nazará. The former two may retain the feminine endings common in Galilean toponyms, the minor variants, Nazarat and Nazarath are also attested. Nazara might be the earliest form of the name in Greek and it is found in Matthew 4,13 and Luke 4,16. However, the Textus Receptus clearly translates all passages as Nazara leaving little room for debate there, the form Nazara is also found in the earliest non-scriptural reference to the town, a citation by Sextus Julius Africanus dated about 221 CE. The Church Father Origen knows the forms Nazará and Nazarét, later, Eusebius in his Onomasticon also refers to the settlement as Nazara. The nașirutha of the scriptures of the Mandeans refers to craft, not to Nazareth
12.
Bethlehem
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Bethlehem is a Palestinian city located in the central West Bank, Palestine, about 10 km south of Jerusalem. Its population is approximately 25,000 people and it is the capital of the Bethlehem Governorate. The earliest known mention of the city was in the Amarna correspondence of 1350–1330 BCE during its habitation by the Canaanites. The Hebrew Bible, which says that the city of Bethlehem was built up as a city by Rehoboam, identifies it as the city David was from. The New Testament identifies Bethlehem as the birthplace of Jesus, the church was badly damaged by the Samaritans, who sacked it during a revolt in 529, but was rebuilt a century later by Emperor Justinian I. Bethlehem became part of Jund Filastin following the Muslim conquest in 637, Muslim rule continued in Bethlehem until its conquest in 1099 by a crusading army, who replaced the towns Greek Orthodox clergy with a Latin one. In the mid-13th century, the Mamluks demolished the citys walls, control of Bethlehem passed from the Ottomans to the British at the end of World War I. Bethlehem came under Jordanian rule during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War and was captured by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War. Since the 1995 Oslo Accords, Bethlehem has been administered by the Palestinian Authority, Bethlehem now has a Muslim majority, but is still home to a significant Palestinian Christian community. Bethlehems chief economic sector is tourism, which peaks during the Christmas season when Christians make pilgrimage to the Church of the Nativity, Bethlehem has over 30 hotels and 300 handicraft workshops. Rachels Tomb, an important Jewish holy site, is located at the entrance of Bethlehem. The earliest reference to Bethlehem appears in the Amarna correspondence, let the king hear the words of your servant Abdi-Heba, and send archers to restore the imperial lands of the king. It is thought that the similarity of name to its modern forms indicates that this was a settlement of Canaanites who shared a Semitic cultural. Lachmo was the Chaldean god of fertility, worshipped by the Canaanites as Lachama, some time in the 3rd millennium BCE, they erected a temple to worship the god on the hill now known as the Hill of the Nativity. The town was known as Beit Lachama, meaning House of Lachama, the Philistines later established a garrison there. The archaeologists were able to identify at least 30 tombs, the Bible also calls it Beth-Lehem Judah, and the New Testament describes it as the City of David. It is first mentioned in the Tanakh and the Bible as the place where the matriarch Rachel died and was buried by the wayside, Rachels Tomb, the traditional grave site, stands at the entrance to Bethlehem. According to the Book of Ruth, the valley to the east is where Ruth of Moab gleaned the fields and it was the home of Jesse, father of King David of Israel, and the site of Davids anointment by the prophet Samuel
13.
Pope
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The pope is the Bishop of Rome and, therefore, the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church. The current pope is Francis, who was elected on 13 March 2013, the office of the pope is the papacy. The pope is considered one of the worlds most powerful people because of his diplomatic and he is also head of state of Vatican City, a sovereign city-state entirely enclaved within the Italian capital city of Rome. The papacy is one of the most enduring institutions in the world and has had a prominent part in world history, the popes in ancient times helped in the spread of Christianity and the resolution of various doctrinal disputes. In the Middle Ages, they played a role of importance in Western Europe. Currently, in addition to the expansion of the Christian faith and doctrine, the popes are involved in ecumenism and interfaith dialogue, charitable work, Popes, who originally had no temporal powers, in some periods of history accrued wide powers similar to those of temporal rulers. In recent centuries, popes were gradually forced to give up temporal power, the word pope derives from Greek πάππας meaning father. The earliest record of the use of title was in regard to the by then deceased Patriarch of Alexandria. Some historians have argued that the notion that Peter was the first bishop of Rome, the writings of the Church Father Irenaeus who wrote around AD180 reflect a belief that Peter founded and organised the Church at Rome. Moreover, Irenaeus was not the first to write of Peters presence in the early Roman Church, Clement of Rome wrote in a letter to the Corinthians, c. 96, about the persecution of Christians in Rome as the struggles in our time and presented to the Corinthians its heroes, first, the greatest and most just columns, the good apostles Peter and Paul. St. Ignatius of Antioch wrote shortly after Clement and in his letter from the city of Smyrna to the Romans he said he would not command them as Peter and Paul did. Given this and other evidence, many agree that Peter was martyred in Rome under Nero. Protestants contend that the New Testament offers no proof that Jesus established the papacy nor even that he established Peter as the first bishop of Rome, others, using Peters own words, argue that Christ intended himself as the foundation of the church and not Peter. First-century Christian communities would have had a group of presbyter-bishops functioning as leaders of their local churches, gradually, episcopacies were established in metropolitan areas. Antioch may have developed such a structure before Rome, some writers claim that the emergence of a single bishop in Rome probably did not occur until the middle of the 2nd century. In their view, Linus, Cletus and Clement were possibly prominent presbyter-bishops, documents of the 1st century and early 2nd century indicate that the Holy See had some kind of pre-eminence and prominence in the Church as a whole, though the detail of what this meant is unclear. It seems that at first the terms episcopos and presbyter were used interchangeably, the consensus among scholars has been that, at the turn of the 1st and 2nd centuries, local congregations were led by bishops and presbyters whose offices were overlapping or indistinguishable
14.
1268
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Year 1268 was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. February 18 – Battle of Rakvere, The Livonian Order is defeated by Dovmont of Pskov, king Stephen V of Hungary launches a war against Bulgaria. The County of Wernigerode becomes a state of the Margrave of Brandenburg. New election procedures for the election of the doge are established in Venice in order to reduce the influence of individual families. Pope Clement IV dies, the papal election fails to choose a new pope for almost 3 years. Nicola Pisano completes the famous octagonal Gothic-style pulpit at the Duomo di Siena, the carnival in Venice is first recorded. In France, the use of hops as the flavoring agent used in the manufacture of beer is made compulsory. The Battle of Xiangyang, a 6-year battle between the Chinese Song dynasty and the Mongol forces of Kublai Khan, begins in what is today Hubei, an earthquake in Cilicia kills an estimated 60,000 people. The Tibetan monk Drogön Chögyal Phagpa of the Sakya school completes the Phags-pa script, which was sponsored by Kublai Khan as a new writing system in his empire
15.
Livonian Order
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The Livonian Order was an autonomous branch of the Teutonic Order, formed in 1237. It was later a member of the Livonian Confederation, from 1435 to 1561, the Order was formed from the remnants of the Livonian Brothers of the Sword after their defeat by Samogitians in 1236 at the Battle of Schaulen. They were incorporated into the Teutonic Knights and became known as the Livonian Order in 1237, in 1298 Lithuanians took Karkus castle north of Riga, and defeated the order in the Battle of Turaida, killing Livonian Land Master Bruno and 22 knights. In 1346, the Order bought the Duchy of Estonia from King Valdemar IV of Denmark, life within the Orders territory is described in the Chronicle of Balthasar Russow. The Livonian Orders defeat in the Battle of Swienta on September 1,1435, during the Livonian War, however, the Order suffered a decisive defeat by troops of Muscovite Russia in the Battle of Ergeme in 1560. After coming to an agreement with Sigismund II Augustus and his representatives, in the southern part of the Brothers lands he created the Duchy of Courland and Semigallia for his family. Most of the lands were seized by the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The north of Estonia was taken back by Denmark and Sweden, the Livonian Master, like the grandmaster of the Teutonic Order, was elected by his fellow knights for a life term. The grandmaster exercised supervisory powers and his advice was considered equal to a command, the grandmaster of Teutonic knights did not limit local autonomy, he rarely visited Livonia or sent ambassadors for oversight
16.
Daumantas of Pskov
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Daumantas or Dovmont, was a Lithuanian princeling best remembered as a military leader of the Principality of Pskov between 1266 and 1299. During his term in office, Pskov became de facto independent from Novgorod and he is venerated as a saint in the Orthodox Church with his feast day observed on May 20. Until 1265, Daumantas was Duke of Nalšia, a province of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Mindaugas and Daumantas wives were sisters, in spite of the family relationship, Daumantas chose to ally himself with Mindaugas nephew Treniota, who was Duke of Samogitia. Treniota had been increasing his personal power within the kingdom as he tried to spark an all-Balts rebellion against the Teutonic Knights. In 1263, Daumantas assassinated Mindaugas and two of his sons and it has been suggested that he acted in collusion with Treniota. As a result, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania relapsed into paganism for another one hundred, some Russian chronicles say that Daumantas motive for the murder was to further his power and get revenge, after Queen Mortas death c. 1262, Mindaugas took Daumantas wife for himself, when Mindaugas dispatched a large army towards Bryansk, Daumantas participated in the expedition, but suddenly returned and killed Mindaugas and two of his sons. According to the Bychowiec Chronicle, Daumantas received the title, Duke of Utena, when Vaišelga, the eldest son of Mindaugas, entered into an alliance with Shvarn of Halych-Volhynia in 1264, he was able to take revenge for his fathers death by killing Treniota. Daumantas and his followers fled to Pskov, after arriving in Pskov, Dovmont was baptized into Eastern Orthodoxy, assumed the Christian name Timotheus and married a daughter of Dmitry of Pereslavl, son of Alexander Nevsky. He led Pskovian armies against Lithuanians and defeated them on the bank of the Western Dvina, proceeded to devastate the land of Duke Gerdenis, and captured his two sons and wife. Dovmonts daring spirit, his ways, and the success of his military enterprise persuaded the Pskovians to elect him as their knyaz. Dovmonts election was never sanctioned by the Novgorod Republic, which had controlled the Pskovian affairs. Dovmont was again in command and returned to Pskov in triumph, in the next year the Pskovian-Novgorodian alliance was cemented by the invasion of the Livonian Order. The Pskovians, led by Dovmont, joined their forces with the Novgorodians, led by Yaroslav and Alexander Nevskys son Dmitry, and inflicted a crushing defeat on the knights in the Battle of Rakvere. The following year Grand Master of the Order, Otto von Lutterberg, laid siege to Pskov, the knights sought peace at any cost and their attacks on Pskov and Novgorod ceased for thirty years. In 1270, Yaroslav again attempted to interfere into Pskovian affairs, the Pskovians stood up for Dovmont, forcing Yaroslav to abandon his plans. In order to strengthen his position, Dovmont married Dmitrys daughter, in 1282, when his father-in-law was ousted from Vladimir to Koporye, Dovmont made a sally into Ladoga, where he captured Dmitrys treasury from the Novgorodians and transported it to Koporye
17.
Pskov
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Pskov is a city and the administrative center of Pskov Oblast, Russia, located about 20 kilometers east from the Estonian border, on the Velikaya River. Pskov is one of the oldest cities in Russia, the name of the city, originally spelled Pleskov, may be loosely translated as of purling waters. Its earliest mention comes in 903, which records that Igor of Kiev married a local lady, Pskovians sometimes take this year as the citys foundation date, and in 2003 a great jubilee took place to celebrate Pskovs 1, 100th anniversary. The first prince of Pskov was Vladimir the Greats youngest son Sudislav, once imprisoned by his brother Yaroslav, he was not released until the latters death several decades later. In the 12th and 13th centuries, the town adhered politically to the Novgorod Republic, in 1241, it was taken by the Teutonic Knights, but Alexander Nevsky recaptured it several months later during a legendary campaign dramatized in Sergei Eisensteins 1938 movie Alexander Nevsky. Having fortified the town, Daumantas routed the Teutonic Knights at Rakvere and his remains and sword are preserved in the local kremlin, and the core of the citadel, erected by him, still bears the name of Dovmonts town. By the 14th century, the town functioned as the capital of a de facto sovereign republic and its most powerful force was the merchants who brought the town into the Hanseatic League. Pskovs independence was recognized by Novgorod in 1348. Several years later, the veche promulgated a law code, which was one of the sources of the all-Russian law code issued in 1497. For Russia, the Pskov Republic was a bridge towards Europe, for Europe, the importance of the city made it the subject of numerous sieges throughout its history. The Pskov Krom withstood twenty-six sieges in the 15th century alone, at one point, five stone walls ringed it, making the city practically impregnable. A local school of icon-painting flourished, and the masons were considered the best in Russia. Many peculiar features of Russian architecture were first introduced in Pskov, finally, in 1510, the city fell to Muscovite forces. The deportation of families to Moscow is a subject of Rimsky-Korsakovs opera Pskovityanka. As the second largest city of the Grand Duchy of Moscow, most famously, it withstood a prolonged siege by a 50, 000-strong Polish army during the final stage of the Livonian War. The king of Poland Stephen Báthory undertook some thirty-one attacks to storm the city, even after one of the city walls was broken, the Pskovians managed to fill the gap and repel the attack. Its amazing how the city reminds me of Paris, wrote one of the Frenchmen present at Báthorys siege, as a consequence, the citys importance and well-being declined dramatically, although it has served as a seat of separate Pskov Governorate since 1777. During World War I, Pskov became the center of much activity behind the lines, Pskov was also occupied by the Estonian army between 25 May 1919 and 28 August 1919 during the Estonian War of Independence when Bułak-Bałachowicz became the military administrator of Pskov
18.
Battle of Wesenberg (1268)
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The Battle of Wesenberg, Rakvere or Rakovor was a battle fought on February 18,1268, between the Livonian branch of the Teutonic Knights and a coalition of Russian princes. Medieval accounts of the battle vary, with both sides claiming victory, such that the other was unable to mount further attacks, the most likely conclusion is that the battle was a tactical draw, with both sides withdrawing, badly bloodied, to defend their own lands. The two armies clashed within 7.5 kilometers from the Livonian town of Wesenberg, Russian forces, numbering up to 30,000 troops, were led by Dmitry of Pereslavl together with his future son-in-law, Daumantas of Pskov. Apart from the knights, the Livonian army included Danish forces and it is unclear who the overall commander of the crusading army was, as some sources claim that Livonian Ordensmeister Otto von Lutterberg was not present, while others claim he was. Bishop Alexander of Dorpat was likely one of the armys leaders, the Livonian forces deployed in their customary deep boars head wedge of heavily armoured knights, called by the Russians the great iron pig. This abandonment of the plan led to the first wedge being encircled. The fighting to reduce the first wedge was apparently terrific, neither our fathers nor grandfathers have witnessed such a terrible battle, reports the Novgorodian First Chronicle. At last the Novgorodian militia prevailed, although its leader, the posadnik Mikhailo Fyodorovich, was killed in action, the Russian princes pursued the knights up to Rakvere. Upon his return to his camp, Dmitry of Pereslavl discovered that it had been looted by another regiment of the knights and he decided to wait for the morning. Three days passed and no new attack ensued on the part of the knights, the Russian leaders claimed victory and returned to Novgorod in triumph. The most proximate Livonian source for the battle, the Livonian Rhymed Chronicle, tells a different story. According to the author, Ordenmeister Otto von Lutterberg was away, campaigning elsewhere. As a result, only a number of brothers of the Livonian Order were present with the local troops. The Livonian force then laid siege to Pskov, but were defeated when a relief army arrived there from Novgorod, medieval Russian Armies 1250 -1450. Livonia, Rus’ and the Baltic Crusades in the Thirteenth Century
19.
Amda Seyon I
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Amda Seyon I was Emperor of Ethiopia, and a member of the Solomonic dynasty. His conquests of Muslim borderlands greatly expanded Ethiopian territory and power in the region, Amda Seyon asserted the strength of the newly installed Solomonic dynasty and therefore legitimized it. These expansions further provided for the spread of Christianity to frontier areas, sparking an era of proselytization, Christianization. It is argued there is sufficient evidence to show that Amda Seyon was the son of Wedem Arad. It is not known how Amda Seyon became Emperor, however, there are a few pieces of information that indicate that he may have been involved in the succession struggle against Wedem Arad. Emperor Amda Seyons army was remarkably similar to the organization of the army during ancient Aksumite times. It consisted of two parts, the first, his army, was very effective and closely attached to the Royal Court. These local units would, as in Aksumite times, form a unit and fight together. The central army was divided into independent regiments, each with its own specialized name, such as Qeste-Nihb, Hareb Gonda, the independent regiments competed for the kings favor, who raised and nourished them from childhood. The regiments were led by a loyal commander directly responsible to Amda Seyon. His own son, Saf-Asegid, commanded one of these divisions, the specialized regiments tied their fortune to that of the Emperor and were most likely taken from the best soldiers from around the country. His central army consisted of regional regiments similar to those of his local militias. They were drawn mainly from newly conquered provinces and shared a cultural and those who were to serve the Emperor were given military training, probably under a commander from the same region and loyal to the Emperor. The Emperor improved the army, which until his reign was not as heavily armed as his Muslim adversaries. The 14th century Arab historian al-Umari noted regarding Ethiopian troops that their weapons of war are the bow with arrows resembling the nussab, swords, spears, some warriors fight with swords and with narrow and long shields. But their principal weapon is the spear which resembles a long lance, there are some who fling darts which are short arrows, with a long bow resembling a cross-bow. The Ethiopian armys strength was mainly numerical, but Amda Seyon did much to improve his armys equipment, increasing the use of swords and daggers, the Emperor also formed a special regiment of shield-bearers that was probably used to guard his archers. The note describes his conquest first of Damot, many of people he exiles to another area
20.
Emperor of Ethiopia
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The Emperor of Ethiopia was the hereditary ruler of the Ethiopian Empire, until the abolition of the monarchy in 1975. The Emperor was the head of state and head of government, with executive, judicial. A National Geographic Magazine article called imperial Ethiopia nominally a constitutional monarchy, the title of King of Kings, often rendered imprecisely in English as Emperor, dates back to ancient Mesopotamia, but was used in Axum by King Sembrouthes. However, Yuri Kobishchanov dates this usage to the following the Persian victory over the Romans in 296-297. The consort of the Emperor was referred to as the ətege, empress Zauditu used the feminized form nəgəstä nägäst to show that she reigned in her own right, and did not use the title of ətege. At the death of a monarch any male or female relative of the Emperor could claim succession to the throne, sons, brothers. Practice favoured primogeniture but did not always enforce it, Ethiopian traditions do not all agree as to exactly when the custom started of imprisoning rivals to the throne on a Mountain of the Princes. Taddesse Tamrat argues that this began in the reign of Wedem Arad. The potential royal rivals were incarcerated at Amba Geshen until Ahmed Gragn captured that site in 1540 and destroyed it, then, from the reign of Fasilides until the mid-18th century, rumors of these royal mountain residences were part of the inspiration for Samuel Johnsons short story, Rasselas. His claim to the throne was also helped by his marriage to that kings daughter, while the surviving records of these kings fail to shed light on their origins, this genealogical claim is first documented in the 10th century by an Arab historian. Interpretations of this vary widely. Some accept it as evident fact, at the other extreme, others understand this as an expression of propaganda, attempting to connect the legitimacy of the state to the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. Some scholars take an approach in the middle, attempting to find a connection between Axum and the South Arabian kingdom of Saba, or between Axum and the pre-exilic Kingdom of Judah. Due to lack of materials, it is not possible as of 2006 to determine which theory is the more plausible. The restored Solomonic dynasty, which claimed descent from the old Aksumite rulers, ruled Ethiopia from the 13th century until 1974, the most significant usurper was Kassa of Kwara, who in 1855 took complete control over Ethiopia and was crowned Tewodros II. After his defeat and demise, another Solomonic dynasty, Dejazmatch Kassai took over as Yohannes IV, however, the most famous post-Theodorean Emperors were Yohannes IV, Menelik II and Haile Selassie. Emperor Menelik II achieved a military victory against Italian invaders in March 1896 at the Battle of Adwa. Menelik lost Eritrea to Italy and Djubouti to France, after Menelik, all monarchs were of distaff descent from Solomonics
