30 June
King Henry II of France is mortally wounded in a jousting match against Gabriel, comte de Montgomery. Continue reading “1559 – Henry II of France is mortally wounded”
2 May
On this day in 1536, Henry VIII’s second wife and Queen of England, Anne Boleyn is arrested and imprisoned on charges of adultery, incest and treason.
24 March
James VI and I (19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625) was King of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns on this day in 1603 until his death. The kingdoms of Scotland and England were individual sovereign states, with their own parliaments, judiciary, and laws, though both were ruled by James in personal union. Continue reading “1603 – James VI of Scotland becomes James I of England and Ireland”
14 March
The Battle of Ivry was fought on this day in 1590, during the French Wars of Religion. The battle was a decisive victory for Henry IV of France, leading Huguenot (French Protestant) and English forces against the Catholic League led by the Duc de Mayenne and Spanish forces under the Count of Egmont. Henry’s forces were victorious and he went on to lay siege to Paris. The battle occurred on the plain of Épieds, Eure near Ivry (later renamed Ivry-la-Bataille), Normandy. Ivry-la-Bataille is located on the Eure River and about thirty miles west of Paris, at the boundary between the Île-de-France and the Beauce regions. Continue reading “1590 – Battle of Ivry”
24 February
The Battle of Pavia, fought in the morning on this day in 1525, was the decisive engagement of the Italian War of 1521–26. Continue reading “1525 – A Spanish-Austrian army defeats a French army at the Battle of Pavia”
10 February
Henry Stewart or Stuart, Duke of Albany (7 December 1545 – 10 February 1567), styled Lord Darnley before 1565, was king consort of Scotland from 1565 until his murder at Kirk o’ Field in 1567. He was the second but eldest surviving son of Matthew Stewart, 4th Earl of Lennox, and his wife, Lady Margaret Douglas. Darnley’s maternal grandparents were Archibald Douglas, sixth Earl of Angus, and Margaret Tudor, daughter of Henry VII of England, and widow of James IV of Scotland. It is the common belief that Henry Stewart was born on 7 December, but this is disputed. He was a first cousin and the second husband of Mary, Queen of Scots, and was the father of her son James VI of Scotland, who succeeded Elizabeth I of England as James I. Continue reading “1567 – Lord Darnley, second husband of Mary, Queen of Scots, is found strangled”
23 January
James Stewart, 1st Earl of Moray (c. 1531 – 23 January 1570) was a member of the House of Stewart as the illegitimate son of King James V, and was Regent of Scotland for his half-nephew, the infant King James VI of Scotland, from 1567 until his assassination in 1570. Continue reading “1570 – James Stewart, 1st Earl of Moray, regent of Scotland, is assassinated by firearm”
23 January
The 1556 Shaanxi earthquake was a catastrophic earthquake that is also considered the deadliest earthquake on record, killing approximately 830,000 people. Continue reading “1556 – The deadliest earthquake in history, the Shaanxi earthquake”
16 January
The House of Medici was an Italian banking family, political dynasty and later royal house that first began to gather prominence under Cosimo de’ Medici in the Republic of Florence during the late 14th century. The family originated in the Mugello region of the Tuscan countryside, gradually rising until they were able to fund the Medici Bank. The bank was the largest in Europe during the 15th century, seeing the Medici gain political power in Florence — though officially they remained citizens rather than monarchs. Continue reading “1412 – The Medici family is appointed official banker of the Papacy”
