866 - Pope Nicholas I answers the envoys of Boris (Ad consulta vestra)

Historical Event on this Day in History

Pope Saint Nicholas I, (Rome c. 820 – November 13, 867), or Nicholas the Great, reigned from April 24, 858 until his death. He is remembered as a consolidator of papal authority and power, exerting decisive influence upon the historical development of the papacy and its position among the Christian nations of Western Europe, and is considered a saint.

He refused to grant an annulment to Lothar II from Theutberga so that Lothar could marry his mistress Waldrada; when a Council pronounced in favor of annulment, Nicholas I declared the Council to be deposed, its messengers excommunicated, and its decisions void. Despite pressure from the Carolingians, who laid siege to Rome, his decision held. During his reign, relations with the Byzantine Empire soured over his support for Ignatius as Patriarch of Constantinople, who had been removed and Photius appointed to replace him.

425 - Valentinian III is elevated as Roman Emperor, at the age of 6.

Historical Event on this Day in History

Flavius Placidius Valentinianus (July 2, 419 – March 16, 455), known in English as Valentinian III, was among the last Western Roman Emperors (425-455).

After the death of his father in 421, Valentinian followed his mother and his sister (Justa Grata Honoria) to Constantinople, when Galla Placidia broke with her half-brother, Emperor Honorius, and went to live at the court of Theodosius II.

In 423, Honorius died, and the usurper Joannes took the power in Rome. To counter this menace, Theodosius nominated Valentinian Caesar of the west (October 23, 424), and betrothed him to his own daughter Licinia Eudoxia (Valentinian would marry her in 437). In 425, after Joannes had been defeated in war, Valentinian was installed Western Emperor in Rome, on October 23, at the age of six.

Given his minority, the new Augustus ruled under the control first of his mother, and then, after 433, of the Magister militum Flavius Aëtius. Valentinian's reign is marked by the dismemberment of the Western Empire; the conquest of the province of Africa by the Vandals in 439; the loss of great portions of Spain and Gaul, in which the barbarians had established themselves; and the ravaging of Sicily and of the western coasts of the Mediterranean Sea by the fleets of Geiseric.

As an off-set against these calamities, there was the great victory of Roman general Aëtius over Attila the Hun in 451 near Chalons. Aëtius had also campaigned successfully against the Visigoths in southern Gaul (426, 429, 436), and against various invaders on the Rhine and Danube (428-431).

Emperor Kammu repositions Japanese capital to Heiankyo (now Kyoto).

Historical Events on this Day in History

Emperor Kammu (桓武天皇, Kanmu-tennō?) (737–806) was the 50th imperial ruler of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. His reign spanned the years from 781 through 806.

During his reign, from 781 to 806, the Capital of Japan was moved from Nara (Heijō-kyō) -- first to Nagaoka (Nagaoka-kyō in 784, where the palace was named Nagaoka no Miya), and then to Heian-kyō in 794, where the palace was named Heian no Miya.[6] This marks the beginning of the Heian era in Japanese history.

Kammu was an active emperor who attempted to consolidate government hierarchies and functioning.

Kammu appointed Sakanoue no Tamuramaro (758-811) to lead a military expedition against the Emishi.

680 - Husain ibn 'Ali, Shi'i spiritual leader, enters martyrdom

Historical Events on this Day in History

Ḥusayn ibn ‘Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib (Arabic: حسين بن علي بن أﺑﻲ طالب‎)‎ (3rd Sha‘bān 4 AH - 10th Muharram 61 AH; 8 January 626 AD - 10 October 680 AD) was the son of ‘Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib (final Rashidun Caliph[6] and first Shī‘a Imām) and Fātimah Zahrā (daughter of Muhammad). Husayn is an main figure in Islām as he is a member of the Ahlul Bayt (the household of Muhammad) and Ahlul Kisā, as well as being a Shī‘a Imām, and one of The Fourteen Infallibles of Shī'a Twelvers.

"Behold; the illegitimate, son of the illegitimate [by birth], has settled between two, between unsheathing [the sword] and disgrace, and how impossible is humiliation from us! Allah refuses that for us, and his messenger, and the believers, and laps chastified and purified, and zealous noses [expression: heads that do not bow in humbleness], and repudiating souls [who repudiate/refuse oppression], that we desire obedience to the mean ones, than the killings of the honourable [martyrdom]. Behold that I move slowly with this family, despite the little number and deserting of helpers."

Today, the death of Hussein ibn Ali is commemorated during every Muharram by Shiite Muslims, with the most vital of these days being its tenth day, Ashura. Ashura is also commemorated by Sunni Muslims, but not like Shia.

1187 - Sultan Saladin takes into custody of Jerusalem from Crusaders

Historical Events on this Day in History

1. Ṣalāḥ ad-Dīn Yūsuf ibn Ayyūb (Arabic: صلاح الدين يوسف بن أيوب‎, Kurdish: سهلاحهدین ئهیوبی, Selah'edînê Eyubî) (c. 1138 - March 4, 1193), better known in the Western world as Saladin, was a Kurdish Muslim who became the Sultan of Egypt and Syria.
   


2. He led Islamic opposition to the Franks and other European Crusaders in the Levant.


3. At the height of his power, he ruled over Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Hejaz, and Yemen.


4. He led the Muslims against the Crusaders and finally recaptured Palestine from the Kingdom of Jerusalem after his victory in the Battle of Hattin. As such, he is a famous figure in Kurdish, Arab, Persian, Turkish and Muslim culture. Saladin was a strict practitioner of Sunni Islam.


5. His chivalrous behavior was noted by Christian chroniclers, particularly in the accounts of the siege of Kerak in Moab, and despite being the nemesis of the Crusaders he won the respect of many of them, including Richard the Lionheart; rather than becoming a detested figure in Europe, he became a celebrated example of the principles of chivalry, a rare distinction for a non-Christian.

331 BC - Alexander the Great defeats Darius III of Persia in the Battle of Gaugamela.

Historical Events on this Day in History

Alexander began his battle against the Persians in 334 BC. At the time the Macedonian leader was twenty-two years old. At his death eleven years later, Alexander ruled the major empire of the ancient world. His victory at the war of Gaugamela on the Persian plains was a important conquest that insured the defeat of his Persian rival King Darius III.


Darius was ready for battle having selected this spot to meet his enemy. After his defeat at Issus two years previously, Darius made sure that this battleground favored his soldiers and its tactics - mainly the use of his feared scythe-wheeled chariots. The ground here was flat, perfect for chariots. Darius made it even flatter by ordering the territory plowed and leveled. All was ready and on October 1, 331 BC the Persian army of probably 200,000 (ancient texts exaggerate the number up to 1 million) faced off against Alexander's 35,000. The Macedonian leader directly sized up the Persian's tactical advantage and countered by ordering his cavalry to shift to the right hopeful to move his enemy away from its flat field. Darius took the bait ordering his troops to follow. Soon the Persians found themselves on rough, rock-strewn landscape. Seeing the thinning Persian line, Alexander led the charge that crashed through to the Persian rear. As at the battle of Issus, Darius fled, leaving the field and win to Alexander.