Medieval Europe

Every case in medieval europe, best-known first

Best-known first: cases from 1900 on, then the United States, then Europe, and the people most read about on English Wikipedia each month. Fiction, scripture and legend come last.

1503 · Rome, ItalyPope Alexander VI built a state in central Italy for his son Cesare Borgia, and Cesare lost it after his father's deathCesare Borgia was the illegitimate son of Pope Alexander VI. He was made a cardinal when his father became pope. After his brother Giovanni was murdered in 1497, he resigned the cardinalate in 1498.Project Gutenberg and 4 more1087 · Priory of Saint-Gervais, RouenWilliam the Conqueror's funeral stopped when a man said the church stood on his father's stolen landWilliam was injured against the pommel of his saddle while taking the town of Mantes in July 1087.University of Chicago, LacusCurtius and 3 more1483 · Tower of London, EnglandParliament declared Edward IV's sons illegitimate, they vanished in the Tower, and two child skeletons found in 1674 have never been DNA-testedEdward IV died on 9 April 1483. His son Edward V was 12 and his younger son Richard, duke of York, was 9. Their uncle Richard, duke of Gloucester, lodged them in the Tower ahead of the coronation. The coronation was postponed.westminster-abbey.org and 3 more1137 · Bordeaux, FranceEleanor inherited Aquitaine at about 13, took it back when France annulled her marriage, and married the future king of England eight weeks laterWilliam X, duke of Aquitaine, died on Good Friday, 9 April 1137, on pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela. His eldest daughter Eleanor, about 13, inherited Aquitaine and Poitou.fontevraud.fr and 2 more1099 · Valencia and Burgos, SpainEl Cid's widow carried his body out of Valencia, and his bones were moved five times between 1102 and 1921Rodrigo Díaz, El Cid, took Valencia from its Muslim rulers in June 1094 and governed it. He died there on 10 July 1099, aged about 56, and was buried in Valencia cathedral. His widow, Jimena Díaz, held the city after his death.encyclopedia.com and 4 more624 · Sutton Hoo, Suffolk, EnglandA 1939 inquest ruled the Sutton Hoo ship burial was Edith Pretty's property, and she gave it to the nationAbout 625, someone was buried in a ship under a mound at Sutton Hoo with weapons, gold and silver. A purse in the grave held 37 gold coins dated to about 625.nationaltrust.org.uk and 3 more1477 · Ghent and Bruges, BelgiumCharles the Bold died at Nancy, the King of France seized Burgundy from his 19-year-old heiress, and her marriage gave the Netherlands to the HabsburgsCharles the Bold, duke of Burgundy, was killed at the battle of Nancy on 5 January 1477. His only child, Mary, born 13 February 1457, inherited his lands. Louis XI of France seized the duchy of Burgundy and other territories.deutsche-biographie.de and 2 more1492 · Florence, ItalyLorenzo de' Medici took 53,643 florins from his cousins' inheritance, and two years after his death Florence seized the insolvent Medici bankThe Medici bank was most profitable under Cosimo de' Medici, who died on 1 August 1464. Under his successors the branches failed.cambridge.org and 5 more1314 · Paris, FrancePhilip IV arrested every Templar in France in one morning, the pope gave their property to the Hospitallers, and the Hospitallers paid the king 200,000 livresThe Knights Templar held land, houses and money across Europe and answered only to the pope. Philip IV of France was deeply in debt.blogs.loc.gov and 3 more840 · Verdun, FranceLouis the Pious's sons deposed him twice and fought a battle at Fontenoy, and the Treaty of Verdun split the empire into the lands that became France and GermanyIn 817 Louis the Pious issued the Ordinatio Imperii at Aachen. It made his eldest son Lothar co-emperor and heir to the empire. His sons Pepin and Louis got subordinate kingdoms and could not make war or peace without Lothar.sourcebooks.web.fordham.edu and 5 more1558 · Dungannon, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, UKEngland made Conn O'Neill's son by a blacksmith's wife his heir, and Conn's son Shane had the heir killedGaelic Irish lordships passed by tanistry: the successor was chosen from male kin descended from a common great-grandfather, the eldest and most worthy, not the eldest son.libraryireland.com and 4 more1504 · Tordesillas, SpainIsabella of Castile's will made her daughter Joanna queen, and Joanna's father and son kept her locked in Tordesillas for 46 yearsIsabella I of Castile died in November 1504. Her daughter Joanna became queen of Castile. Isabella's will let Ferdinand, Joanna's father, govern if Joanna was absent or unwilling to rule, until Joanna's heir turned 20.capillarealgranada.com and 2 more1459 · Caister, Norfolk, EnglandJohn Paston claimed Sir John Fastolf's lands under a deathbed spoken will, and the Duke of Norfolk besieged Caister Castle to take themSir John Fastolf made a fortune in the Hundred Years' War and built Caister Castle between 1432 and 1446. He died there in November 1459 with no children.thisispaston.co.uk and 4 more1138 · Płock, PolandBolesław III had his half-brother blinded, then split Poland among his sons in 1138, and the country stayed divided for about two centuriesBolesław III Krzywousty was born on 20 August 1086, son of Duke Władysław Herman. After his father died in 1102, he fought his half-brother Zbigniew for the country.zpe.gov.pl and 2 more1487 · Rome, Italy; Kyrenia, CyprusQueen Charlotte of Cyprus lost her throne to her father's illegitimate son and signed her crowns of Cyprus, Jerusalem and Armenia over to SavoyKing John II of Cyprus died in July 1458, and the Cypriot nobility backed his legitimate daughter, Charlotte. On 10 October 1458 her marriage to Louis of Savoy was concluded.medievalists.net and 3 more1456 · Bourges, FranceJacques Coeur financed Charles VII's war, then the king charged him with poisoning the royal mistress and confiscated everythingJacques Coeur traded with Damascus by 1432, became master of the royal mint in 1436 and steward of royal spending by 1441, and was ennobled with his family.Wikisource (primary text) and 2 more1439 · Visegrád, HungaryA lady-in-waiting stole the Holy Crown of Hungary in 1440 so a baby born hours later could be crowned kingKing Albert II of Hungary died on 27 October 1439. His widow, Queen Elisabeth, was about five months pregnant. Hungarian nobles wanted her to marry the 16-year-old King Władysław III of Poland. She refused and waited for a son.germanhistorydocs.org and 5 more1430 · Trakai, LithuaniaPolish lords stopped the crown sent for Vytautas in 1430, he died uncrowned, and his grave in Vilnius Cathedral has never been foundVytautas ruled the Grand Duchy of Lithuania from 1392 to 1430 under the union with Poland, whose king, Jogaila, was his cousin. Emperor Sigismund offered him a royal crown.old.lituanus.org and 2 more1328 · Paris, FranceFrance kept two kings' daughters off the throne, passed over Edward III, and later cited a Frankish land rule to justify itThe Salic law, a Frankish code compiled about 500 under Clovis, says in Title 59 that "of Salic land no portion of the inheritance shall come to a woman." It concerned land, not crowns.avalon.law.yale.edu and 4 more1199 · Rouen, FranceRichard I's nephew Arthur disappeared in his uncle King John's prison, and Arthur's sister was held for 39 years until she diedArthur, duke of Brittany, was the son of Geoffrey, an elder brother of John. Geoffrey died before Arthur was born in 1187. In 1190 Richard I named Arthur his heir presumptive. When Richard died in 1199 he named John instead.british-history.ac.uk and 4 more1135 · London, EnglandHenry I's barons swore to make his daughter queen, and his nephew Stephen took the crown within weeks of his deathIn 1120 the White Ship sank and drowned William Adelin, Henry I's only legitimate son. Henry named his daughter Matilda, the widowed empress of Germany, as heir.avalon.law.yale.edu and 4 more1115 · Canossa, Italy, and RomeMatilda of Tuscany gave her lands to the papacy, a historian says the surviving deed is a forgery, and the emperor took the lands the year after she diedMatilda, countess of Tuscany, held most of northern and central Italy and backed the popes against the emperor. In 1079 she gave all her domains to the pope.Treccani and 3 more814 · Aachen, GermanyCharlemagne's 811 division left two-thirds of his treasure to 21 archbishoprics and a silver table engraved with Constantinople to St Peter'sCharlemagne's biographer Einhard copied the document by which the emperor divided his treasure in 811, three years before his death. A full will was never finished. The treasure was split into three lots.sourcebooks.fordham.edu and 2 more524 · Paris, FranceClovis's sons sent their mother scissors and a sword, then killed two of their dead brother's sons and split his kingdomClovis, king of the Franks, died in 511. Gregory of Tours writes that his four sons "received his kingdom and divided it among them in equal parts." Chlodomer, king at Orléans, was killed at Vézeronce in June 524.sourcebooks.fordham.edu and 4 moreLegend · 1250 · Iceland (where the saga was written)The Völsunga saga says Fafnir killed his father for a cursed gold hoard and refused his brother any shareThe Völsunga saga is a 13th-century Icelandic prose saga based largely on the poems of the Elder Edda. In chapter 14 the smith Regin tells the hero Sigurd how his family's fortune was made and lost.morrisarchive.lib.uiowa.edu and 3 moreLegend · 935 · Gulathing (Gulen), Norway, and Mosfell, IcelandEgil's saga says a queen's men cut the court ropes to stop Egil's inheritance suit, and Egil later won the land by biting a man's throat outEgil's saga covers about 850 to 1000; its oldest manuscript fragment dates from about 1250, and many scholars attribute it to Snorri Sturluson.viking.ucla.edu and 6 more