European History
‘Give us our eleven days!’ The English calendar riots of 1752
The calendar followed today by all countries across the globe is popularly known as the Gregorian calendar. It was named after Pope Gregory XIII who introduced it in February 1582 and hence also known as the Western Christian calendar.
The Gregorian calendar replaced the Julian calendar introduced by Julius Caesar, the Roman Emperor in 46 B.C. as it had an error in calculation. This calendar added one day for every 128 years owing to an error in calculation of around 11 minutes for each solar year.
The Gregorian calendar as we are familiar with today is a solar calendar with 365 days with a leap year every four years. However the implementation of this new calendar was largely rejected because of its ties to the Church. It took nearly 300 years for all the countries to adopt the new calendar. Christian countries such as Spain, Portugal and Italy immediately adopted the new format whilst Protestant countries, including England and its colonies continued to follow the Julian calendar. Turkey was the last country to officially switch to the new system on January 1st, 1927.
After much speculation England passed the “Calendar Act” of 1751 – “An Act for Regulating the Commencement of the Year; and for Correcting the Calendar now in Use”. As per this act, the Gregorian calendar was to be adopted and the year would commence from January 1st instead of March 25th as was the case under the Julian calendar.
Now by 1752, there was already a discrepancy of 11 days between the two calendars. In order to sync the date followed in England with that of the Gregorian calendar followed in other parts of the world it was decided that 11 days were to be dropped from September 1752. So 2nd September 1752 was to be followed by 14th September 1752 to conform to the Gregorian calendar.
However, it is believed that the change did not go down well with the common people. Many saw the new calendar as an imposition by the Church. Some probably believed that 11 days were taken away from their lives against their will. People were unhappy with the change in dates of festivals, saint’s days and birthdays, dates of payments of wages, interest and contracts.
It is believed that there were riots in Bristol and people gathered shouting slogans to ‘Give us back our eleven days’. However, currently historians believe these protests did not actually take place or were highly exaggerated. These protests have now become a part of the urban myth.
On a separate note Benjamin Franklin welcomed the change, and wrote, “It is pleasant for an old man to be able to go to bed on September 2, and not have to get up until September 14.”
Source: History.Com; Historic UK; History Today; CT State Library
Arthur Tudor of England married Catherine of Aragon – Event that preceded the schism between the Church of England and the Roman Catholic Church
Arthur Tudor, the eldest son and heir to the Tudor dynasty was born in 1846 to King Henry VII of England and Wales, and Elizabeth of York. In an astute political move to forge the Anglo Spanish alliance Arthur was betrothed to Catherine of Aragon, daughter of French monarch Isabella of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragon. The decision of marriage was a part of the Treaty of Medina del Campo (1488-89) between the two states.
In October 1501, young Catherine reached England to be married to Arthur who was barely 15 years old. On November 14th 1501, the marriage took place in old St. Paul’s Cathedral. Post marriage the couple moved to Ludlow Castle in Shropshire. However on April 2nd 1502, barely six months after the marriage Arthur died of “Sweating sickness” and was buried in Worcester. Even though short lived, this marriage had significant impact on the course of English history.
In an effort to continue the alliance, Catherine was betrothed to Arthur’s younger brother Henry. Post the death of King Henry VII in 1509, Henry ascended the throne and married Catherine. The joint coronation ceremony of King Henry VIII and Catherine was held on June 24, 1509.
Source: Wikipedia
Of their many children only a daughter named Mary (the future Mary I of England) survived. Henry VIII desperately sought a male heir to the throne and also had fallen in love with an woman named Anne Boleyn. It is said that Henry began to regard his marriage to his brother’s widow Catherine as unlawful under the Cannon Law and the reason why he had no male heir. Catherine however maintained that her marriage with Arthur had not been consummated and hence she was the only true wife of Henry. She maintained this stance till the end of her life, despite all odds.
Henry VIII appealed for annulment of the marriage with Catherine. However Pope Clement VII did not permit the annulment and this eventually led to the split between England and the Catholic Church. King Henry assumed the position of the Supreme head of the New English Church. Following the schism the marriage was annulled by the English Church and Henry VIII went on to marry Anne Boleyn.
Catherine was banished from the Royal court and was conferred the title of Dowager Princess of Wales implying she was the widow of Arthur. During her exile she lived in several damp and ill maintained castles with few servants. She was also separated from her daughter Mary and spent the last years of her life in prayer.
Grief coupled with lingering illness led to her death in 1536 at Kimbolton Castle. She was buried with the honor of Princess Dowager and not as the Queen of England.
‘My tribulations are so great, my life so disturbed by the plans daily invented to further the king’s wicked intention, the surprises which the king gives me, with certain persons of his council, are so mortal, and my treatment is what God knows, that it is enough to shorten ten lives, much more mine.’ Katharine of Aragon to Charles V, November 1531.
Source: Britroyals.com ; History Today; English History; The Telegraph
The Peterloo Massacre – The Radical British History
Peterloo Massacre took place on 16th August 1819, in Manchester, United Kingdom. It marks a brutal chapter in English history where a peaceful gathering of protesters in St. Peter’s Fields in Manchester were viciously dispersed by the cavalry.
The years after the end of the Napoleonic wars were marked by poor economic conditions along with periods of famine and unemployment. Lack of suffrage in Northern England also contributed to political radicalism.
On 16th August, a peaceful gathering was organized to showcase the prevailing discontentment and seek reform in parliamentary representation. The gathering was presided over by the radical leader Henry Hunt and was attended by around 60,000 people.
Soon after the meeting commenced, the Local magistrates worried by the huge turnout ordered the Manchester yeomanry to arrest the speakers. However, the Cavalry did not limit themselves to arresting the speakers but charged at the crowd wielding sabres. The 15th Hussars and the Cheshire Volunteers also joined the attack against the crowd. Around 400 -500 people were injured and 15 were killed (the numbers remain disputed).
After the Peterloo Massacre (Named after a comparison with Battle of Waterloo) the Government passed the Six Acts as an attempt at parliamentary reform. The Manchester Guardian, today known as the Guardian was also founded post this appalling incident.
The Peterloo Massacre represents the tyranny and the fear in the minds of the privileged sections of the society towards the looming Jacobin revolution in the years following the Napoleonic Wars. However, the Massacre failed to have any significant impact on Parliamentary reforms.
In 2007, a new plaque with greater details of the massacre was unveiled by the Manchester City Council. The plaque reads “On 16 August 1819 a peaceful rally of 60,000 pro-democracy reformers, men, women and children, was attacked by armed cavalry resulting in 15 deaths and over 600 injuries.”
Source: BBC; Britannica; The British Library; Historic UK
The Battle of Zela – The Declaration of Veni, Vidi, Vici by Julius Caesar
Julius Caesar, the Roman Emperor defeated the Ptolemaic forces at the Battle of the Nile and began marching through the far eastern provinces. He moved through Judaea and Syria accepting apologies and pardoning Kings who had joined forces with Pompey.
Meanwhile during the Roman Civil War, Pharnaces II, king of Pontus, and son of the great Roman enemy Mithridates VI had defeated Caesar’s Legate Gnaeus Domitius Calvinus, at the Battle of Nicopolis and proceeded to commit severe atrocities against the Roman prisoners and civilians of the region.
Source: Wikipedia
Pharnaces, on hearing about Caesar’s approach asked him for a pardon. Caesar agreed to pardon him only if he left Pontus, released all prisoners and paid a heavy fine. Although Pharnaces initially agreed, he kept delaying Caesar as long as possible which caused Caesar to declare war.
The battle of Zela was fought in Zile, a small town in in the Tokat province of northern Turkey. This place was of great historical significance to both as Pharnaces’ father; Mithridates had defeated a Roman army 20 years earlier in this place. Though the positioning of the Pontic army provided Pharnaces provided them with some initial advantage, the uphill fight soon exhausted his soldiers. Within no time the Pontic army was routed completely, however Pharnaces managed to escape capture.
To commemorate this massive victory Caesar erected a monument at the battle site. He appointed Mithridates of Pergamum as King of Pontus for his loyalty towards Caesar and his service in Egypt.
Post the battle, Caesar crossed Asia and set sail for Italy and sent a message to the Roman Senate informing them of his overwhelming victory that simply read “VENI VIDI VICI”, I came, I saw, I conquered.
Source: UNRV History; ccancients.net; livius.org
Great Fire of Rome – Was Emperor Nero Involved?
Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, popularly known as Nero was the Emperor of Rome for less than two decades yet it was during his rule that Rome witnessed massive changes. He was the great grandson of Emperor Augustus. Nero and his mother Agrippina were exiled from Rome by Agrippina’s brother, the Emperor Gaius Caligula. However, Agrippina married her uncle Claudius who became the next Emperor and convinced him to make Nero his heir.
After Claudius’s mysterious death, Nero, then 16, was proclaimed the Emperor of Rome. He was under the guidance of Lucius Annaeus Seneca, the Stoic philosopher who had been his tutor, and Sextus Afranius Burrus, head of the Praetorian Guard. He was an ambitious man and one of his grand plans was to rebuild Rome and name the new city Neropolis.
On the night of 18th July 64 AD a massive fire broke out in the marketplace near the Circus Maximus. The summer winds helped spread the fire rapidly through the city. Rome burnt for six days and seven nights before the fire was brought under control. Out of 14 districts, 10 were ruined by this fire implying that nearly two-third of the city was destroyed.
Nero was said to be away from the city at Antium near the coast during this time. On hearing about the fire, he is said to have returned to Rome and organize extensive relief efforts to save the people. On the other hand soon it was popularly believed that the city was purposely set on fire on Nero’s orders itself. Some claim that Nero was believed to have been “playing the fiddle” when the fire was grazing the town to the ground. The motive behind this mass destruction was believed to be his ambition to build a new city Neropolis.
Source: Wikipedia
Nero, however blamed the Christians for the great fire of Rome and ordered them to be persecuted. Thus the Roman persecution against the Christians were launched and continued till the era of Constantine.
Nero has said to have taken the opportunity of this destruction to build a new palace named The Domus Aurea (Golden House) for himself.
Over the next few years discontentment against Nero’s reign grew considerably and he was declared a public enemy by the Senate. On 68 AD, four years after the Great fire of Rome, Nero committed suicide to avoid execution.
Till date historians remain divided about Nero’s hand in the Great Fire of Rome. Thus even after nearly twenty centuries the cause of the fire remains shrouded in mystery.
Source: History.com; HistoryToday; PBS.org; EyeWitnesstoHistory.com
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