Pope Celestine V abdicates the papacy after only five month son December 13, 1294, becoming one of the few popes to voluntarily resign. He was driven by a desire to return to his monastic life, acknowledging his unsuitability for the Papal role.
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What Happened in December?
Victories, births, and treaties. Explore the significant historical events and milestones that occurred in December. Dates for earlier events may be approximate.
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Pope Benedict XII, born Jacques Fournier, was elected Pope on December 20, 1334. He was the third Avignon Pope and was consecrated on January 8, 1335,
Pope Gregory XI, the last French Pope and final Avignon Pope, is elected on December 30, 1370, by the cardinals in Avignon, France, succeeding Pope Urban V.
Avignon had been the seat of the papacy since 1309, Gregory XI returned the papacy to Rome in 1377. His Papacy reign was from December 30, 1370 to March 27, 1378.
King Charles III of Naples (also known as Charles of Durazzo) was crowned King of Hungary in Székesfehérvár, Hungary on December 31, 1385, He had previously been crowned King of Naples in 1381. His rule in Hungary was short-lived as he was assassinated there in February 1386.
Tamerlane (Timur) captures and sacks Delhi on December 17, 1398, leading to three days of widespread destruction and the massacre of tens of thousands, possibly, over 100,000, inhabitants, plundering treasures and crippling the Delhi Sultanate.
The Battle of Castillon marks the end of the Hundred Years' War between England and France.
The Battle of Wakefield, takes place on December 30, 1460 during the Wars of the Roses in England, with a Lancastrian victory (loyal to Henry VI) and a major setback for the Yorkists.
The battle, claimed the lives of Richard, Duke of York, his son Edmund, Earl of Rutland, and Richard Neville, Earl of Salisbury, ending York's direct claim to the throne, though the conflict continued.
During his first voyage, Columbus lands on December 6, 1492, on what is now the north coast of Haiti at a bay he named San Nicolas going on to name the Island, "La Isla Española", which was later Anglicized to Hispaniola. His arrival on the island followed his initial landing in the Bahamas on October 12, 1492. Hispaniola went on to became a base for future Spanish colonization of the Americas.
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Christopher Columbus Flagship, the Santa María, runs aground on Christmas Day 1492, on a reef off the northwest coast of what is now Haiti but the exact location remains a mystery. The ship was declared a total loss, and its timbers were salvaged to build the Fort which he named "La Navidad", the first European settlement in the New World, where 39 members of Columbus's crew were left behind.
Columbus left for Spain in January of 1493, with the other two ships, the Niña and the Pinta. Columbus returned to the settlement a year later to find it destroyed, the fort in ruins and his men gone.It is believed the Taíno people had retaliated against the European mistreatment and violence, killing the men and burning the fort.
Martin Luther throws a copy of the Papal bull, Exsurge Domine (“Arise O Lord”) into a bonfire after the expiration of the period stipulated in the bull from Pope Leo X for Luther to recant his teachings.
Luther refused and continued to rebuke the papacy. As a result, Luther was excommunicated on Jan 3, 1521. More
Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama passes away in India during his third voyage to the East. He died of malaria on December 24, 1524, in Cochin, India, shortly after arriving for his third term as Viceroy. He was initially buried in St. Francis Church in Kochi, his remains were later returned to Portugal in 1539 and eventually interred in the Jerónimos Monastery.
Our Lady of Guadalupe, one of the most important religious icons in Mexico, is believed to have appeared to Juan Diego on four occasions between December 9 and 12, 1531. More
Ivan IV, known as Ivan the Terrible, is proclaimed Grand Prince of Moscow on December 4, 1533, at the age of three after the death of his father, Grand Prince Vasily III. He ruled under the regency of his mother, Yelena Glinskaya, until her death in 1538.
His mother's death was followed by a period of intense power struggles among nobles. Ivan was crowned "Tsar and Grand Prince of all Russia" on January 16, 1547, at the age of 16, marking the beginning of a new era for Russia, with a more centralized and powerful ruler at its head.
King James V of Scotland dies on December 14, 1542, leaving his infant daughter, Mary, Queen of Scots, as his heir. He died just six days after Mary was born, following a military defeat at the Battle of Solway Moss.
Pope Paul IIIi's Legate, Cardinal Giovanni del Monte, opens the first session of the Council of Trent (Trento) on December 13, 1545, marking the beginning of a long-term effort to clarify Catholic doctrines such as the seven sacraments challenged by Protestant The council, originally called in 1537 was delayed for eight years due to political disputes.
The Council of Trent concludes its discussions on the Catholic Church Counter-Reformation on December 4, 1563 after 18 years of intermittent sessions. from its start on December 13, 1545. The decrees of the council were later confirmed by Pope Pius IV in the bull Benedictus Deus on January 26, 1564.
The Council of Trent, reaffirmed Catholic doctrines on salvation, sacraments, and the biblical canon, while also standardizing the mass, implementing disciplinary reforms and the establishment of seminaries for the proper training of priests and requiring bishops to reside in their dioceses.
c. 1600, December 26
Boxing Day, also known as St Stephen's Day. or Offering Day, is celebrated on December 26th in the UK and Commonwealth nations. It originated as a day for the wealthy to give "Christmas boxes" with gifts, money, or leftovers to servants and the poor after they worked on Christmas day, as thanks for year-round service and also give a day off and for churches to distribute alms.
Now, it's a popular holiday known for huge post-Christmas sales, major sporting events (soccer, horse racing), and relaxing family time with Christmas leftovers, evolving from a charitable tradition to a mix of shopping, sports, and rest.
The first observation of Neptune is recorded by Galileo with his small telescope on December 28, 1612. He believed it to be a fixed star rather than a planet. More than 200 years later, on September 23 1846, the ice giant Neptune became the first planet located through mathematical predictions rather than through regular observations of the sky. More
The Mayflower arrive and anchors at modern-day Plymouth Harbor, Massachusetts on December 1, 1620, after spending some time in Cape hook (known today as Provincetown Harbor). Several small scouting groups were sent ashore to collect firewood and scout for a good place to build their settlement. (All dates shown per the Gregorian calendar. The old style calenda dates are 10 days earlier e.g. December 1 was November 11 in the Old Style calendar)
The Pilgrims had their first encounter with Native Americans on December 18, 1620. The shallop lands at Plymouth Rock on December 21, 1620. This date is now celebrated as "Forefathers Day". They went on to establish their Colony on a site chosen for its defensive location and access to fresh water and decided to call it Plymouth. The Pilgrims began building their settlement on January 4, 1621. Thirteen years before in 1607, 104 settlers aboard three ships had landed in Virginia at a place they named Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement in the New World. More
A major eruption of Mount Vesuvius takes place on December 16, 1631 killing an estimated 3,000 to 6000 people, burying villages on its slopes. The event marked a shift from long quiescent periods to more frequent activity.