What Happened in May?

King David captures the city of Jerusalem, establishing it as the capital of the United Kingdom of Israel and Judah. More

A solar eclipse occurred during a battle between the Lydians and the Medes in what is now Turkey. It is one of the earliest recorded events in history.

The temple of the Roman god Mercury was dedicated on the Aventine Hill in Rome. This temple was a significant site for the worship of Mercury, who was the Roman god of commerce.

The Peloponnesian War begins between Athens and Sparta, marking the start of a decades-long conflict in Ancient Greece.

Roman Emperor Augustus celebrates the Ludi Saeculares, a three day secular games event, marking the end of a saeculum (a generation) and the beginning of a new one.

The ancient city of Byzantium was selected to serve as the new capital of the Roman Empire, and the city was renamed Nova Roma, or 'New Rome', by Emperor Constantine the Great.

First Council of Nicaea - the first ecumenical council of Christian bishops at Nicaea, Asia Minor.

Athanasius is unanimously elected to be Bishop Patriarch of Alexandria after the death of Alexander. Athanasius was believed to be about 30 years old at the time. 

Byzantium was renamed Constantinople (now Istanbul) and dedicated to Emperor Constantine. Constantinople is generally considered to be the center and the "cradle of Orthodox Christian civilization". Constantinople was the largest and wealthiest city in Europe, from the mid-5th century to the early 13th century.

Roman Emperor Constantine I, (Constantine the Great), was baptized in Nicomedia. Constantine  had favored Christianity for most of his life and played a significant role in its legalization and spread,. He was baptized  shortly before his death by Eusebius of Nicomedia, an Arian bishop, though some Catholic and Coptic Orthodox traditions claim he was baptized by Pope Sylvester I.

The coronation of Henry the Fowler as King of East Francia (Germany) marks the beginning of the Saxon Dynasty.

Gregory V becomes Pope of the Roman Catholic Church after being appointed by his cousin, Holy Roman Emperor Otto III. Born as Bruno of Carinthia, he was the first German-born pope and served as the ruler of the Papal States until his death in 999. Gregory's pontificate was turbulent, marked by a rebellion in Rome and his efforts to restore his cousin to the imperial throne.

Pope Alexander III issues a papal bull recognizing Portugal as an independent kingdom. While Afonso Henriques had been using the title of king since 1139 and Portugal's independence had been recognized by León in the 1143 Treaty of Zamora, the papal bull was vital in medieval Europe, for a new kingdom to be fully accepted as a sovereign entity. The bull also gave papal blessing to Portugal's conquests of land from the Moors during the Reconquista.

Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa and 100,000 crusaders depart Regensburg for the Third Crusade which is also known as the Kings's Crusade. It was an attempt led by three European monarchs of Western Christianity (Philip II of France, Richard I of England and Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor) to reconquer the Holy Land following the capture of Jerusalem by the Ayyubid sultan Saladin in 1187. 

John, also called John Lackland, becomes King of England when his brother Richard I (The Lionheart) dies while besieging the castle of Châlus-Chabrol in France. King John's coronation took place on May 27, 1199 at Westminster Abbey. He was King of England until his death in 1216.

King Philip II of France and King John of England sign the Treaty of Le Goulet, on May 22, 1200 ending a succession conflict between John and his nephew Arthur of Brittany after Richard I's death.  Expand +

Baldwin I of Flanders is crowned the first Latin Emperor of Constantinople during the Fourth Crusade.

Pope Innocent IV issues the papal bull "Ad Extirpanda," on May 15, 1252 authorizing the use of torture during the Inquisition under specific conditions to extract confessions from suspected heretics. It represented a significant shift in papal policy.

Alfonso X inherits the throne and becomes King of Castile, León, and Galicia upon the death of his father, Ferdinand III. His coronation may have taken place around in June 1252.  His reign, from 1252 to 1284, was marked by a focus on culture, law, and science.

The Augustinian monastic order is constituted at the Lecceto Monastery when Pope Alexander IV issues papal bull Licet ecclesiae catholicae More