31 May 1223 - Ready or Not, Here They Come!

31 May 1223 – Mongol invasion of the Cumans: Battle of the Kalka River – Mongol armies of Genghis Khan led by Subutai defeat Kievan Rus and Cumans.

Read about Genghis Khan  in  Conn Iggulden's Genghis: Birth of an Empire and sequels.

Beloved Pilgrim, by Nan Hawthorne, is the story of a woman who chooses to live and fight as a man and joins the doomed Crusade of 1101.  Find it on Amazon in print and on Kindle.  Also at Amazon.co,uk.

30 May 1431- Au Revoir, Mon Ange

30 May 1431 – Hundred Years' War: in Rouen, France, 19-year-old Joan of Arc is burned at the stake by an English-dominated tribunal.

Read about it in An Army of Angels by Pamela Marcantel

Beloved Pilgrim, by Nan Hawthorne, is the story of a woman who chooses to live and fight as a man and joins the doomed Crusade of 1101.  Find it on Amazon in print and on Kindle.  Also at Amazon.co,uk.

29 May 1453 Arrivederci, Byzantium

29 May 1453 – Byzantine-Ottoman Wars: Ottoman armies under Sultan Mehmed II Fatih capture Constantinople after a siege, ending the Byzantine Empire.

Read how it all came about in Roger Crowley's 1453: The Holy War for Constantinople and the Clash of Islam and the West.

Beloved Pilgrim, by Nan Hawthorne, is the story of a woman who chooses to live and fight as a man and joins the doomed Crusade of 1101.  Find it on Amazon in print and on Kindle.  Also at Amazon.co,uk.

28 May 1503 A Prickly Pair

28 May 1503 – James IV of Scotland and Margaret Tudor are married according to a Papal Bull by Pope Alexander VI. A Treaty of Everlasting Peace between Scotland and England signed on that occasion results in a peace that lasts ten years.

Read about it in Jean Plaidy's The Thistle and the Rose: The Tudor Princesses.


Beloved Pilgrim, by Nan Hawthorne, is the story of a woman who chooses to live and fight as a man and joins the doomed Crusade of 1101.  Find it on Amazon in print and on Kindle.  Also at Amazon.co,uk.

27 May 927 How Bulgar!

27 May 927- Battle of the Bosnian Highlands, Croatian army, led by King Tomislav defeat the Bulgarian Army. Simeon the Great, Tsar of Bulgaria, dies.

Feast your eyes on KingTomislav with this
poster from Art.com.


Beloved Pilgrim, by Nan Hawthorne, is the story of a woman who chooses to live and fight as a man and joins the doomed Crusade of 1101.  Find it on Amazon in print and on Kindle.  Also at Amazon.co,uk.

26 May 604 - Augustine of Canterbury's Mourning After

26 May 604 – Death of Augustine of Canterbury, Archbishop of Canterbury.

Read about his life and deeds in Michael A,. Green's St. Augustine of Canterbury.

Beloved Pilgrim, by Nan Hawthorne, is the story of a woman who chooses to live and fight as a man and joins the doomed Crusade of 1101.  Find it on Amazon in print and on Kindle.  Also at Amazon.co,uk.

25 May 1521 - Holy Roman Emperor's Reducing Diet

25 May 1521 – The Diet of Worms ends when Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, issues the Edict of Worms, declaring Martin Luther an outlaw.

See Luther (DVD), starring Joseph Fiennes, Jonathan Firth, Albert Molina, and Claire Cox.

Beloved Pilgrim, by Nan Hawthorne, is the story of a woman who chooses to live and fight as a man and joins the doomed Crusade of 1101.  Find it on Amazon in print and on Kindle.  Also at Amazon.co,uk.

24 May 1487 - "It Was Just Pretend, So It Was!"

24 May 1487 – Lambert Simnel is crowned as "King Edward VI" at Dublin, Ireland.

Read about all the fuss in Dublin and how it affects other characters in Edward Rutherfurd's The Princes of Ireland.

Beloved Pilgrim, by Nan Hawthorne, is the story of a woman who chooses to live and fight as a man and joins the doomed Crusade of 1101.  Find it on Amazon in print and on Kindle.  Also at Amazon.co,uk.

23 May 1533 "I Wish My Brother Arthur Was Here"

23 May 1533 – The marriage of King Henry VIII to Catherine of Aragon is declared null and void.

Watch a dramatic recreation of the events in The Six Wives of Henry VIII (DVD) with Keith Mitchell and Annette Crospbie.

Beloved Pilgrim, by Nan Hawthorne, is the story of a woman who chooses to live and fight as a man and joins the doomed Crusade of 1101.  Find it on Amazon in print and on Kindle.  Also at Amazon.co,uk.

22 May 1377 Pope Says Wycliffe's Bible is Load of Bulls

22 May 1377 – Pope Gregory XI issues five papal bulls to denounce the doctrines of English theologian John Wycliffe.

Watch an Amazon Instant Video called John Wycliffe: The Morningstar with Peter Howell, Mel Churcher, and Robert James.

Beloved Pilgrim, by Nan Hawthorne, is the story of a woman who chooses to live and fight as a man and joins the doomed Crusade of 1101.  Find it on Amazon in print and on Kindle.  Also at Amazon.co,uk.