History Facts 14th June

History Facts June 14th

June 14th 1690 King William III of England landed in Ireland to confront the recently deposed King of England, James II. Now, William III, of England, was actually William of Orange, who happened to be King of England because he was married to Mary, the daughter of James II.

 

It's long and complicated, and there will be a Fun Facts about William, Mary, and James, soon. But, in brief, James II was king of England, England was protestant, Mary was heir, she was protestant, all was okay. She married William of Oranges not Lemons said the bells of ....

 

James shacked up with a new wife and then she gave birth to a son. Because boys were better than girls back then, thankfully that's not true anymore, the little boy would inherit the throne before Mary. Unfortunately, James' new wife was a Catholic. Booooo. Hisssss. And the kid would be raised as one of "them".

 

This did not sit well with England at the time. William of Oranges, the nasty fruit, was invited to England with his army (in what's called the Glorious Revolution), and was crowned, alongside Mary, as King of England.

 

Where was James? On holiday in France at the time.

June 14th 1645 the Royalists and the Parliamentarians clashed at the Battle of Naseby during the 1st English Civil war. Seriously, wasn't really the first, there were civil wars before that, but, whatever. Despite the naming inaccuracies, it was a really interesting battle.

 

Click to read more about Charles-I-am-not-a-spaniel and his fight at the Battle of Naseby against the New Model Army of the Parliamentarians.

June 14th (ye olde calendar) 1667 the Battle of Medway ends. It's also called the Raid on the Medway, or the Raid on Chatham, or Battle of Chatham. And Holy Cow, what the stonking stonks are those Dutch ships doing in our river?

 

Yep, the Dutch fleet sailed up the Medway to the dockyards at Chatham and attacked the ships of the Royal Navy, either destroying or capturing them. It was one of the worst defeats in the history of the Royal Navy.

 

It's rumoured that King Charles II was dancing around his bedroom, nekkid, chasing butterflies as the battle raged on the rivers of England. Come on, we've all done that at some point in our lives.

June 14th 1158 the city of Munich, Germany's 3rd largest city, is founded by Henry the Lion. Not many know why Henry was called The Lion, but there's a lion somewhere in Africa who is really miffed at not having a head or skin.

 

Click here to read more about Henry the Lion, and his encounter with a lion. And, it seems, a dragon. Sheesh, were they all drugged up back then?