1415.
That was the last time a sitting pope resigned. That, of course, changed this afternoon when Pope Benedict XVI officially gave in his resignation papers, deading his time as Pope, one of history’s most stable jobs.
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Benedict XVI has resigned, he claims, because of health reasons (riggght, *cough*) but in 1415, Pope Gregory XII resigned, after 10 years on the job, when three men, one in Rome, one in Avignon, France, and one in Pisa, Italy, claimed to be pope. Gregory stepped down, and he passed two years later at the age of 90. (According to Google images, this is how he looks).
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Martin V took the job two years after Gregory resigned, and he was pope for 14 years.
Let’s go back to 1415. That’s a long time ago, folks. Like, 600 years ago long time.
So what was the beginning of the 15th century like?
Scroll down to see what went down in 1415.
The Battle of Agincourt went down:
In 1415, the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of France were about 70 years into their Hundred Years War (and ya’ll mofos think the war in Afghanistan is long. Sheesh.) One of the more famous battles of that war went down on October 25th, 1415, when the English, who were severely outnumbered by the French by, some estimations 6-1, whooped France in their home court, for a major upset. (If there were a Vegas, the line would have been -14.5 France.)
The W was seen as Henry V’s, who was the King of England at the time, greatest victory. And speaking of Henry V, that dude was such a G. The pic you see above is Henry V bustin’ some ass. Adding to Henry V’s G rep, is the act that he would marry Catherine of Valois, the princess of France, five years after the infamous battle.
The Southampton Plot:
I know high school was tough for some of ya’ll, and Shakespeare sucks, but think of the play Henry V for a moment. That play was based on The Southampton Plot, which was a plot to replace King Henry V with Edmund Mortimer. It was thought to be planned out by Richard of Conisburgh and he was beheaded because of it.
Jan Hus gets burned at the stake:
Man, the 14th century was not an easy time for philosophers, especially if you were living in Europe. Jan Hus was a Czech priest who was known for doing teachings that differed from the Catholic Church. Yeah, the church wasn’t really having that back then and they burned dude alive on July 6th, 1415. In fact, it seems like Jan’s gruesome death is the most famous part of the man’s story, as there have been many paintings and drawings of the incident, with the most famous probably being Spiezer Chronik’s painting in 1485. Way to kick a brotha while he’s down.
Joan of Arc was going through her terrible twos:
Joan of Arc is known as being one of the greatest warriors in France’s history. As a teenager, Joan led the French army to numerous wins during the Hundred Years War as a teenager. However, in 1415, Joan was just still a 2-year-old peasant girl, who was probably REALLY hungry.
(Randumb: isn’t it crazy that there’s still an argument about women fighting on the front line during wars?)
There was also the Battle of Ceuta:
Henry V wasn’t the only G. How about Prince Henry of Portugal, who took part in the Battle of Ceuta. The Battle of Ceuta was when Henry (aka Henry the Navigator…which sounds like a great rap name) and his 45,000 Portuguese troops took control of the Moroccan city of Ceuta. The battle was famous because the moors were caught off guard…even though Prince Henry came with about 40,000 boats on 200 ships.
Just to put 1415 into some more perspective:
– Christopher Columbus was born about 30 years later, in 1451. And he would discover America 40 years after, in 1492.
– The American Revolutionary War would go down like 300 years later, from (1775–1783) and George Washington would become the country’s first president in 1789.
– Slavery would be abolished with the Thirteenth Amendment in 1865.
-100 years later was the peak of the Civil Rights movement, which led to the end of the Jim Crow laws.
-40 years later, WorldStarHipHop goes live.
