[November 25] St. Peter, pope of Alexandria

Predecessor: Theonas

Reign: 300 – 311
Brief: Given to the church at a young age, Peter quickly rose through the ranks of holy orders until he became a priest. Theonas, the patriarch, suggested Peter as his successor while he lay dying in 300. The church complied and Peter became the pope of Alexandria. Emperor Diocletian was in the midst of his purge of Christians when Peter became pope. He argued vehemently with Bishop Meletius of Lycopolis over whether Christians who had denied their faith to avoid death should be rebaptised. Meletius was a forerunner of Arianism, which ruled as rival Christian sect into the 800s. Peter was captured again in 311 and ordered executed by Diocletian. A group of loyalists created a barrier to the guards but Peter told the guards how to smuggle him out so as not to injure the crowd. Then the soldiers drew lots, with the loser executing Peter and receiving the reward from the other soldiers. His martyrdom was later revered by the Catholic, Orthodox, and Coptic churches.

Date of Death: 25 November 311
Successor: Achillas

Other Monarchs Who Died Today:

• Malcolm II, king of Scots (1034)
• Lucius III, pope of Rome (1185)
• Koreyasu, shogun of Japan (1326)
• Philip II, prince of Achaea (1374)
• Alfonso XII, king of Spain (1885)

[November 22] St. Mikhail, grand prince of Vladimir

Local Name: Михаил Ярославич
Sobriquet: "The Saint"
Parents: Yaroslav III, grand prince of Vladimir, and Xenia of Tarusa
Born: 1271
House: Rurik
Spouse(s): St. Anna, daughter of Dimitry, prince of Rostov
Predecessor: Andrey

Reign: 1304 – 1318
Brief: Mikhail was the second son of his father, and succeeded his brother to the principality of Tver in 1285. Two decades later, in 1304, he succeeded his cousin to Vladimir, which Khan Tokhta of the Golden Horde confirmed. Unfortunately, Mikhail was never strongly secured in his post despite his legitimacy. He had to fight to confirm his titles to Novgorod and vied for influence with Prince Yury of Moscow. Yury eventually gained patent to Novgorod and married the khan's sister, thereby solidifying the patronage of the khans for Moscow at Vladimir's expense. The khan sent troops to Yury to help in the family feud, but Mikhail prevailed, capturing the prince's wife at Bortenevo. While in custody, though, the Mongol wife died, which the khan blamed Mikhail for. Mikhail was summoned to the capital of the Horde and was executed. Although the Orthodox church did not favor Mikhail during his lifetime, he was later proclaimed a martyr and a saint for his execution.

Date of Death: 22 November 1318
Successor: Yury

Other Monarchs Who Died Today:

• Felix II, antipope of Rome (365)
• Lothair II, king of Italy (950)
• Eric V, king of Denmark (1286)
• Ahmed I, sultan of the Ottoman Empire (1617)

[November 20] St. Edmund, king of East Anglia

Sobriquet: "The Martyr"
Parents: Æthelweard, king of East Anglia
Born: circa 841
House: East Anglia
Predecessor: Æthelweard

Reign: 855 – 869
Brief: Very little is known about Edmund, king of East Anglia, who was briefly mentioned in only the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and is associated with some coinage. Soon after his reign, East Anglia was decimated by Viking attacks, which destroyed most of the evidence of his existence. Although nothing is known of his reign, much is said about his death in 869. A large Danish army marched from Mercia into East Anglia and met Edmund in battle, where the king fell and the Danes conquered all of the land. The army was known as the "Great Heathen Army" and it continued to pillage England, passing into Wessex around 870 and then onto Northumbria. The leader, Ivar the Boneless, is said to have beheaded Edmund after he had been shot full of arrows. In 925, Æthelstan of Wessex opened a saint cult dedicated to Edmund and coins were minted in memorial of the king. These coins were widely used throughout England during the tenth century. In 1095, a large church was built for Edmund's relics and the site became one of the wealthiest pilgrimage sites in England. The shrine was destroyed during the English Reformation but a new site in Toulouse, France, opened up with some of the saved relics. While little is known about the historical king, Edmund lives on in Catholic circles as St. Edmund the Martyr.

Date of Death: 20 November 869
Successor: Oswald

Other Monarchs Who Died Today:

• Albert II, margrave of Meissen (1314)
• Jean I, king of France (1316)

[November 14] St. Justinian I, emperor of Constantinople

Local Name: Petrus Sabbatius Justinianus
Surnamed: "The Great"
Parents: Sabbatius and Vigilantia, sister of Justin I, emperor of Constantinople
Born: circa 482
House: Justinian
Spouse(s): Theodora, daughter of Acacius and Theodora
Predecessor: Justin I

Reign: 527 – 565
Brief: Born into a Greek peasant family, Justinian rose to prominence when he was adopted as the heir of Emperor Justin, his uncle, in the 520s. As Justin's health declined, Justinian took control of the Roman government in Constantinople. He created a meritocracy rather than catering to family members, marrying his mistress, Theodora, in 525. Justinian reformed the judicial codes in the empire, forming the backbone of future judicial law across much of the east and, eventually, the west. During this time, the emperor set out on a campaign to rebuild the Roman Empire beginning in 530. He conquered North Africa from the Vandals, eliminating their entire empire; he intervened in Italy, deposing the Ostrogoths and reclaiming Rome itself for the Eastern Empire; and he waged constant warfare with the Sassanids of Persia in a bid to define borders between the two states. Regarding Christianity, Justinian directly oversaw the management of the Orthodox Church in Constantinople, while trying at the same time to work with the popes in Rome rather than against them. The emperor died in 565 leaving the empire to his nephew, Justin II. The Orthodox Church later canonized him, though this was not recognized in the west.

Date of Death: 14 November 565
Successor: Justin II

Other Monarchs Who Died Today:

• Miguel, king of Portugal (1866)
• Guangxu, emperor of China (1908)

[November 10] St. Leo I, pope of Rome

Surnamed: "The Great"
Born: circa 391
Predecessor: Sixtus III

Reign: 440 – 461
Brief: A Tuscan by birth, Leo served as a deacon of the church from around 431 and was highly praised by his contemporaries. When Pope Sixtus III died in 440, Leo was unanimously elected to succeed him, a rather rare occurrence. Almost at once, Leo reasserted the authority of the Papacy over the various bishops in Italy, obtaining a decree from Emperor Valentinian III that recognized the primacy of the Pope. He then worked to assert his authority over the other patriarchates including pressuring Alexandria to recognize his supremacy, and working to suppress the growing power of the patriarchate of Contantinople. At the Council of Chalcedon in 451, Leo decisively confirmed his power over his peers through his Tome, which had originally been written for the Second Council of Ephesus in 449 but was not read at that time. Anticipating the breakup of the Western Empire, Leo worked diligently to assert the power of the pope in the West in the hope that it may succeed the Empire when it fell. In 452, Leo accompanied two royal dignitaries to confront Attila the Hun who was invading Italy. While the specifics are unknown, Attilla turned his armies away. Four years later, the Vandals successfully sacked Rome, though Leo helped reduce the total damage. Leo died in 461 leaving a legacy of Papal power-building for future popes to work from and enhance.

Date of Death: 10 November 461
Successor: Hilarius

Other Monarchs Who Died Today:

• Celestine IV, pope of Rome (1241)
• Wladyslaw III, king of Poland (1444)
• Paul III, pope of Rome (1549)
• Michael, king of Poland (1673)

[November 7] St. Engelbert I, archbishop of Cologne

Parents: Engelbert I, count of Berg, and Margarete of Guelders
Born: circa 1185
House: Berg
Predecessor: Bruno IV and Dietrich I

Reign: 1216 – 1225
Brief: Engelbert entered the clergy at the age of twelve when he began schooling in Cologne. He was made provost of St. George chapel and eventually was made the provost of Cologne Cathedral in 1216. He began collecting over provostships at St. Severin, Aachen, Deventer, and Zutphen. He was offered the title bishop of Münster in 1203, but declined it since he was only eighteen. In 1206, Engelbert was excommunicated for supporting his cousin, the archbishop of Cologne, who supported Philip of Swabia as Holy Roman Emperor. Engelbert was pardoned in 1208 and joined the Albigensian Crusade against the Cathars of southern France in 1212 as penance. When he returned to Germany, he was made archbishop of Cologne.

Engelbert became a close confidant of Emperor Frederick II, joined him as imperial administer and acting as guardian for the emperor's son, Henry. In Cologne, he cleaned up the archbishopric and its finances, protecting them from rivals. He claimed the county of Berg in 1218 when his brother died, though Duke Walram III of Limburg claimed it as well. The dispute was resolved in 1220 and Engelbert served as count until his death. In Cologne, Engelbert reorganized the secular lands into what many considered a full ecclesiastical state. A conflict erupted in 1225 with a cousin in Essen who had been defrauding nuns. Engelbert wished to bring his cousin to trial for his crimes. The cousin, Frederick, confronted Engelbert and murdered him, though the intent was probably to capture the archbishop. He was buried in Cologne Cathedral in early 1226 and was immediately declared a martyr. Although he was never formally canonized, a saint biography and a feast day have both been appointed to him.

Date of Death: 7 November 1225
Successor: Heinrich I

Other Monarchs Who Died Today:

• Umar, caliph of Sunni Islam (644)

[September 28] St. Wenceslaus I, duke of Bohemia

Parents: Vratislaus I, duke of Bohemia, and Drahomíra of the Havolans
Date of Birth: circa 907
House: Premyslid
Predecessor: Vratislav I

Reign: 921 – 935
Brief: Good King Wenceslas, a man who became a Christmas carol, was raised a Christian by his grandmother who served as his regent during the first decade of his reign. As duke, he accomplished little in his reign. Duke Arnulf of Bavaria and German King Henry I attacked Prague in 929 and forced the duchy to resume tribute payments to Germany. Raids of Magyars in Hungary drained the Bohemian coffers empty. In 935, nobles allied with Wenceslaus' brother, Boleslav, attacked and killed the young duke while on his way to church. A martyr cult developed within days of his death and he was proclaimed a saint by popular acclaimation. He was posthumously granted the title "king" by Emperor Otto I a few decades later, hence the name of the carol.

Date of Death: 28 September 935

Successor: Boleslav I

Other Monarchs Who Died Today:

• Louis II, king of East Francia (876)
• Pedro I, king of Aragon & Navarre (1104)
• Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor (1197)
• John Paul I, pope of Rome (1978)

[September 20] St. Mikhail, grand prince of Kiev

Parents: Vsevolov IV, grand prince of Kiev, and Anastasia of Poland
Date of Birth: circa 1185
House: Olgovich
Spouse(s): Elena, daughter of Roman of Halych and Predslava of Kiev
Predecessor: Yaroslav

Reign: 1236 – 1240, 1240, 1241 – 1243
Brief: An overly powerful leader of the Kievan Rus'. Mikhail faced the onslaught of the Mongol Horde and failed to defend Russia from the invasion. But the prosperity he spread made him famous. He merged Halych and Kiev to form a unified state with Novgorod. Novgorod and its neighbors reached their height under his rule. Mikhail was a powerful prince but he still passed on political and economic freedoms to his nobles to inspire wealth and culture. When the Tatars under the Mongols invaded Russia, he was executed for adhering to the Christian faith rather than bowing to Mongol idols. He became the first royal martyr of the Mongolian persecution and is recognized by the Russian Orthodox Church for this role. Four apocryphal sons are attributed to him, all of whom founded royal and noble families within Russia in the following centuries.

Date of Death: 20 September 1246

Successor: Yaroslav

Other Monarchs Who Died Today:

• Louis I, king of Naples (1384)

[September 17] Dioscorus I, patriarch of Alexandria

Predecessor: Cyril I

Reign: 444 – 454
Brief: At the Second Council of Ephesus, Discorus was appointed the head arbiter between supporters of Eutyches, a Nestorian, and those of Flavian. He decided in favor of Eutyches, which upset Pope Leo I, a defender of Flavian. Dioscorus was deposed by the Council of Chalcedon but many in Egypt continued to support him, creating the permanent divide between the Coptic Catholic Church and the Melchite Catholic Church. While in many circles, Discorus is considered a heretic, in the Oriental Orthodox Church he is considered a saint and a great father of the church.

Date of Death: 17 September 454

Successor: Proterius I I

Other Monarchs Who Died Today:

• Robert III, count of Flanders (1322)
• Constantine II, tsar of Bulgaria (1422)
• Felipe IV & III, king of Spain & Portugal (1665)

[July 3] St. Anatolius, patriarch of Constantinople

Date of Birth: 449
Predecessor: Flavian
Reign: 451 – 458
Summary: Like so many other early church leaders, little is known about Anatolius' early life. He had been the apocrisiarius (representative) of Dioscorus I, patriarch of Alexandria, at Constantinople in the years immediately prior to his coronation. In that capacity, he attended the Second Council of Ephesus and witnessed the deposition of Bishop Flavian of Constantinople, his predecessor. He was chosen to replace Flavian soon after with the support of Roman Emperor Theodosius II. Almost immediately fter his election, Anatolius purged the church of the heretical sect called Eutychianism by condemning Eutyches, its leader, as well as Nestorius, another heretical leader. Unlike many other church leaders in Constantinople, Anatolius remained on good terms with the Roman pontiff. He worked with Pope Leo to denounce the popular heresies of the day and prosecute those leading them. Together, they held the Council of Chalcedon in 451 which turned Constantinople into a patriarchate on par with Rome. Anatolius was now able to act in equality with the Roman pope.


Disputes arose soon after between the pope of Rome and the patriarch of Constantinople. The pope complained to Emperor Marcian that Anatolius was arrogant in appointing Maximinus as patriarch of Antioch, an appointment previously allowed only to the pope of Rome. The feud was never settled, nor was it ever ended in future reigns on either side of the conflict. When Timothy usurped the title of patriarch of Alexandria, Anatolius requested aid from Emperor Leo I. Leo was able to remove him in 460, but Anatolius had already died by then. One of Anatolius' last acts was to crown Roman Emperor Leo I at Constantinople. It was the first time that the local patriarch was involved in a coronation ceremony and it heralded the end of Roman Papal control over the Roman monarchy. Anatolius was killed in 458 by followers of the heretic Dioscorus. He is honored by both the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches as a saint.
Date of Death: 3 July 458 CE
Successor: Gennadius I

Other Monarchs Who Died Today:

• Mehmed V, sultan of the Ottoman Empire (1918)

[July 2] St. Stefan III, voivode of Moldavia

True Name: Ștefan cel Mare și Sfânt
Surnamed: "The Great"
Parents: Bogdan II, voivode of Moldavia, and Oltea
Date of Birth: 1433
Royal House: Musat
Spouse: Evdokia, daughter of Alexander Oaleka, duke of Slutsk-Kapyl, and Sophia of Lithuania
Predecessor: Petru III
Reign: 1457 – 1504
Summary: Stefan's life was in peril almost from the time of his birth. His father was Bogdan II, the voivode (prince) of Moldavia for two years in the late 1440s. His uncle, Petru, killed his father in a raid and took the title voivode for himself. Moldavia, located in eastern Romania and Moldova, went into civil war for seven years between Petru III and Alexandrel, a nephew of an earlier voivode. Stefan, meanwhile, fled to neighboring Transylvania where he obtained protection from John Hunyadi. He then moved to the court of his cousin, Vlad III Dracula (Vlad the Impaler) in Wallachia where he was able to muster enough troops to raid Moldavia and depose his uncle, Petru. Petru fled to Poland and Stefan at last was crowned voivode. He later raided Poland to try and find Petru but instead signed a treaty of submission with Poland wherein Petru was forever banned from reentering Moldavia.


Stefan proved to be a very able and successful general. He repelled invasions from Hungary, Poland, and the Ottoman Empire continuously throughout his reign. In 1467, the Hungarian king invaded Moldavia and Stefan defeated him at the Battle of Baia. In 1471, he invaded Ottoman-occupied Wallachia and was successful in reclaiming some of the principality for the Christians. Sultan Mehmed II invaded in 1475 but at the Battle of Vaslui, not only were the Ottomans stopped, but they ceased incursions into Europe for a number of years. Stefan failed at the Battle of Valea Alba the next year against the Ottomans, but the Turks were unable to make any significant progress due to a plague in the Ottoman army. Still, the rest of Europe was comfortable just watching the Moldavians attack and counter attack. Stefan felt it his duty to restore Wallachia to Christians. He dealt in numerous uprisings and coups within the principality, eventually installing Vlad Calugarul, a brother of Vlad III, on the Wallachian throne and ensuring a Christian neighbor for the remainder of his reign. More warfare and problems with Poland resulted in a treaty with the Ottoman Empire signed in 1503 that preserved Moldavian independence at the expense of an annual tribute to the Turks. In his final year, he rebelled at Polish invasion and defeated them decisively at the Battle of the Cosmin Forest. At a skirmish in 1462, Stefan had wounded his leg. Over the succeeding forty years, numerous injuries would compound to make his led nearly useless. When gout set in, Stefan decided to cauterize his wound after advice from the Hungarian king and Venetian doge. Stefan died two days after the agonizingly painful surgery. His opposition to the Ottomans earned him a place in the Romanian Orthodox Church as a saint.
Date of Death: 2 July 1504
Successor: Bogdan III

Other Monarchs Who Died Today:

• Adolf, king of germany (1298)
• Eberhard III, duke of Württemberg (1674)
• Manuel II, king of Portugal (1932)

[April 22] St. Caius, pope of Rome

Parents: Caius, a relative of Emperor Diocletian of Rome

Predecessor: Eutychian

Reign: 283 – 296

Summary: Little is known about Pope Caius' early life. He was briefly mentioned by Eusebius in his Ecclesiastical History and he may have been an uncle of Saint Susanna as he was linked to a site attributed to her martyrdom. A Caius was noted as being a donor of the property and an uncle of the woman.

As pope, Caius created the Catholic hierarchy of porter, lector, exorcist, acolyte, subdeacon, deacon, priest, and bishop. As a result, the western Christian world was formally divided into deaconates. The Roman Empire heavily persecuted the Christians during his reign but new churches continued to be built and both subterranean and traditional cemeteries were expanded. Contrary to tradition, Caius was probably not martyred by Diocletian but he may have still experienced a violent death, which earned him his sainthood. Caius' tomb was discovered in catacombs under the Vatican, linking the site to at least this period in history. His feast day is April 22nd.

Date of Death: 22 April 296

Successor: Marcellinus

Other Monarch Deaths:

Petronius Maximus, emperor of Rome (455)

Agapetus I, pope of Rome (536)

[April 5] St. Eutychius, patriarch of Constantinople

Parents: Alexander

Date of Birth: circa 512

Predecessor: Mennas 

Reign: 552 – 565, 577 – 582

Date of Death: 5 April 582

Successor: John Nesteutes

Other Monarchs Who Died Today:

Charles XI, king of Sweden (1697)