MAY 13.
432. B. C. Meton, the Athenian astronomer, began his famous lunar cycle of 19 years (then marked by successive letters in gold, which are now called the golden numbers), with the new moon nearest to the summer solstice falling upon the 16th of Scirophion.
48 B. C. Pompey, in passing through the Archipelago, stopt at Mitylene to receive his wife, the exemplary Cornelia, and there conversed with Cratippus, the philosopher, on the nature of providence.
1213. King John received Pandulph, the pope's legate, in whose presence he subscribed an instrument by which the sentences of interdict, excommunication and deposition were revoked, conditionally that he reversed all his former acts of oppression.
1520. Massacre of the Mexicans by Alvarado, during the absence of Cortez. This happened on the great festival of their god Huitzilopochtli, in the month Toxcatl, the emperor being then a prisoner of the Spaniards in his palace, and the principal nobles gathered there for the dance, when the Spaniards fell upon them with the utmost fury. The victims were unable to defend themselves or escape by flight, and the slaughter was terrible. An insurrection immediately followed, and the quarters of the Spaniards were assaulted with such determined energy that they were compelled to hasten the return of Cortez, and led to the disaster of the 1st July (q. v.)
1539. A bill brought into the English parliament vesting in the crown all the
property of the monastic institutions. This was followed by the fall of 644 monasteries, 90 colleges, 2,374 chantries, and 110 hospitals. The revenue of these establishments amounted to £161,000.
1568. Battle of Langside hill, Mary queen of Scots defeated by the regent Murray, and fled to England.
1607. Jamestown, Virginia, settled. Three small ships, with 105 persons intended to form a settlement, under Sir Christopher Newport, took possession of a peninsula in Powhatan river, and gave it the name of Jamestown. Though they had to strive against appalling difficulties, and were several times on the verge of losing or abandoning the enterprise, they were ultimately established, mainly through the great exertions and talents of Capt. John Smith, one of the most remarkable persons connected with the early history of the country, and indeed one of the most remarkable of an age prolific of memorable men. Jamestown was for a long time the capital of the state, but has sunk into ruin, and is almost desolate. Two or three old houses, the ruins of an old steeple, a churchyard, and faint marks of the rude fortifications, are the only memorials of its former importance.
1614. Marguard Freher died. His books on law, criticism and history are numerous and respectable.