St Pontain 18th Pope

St Pontain was the 18th Pope from 230 to 235. He was the third of four Popes who were opposed by Hippolytus as the anti Pope in a schism of the church. Little is known of his accomplishments. Persecution of Christians resumed in 235 when Emperor Maximinus the Thracian started his reign. Both Pope Pontain and Hippolytus were arrested and exiled to the mines of Sardinia. Pontain resigned as bishop so a successor could be named. He died at Sardinia in October 235. His Feast day is celebrated on August 13.

site note 061614

I won't be writing for a few days while I deal with health issues

Ancient Seven Wonders of the World Fact Twenty Seven

The Great Pyramid of Giza weighs 6.5 million tons.


Ancient Seven Wonders page

Knights Templar Fact Twenty Seven

In 1218 the Templar fleet traveled from Acre to Egypt. They anchored at the mouth of the Nile River and the crusaders laid siege to Damietta. In the battle Grand Master Guillaume de Chartres was wounded and later died of pestilence which may have been endemic typhus. He was succeeded by Pedro de Montaigu who led the crusaders to victory in Damietta but then failed in an attempt to take Cairo. 


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Viking Fact Twenty Seven

The Vikings for all their extensive trading and travels preferred the Arab silver coins called dirhams for compensation. These coins have been unearthed in Viking settlements stretching from Harrogate, England to Gdansk, Poland to St Petersburg, Russia. Many of the coins were minted in Bagdad from 750 to 950 and had the year stamped on them. 


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American Civil War Fact Twenty Seven

While the Union had a far superior navy the Confederates did have some success using cruisers obtained from England. These Confederate cruisers caused havoc on the U.S merchant marine by either destroying ships or chasing them out of the area.


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Ancient Egypt Fact Twenty Seven

Many cats have been found mummified and buried along side humans. Cats had been considered sacred by people and it was believed they were keepers of the underworld. There were also cat cemeteries at several points along the Nile River and the city of Tell Basta had over 300,000 cat mummies. 

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Pirate Fact Twenty Seven

Pirates kept their drinking water in barrels on their ships. Clean water was important and they either refilled their barrels when they made it to a port or found other sources on islands. The barrels tended to range in size from 15 to 60 gallons. 


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St Urban I 17th Pope

St Urban I was the 17th Pope from 222 to 230. His exact birth date is unknown but was born in Rome. He was the second Pope of four during the schism when Hippolytus rivaled the pontificate as the anti-Pope. The Roman Emperor Elagabalus was assassinated in 222 and his successor Alexander Severus had favorable views of the Christians and he protected Christianity. There is little known about the papacy of Urban but since Christianity thrived during the reign of Alexander Severus it is believed he was skilled at garnering conversions. A Papal decree is also attributed to Pope Urban about donations made at Mass by the faithful should be used for the common good of the Christian community. There were conflicting stories of his death ranging from him being beheaded to his being burned at the stake. Yet the majority believe he died of natural causes based on the peaceful conditions at the time. His Feast day is celebrated on May 25.

Ancient Seven Wonders of the World Fact Twenty Six

Four of the seven Ancient Wonders were destroyed by earthquakes: Hanging Gardens of Babylon, Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, Colossus of Rhodes and Lighthouse of Alexandria.


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Knights Templar Fact Twenty Six

The Knights Templar built a castle in the County Sligo of Ireland in 1216. It was their westernmost stronghold in the country. Only ruins remain today near a location known as Temple House which is considered one of the finest estates in West Ireland.


Knights Templar Page

Viking Fact Twenty Six

Vikings started to settle in Scotland not long after their initial raid on the monestary at Lindisfarne in 793. The Viking population was densest in a settlement on the northeast tip on what became the county of Caithness.

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American Civil War Fact Twenty Six

Both sides had a General killed due to action at the Battle of Gettysburg. Major General John F Reynolds of the Union army was killed the first day of the battle on July 1, 1863. Major General William D Pender of the Confederate army was wounded on July 2, 1863 and died on July 18.


American Civil War page

Ancient Egypt Fact Twenty Six

During the mummification process priests often wore a jackal mask which represented the god Anubis. Anubis was the god of death and people often associated jackals with him because they were known to dig up the bodies in cemeteries and eat them. It is thought the first tombs were built to deal with this problem.


Ancient Egypt page

Pirate Fact Twenty Six

As long as there were pirates there were also those trying to hunt them down. One pirate hunter was Captain Benjamin Hornigold. Hornigold had been a pirate himself from 1715 to 1718. He gave that up when he accepted a general pardon for all pirates by King George II of England. Then he accepted a commission by the governor of the Bahamas Woodes Rogers to hunt down pirates. Among those he pursued was his former shipmate Edward Teach AKA Blackbeard. Hornigold spent 18 months hunting his former allies until he died in late 1719 when his ship was wrecked on a reef during a hurricane.


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St Callistus I 16th Pope

St Callistus I was the 16th Pope from 217 to 222. He had been one of the Christians sentenced to work in the mines of Sardinia. Later he was freed when Pope Victor I visited the mines with a list of those to be released and while his name was not on it Callistus pleaded and convinced Victor to take him also. The mines had greatly diminished the health of Callistus and he was sent to Antium to recuperate while he collected a allowance from Pope Victor I. When Pope Zephyrinus started as the Roman See he called Callistus to Rome and made him a deacon while entrusting him to oversee the burial chambers of the Church along Appian Way. 

When he was chosen to succeed Zephyrinus it sparked a schism when Hippolytus led the followers of his theological school out of the Church and declared himself a rival or anti-pope. Callistus was the first of four Popes to serve while Hippolytus stood in opposition. One issue that was decried by both Hippolytus and the Montanist Tertullian was that Callistus offered an edict that granted Communion to those who had committed adultery and fortification if they did penance. Callistus also took a controversial stance when he allowed lower clergy to marry and declared that noble women could marry those of lower classes including slaves. While his exact cause of death is unknown he is credited with having been a martyr and may have been killed during an uprising. His Feast day is celebrated on October 14.

Ancient Seven Wonders of the World Fact Twenty Five

The city of Alexandria, Egypt was founded in 332 BC which was only fifty years before the construction of the Lighthouse. 


Ancient Seven Wonders page

Knights Templar Fact Twenty Five

Thibaud Gaudin was the 22nd of 23 Grand Masters of the Knights Templar and he held the position the shorted amount of time. He was Grand Master from August 1291 until April 1292 when he died.


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