John Donne died on this day in 1631. As well as being Dean of St Paul’s, London, he wrote some of the finest romantic, religious and erotic poetry (and often all three at once) in English. Contemplating his own death in one of his best-known poems, he concluded by punning on his own name:
I have a sin of fear, that when I’ve spun
My last thread, I shall perish on the shore;
But swear by Thyself that at my death Thy Son
Shall shine as He shines now and heretofore:
And having done that, Thou hast done;
I fear no more.
John Donne, ‘Hymn to God the Father’
This day will be Easter Sunday in 2199, according to the Book of Common Prayer. This is the last Easter date for which it provides calculations. After that, you’ll have to get a new book.
The notorious Alhambra Decree was issued today in 1492, giving Jewish people in Spain an ultimatum. They had four months either to convert to the Catholic faith or to get out of the country – or face immediate execution. The decree, by the joint rulers of Castille and Aragon, affected an estimated 40,000 to 100,000 people, and was only formally revoked in 1968.
Bernard of Clairvaux, a French abbot, preached the sermon of his life to a huge crowd in a field outside Vézelay, France, today in 1146, urging his listeners to join the second crusade and save the holy places in Jerusalem and Palestine from the Turks. Bernard’s recruitment drive was highly successful, with many in the crowd enlisting to join the crusader army.
‘The din of arms, the danger, the labours, the fatigues of war, are the penances that God now imposes upon you. Hasten then to expiate your sins by victories over the Infidels, and let the deliverance of the holy places be the reward of your repentance!’ Bernard of Clairvaux preaching the second crusade
René Descartes, who is claimed to be the father of both modern philosophy and mathematics, was born today in 1596 in northern France. His mother died soon after the birth, but René survived and was brought up by his grandmother. Je pense, donc je suis (‘I think, therefore I am’) – that was his catchphrase.
Image: Luke McKernan