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Curated category

Former Christian states

  • Federal State of AustriaIn the 1890s, Karl von Vogelsang and Vienna mayor Karl Lueger forged a conservative-clerical Christian Social Party that rejected liberal democracy.
  • Austrian EmpireOn the 24th of March 1803, the Imperial Recess declared that ecclesiastical states would drop from eighty-one to just three.
  • Republic of GenoaIn 1097, twelve galleys and one ship carrying 1,200 soldiers set sail from Genoa to join the First Crusade. The Genoese fleet blockaded Antioch in May of…
  • Crown of AragonIn 1137, the Kingdom of Aragon and the County of Barcelona merged through a single dynastic union. Petronilla of Aragon married Raymond Berenguer IV of…
  • Kingdom of EnglandOn the 12th of July 927, monarchs from across Britain gathered at Eamont Bridge in Cumbria to recognize a single ruler. They acknowledged Aethelstan as king…
  • Kingdom of PrussiaIn 1518, the House of Hohenzollern took control of the Margraviate of Brandenburg. This marked the beginning of a long political journey that would…
  • Kingdom of RomaniaOn the 24th of January 1859, Alexandru Ioan Cuza was elected prince of both Moldavia and Wallachia. This event united two distinct territories under a single…
  • Slovak Republic (1939–1945)On the 14th of March 1939, the Slovak parliament convened in Bratislava to hear a report from Monsignor Jozef Tiso about his meeting with Adolf Hitler.
  • Kingdom of SerbiaOn the 6th of March 1882, Milan I stood before a crowd in Belgrade and accepted the crown that transformed Serbia from a principality into a kingdom.
  • Kingdom of FranceThe Treaty of Verdun in 843 divided the Carolingian Empire into three parts, leaving Charles the Bald to rule West Francia.
  • Confederate States of AmericaOn the 20th of December 1860, South Carolina became the first state to vote for secession from the United States. This single act triggered a chain reaction…
  • Kingdom of Great BritainOn the 1st of May 1707, the separate Parliaments of England and Scotland ceased to exist. They were replaced by a single Parliament of Great Britain sitting…
  • Kingdom of WürttembergFrederick III assumed the title of King Frederick I on the 1st of January 1806. He abrogated the constitution and united Old and New Württemberg under one…
  • Spanish EmpireIn 1492, the Catholic Monarchs Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile completed a ten-year war to expel the last Muslim king from Granada.
  • Austria-HungaryOn the 20th of March 1867, the Hungarian parliament at Pest began negotiations that would reshape Central Europe. These talks culminated in a formal…
  • First Bulgarian EmpireIn 681, the Byzantine Empire signed a humiliating peace treaty that acknowledged Bulgaria as an independent state south of the Danube.
  • Empire of NicaeaIn 1204, Byzantine emperor Alexios V Doukas Mourtzouphlos fled Constantinople after crusaders invaded the city. Soon after, Theodore I Laskaris, the…
  • Habsburg monarchyRadbot of Klettgau built Habsburg Castle in the late 10th century. This stone fortress in present-day Switzerland gave the family its name and foundation.
  • Kingdom of JerusalemThe Council of Clermont in 1095 set the stage for a movement that would reshape the Levant. Pope Urban II called for an army to assist the Byzantine Empire…
  • Kingdom of GreeceIn 1832, the Treaty of Constantinople officially established the Kingdom of Greece as a successor to the First Hellenic Republic.
  • Empire of ThessalonicaModern scholars use the phrase Empire of Thessalonica to describe a specific Greek state that existed between 1224 and 1246.
  • Succession of the Roman EmpireIn 476 AD, a military commander named Odoacer deposed the last Western Roman Emperor Romulus Augustulus. He did not declare himself emperor.
  • Byzantine EmpireThe citizens of the Eastern Roman Empire called themselves Romans, not Byzantines. They viewed their state as the direct continuation of ancient Rome…
  • Ethiopian EmpireIn 1270, a young Amhara nobleman named Yekuno Amlak rose to power in Bete Amhara. He defeated the Zagwe king at the Battle of Ansata and claimed descent from…
  • Hospitaller MaltaIn 1530, Emperor Charles V handed the islands of Malta and Gozo to the Order of St. John. This transfer followed a seven-year period where the Knights…
  • SwedenAround 12,000 BC, the Allerød oscillation brought a warm period to what is now southern Sweden. Late Palaeolithic reindeer-hunting camps of the Bromme…
  • Kingdom of PortugalOn the 26th of July 1139, Afonso Henriques stood before his troops and was acclaimed King of the Portuguese. This moment followed a battle that some…
  • Kingdom of SardiniaIn 238 BC, the island of Sardinia became a province of the Roman Empire alongside Corsica. The Romans ruled this territory until the middle of the fifth…
  • Holy Roman EmpireOn Christmas Day of 800, Pope Leo III crowned the Frankish king Charlemagne emperor in Rome. This event revived a title that had lapsed more than three…
  • Western Roman EmpireIn 395, the Roman Empire split into two distinct courts when Emperor Theodosius I died. His son Honorius inherited the western half while his brother…
  • Republic of VeniceIn 697, Paolo Lucio Anafesto became the first doge of Venice according to tradition. This date marks the birth of a sovereign state that would survive for…
  • Republic of FlorenceIn 1115, the Florentine people rebelled against the Margraviate of Tuscany following the death of Matilda of Tuscany. This uprising marked the beginning of a…
  • Kingdom of HungaryOn Christmas Day 1000, a man named Vajk stood before the people of Hungary and accepted baptism. He took the name Stephen I that day at the cathedral in…
  • Duchy of MilanThe year 1395 marked a turning point when Gian Galeazzo Visconti received the title of Duke of Milan from Wenceslaus of Bohemia.
  • Kingdom of NaplesIn 1282, the island of Sicily erupted in a violent uprising known as the War of the Sicilian Vespers. This rebellion forced King Charles I of Anjou to…
  • Crown of the Kingdom of PolandIn 1385, the Union of Krewo marked a turning point where the concept of the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland began to take shape as a distinct political entity.
  • Empire of TrebizondIn April 1204, Alexios Komnenos and his brother David marched from Georgia to seize the city of Trebizond. They arrived with troops provided by their aunt…
  • Grand Principality of MoscowIn 1263, Daniel, the youngest son of Alexander Nevsky, received Moscow as an appanage principality. This small territory likely encompassed the basin of the…
  • Novgorod RepublicIn 1136, the Novgorodians marched to Yaroslav's Court and dismissed their prince Vsevolod Mstislavich. They did not kill him or exile him permanently.
  • Russian EmpireIn November 1721, the Governing Senate and Synod invested Tsar Peter I with the titles of Peter the Great, Pater Patriae, and Imperator of all Russia.
  • Kingdom of Armenia (antiquity)The year 321 BC marks the moment when Orontes III and Mithridates of Lesser Armenia declared their independence, transforming a satrapy into two distinct…
  • Papal StatesIn 754, Pepin the Short led a Frankish army into Italy to defeat the Lombards. This military campaign marked the beginning of papal temporal power.
  • Polish–Lithuanian CommonwealthOn the 1st of July 1569, deputies from the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania signed a document in Lublin that erased two separate states…
  • Tsardom of RussiaOn the 16th of January 1547, Ivan IV stood before a crowd in Moscow and accepted the crown that would change history. He became the first ruler to officially…