One of the more widely used terms that this writer often encounters is “hunter-gatherers.” It is a name that applies to the sociologic evolution of mankind. A long way back—even millions of years ago apparently—homo sapiens lived like animals. Original…

DECEMBER 6

1060: Béla I of Hungary is crowned king of Hungary.
In 1061 Bela changed the Market Day from the traditional Sunday to Saturday
which may have been part of an attempt to remove the Jews from the commercial
activity of the kingdom.  Giv…

November
16

42
BCE: Birthdate of Tiberius, 2nd Roman emperor. The stepson of Augustus reigned
from 14 to 37 C.E. A competent general with a sour disposition, Tiberius came
to the thrown through the efforts of his pushy mother. Tiberius treatment of
th…

November
15

1215: Pope Innocent III opened the convocation of the
Fourth Lateran Council, considered the most important council of the Middle
Ages. By its conclusion it issued seventy reformatory decrees. Among other
things, it encouraged creating sch…

November 11

603 BCE (7th of Kislev): King
Jehoiakim burned the scroll which had been dictated by the prophet Jeremiah to
Barcuh ben Heriah.

518 BCE: A delegation of Babylonian
Jews arrived in Jerusalem to inquire from the prophet Zechariah whether th…

November 7

305 B.C.E.: Ptolemy, a Macedonian general who
had fought by the side of Alexander the Great, became King of Egypt.  Alexander’s empire broke into three parts
after his death.  Jerusalem and Judea
came under the sway of the Ptolemy…

November 4

1310: King Jaime II issued a royal decree
exempting Judah Bonseynor from all taxes to which the Aljama of Barcelona was
usually required to pay.  “The king also
ordered that neither Bonsenyor nor his children should be molested on acco…