1218 A.D.
The Fifth Crusade sails from Acre to Egypt.
1337 A.D.
King Philip VI, monarch of France, confiscates the duchy of Gascony from England which prompted the beginning of the One Hundred Years War during the reign of Pope Benedict XII who was, in essence, a prisoner of Philip's in France during the Avignon Exile years.
1997 A.D.
One year after meeting with the leading prelate of the Austrian Catholic Church Cardinal Hans Hermann Groer at the Vatican over accusations he molested a 17-year old boy two decades ago, Pope John Paul II is faced with another scandal, this one the "Sicilian Scandal" for fraud and bribary and defrauding the European Union of over 200 million lire. The Holy Father demands the resignation of Archbishop Salvatore Cassis and names Bishop Pio Vittorio Vigo to succeed him.
1998 A.D.
Last year Pope John Paul II, just before releasing his thirteenth encyclical Fides et Ratio, vists the Shroud of Turin and urges scientists to keep an open mind regarding the Shroud of Turin as he visits the Holy Shroud while it is on display for a few months.