TDIH - January 8 This Day in (Medieval) History: January 8 871 – At the Battle of Ashdown, a West Saxon army led by King Ethelred I of Wessex and his younger brother, the future King Alfred the Great, defeated an invading army of Danes led by Bagsecg and Halfdan. 1198 - Lotario di Segni becomes Pope, taking the name Innocentius III. 1214 - Earl Ferrand of Flanders severed diplomatic ties with France. 1297 – Francesco Grimaldi and his cousin, disguised as Franciscan friars, captured the fortress on the Rock of Monaco with a handful of troops, thereby gaining control of the city of Monaco. Although he was driven out four years later, his family later retook the city and their descendants still rule it today as the last remaining "feudal" territory left in Europe. 1454 – The papal decree "Romanus Pontifex" gave the Kingdom of Portugal exclusive colonization and trade rights to the portion of Africa south of Cape Bojador. 1499 – King Louis XII of France married Anne of Brittany.