TDIH - January 17 This Day in (Medieval) History: January 17 1287 - An army under King Alfonso III of Aragon invaded the island of Minorca. 1377 – Pope Gregory XI relocated the Papacy back to Rome after the "Avignon Captivity" (when the Popes had been based at Avignon, France, making them subject to the French crown). 1501 - Cesare Borgia returned to Rome after capturing Imola and Forli, and received the title of Papal Gonfalonier. 1524 – Giovanni da Verrazzano embarked from the Madeira Islands in a ship with fifty men, commissioned by King Francis I of France to find a sea route to Asia by sailing around North America.