TDIH - February 7 This Day in (Medieval) History: February 7 457 – Leo I the Thracian became Byzantine Emperor. 987 – A rebellion against Emperor Basil II of the Byzantine Empire began, led by two generals, Bardas Phokas the Younger and Bardas Skleros. 999 – Death of Boleslaus II the Pious, Duke of Bohemia. 1127 – Death of Ava of Gottweig (or Ava of Melk), German poetess who wrote Christian poems focusing on the Second Coming of Christ and personal salvation. 1065 – Death of Siegfried I, Count of Sponheim. 1102 – Birth of Empress Matilda, daughter of King Henry I of England, wife of Holy Roman Emperor Henry V and her father's designated heiress to the English throne. 1165 – Death of Marshal Stephen of Armenia. 1259 – Death of Thomas, Count of Flanders. 1301 – Edward of Caernarvon (the future King Edward II) was the first to be given the title Prince of Wales. 1317 – Death of Robert, Count of Clermont. 1320 – Death of Jan Muskata, Bishop of Krakow. 1478 – Birth of Saint Thomas More, English lawyer and Lord Chancellor of England, executed for refusing to convert to Henry VIII's new Church of England. 1497 – A "bonfire of the vanities" is held in Florence, Italy, at the urging of Girolamo Savonarola.