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451 Aëtius, command of western Roman armies, defeated Attila, king of the Huns, in the battle of Chalons. He was assassinated shortly afterward
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455 Attila threatened the city of Rome, and Pope Leo I negotiated on behalf of the city
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The City of Rome was attacked from the sea by the Vandals, and sacked
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Romans leave Western Eourope.
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Odovacar, commander of western Roman armies, deposed the child-emperor, Romulus Augustulus, assassinated Orestes, the regent, and sent the imperial regalia to the eastern emperor as a sign that the western Roman empire had ceased to exist.
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Franks defeats the Visigoths and they retire to form their kingdom beyond the Pyrenees Mountains.
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Hij'ra, Muhammad and his followers flee Mecca to Medina. Accepted date of the foundation of Islam, beginning date of the Muslim calendar.
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Muza and Tariq invade Spain from Morocco. The Muslims defeat the Visigoths at the battle of the Guadalquivir River, during which King Roderick disappears. Visigothic Spain occupied within a very few years.
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Pepin deposed the Merovingian monarch and became king of the Franks. The beginning of the Carolingian dynasty.
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1004 Almanzor, the military dictator of Muslim Spain dies, and the Caliphate of Cordoba breaks up into a number of small states.
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1010 The Count of Barcelona is hired to bring a Christian army to help one of the sides in a civil war among the Muslims. This begins the paria system, in which the Spanish taifa kingdoms paid one or the other of the Christian states a regular tribute for protection. The money was usually in gold, and the influx of gold into Europe contributed to a revival of trade and commerce.
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1031-1060 Henry I, king of France.
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Norman Invasion. Battle of Hastings
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1066-1087 William I, "the Conqueror," king of England.
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1066 Harold Godwineson seized the throne of England and became Harold, king of England.
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1066 Harold Hardrada invaded England was defeated and killed by Harold Godwineson in the Battle of Sterling Bridge.
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1066 William "the Bastard," duke of Normandy, invades England and defeated Harold Godwineson at the battle of Hastings. Duke William was called "William the Bastard" because his father never got around to marrying his mother. Actually, though, he did marry her to one of his officials.
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1085 Despite their regular payment of tribute, King Alfonso VI of Castile takes the great Muslim City of Toledo, with an immense amount of rich plunder.
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1086 William of England called the nobles together at Salisbury to have them swear the Salisbury Oath. This established that every vassal, no matter from whom he had received his fief, owed his liege loyalty to the king.
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1168-1253 Robert Grossteste. He founded a school of Franciscan philosophy based upon the close observation of natural phenomena. He led the way in applying mathematics to "scientific" observation, and in developing the technique of using experiments to disprove false hypotheses.
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1200 Innocent III grants a charter to the University of Paris.
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King Henry vii
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Clovis becomes leader of the Franks
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486 Clovis defeats Syagrius
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Clovis converts to Catholicism, rather than Arian Christianity.
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768-814 Charlemagne, King of the Franks.
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800 Christmas Day, Charlemagne crowned Holy Roman Emperor. The Holy Roman Empire was more of a dignity than a state, and so people made fun of it for a long time. It was Voltaire who pointed out that it was not holy, it was not roman, and it was not an empire. But it did last from 800 until Napoleon abolished it in 1803.
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800-814 Charlemagne, Holy Roman Emperor.
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814-840 Louis the Pious, Holy Roman Emperor.
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840-855 Lothair I, Holy Roman Emperor
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855-875 Louis, Holy Roman Emperor
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875-877 Charles the Bald, Holy Roman Emperor
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884-887 Charles the Fat, Holy Roman Emperor.
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887-899 Arnulf, Holy Roman Emperor
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899-922 Charles IV the Simple (minded), Holy Roman Emperor.
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911 Charles granted the territory that became Normandy to the Norse chieftain Hrolf (called by the sissy name of Rollo in a lot of textbooks.) Hrolf was willing to accept the grant, but got pretty upset when he was told that the ceremony of transfer would not be complete until he kissed the emperor's foot. Hrolf did this by lifting the emperor's foot up to his lips and being a tall gentlemen cause the emperor to fall over which resulted in the emperor's death.
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987 Hugh Capet, count of Paris, elected king of France. Beginning of the Capetian dynasty.
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987-996 Hugh Capet, king of France.
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966-1031 Robert II the Pious, king of France.