Medieval Time Line

William the Conqueror invades England

Sep 28, 1066

Claiming his right to the English throne, William, duke of Normandy, invades England at Pevensey on Britain’s southeast coast. His subsequent defeat of King Harold II at the Battle of Hastings marked the beginning of a new era in British history.

Paper is first mass-produced in Spain

Sep 27, 1150

The Muslim conquest of Spain brought papermaking into Europe. The English word "ream" (meaning 500 sheets) is derived through Spanish and French from the Arabic word rizmah that translates as "a bundle". Both Spain and Italy claim to be the first to manufacture paper in Europe.

Magna Carta

Sep 28, 1215

Written in Latin, the Magna Carta (or Great Charter) was effectively the first written constitution in European history. Of its 63 clauses, many concerned the various property rights of barons and other powerful citizens, suggesting the limited intentions of the framers. The benefits of the charter were for centuries reserved for only the elite classes, while the majority of English citizens still lacked a voice in government.

End of the Crusades

Sep 28, 1270

The Christians of Europe might have continued much longer their efforts to recover the Holy Land, had they not lost faith in the movement. The old ideal of the crusade as "the way of God" lost its spell. Men had begun to think less of winning future salvation by visits to distant shrines and to think more of their present duties to the world about them. They believed that Jerusalem could best be won as Christ and the Apostles had won it "by love, by prayers, and by the shedding of tears."

The Plague

Sep 28, 1348

The Black Death arrived in Europe by sea in October 1347 when 12 Genoese trading ships docked at the Sicilian port of Messina after a long journey through the Black Sea. The men were covered in mysterious black boils that oozed blood and pus and gave their illness its name: the “Black Death.” Over the next five years, the mysterious Black Death would kill more than 20 million people in Europe–almost one-third of the continent’s population.

First appearance of Robin Hood in literature

Sep 27, 1378

Robin Hood is a heroic outlaw in English folklore who, according to legend, was a highly skilled archer and swordsman. Traditionally depicted as being dressed in Lincoln green, he is often portrayed as "robbing from the rich and giving to the poor” alongside his band of Merry Men. Robin Hood became a popular folk figure in the late-medieval period, and continues to be widely represented in literature, films and television.

Chaucer writes The Canterbury Tales

Sep 27, 1387

The Canterbury Tales is a collection of 24 stories that runs to over 17,000 lines written in Middle English by Geoffrey Chaucer. The tales are presented as part of a story-telling contest by a group of pilgrims as they travel together on a journey from London to Canterbury in order to visit the shrine of Saint Thomas Becket at Canterbury Cathedral. The prize for this contest is a free meal at the Tabard Inn at Southwark on their return.

War of the Roses

Sep 28, 1455

The Wars of the Roses marked the struggle for the English throne between the houses of York and Lancaster. Henry VI attempted to override a power grab by Richard, Duke of York. The fighting began with the 1455 Battle of St. Albans. The throne switched from Edward to Henry. Henry Tudor finally stabilized the throne after defeating Richard III in 1485, his marriage to Elizabeth of York the following year uniting both houses.

First printing of Le Morte d’Arthur

Sep 28, 1485

Le Morte d'Arthur (originally spelled Le Morte Darthur, Middle French for “the death of Arthur”) is a reworking of traditional tales by Sir Thomas Malory about the legendary King Arthur, Guinevere, Lancelot, Merlin and the Knights of the Round Table. Le Morte d'Arthur was first published in 1485 by William Caxton, and is today perhaps the best-known work of Arthurian literature in English.

First Tudor king, Henry VII, is crowned

Sep 28, 1485

Henry VII was King of England after seizing the crown on 22 August 1485 until his death, the first monarch of the House of Tudor. He ruled the Principality of Wales until 29 November 1489 and was Lord of Ireland. Henry won the throne when his forces defeated King Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth Field, the culmination of the Wars of the Roses.