Medieval Timeline

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. Click here for more information.

Paper is first mass-produced in Spain

Jan 1, 1150

The Arabs were manufacturing paper in Spain around 1150. It was not until 1590 that the first English paper mill was founded, at Dartford.The first papermill was established in Spain at Xativa. Only with the rise of the printing press in the mid 1400's changed the European attitudes toward paper.

Magna Carta

Jul 15, 1215

Magna Carta, also called Magna Carta Libertatum or The Great Charter of the Liberties of England, is an English charter, originally issued in Latin in the year 1215, translated into vernacular-French as early as 1219 and reissued later in the 13th century in modified versions.The 1215 charter required King John of England to proclaim certain liberties and accept that his will was not arbitrary. <a href='http://en.wikiped

End of the Crusades

Sep 26, 1270

The Crusades were a series of religious expeditionary wars blessed by Pope Urban II and the Catholic Church, with the stated goal of restoring Christian access to the holy places in and near Jerusalem.The crusading movement came to an end by the close of the thirteenth century. The emperor Frederick II for a short time recovered Jerusalem by a treaty, but in 1244 A.D. the Holy City became again a possession of the Moslems.

The Plague

Jan 1, 1348

The Black Death was one of the most devastating pandemics in human history, peaking in Europe between 1348 and 1350. In Medieval England, the Black Death was to kill 1.5 million people out of an estimated total of 4 million people between 1348 and 1350. No medical knowledge existed in Medieval England to cope with the disease. After 1350, it was to strike England another six times by the end of the century.

First appearance of Robin Hood in literature

Jan 1, 1378

• Robin Hood became a popular folk figure in the medieval period continuing through to modern literature, films and television. In the earliest sources, Robin Hood is a yeoman, but he was often later portrayed as an aristocrat wrongfully dispossessed of his lands and made into an outlaw by an unscrupulous sheriff.

Chaucer writes The Canterbury Tales

Jan 1, 1387

• The Canterbury Tales is a book of stories written by Geoffrey Chaucer in the 14th century. This is an important book, because it is one of the first to be written in the English language. The book is about a group of travelers who are going from London to Canterbury. As they travel along, each person tells a tale (a story), thus making up the text of The Canterbury Tales.

Start of War of Roses

Jan 1, 1455

The Wars of the Roses were a series of dynastic wars fought between supporters of two rival branches of the royal House of Plantagenet: the houses of Lancaster and York (whose heraldic symbols were the "red" and the "white" rose, respectively) for the throne of England.

End of War of Roses

Jan 1, 1485

The final victory went to a relatively remote Lancastrian claimant, Henry Tudor, who defeated the last Yorkist king Richard III and married Edward IV's daughter Elizabeth of York to unite the two houses. The House of Tudor subsequently ruled England and Wales for 117 years.

First printing of Le Morte d'Arthur

Jan 1, 1485

Le Morte d'Arthur (originally spelled Le Morte Darthur, Middle French for "the death of Arthur"[1]) is a compilation by Sir Thomas Malory of Romance tales about the legendary King Arthur, Guinevere, Lancelot, and the Knights of the Round Table. The book interprets existing French and English stories about these figures, with some of Malory's own original material (the Gareth story).

First Tudor king, Henry VII, is crowned

Jan 1, 1485

Establishing the Tudor Dynasty. His victory at the Battle of Bosworth Field overthrew Richard III and effectively put an end to the Wars of the Roses. Henry is also known for his extreme frugality and his ability as an administrator. He was responsible for the beginning of the Star Chamber, a closed court that answered to no one but the king.