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After a long struggle to establish his power, by 1060 his hold on Normandy was secure, and he launched the Norman conquest of England in 1066. The rest of his life was marked by struggles to consolidate his hold over England and his continental lands and by difficulties with his eldest son.
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Both Spain and Italy claim to be the first to manufacture paper in Europe. Muslim conquest of Spain brought paper making to Europe.
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Magna Carta was the first document forced onto an English King by a group of his subjects, the feudal barons, in an attempt to limit his powers by law and protect their privileges. It was preceded and directly influenced by the Charter of Liberties in 1100, in which King Henry I had specified particular areas wherein his powers would be limited.
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The crusades, judged by what they set out to accomplish, must be accounted an inglorious failure. After two hundred years of conflict, after a vast expenditure of wealth and human lives, the Holy Land remained in Moslem hands.
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The Black Death was one of the most devastating pandemics in human history, peaking in Europe between 1348 and 1350. Although there were several competing theories as to the etiology of the Black Death, it has been conclusively proven via analysis of ancient DNA from victims in northern and southern Europe that the pathogen responsible is the Yersinia pestis bacterium.
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Robin Hood was a heroic outlaw in English folklore. A highly skilled archer and swordsman, he is known for "robbing from the rich and giving to the poor",[1] assisted by a group of fellow outlaws known as his "Merry Men".[2] Traditionally, Robin Hood and his men are depicted wearing Lincoln green clothes.[3] The origin of the legend is claimed by some to have stemmed from actual outlaws, or from ballads or tales of outlaws.
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Chaucer wrote his collection of stories, told as if by pilgrims on the road from London to Canterbury, in the last two decades of the 14th century. The book was unfinished when he died in 1400.
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Following the Hundred Years War, England found itself in turmoil. The war had seriously weakened the monarchy, and drained much of the nation’s treasury. The nation was ruled by the house of Lancaster, which bore the emblem of a red rose.
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Le Morte d'Arthur is perhaps the best-known work of English-language Arthurian literature today. Many modern Arthurian writers have used Malory as their principal source, including T. H. White for his popular The Once and Future King and Tennyson for The Idylls of the King.
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Being the first Tudor King of England, 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.
