Middle Ages

William the Conqueror invades England

Jan 1, 1066

He was a distant cousin of Edward and said that Edward had promised him the throne when visiting France in 1051. He even said his claim had been accepted by Harold Godwinson in 1064, when Harold had been blown onto the Norman shore by a storm. William invaded England to become King and claim the throne from Harold. The Norman Invasion started when William, Duke of Normandy's 7,000 soldiers landed at Pevensey on the morning of the 28th September 1066.

Paper is first mass produced in Spain

Jan 1, 1150

The first wire mold for making paper is identified in Spain dating to 1150. Bamboo molds were common in China, but it was not readily available in Europe. Both Spain and Italy claim to be the first to manufacture paper in Europe. One of the first paper mills in Europe was in Xativa.

Magna Carta

Jan 1, 1215

Magna Carta, meaning ‘The Great Charter’, is one of the most famous documents in the world. Originally issued by King John of England as a practical solution to the political crisis he faced in 1215, Magna Carta established for the first time the principle that everybody, including the king, was subject to the law. Although nearly 1/3 of the text was deleted and almost all the clauses have been repealed in modern times, Magna Carta remains a cornerstone of the British constitution.

End of the Crusades

Jan 1, 1270

But after two centuries the old crusading enthusiasm died out, 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 came to believe 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

Jan 1, 1348

Coming out of the East, the Black Death reached the shores of Italy in the spring of 1348 unleashing a rampage of death across Europe unprecedented in recorded history. By the time the epidemic played itself out three years later, anywhere between 25% and 50% of Europe's population had fallen victim to the pestilence.

First appearance of Robin Hood in literature

Jan 1, 1378

Robin Hood is a heroic outlaw in English folklore who, according to legend, was a highly skilled archer and swordsman. The origins of the Robin Hood legend are very obscure. The first literary reference to Robin Hood comes from a passing reference in Piers Plowman, written some time around 1377, and the main body of tales date from the fifteenth century.

Chaucer writes The Canterbury Tales

Jan 11, 1387

The Canterbury Tales is a work written by Geoffrey Chaucer. During 1380-1392, he wrote the "General Prologue" and some of Canterbury Tales. By the year 1400, he had completed the Canterbury Tales, perhaps the most famous poem in medieval English! In the "General Prologue," Chaucer describes most of the twenty-nine pilgrims whom he encounters at the inn, who are on their way to the shrine of Saint Thomas a Becket at Canterbury Cathedral.

War of the Roses

Jan 1, 1455

Wars of the Roses, (1455–85), in English history, the series of dynastic civil wars whose violence and civil strife preceded the strong government of the Tudors. Fought between the Houses of Lancaster and York for the English throne, the wars were named many years afterward from the supposed badges of the contending parties: the white rose of York and the red of Lancaster

First printing of Le Morte d'Arthur

Jan 1, 1485

This sole surviving manuscript copy (known as the Winchester manuscript) of Thomas Malory’s version of the legends of King Arthur and his knights was made within a decade of the author’s death in 1471. Malory wrote ‘The Death of Arthur’ during 1469 while imprisoned for a series of violent crimes. The chivalry of Arthur’s world was a far cry from Malory’s own, which was torn by war between the noble dynasties of York and Lancaster.

First Tudor king, Henry VII, is crowned

Jan 1, 1485

In 1485, Henry landed at Milford Haven. He marched across Wales and England to meet Richard III's forces at the Battle of Bosworth Field in Leicestershire. In the battle Richard III was killed and Henry was crowned King Henry VII at the top of Crown Hill, near the village of Stoke Golding.