Middle Ages

William the Conqueror invades England

Aug 29, 1066

William I, usually known as William the Conqueror was the first Norman King of England, reigning from 1066 until his death in 1087. The descendant of Viking raiders, he had been Duke of Normandy since 1035 under the style William II. 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.

Paper is first mass-produced in Spain

Aug 29, 1150

Paper was invented in ancient China during the Han Dynasty and spread slowly to the west via the Silk Road. Papermaking and manufacturing in Europe was started by Muslims living on the Iberian Peninsula, (today's Portugal and Spain) and Sicily in the 10th century, and slowly spread to Italy and Southern France reaching Germany by 1400.

Magna Carta

Aug 29, 1215

Angevin charter originally issued in Latin. It was sealed under oath by King John at Runnymede, on the bank of the River Thames near Windsor, England, on 15 June 1215. Magna Carta was the first document imposed upon a King of England by a group of his subjects, the feudal barons, in an attempt to limit his powers by law and protect their rights.

End of the Crusades

Aug 29, 1270

The Crusades were military campaigns sanctioned by the Latin Roman Catholic Church during the High Middle Ages and Late Middle Ages. In 1095 Pope Urban II proclaimed the First Crusade with the stated goal of restoring Christian access to holy places in and near Jerusalem.

The Plague

Aug 29, 1348

The Black Death in England was a bubonic plague pandemic, which reached England in 1348, and killed perhaps half the population, dying down in 1349. It was the first and most severe manifestation of the Second Pandemic, caused by the Yersinia pestis bacteria.Originating in China, it spread west along the trade routes across Europe and arrived on the British Isles from the English province of Gascony. The plague seems to have been spread by flea-infected rats.

First apperance of Robin Hood in literature

Aug 29, 1378

Robin Hood is a heroic outlaw in English folklore, and, according to legend, was also a highly skilled archer and swordsman. The outlaw has derived a reputation for performing humanitarian deeds, and in particular for "robbing from the rich and giving to the poor." Robin Hood became a popular folk figure in the medieval period, and continues to be widely represented in modern literature.

Chaucer writes The Canterbury Tales

Aug 29, 1387

The Canterbury Tales was Chaucer's magnum opus. He uses the tales and the descriptions of its characters to paint an ironic and critical portrait of English society at the time, and particularly of the Church. It is a collection of over 20 stories written in Middle English by Geoffrey Chaucer at the end of the 14th century, during the time of the Hundred Years' War.

War of the Roses

Aug 29, 1455

The Wars of the Roses were a series of dynastic wars for the throne of England. They were fought between supporters of two rival branches of the royal House of Plantagenet, the houses of Lancaster and York. They were fought in several sporadic episodes between 1455 and 1487, although there was related fighting before and after this period. The conflict resulted from social and financial troubles that followed the Hundred Years' War.

First printing of Le Morte d’Arthur

Aug 29, 1485

First published in 1485 by William Caxton, Le Morte d'Arthur is today perhaps the best-known work of Arthurian literature in English. Many modern Arthurian writers have used Malory as their principal source, including T. H. White in his popular The Once and Future King and Tennyson in The Idylls of the King.

First Tudor king, Henry VII, is crowned

Aug 29, 1485

Henry VII was King of England and Lord of Ireland from his seizing the crown on 22 August 1485 until his death on 21 April 1509, as the first monarch of the House of Tudor. Henry won the throne when his forces defeated Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth Field. He was the last king of England to win his throne on the field of battle. Henry cemented his claim by marrying Elizabeth of York, daughter of Edward IV and niece of Richard III.