Middle Ages

1066-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.William was the illegitimate son of Robert I, duke of Normandy, by his concubine Arlette, a tanner’s daughter from the town of Falaise.

Paper is First Mass-Produced in Spain

Sep 27, 1150

Both Spain and Italy claim to be the first to manufacture paper in Europe. Muslim conquest of Spain brought paper making to Europe.

1215 Magna Carta

Sep 28, 1215

a revolt by the English nobility against his rule, King John puts his royal seal on the Magna Carta, or “Great Charter.” King John’s reign was characterized by failure. He lost the duchy of Normandy to the French king and taxed the English nobility heavily to pay for his foreign misadventures.

1270 end of the Crusades

Sep 28, 1270

The last major crusade aimed at the Holy Land, and an failure that well symbolizes the end of the crusades. In the previous twenty years, the remaining crusader states had become increasingly powerless pawns while tides of Mongol and then Mameluke conquests swept across the area.

1348 The Plague

Sep 28, 1348

the Black Death reached the shores of Italy in the spring of 1348 unleashing a rampage of death across Europe unprecedented in recorded history.

1378 first appearance of Robin Hood in literature

Sep 27, 1378

Robin Hood was an outlaw in the English folklore who was also a hero according to legends, Robin was a highly skilled archer and swordsman. Robin is described to be dressed in Lincoln green, he is often portrayed as “robbing from the rich and giving to the poor” along his side was a band of Merry Men. Robin Hood became a popular folk figure in the medieval times.

1387 Chaucer writes The Canterbury Tales

Sep 27, 1387

Geoffrey Chaucer wrote The Canterbury Tales, a collection of stories in a frame story, between 1387 and 1400. It is the story of a group of thirty people who travel as pilgrims to Canterbury.

1455-1485-War of the Roses

Sep 28, 1455

The Wars of the Roses were a series of battles fought in medieval England from 1455 to 1485 between the House of Lancaster and the House of York.

1485 first printing of Le Morte d’Arthur

Sep 28, 1485

Le Morte d'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.

1485-First Tudor king, Henry VII, is crowned

Sep 28, 1485

Henry VII, crowned king in 1485, was the first ruler from the Tudor line. During the later part of the Wars of the Roses.