Middle Ages

William the Conqueror invades England

Sep 27, 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.

Paper is first mass-produced in Spain

Sep 27, 1151

The Muslim conquest of Spain brought papermaking into Europe. The English word "ream" is derived through Spanish and French from the Arabic word rizmah that translates as "a bundle". 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 (now Jativa or St. Felipe de Javita) in the ancient city of Valencia and it can be dated to AD 1151.

Magna Carta

Sep 27, 1215

Magna Carta (also Magna Charta; "(the) Great Charter"), is a charter agreed to by King John of England at Runnymede, on 15 June 1215. First drafted by the Archbishop of Canterbury to make peace between the unpopular King and a group of rebel barons, it promised the protection of church rights, protection for the barons from illegal imprisonment, access to swift justice, and limitations on feudal payments to the Crown, to be implemented through a council of 25 barons.

End of the Crusades

Sep 27, 1270

The last major crusade aimed at the Holy Land, and a failure that well symbolizes the end of the crusades. Louis IX of France went back to the crusade in Tunis, thinking it was converted to Christianity, when it wasn’t, he besieged it, later dying of an epidemic being replace by Charles of Anjou his brother.

The Plague

Sep 27, 1348

The Black Death or Black Plague was one of the most devastating pandemics in human history, resulting in the deaths of an estimated 75 to 200 million people and peaking in Europe in the years 1346–53. analysis of DNA from victims in northern and southern Europe published in 2010 and 2011 indicates that the pathogen responsible was the Yersinia pestis bacterium, probably causing several forms of plague.

First appearance of Robin Hood in literature

Sep 27, 1377

Robin Hood is a heroic outlaw in English folklore who, according to legend, was a highly skilled archer and swordsman. The first clear reference to "rhymes of Robin Hood" is from the 1377 poem Piers Plowman, but the earliest surviving copies of the narrative ballads that tell his story date to the second half of 15th century (the 1400s), or the first decade of the 16th century (1500s).

Chaucer writes The Canterbury Tales

Sep 27, 1378

The Canterbury Tales is the most famous and critically acclaimed work of Geoffrey Chaucer, a late-fourteenth-century English poet. Little is known about Chaucer’s personal life, and even less about his education, but a number of existing records document his professional life.

1455-1485-War of the Roses

Sep 27, 1455

The Wars of the Roses were a series of wars for control of the throne of England. They were fought between supporters of two rival branches of the royal House of Plantagenet, those of Lancaster and York. They were fought in several sporadic episodes between 1455 and 1487. The conflict resulted from social and financial troubles that followed the Hundred Years' War, combined with the mental infirmity and weak rule of Henry VI.

First Tudor king, Henry VII, is crowned

Aug 22, 1485

Henry won the throne when his forces defeated King Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth Field, the culmination of the Wars of the Roses. Henry was the last king of England to win his throne on the field of battle. Henry was successful in restoring the power and stability of the English monarchy after the civil war. Henry reigned for nearly 24 years.

First printing of Le Morte d’Arthur

Sep 27, 1485

The first printing of Le Morte ‘d Arthur was made by Caxton in 1485. Only two copies of this original printing are known to exist, in the collections of the Morgan Library & Museum and the John Rylands Library. It proved popular and was reprinted in 1498 and 1529 with some additions and changes by Wynkyn de Worde who succeeded Caxton's press.