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455
The Barbarian invasion of the Western Roman Empire.
In 429, the Vandals crossed the Strait of Gibraltar and reached the shores of Africa. They continued their assault eastward along the coast and re-crossed the Mediterranean to make a landing in Italy. In 455 they followed in the footsteps of the Visigoths and sacked Rome. The Western Roman Empire was dead. -
476
The last Western Roman Emperor is deposed.
Rather than taking the Imperial throne for himself, on 31 October AD 475 Orestes made his son, Romulus, the next emperor of the western Roman Empire. The new emperor, who was around 14 years old, was proclaimed as ‘Romulus Augustus’ to the western empire. Many historians have remarked that it is ironic that the last Roman emperor was (coincidentally) named after the first Roman ruler, Augustus, who reigned from 27 BC–AD 14. -
Dec 26, 800
Charlemagne is crowned as Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire.
When the people of western Europe awoke on this day, December 26, 800, they had an emperor again. On Christmas Day, as King Charles of France knelt in prayer before the altar of the church of St. Peter's in Rome, Pope Leo III suddenly placed a golden crown on his head. -
Apr 6, 1030
The Vikings begin attacking Christian settlements.
In Scandinavia the Viking age is considered to have ended with the establishment of royal authority in the Scandinavian countries and the establishment of Christianity as the dominant religion. -
Jan 5, 1066
The Normans conquer England.
Three kings, a rash of hotly contested battles and an invasion that changed the British Isles forever. -
Sep 14, 1291
The last Crusade fails.
Near the end of the 13th century, the rising Mamluk dynasty in Egypt provided the final reckoning for the Crusaders, toppling the coastal stronghold of Acre and driving the European invaders out of Palestine and Syria in 1291.