Middle/Dark Ages Timeline Project

Middle/Dark Ages Timeline Project

Period: 400 to 1420

VANDALS SACK ROME

455

The sack of 455 was the third of four ancient sacks of Rome; it was conducted by the Vandals, who were then at war with the usurping Western Roman Emperor Petronius Maximus.

BENEDICT OF NURSIA

480

Benedict of Nursia is a Christian saint venerated in the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Oriental Orthodox Churches, the Anglican Communion and Old Catholic Churches. He is a patron saint of Europe

CLOVIS MEROVINGIAN DYNASTY STARTS

481

Merovingian dynasty, Frankish dynasty (ad 476–750) traditionally reckoned as the “first race” of the kings of France. Clovis (reigned 481/482–511), the son of Childeric, unified Gaul with the exception of areas in the southeast

SAINT BEDE

672

Bede, also known as Saint Bede, The Venerable Bede, and Bede the Venerable, was an English Benedictine monk at the monastery of St. Peter and its companion monastery of St. Paul in the Kingdom of Northumbria of the Angles.

BATTLE OF TOURS

732

The Battle of Tours, also called the Battle of Poitiers and, by Arab sources, the Battle of the Highway of the Martyrs, was fought on 10 October 732, and was an important battle during the Umayyad invasion of Gaul.

AL-KHWARIZMI

780

Muḥammad ibn Mūsā al-Khwārizmī, Arabized as al-Khwarizmi and formerly Latinized as Algorithmi, was a Persian polymath who produced vastly influential works in mathematics, astronomy, and geography. Around 820 CE he was appointed as the astronomer and head of the library of the House of Wisdom in Baghdad.

MASSACRE OF VERDEN

782

The Massacre of Verden was an event during the Saxon Wars where the Frankish king Charlemagne ordered the death of 4,500 Saxons in October 782.

VIKINGS ATTACK LINIDISFARNE

793

But the assault on Lindisfarne was different because it attacked the sacred heart of the Northumbrian kingdom, desecrating 'the very place where the Christian religion began in our nation'. It was where Cuthbert (d. 687) had been bishop, and where his body was now revered as that of a saint.

CHARLEMAGNE DIES

814

Charlemagne. [ (shahr-luh-mayn) ] The first emperor of the Holy Roman Empire; his name means “Charles the Great.” Charlemagne was king of France in the late eighth and early ninth centuries and was crowned emperor in 800.

KING ALFRED OF ENGLAND

849

Alfred the Great was king of the West Saxons from 871 to c. 886 and king of the Anglo-Saxons from c. 886 to 899. He was the youngest son of King Æthelwulf of Wessex. His father died when he was young. Three of Alfred's brothers, Æthelbald, Æthelberht and Æthelred, reigned in turn before him.

MUHAMMED AL-RAZI

854

Abū Bakr Muhammad Zakariyyā Rāzī, was a Persian polymath, physician, alchemist, philosopher, and important figure in the history of medicine. He also wrote on logic, astronomy and grammar.

BATTLE OF HASTINGS

Oct 14, 1066

The Battle of Hastings was fought on 14 October 1066 between the Norman-French army of William, the Duke of Normandy, and an English army under the Anglo-Saxon King Harold Godwinson, beginning the Norman conquest of England.

DOMESDAY BOOK

1086

Domesday Book is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William the Conqueror. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle states: Then, at the midwinter [1085], was the king in Gloucester with his council

IBN ZUHUR

1094

Abū Marwān ‘Abd al-Malik ibn Zuhr, traditionally known by his Latinized name Avenzoar, was an Arab physician, surgeon, and poet. He was born at Seville in medieval Andalusia, was a contemporary of Averroes and Ibn Tufail, and was the most well-regarded physician of his era

GENGHIS KHAN

1155

Genghis Khan, was the founder and first Great Khan of the Mongol Empire, which became the largest contiguous empire in history after his death. He came to power by uniting many of the nomadic tribes of Northeast Asia

SUNDISATA KEITA

1190

Sundiata Keita was a prince and founder of the Mali Empire. The Malian ruler Mansa Musa, who made a pilgrimage to Mecca, was his great-nephew

MAGNA CARTA

1215

MAGNA CARTA

MARCO POLO

Sep 15, 1254

Marco Polo was a Venetian merchant, explorer, and writer who travelled through Asia along the Silk Road between 1271 and 1295.

GUY DE CHAULIAC

1300

Guy de Chauliac, also called Guido or Guigo de Cauliaco, was a French physician and surgeon who wrote a lengthy and influential treatise on surgery in Latin, titled Chirurgia Magna. It was translated into many other languages and widely read by physicians in late medieval Europe

MANSA MUSA JOURNEY FOR THE HAJJ

1324

Musa made his pilgrimage between 1324 and 1325. His procession reportedly included 60,000 men, all wearing brocade and Persian silk, including 12,000 slaves, who each carried 1.8 kg (4 lb) of gold bars, and heralds dressed in silks, who bore gold staffs, organized horses, and handled bags.

JANI BEG SIEGE OF KAFFA/CAFFA

1343

Jani Beg commanded a massive Crimean Tatar force that attacked the Crimean port city of Kaffa in 1343. The siege was lifted by an Italian relief force in February. In 1345 Jani Beg again besieged Kaffa; however, his assault was again unsuccessful due to an outbreak of the Black Plague among his troops.

GEOFFERY CHAUCER

1343

Geoffrey Chaucer was an English poet and author. Widely considered the greatest English poet of the Middle Ages, he is best known for The Canterbury Tales. He has been called the "father of English literature", or, alternatively, the "father of English poetry".

CHRISTINE DE PISAN

1364

Christine de Pizan or Pisan, born Cristina da Pizzano, was a poet and author at the court of King Charles VI of France and several French dukes. Venetian by birth, Christine served as a court writer in medieval France after the death of her husband.

JOAN OF ARC

1412

Joan of Arc, nicknamed "The Maid of Orléans" or "Maid of Lorraine", is considered a heroine of France for her role during the Lancastrian phase of the Hundred Years' War, and was canonized as a Catholic saint.