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William the Conqueror was the first Norman King of England, reigning from 1066 until his death in 1087. Descended from Viking raiders, he had been Duke of Normandy since 1035 under the title of 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
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Papermakers made their way further west through the Muslim world - to Baghdad, Damascus and Cairo. Finally, when the Moors from North Africa invaded Spain and Portugal they brought the technology with them and so it was that papermaking entered Europe in the 12th century
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On June 15, 1215, in a field at Runnymede, King John affixed his seal to Magna Carta. Confronted by 40 rebellious barons, he consented to their demands in order to avert civil war. Just 10 weeks later, Pope Innocent III nullified the agreement, and England plunged into internal war.
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King Louis IX of France launched the Eighth Crusade in an attempt to recapture the crusader states from the Mamluk sultan Baibars; the opening engagement was a siege of Tunis. On August 25th, 1270, King Louis IX of France died while besieging the city of Tunis, possibly due to poor quality drinking water. The siege of Tunis and the Eighth Crusade ended by an agreement between Charles I of Sicily (Louis IX's brother) and the sultan of Tunis on October 30th of the same year.
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The Black Death was one of the most devastating pandemics in human history, peaking in Europe between 1348 and 1350. It is is estimated to have killed 30–60 percent of Europe's population[3] and reduced the world population from an estimated 450 million to between 350 and 375 million in the 14th century.
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Robin Hood became a popular folk figure in the medieval period continuing through to modern literature, films and television. In the earliest sources, Robin Hood is a yeoman, but he was often later portrayed as an aristocrat wrongfully dispossessed of his lands and made into an outlaw by an unscrupulous sheriff.
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The Canterbury Tales is a collection of stories written in Middle English by Geoffrey Chaucer at the end of the 14th century. The tales (mostly written in verse although some are in prose) are presented as part of a story-telling contest by a group of pilgrims as they travel together on a journey from Southwark to the shrine of Saint Thomas Becket at Canterbury Cathedral.
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Henry VII was noted for being the first Tudor King of England, establishing the Tudor Dynasty. His victory at the Battle of Bosworth Field overthrew Richard III and effectively put an end to the Wars of the Roses. Henry is also known for his extreme frugality and his ability as an administrator. He was responsible for the beginning of the Star Chamber, a closed court that answered to no one but the king.
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is a compilation by Sir Thomas Malory of Romance tales about the legendary King Arthur, Guinevere, Lancelot, and the Knights of the Round Table. The book interprets existing French and English stories about these figures, with some of Malory's own original material (the Gareth story). First published in 1485 by William Caxton, Le Morte d'Arthur is perhaps the best-known work of English-language Arthurian literature today
