the middle ages By christopher.mikhael 400 visigoths sack rome the visigoths were one of the first to attack rome 527 Justinian becomes Byzantine Emperor Jan 1, 1000 The Chinese invent gun powder Jan 1, 1095 The Crusades begin Jan 1, 1215 King John of England sign the Magna Carta Jan 1, 1227 Genghis Khan dies after creating large land empire Jan 1, 1271 Marco Polo begins travels to China Jan 1, 1348 Black Death strikes Europe Jan 1, 1350 The Black Death has killed more than 25 million people Mar 2, 2022 Arabs conquer Jerusalem