The Middle Ages

William the Conqueror invades England

Aug 29, 1066

William argued that Edward had previously promised the throne to him, and that Harold had sworn to support William's claim. William built a large fleet and invaded England in September 1066, decisively defeating and killing Harold at the Battle of Hastings on 14 October 1066.

Paper is first mass produced in Spain

Aug 28, 1150

Paper was invented in ancient China during the Han Dynasty (206 BC – 220 AD) and spread slowly to the west via the Silk Road. Papermaking and manufacturing in Europe was started by Muslims living on the Iberian Peninsula, (today's Portugal and Spain) and Sicily in the 10th century, and slowly spread to Italy and Southern France reaching Germany by 1400. Earlier, other paper-like materials were in use including papyrus, parchment, palm leaves and vellum, but all of these were derived from raw mat

Magna Carta

Aug 29, 1215

Magna Carta was the first document imposed upon a King of England by a group of his subjects, the feudal barons, in an attempt to limit his powers by law and protect their rights. The charter is widely known throughout the English speaking world as an important part of the protracted historical process that led to the rule of constitutional law in England and beyond.

End of the Crusades

Aug 29, 1270

The crusades, judged by what they set out to accomplish, must be accounted an inglorious failure. After two hundred years of conflict, after a vast expenditure of wealth and human lives, the Holy Land remained in Moslem hands. It is true that the First Crusade did help, by the conquest of Syria, to check the advance of the Turks toward Constantinople. But even this benefit was more than undone by the weakening of the Roman Empire in the East as a result of the Fourth Crusade.

The Plague

Aug 29, 1348

The Black Death is the name given to a deadly plague (often called bubonic plague, but is more likely to be pneumonic plague) which was rampant during the Fourteenth Century. It was believed to have arrived from Asia in late 1348 and caused more than one epidemic in that century - though its impact on English society from 1348 to 1350 was terrible. No amount of medical knowledge could help England when the plague struck. It was also to have a major impact on England’s social structure which lead

First appearance of Robin Hood in literature

Aug 29, 1378

The Robin Hood legend has changed over the years. In the early ballads, Robin is a yeoman- a member of the middle class. But by the time of Queen Elizabeth 1, Robin is said to have been the earl of Huntingdon. Although always a robber, Robin's tendency to give to the poor was something of a later additin too. The original ballads don't say why Robin Hood was outlawed.

Chaucer writes The Canterbury Tales

Aug 29, 1387

Geoffrey Chaucer wrote The Canterbury Tales, a collection of stories in a frame story, between 1387 and 1400. It is the story of a group of thirty people who travel as pilgrims to Canterbury (England). The pilgrims, who come from all layers of society, tell stories to each other to kill time while they travel to Canterbury.
If we trust the General Prologue, Chaucer intended that each pilgrim should tell two tales on the way to Canterbury and two tales on the way back.

War of the Roses

Aug 29, 1455

(1455-1485) The Wars of the Roses were a series of dynastic wars for the throne of England. They were fought between supporters of two rival branches of the royal House of Plantagenet, the houses of Lancaster and York. They were fought in several sporadic episodes between 1455 and 1487, although there was related fighting before and after this period. The conflict resulted from social and financial troubles that followed the Hundred Years' War.

First Tudor king, Henry Vll, is crowned

Aug 29, 1485

The Tudor dynasty or House of Tudor was a royal house of Welsh origin, descended from Rhys ap Tewdwr, the last "king of the Britons," which ruled the Kingdom of England and its realms, including their ancestral Wales and the Lordship of Ireland, later the Kingdom of Ireland, from 1485 until 1603. Its first monarch was Henry VII, a descendant through his mother of a legitimised branch of the English royal House of Lancaster. The Tudor family rose to power in the wake of the Wars of the Roses,

First printing of Le Morte d' Arthur

Aug 29, 1485

Le Morte D'Arthur is the story of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, beginning with Arthur's conception and birth, and concluding with his death at the hands of his bastard son, Mordred (perhaps due to his choice of name?). Along the way, we meet handsome knights, beautiful ladies, and become immersed in the soap opera that is Camelot. Get ready for juicy drama, frightening battles, and joust after joust after… well, you get the picture.