English Timeline

William the Conqueror invades England

Aug 24, 1066

illiam the Conqueror and sometimes as William the Bastard 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.

Paper is first mass produced in Spain

Aug 24, 1150

Muslim conquest of Spain brought paper making to Europe. Both Spain and Italy claim to be the first to manufacture paper in Europe. One of the first paper mills in Europe was in Xativa, Spain. The first wire mold for making paper is identified in Spain dating to 1150.

Magna Carta

Aug 24, 1215

The 1215 charter required King John of England to proclaim certain liberties and accept that his will was not arbitrary, for example by explicitly accepting that no "freeman" (in the sense of non-serf) could be punished except through the law of the land, a right which is still in existence today.

End of the Cursades

Aug 24, 1270

he crusading movement came to an end by the close of the thirteenth century. The emperor Frederick II for a short time recovered Jerusalem by a treaty, but in 1244 A.D. the Holy City became again a possession of the Moslems. They have never since relinquished it. Acre, the last Christian post in Syria, fell in 1291 A.D.

The Plaque

Aug 24, 1348

The Black Death was one of the most devastating pandemics in human history, peaking in Europe between 1348 and 1350. Although there were several competing theories as to the etiology of the Black Death.

First appearance of Robin Hood in literature

Aug 24, 1378

Robin Hood was a heroic outlaw in English folklore. A highly skilled archer and swordsman, he is known for "robbing from the rich and giving to the poor", assisted by a group of fellow outlaws known as his "Merry Men".

Chaucer writes The Canterbury Tales

Aug 24, 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.

war of the Roses

Aug 24, 1455

The Wars of the Roses were a series of dynastic wars fought between supporters of two rival branches of the royal House of Plantagenet: the houses of Lancaster and York (whose heraldic symbols were the "red" and the "white" rose, respectively) for the throne of England. They were fought in several sporadic episodes between 1455 and 1485, although there was related fighting both before and after this period.

First Tudor king, Henry VII, is crowned

Aug 24, 1485

Henry Tudor was the son of Edmund Tudor and Margaret Beaufort. The very fact that Henry Tudor became King of England at all is somewhat of a miracle. His claim to the English throne was tenuous at best. His father was a Welshman of Welsh royal lineage, but that was not too important as far as his claim to the English throne went.

THe first Printing of Le Morte d'Arthur

Aug 24, 1485

e Morte d'Arthur (originally spelled Le Morte Darthur, Middle French for "the death of Arthur") 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).