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Feb 3, 650
650 AD
650 AD: Arab forces conquer most of the Byzantine territories, formerly occupied by the Persians. -
Feb 3, 677
677 AD
677 AD: The Arabs attempt to conquer Constantinople but fail. -
Feb 3, 1066
1066 AD
1066 AD: William the Conqueror invades England and asserts his right to the English throne at the Battle of Hastings. The Norman Conquest fuses French and English cultures because William is both the King of England and the Duke of Normandy. William brought feudalism and culture from France to England William achieves political stability in England with the introduction of the feudal system. The system progresses over the next two centuries into a national monarchy. -
Feb 3, 1096
1096AD
1096 AD: First Crusade began. The Crusaders were armies of Christians from all over Europe who marched to the Holy Land to regain lands captured by the Turks. -
Feb 3, 1147
1147 AD
1147 AD: Second Crusade was launched. This Crusade is generally considered to have been a failure. -
Feb 3, 1189
1189 AD
1189 AD: Third Crusade was one of the more successful. In it King Richard the Lion-Hearted obtained certain privileges for Christians from the Turkish ruler, Saladin. -
Feb 3, 1202
1202 AD
1202 AD: Fourth Crusade launched. In this Crusade the original purpose of the Crusades was abandoned, and the Crusaders burned and sacked many cities and villages on their route. They never reached the Holy Land. -
Feb 3, 1215
1215 AD
1215 AD: King John of England was forced to sign the Magna Carta. The Magna Carta gave some basic rights to the people and also said that the king was not above the law. -
Feb 3, 1291
1291 AD
1291 AD: Fall of Acre marked the end of the Crusades. Acre, the last Christian city in the Near East, was lost to the Turks. -
Feb 3, 1348
1348 AD
1348 AD: The black plague swept England and Europe. It was estimated that one out of every five people in England died. Spread by fleas which infested a huge rat population, the disease is characterized by the victim turning dark purple in the last hours of life due to respiratory failure, hence the name, black plague. -
Feb 3, 1429
1429 AD
1429 AD: Joan of Arc, a peasant girl in France, seeks out the French leader and relates her divinely-inspired mission to drive the English out of France. She takes control of the French troops and liberates most of central France. -
Feb 3, 1430
1430 AD
1430 AD: Joan of Arc is captured and taken to England. The English accuse her of being a witch and condemn her for heresy. Joan is publicly burned in the city of Rouen. -
Feb 3, 1434
1434 AD
1434 AD: The Medici banking family dominates the government of Florence. -
Feb 3, 1453
1453 AD
1453 AD: Ottoman Turks take Constantinople and end Byzantine civilization. -
Feb 3, 1454
1454 AD
1454 AD: Italy is divided into five major regions: Venice, Milan, Florence, the Papal States and the southern kingdom of Naples. -
Feb 3, 1455
1455 AD
1455 AD: Henry VI of England (1422-1461) wages the Wars of the Roses. The two sides of the war are the red rose (Henry's family at Lancaster) and the white rose (the house of York). Yorkist Richard III gains the kingship for a short time. -
Feb 3, 1469
1469 AD
1469 AD: Ferdinand of Aragon marries Isabella of Castile, and the two Spanish kingdoms end their conflicts but remain separate powers. -
Feb 3, 1485
1485 AD
1485 AD: The end of the Wars of the Roses in England, the Tudor dynasty replaces Richard III. Henry VII, the first Tudor king, rules for twenty-four years and revives the English throne. He reestablishes royal power over the aristocracy, ends funding of foreign wars and reforms finances. Parliament also becomes a stable part of the governmental system. -
Feb 3, 1492
1492 AD
1492 AD: Ferdinand and Isabella annex Granada, expel all Jews from Spain and seek overseas expansion (for example, as patrons of Christopher Columbus). The flow of American gold and silver through Spain, the conquest of Mexico and Peru and superiority on the battlefield make Spain the most powerful state in Europe. -
Feb 3, 1509
1509 AD
1509 AD: Henry VIII succeeds his father, Henry VII, for the English crown. -
Feb 3, 1558
1558 AD
1558 AD: Elizabeth I succeeds the throne of England. -
1603 AD
1603 AD: Elizabeth I dies. -
476 AD
476 AD: The Fall of Roman Empire -
520AD
520 AD: St. Benedict established the first monastery at Monte Cassino, Italy. He drew up a set of rules for the monks, which included vows of obedience, poverty and manual labour. -
800 AD
800 AD: Charlemagne was crowned ruler of the Holy Roman Empire. This act symbolized a union of church and state. -
814 AD
814 AD: Charlemagne dies without leaving competent successors to continue the glory of the Carolingian dynasty. The Carolingian Empire falls apart.