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Jan 1, 1066
William the Conqueror invades England
William I (circa 1028[1] – 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes as William the Bastard, His subsequent defeat of King Harold II at the Battle of Hastings marked the beginning of a new era in British history. With approximately 7,000 troops and cavalry, William seized Pevensey and marched to Hastings, where he paused to organize his forces. On October 13, Harold arrived near Hastings with his army, and the next day William led his forces out to give battle. -
Jan 1, 1150
paper is first mass-produced in Spain
Paper was invented by the Chinese by 105 AD during the Han Dynasty and spread slowly to the west via Samarkand and Baghdad. -
Jan 1, 1215
Magna Carta
Magna Carta, also called Magna Carta Libertatum or The Great Charter of the Liberties of England, is an English charter, originally issued in Latin in the year 1215, translated into vernacular-French as early as 1219,[1] and reissued later in the 13th century in modified versions. Magna Carta was the first document forced onto an English King by a group of his subjects. -
Jan 1, 1270
End of the Crusades
The 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., and with this event the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem ceased to exist. -
Jan 1, 1348
The Plague
The Black Death was one of the most devastating pandemics in human history. The aftermath of the plague created a series of religious, social and economic upheavals, which had profound effects on the course of European history. It took 150 years for Europe's population to recover. The plague occasionally reoccurred in Europe until the 19th century. -
Jan 1, 1378
First appearance of Robin Hood in literature
The first allusion to a literary tradition of Robin Hood tales occurs in William Langland's Piers Plowman (c. 1362–c. 1386) in which Sloth, the lazy priest, confesses: "I kan [know] not parfitly [perfectly] my Paternoster as the preest it singeth,/ But I kan rymes of Robyn Hood and Randolf Erl of Chestre." -
Jan 1, 1387
Chaucer writes The Canterbury Tales
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. -
Jan 1, 1455
War of the Roses
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. -
Jan 1, 1485
First Tudor king, Henry VII, is crowned
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. The real matter was decided on the battlefield, at the Battle of Bosworth Field, in Leicestershire, on 22 Aug. It was here that Henry and his forces met with Richard III and Henry won the crown. It was truly through the defeat of Richard and the 'right of conquest' that Henry claimed the throne. It would need more than luck, however, to keep it there. -
Jan 1, 1485
First printing of Le Morte d’Arthur
The first printing of Malory's work was made by Caxton in 1485; it proved popular, and was reprinted, with some additions and changes, in 1498 and 1529 by Wynkyn de Worde who succeeded Caxton's press. Three more editions followed at intervals to the time of the English Civil War. Malory probably started work on Le Morte d'Arthur while he was in prison in the early 1450s and completed it by 1470.
