Medieval timeline

By Taylor Fraser
  • Period: Aug 24, 1000 to Aug 24, 1500

    timeline

  • Aug 24, 1066

    William the Conqueror invades England

    Claiming his right to the English throne, William, duke of Normandy, invades England at Pevensey on Britain's southeast coast.
  • Jul 1, 1150

    Paper is first mass-produced in Spain

    Both Spain and Italy claim to be the first to manufacture paper in Europe. Muslim conquest of Spain brought paper making to Europe.
  • Aug 24, 1215

    Magna Carta

    The Magna Carta is a document that King John of England (1166 - 1216) was forced into signing. King John was forced into signing the charter because it greatly reduced the power he held as the King of England and allowed for the formation of a powerful parliament. The Magna Carta became the basis for English citizen's rights.
  • Aug 24, 1270

    End of Crusades

    The Crusades were military or quasi-military expeditions launched by Christian secular and religious rulers against Moslems in the Middle East from 1096 to 1291
  • Aug 24, 1348

    The Plague

    Just before the middle of the fourteenth century, when Chaucer would have been just a boy of ten or twelve, the bubonic plague struck Europe.
  • Jan 1, 1378

    First appearance of Robin Hood in literature

    From the beginning of scholarly investigation into the lengends about the outlaw, it had been obvious that at the end of the Middle Ages he had been celebrated in plays as well as ballads.
  • Aug 24, 1387

    Chaucer writes The Canterbury Tales

    The Canterbury Tales is 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.
  • Aug 24, 1455

    War of the Roses 1455-1485

    War of the Roses was a name given to a series of civil wars in England during the reigns of Henry VI, Edward IV and Richard III. They were marked by a ferocity and brutality which are practically unknown in the history of English wars before and since.
  • Aug 24, 1485

    First printing of Le Morte d'Arthur

    Malory probably started work on Le Morte d'Arthur while he was in prison in the early 1450s and completed it by 1470.
  • Aug 24, 1485

    First Tudor King Henry VII, is crowned

    Henry won the throne when he defeated Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth Field. He was the last king of England to win his throne on the field of battle. He was successful in restoring the power and stability of the English monarchy after the political upheavals of the Wars of the Roses.