Medieval Timeline

By mfowler2212
  • Aug 23, 1066

    William the Conqueror Invades England

    William wanted to be king and Harold (his brother in law) became king. William landed in southern England with his army, and Harold quickly marched south to confront William, leaving many of his forces behind in the north. On 14 October Harold's army confronted William's invaders near Hastings and after an all-day battle, was defeated and Harold was killed.
  • Aug 23, 1150

    Paper is First Mass-Produced in Spain

    Papermaking and manufacturing in Europe started in the Iberian Peninsula, today's Portugal and Spain and Sicily in the 10th century by the Muslims living there at the time, and slowly spread to Italy and South France reaching Germany by 1400.
  • Aug 23, 1215

    Magna Carta

    A charter of liberty and political rights obtained from King John of England by his rebellious barons at Runnymede in 1215. It was also called Magna Carta Libertatum or The Great Charter of the Liberties of England. It is an English charter, originally issued in Latin in the year 1215.
  • Aug 23, 1270

    End of the Crusades

    The crusading movement came to an end by the close of the thirteenth century.After two hundred years of conflict, after a vast expenditure of wealth and human lives, the Holy Land remained in Moslem hands.
  • Aug 23, 1348

    The Plague

    The Black Death was one of the most devastating pandemics in human history. It was probably carried by Oriental rat fleas living on the black rats that were regular passengers on merchant ships. It killed an estimated 75 million–200 million people in the 14th century.
  • Aug 23, 1378

    First Appearance of Robin Hood in Literature

    First appearance of "The Vision of Piers Plowman" and the rise of the Robin Hood legends in England. Robin Hood became a popular folk figure in the medieval period continuing through to modern literature, films and television. In the earliest sources, Robin Hood is a yeoman, but he was often later portrayed as an aristocrat wrongfully dispossessed of his lands and made into an outlaw by an unscrupulous sheriff.
  • Aug 23, 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 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.
  • Aug 23, 1455

    War of the Roses 1455-1485

    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.
  • Aug 23, 1485

    First Printing of Le Morte d'Arthur

    Means "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.
  • Oct 30, 1485

    First Tudor King, Henry VII, is crowned

    Having defeated Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth Field, Henry Tudor took the English throne, and was crowned on October 30, 1485.