Medieval Timeline

  • William the Conqueror invades England
    Jan 1, 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. His subsequent defeat of King Harold II at the Battle of Hastings marked the beginning of a new era in British history.
  • Paper is first mass-produced in Spain
    Jan 1, 1150

    Paper is first mass-produced in Spain

    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
    Jan 1, 1215

    Magna Carta

    The Magna Carta was signed in June 1215 between the barons of Medieval England and King John. "Magna Carta" is Latin and means "Great Charter". The Magna Carta was one of the most important documents of Medieval England.
  • End of the Crusades
    Jan 1, 1270

    End of the Crusades

    The Crusades were a series of religious expeditionary wars blessed by Pope Urban II and the Catholic Church, with the stated goal of restoring Christian access to the holy places in and near Jerusalem. Jerusalem was and is a sacred city and symbol of all three major Abrahamic faiths
  • The Plague
    Jan 1, 1348

    The Plague

    The Black Death was one of the most devastating pandemics in human history, peaking in Europe between 1348 and 1350. Thought to have started in China or central Asia, it travelled along the Silk Road and reached the Crimea by 1346.
  • First apperance of Robin Hood in literature
    Jan 1, 1378

    First apperance of Robin Hood in literature

    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.
  • Chaucer writes The Cantebury Tales
    Jan 1, 1387

    Chaucer writes The Cantebury Tales

    The Canterbury Tales are the stories of a group of thirty people who travel as pilgrims to Canterbury. 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
    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.
  • First printing of Le Morte d' Arthur
    Jan 1, 1485

    First printing of Le Morte d' Arthur

    Le Morte d'Arthur (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.
  • First Tudor king, Henry VII, is crowned
    Jan 1, 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