Medieval Timeline

By jordanpc
  • Sep 28, 1066

    William the Conqueror invades England

    William the Conqueror invades England
    William invaded England to become King and claim the throne from Harold Godwinson.
  • Jan 1, 1150

    Paper is first mass-produced in Spain

    Paper is first mass-produced in Spain
    First European paper produced; the technique arrives via Italian ports with active commercial relations with the Arab world and also, probably, by the overland route from Spain to France.
  • Jun 15, 1215

    Magna Carta

    Magna Carta
    The Magna Carta is a document that King John of England was forced into signing. It greatly reduced the power he held as the King of England.
  • Sep 26, 1270

    End of the Crusades

    End of the Crusades
    The eighth crusade was the last major crusade aimed at the Holy Land, and a failure that well symbolises the end of the crusades.
  • Jan 1, 1348

    The Plague

    The Plague
    The Black Death is estimated to have killed 30–60 percent of Europe's population and reduced the world population from an estimated 450 million to between 350 and 375 million in the 14th century.
  • Jan 1, 1378

    First Appearance of Robin Hood in Literature

    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.
  • Jan 1, 1387

    Chaucer writes The Canterbury Tales

    Chaucer writes The Canterbury Tales
    Chaucer is a crucial figure in developing the legitimacy of the vernacular, Middle English, at a time when the dominant literary languages in England were French and Latin.
  • May 22, 1455

    War of the Roses Begins

    War of the Roses Begins
    Richard the Duke of York led a small force toward London and was met by Henry's forces; the relatively small First Battle of St Albans was the first open conflict of the civil war.
  • Jan 1, 1485

    First printing of Le Morte d'Arthur

    First printing of Le Morte d'Arthur
    Le Morte d'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.
  • Oct 30, 1485

    First Tudor king, Henry VII, is crowned

    First Tudor king, Henry VII, is crowned
    Henry was able to negotiate alliances with the Yorkist faction, and, together with his own Lancastrian forces and French mercenaries, he invaded England. His defeat of Richard at Bosworth Field gave him the crown.
  • Dec 31, 1485

    War of the Roses Ends

    War of the Roses Ends
    Richard III's corpse was stripped naked and taken to Leicester, where it was displayed publicly to prove his death. The crown (supposedly found in a hawthorn bush) was placed on Henry's head.