Middle Ages

Clovis

461

He was king of Franks and ruler of much of Gaul. This was a key period during the transformation of the Roman Empire into Europe. His dynasty lasted more than 200 years until the rise of the Carolingians. He was the kingdom’s political and religious founder.

Cathedral Schools

527

Cathedral schools were European schools run by cathedral clergy. The original goal was to train priests, but later they taught students, usually being boys of noble families. Each school generally had less than one-hundred students. Some notable cathedral schools include York and North Yorkshire.

Battle of Tours

732

The Battle of Tours were won by Charles Martel, the ruler of the Frankish kingdoms over Muslim invaders. The battlefield can not be exactly located, but it is somewhere between Tours and Poitiers. The battle is one of consequential military encounters in history. Muslim forces then pushed northward into southern Gaul. They set up a new capital at the port of Narbonne.

Charlemagne

742

Charlemagne was a medieval emperor who ruled much of Western Europe. He became king of the Franks, a Germanic tribe. He went on a mission to join all Germanic peoples into one kingdom and convert them to Christianity. He spent a majority of his reign in warfare to accomplish his goals.

Hugh Capet

940

He was the first king of a direct line of fourteen Capetian kings. When his father dies in 956, he inherited many estates in Paris and Orleans. He became one of the most powerful vassals in the kingdom and a large threat to the Carolingian king. He married a woman named Adelaide, and tried to extend his influence to the Southwest, but was unsuccessful.

The Great Schism

1054

It was also called the East-West Schism. This event precipitated the final separation between Eastern Christian churches and the Western church. The mutual excommunications of the pope and the patriarch became a watershed in church history. They were not lifted until 1965 when the pope and the patriarch followed the historic meeting in Jerusalem.

William the Conqueror

1066

William the Conqueror was the first Norman King of England. He was known as "William the Bastard." He launched the Norman conquest of England. He defeated the English forces at the Battle of Hastings, to do come to power.

Pope Gregory VII

1073

Pope Gregory VII was considered a great performing pope of the mid evil church. He is best known for his role in the Investiture Controversy. He was the first in centuries to enforce the western churches ancient policy.

Gothic Architecture

1100

Gothic Architecture evolved from Romanesque. Most architecture was built with stone. There were large glass pieces that included shimmering mosaic influence. There were very intricate sculpting involved as pediments for the building. The flying buttress is an iconic feature, written about later in the timeline.

Templars

1119

They were a large organization of devout Christians that wanted to protect European travelers visiting sites in the Holy Land while carrying out military operations. Tales of their military prowess and work on behalf of Christianity still come up in modern culture. Many of them robbed and killed as they crossed through Muslim-controlled territories.

St. Denis Cathedral

1144

Otherwise known as the Basilica of St. Denis, the cathedral is a large abbey church in the city of Saint-Denis. This architectural feature was one of the first to display the aspects of Gothic architecture. The cathedral was also a resting place for dead kings and queens of France.

The Flying Buttress

1163

The flying buttress can be described as an arch/beam structure connecting to a column. This supported the walls on a building. It was placed on the exterior, and allowed for high-ceiling churches that were common in Gothic architecture.

Notre Dame

1163

Notre Dame is a Catholic cathedral located in the fourth arrondissement of Paris, France. It is considered to be one of the best features of French Gothic architecture. It houses some of the most important Catholic Relics

The Fourth Crusade

1204

Giovanni Pisano

1250

He was a sculptor, sometimes called the only true Gothic sculptor in Italy. He began his career under the influence of his father and carried on this tradition after his father’s death. He continued reintegrating the antique style into more Northern and contemporary Gothic forms.

Marco Polo

1254

He was an Italian merchant, explorer, and writer born in the Republic of Venice. He is known for a book that describes his voyage and experiences in Asia. He traveled far with his family, traveling from Europe to Asia and then stayed in China for 17 years. He left China in 1292 acting as consort along the way to a Mongol princess that was being sent to Persia.

Abbasid Dynasty

1258

Lasted to the mongol conquest of Baghdad. The dynasty ruled the Islamic world, and caused a golden age in Islamic culture. This dynasty was one of the longest and most influential.

Giotto

1276

Giotto was an Italian painter from Florence. He worked during the period of Gothic or Proto-Renaissance. He was a great contributor to the Italian Renaissance. He created many works such as the "Ognissanti Madonna."

The Hundred Years war

1337

The hundred years war lasted from 1337 to 1453, hence the name. The conflicts were between the rulers of the Kingdom of England and the rulers of the Kingdom of France. The conflict was over the position of the french throne, because Charles IV died without a son.

The Black Plague

1347

Genoese trading ships docked in a Sicilian port, and brought the black plague with it. Most of the sailors were dead, and those that were still alive, were gravely ill. Over the next 5 years, more than 20 million people will die from the plague.

Christine de Pizan

1364

An Italian French late medieval author. Her most famous works include The Book of the City of Ladies and The Treasure of the City of Ladies. She was considered a pioneering feminist writer and one of the most notable women writers of medieval times.

Donatello

1386

He was was an Italian Renaissance sculptor from Florence. Donatello is known for creating the famous bronze doors of the Baptistry of Florence. He studied classical sculpture and used this to develop a complete Renaissance style in sculpture.

Jan van Eyck

1390

Jan van Eyck is an early Netherlandish painter active in Bruges. He is one of the founders of early painting and one of the most significant representatives of Northern Renaissance art He is credited with originating a style of painting characterised by minutely realistic depictions of surface effects and natural light.

Johan Guttenberg

1468

He was a German blacksmith, goldsmith, printer, and publisher who introduced printing to Europe. He invented the printing press and the first book to be printed was a Latin Bible. This meant that Bibles could be produced for the first time in large amounts.

Tudor Dynasty

1485

The Tudor Dynasty was made up of a bunch of Monarchs ruling from 2485 to 1603, including the most well known, Henry the VIII. The Dynasty developed into a powerful and influential state. It was the center of Protestant resistance to papal authority.