Middle Ages

William the Conqueror invades England

Sep 25, 1066

Usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard,was the first Norman King of England, reigning from 1066 until his death in 1087.

Paper is first mass-produced in Spain

Sep 25, 1150

Papermaking and manufacturing in Europe was started by Muslims living on the Iberian Peninsula, (today's Portugal and Spain) and Sicily in the 10th century, and slowly spread to Italy and Southern France reaching Germany by 1400

Magna Carta

Sep 25, 1215

Magna Carta, also called Magna Carta Libertatum (Latin for "the Great Charter of the Liberties"), is a charter agreed by King John of England at Runnymede, near Windsor, on 15 June 1215.

End of the Crusades

Sep 25, 1275

The Crusades were military campaigns sanctioned by the Catholic Church in the Middle Ages. In 1095 Byzantine Emperor Alexios I, in Constantinople, sent an ambassador to Pope Urban II in Italy pleading for military help against the growing Turkish threat. The Pope responded promptly by calling Christian soldiers to join the First Crusade.

The Plague

Sep 25, 1348

The Black Death was one of the most devastating pandemics in human history, resulting in the deaths of an estimated 75 to 200 million people and peaking in Europe in the years 1346–53.

First appearance of Robin Hood in literature

Sep 25, 1378

The first clear reference to "rhymes of Robin Hood" is from Line 5396 of the late-14th-century poem Piers Plowman, but the earliest surviving copies of the narrative ballads that tell his story date to the 15th century, or the first decade of the 16th century. In these early accounts, Robin Hood's partisanship of the lower classes, his Marianism and associated special regard for women, his outstanding skill as an archer, his anti-clericalism, and his animosity towards the Sheriff of Nottingham.

Chaucer writes The Canterbury Tales

Sep 25, 1387

The Canterbury Tales is a collection of over 20 stories written in Middle English by Geoffrey Chaucer. 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.

The War of the Roses

Sep 25, 1455

The Wars of the Roses were a series of dynastic wars for the throne of England. They were fought between supporters of two rival branches of the royal House of Plantagenet, the houses of Lancaster and York.

First printing of Le Morte d’Arthur

Sep 25, 1485

Is a compilation by Sir Thomas Malory of traditional tales about the legendary King Arthur, Guinevere, Lancelot, and the Knights of the Round Table.

First Tudor king, Henry VII, is crowned

Sep 25, 1485

Tudur was King of England, ruled the Principality of Wales until 29 November 148 and Lord of Ireland from his seizing the crown on 22 August 1485 until his death on 21 April 1509, as the first monarch of the House of Tudor.