The Middle Ages

William the Conqueror invades England

Sep 28, 1066

William built a large fleet and invaded England in September 1066, decisively defeating and killing Harold at the Battle of Hastings on 14 October 1066.

Paper is first mass-produced in Spain

Sep 27, 1150

The Muslim conquest of Spain brought papermaking into Europe. The English word "ream" (meaning 500 sheets) is derived through Spanish and French from the Arabic word rizmah that translates as "a bundle". Both Spain and Italy claim to be the first to manufacture paper in Europe.

Magna Carta

Sep 28, 1215

is a charter agreed to by King John of England at Runnymede, near Windsor, on 15 June 1215

The end crusades

Sep 28, 1270

after two centuries the old crusading enthusiasm died out, the old ideal of the crusade as "the way of God" lost its spell. Men had begun to think less of winning future salvation by visits to distant shrines and to think more of their present duties to the world about them. They came to believe that Jerusalem could best be won as Christ and the Apostles had won it "by love, by prayers, and by the shedding of tears."

The plague

Sep 28, 1348

an epidemic of bubonic plague, a disease caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis that circulates among wild rodents where they live in great numbers and density.

First Appearance of Robin Hood in literature

Sep 28, 1378

Robin Hood is a heroic outlaw in English folklore who, according to legend, was a highly skilled archer and swordsman. Traditionally depicted as being dressed in Lincoln green, he is often portrayed as "robbing from the rich and giving to the poor" alongside his band of Merry Men. Robin Hood became a popular folk figure in the late-medieval period, and continues to be widely represented in literature, films and television.

Chaucer writes The Canterbury Tales

Sep 28, 1387

The Canterbury Tales is a collection of 24 stories that runs to over 17,000 lines written in Middle English by Geoffrey Chaucer. In 1386, Chaucer became Controller of Customs and Justice of Peace and, three years later, Clerk of the King's work in 1389. It was during these years that Chaucer began working on his most famous text, The Canterbury Tales.

War of the Roses

Period: Sep 28, 1455 to Sep 29, 1485

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

Le Morte d'arthur

Sep 28, 1485

is a reworking of traditional tales by Sir Thomas Malory about the legendary King Arthur

First Tudor king, Henry VII, is crowned

Sep 28, 1485

was King of England after seizing the crown on 22 August 1485 until his death, the first monarch of the House of Tudor.