The Middle Ages

William the Conqueror invades England

Sep 28, 1066

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

Aug 28, 1150

First papermill established in Spain at Xativa. El-Edrisi said of the Spanish city of Xátiva: "Paper cannot be found anywhere else in the civilized world, and is sent to the East and to the West." Early paper was at first disfavored by the Christian world as a manifestation of Moslem culture, and a 1221 decree from Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II declared all official documents written on paper to be invalid.

Magna Carta

Aug 29, 1215

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

Aug 29, 1270

The European Christians woul have succeded had they not lost faith in the movement. But after two centuries the old crusading enthusiasm died out. 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.

The Plague

Aug 29, 1348

In the early 1330s an outbreak of deadly bubonic plague occurred in China, Since China was one of the busiest of the world's trading nations, it was only a matter of time before the outbreak of plague in China spread to western Asia and Europe. In October of 1347, several Italian merchant ships returned from a trip to the Black Sea, when the ships docked in Sicily, many of those on board were already dying of plague. Within days the disease spread to the city and the surrounding countryside.

First appearance of Robin Hood in literature

Aug 29, 1378

Robin Hood was an outlaw who reputedly lived in the area of Sherwood Forest (although some accounts dispute this and place him further afield). Alongside his band of fellow outlaws, some nearly as famous as he, folk tales saw him robbing the rich (often in the form of stealing tax money) and giving to the poor (e.g. returning said tax money to the people who paid it in the first place).

Chaucer writes The Canterbury Tales

Aug 29, 1387

The Canterbury Tales is a collection of over 20 stories written in Middle English by Geoffrey Chaucer at the end of the 14th century, during the time of the Hundred Years' War. 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 prize for this contest is a free meal when they return.

War of the Roses

Aug 29, 1455

The Wars of the Roses were a series of civil wars fought in medieval England from 1455 to 1487 between the House of Lancaster and the House of York. The name Wars of the Roses is based on the badges used by the two sides, the red rose for the Lancastrians and the white rose for the Yorkists.

First Tudor king, Henry VII, is crowned

Aug 29, 1485

His claim to the English throne was tenuous at best. His father was a Welshman of Welsh royal lineage, what was important though was his heritage through his mother, a descendant of Edward III. This descent from King Edward was through his third son, John of Gaunt. John's third wife, Katherine, she bore him many children and only a few were legitmized.

First printing of Le Morte d’Arthur

Aug 29, 1485

Le Morte d'Arthur is a compilation by Sir Thomas Malory of romance-era tales about the legendary King Arthur, Guinevere, Lancelot, and the Knights of the Round Table. Malory interprets existing French and English stories about these figures and adds original material (the Gareth story).