The Middle Ages

William the Conqueror

Sep 28, 1066

In January 1066 Harold Godwine was proclaimed King Harold II. William immediately disputed his claim. King Harold rallied his forces for an expected invasion by William forcing the king to leave the English Channel unprotected. In September, Tostig joined forces with King Harald III and invaded England from Scotland. On September 25, Harold met them at Stamford Bridge and defeated and killed them both. Three days later, William landed in England at Pevensey.

Paper Making

Sep 27, 1150

Papermaking reached Europe as early as 1085 in Toledo and was firmly established in Xàtiva, Spain by 1150. It is clear that France had a paper mill by 1190, and by 1276 mills were established in Fabriano, Italy and in Treviso and other northern Italian towns by 1340.

Magna Carta

Sep 28, 1215

Abuses by King John caused a revolt by nobles who compelled him to execute this recognition of rights for both noblemen and ordinary Englishmen. It established the principle that no one, including the king or a lawmaker, is above the law.

End of the Crusades

Sep 28, 1270

The last major crusade aimed at the Holy Land, and an failure that well symbolizes the end of the crusades. In the previous twenty years, the remaining crusader states had become increasingly powerless pawns while tides of Mongol and then Mameluke conquests swept across the area.

The Plague

Sep 28, 1348

Coming out of the East, the Black Death reached the shores of Italy in the spring of 1348 unleashing a rampage of death across Europe unprecedented in recorded history. By the time the epidemic played itself out three years later, anywhere between 25% and 50% of Europe's population had fallen victim to the pestilence

Robin Hood

Sep 28, 1378

The first clear reference to "rhymes of Robin Hood" is from the 1377 poem Piers Plowman, but the earliest surviving copies of the narrative ballads that tell his story date to the second half of 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, are already clear.

The Canterbury Tales

Sep 28, 1387

Geoffrey Chaucer wrote The Canterbury Tales, a collection of stories in a frame story, between 1387 and 1400. It is the story of a group of thirty people who travel as pilgrims to Canterbury (England). The pilgrims, who come from all layers of society, tell stories to each other to kill time while they travel to Canterbury.

War of the Roses

Sep 28, 1455

On May 22, 1455, York met Henry’s forces at St. Albans while on the northern road to the capital. The bloody encounter lasted less than an hour, and the Yorkists carried the day. The duke of Somerset, Margaret’s great ally, was killed, and Henry was captured by the Yorkists.

Le Morte d’Arthur

Sep 28, 1485

Le Morte d'Arthur was first published in 1485 by William Caxton, and is today perhaps the best-known work of Arthurian literature in English. Many modern Arthurian writers have used Malory as their principal source, including T. H. White in his popular The Once and Future King and Tennyson in The Idylls of the King.

Henry VII is crowned

Sep 28, 1485

Henry VII, crowned king in 1485, was the first ruler from the Tudor line. During the later part of the Wars of the Roses (1471 - 1485), Henry lived in Northwest France in the Duchy of Brittany. After the deaths of Henry VI and his son Edward, Henry through his mother's ancestry became the head of the House of Lancaster.