The Middle Ages

By vanessa.potts
  • Sep 24, 1066

    William the Conqueror invades England

    Claiming his right to the English throne, William, duke of Normandy, invades England at Pevensey on Britain's southeast coast. His defeat of King Harold II at the Battle of Hastings marked the beginning of a new era in British history.
  • Sep 24, 1150

    Paper is first mass-produced in Spain

    Papermaking and manufacturing in Europe was started by Muslims living on the Iberian Peninsula. Other paper-like materials were in use including papyrus, parchment, palm leaves and vellum,
  • Jun 15, 1215

    Magna Carta

    Also called Magna Carta Libertatum is a charter agreed by King John of England at Runnymede. First drafted to make peace between the unpopular King and a group of rebel barons, it promised the protection of church rights, protection for the barons from illegal imprisonment, access to swift justice, and limitations on feudal payments to the Crown, to be implemented through a council of 25 barons
  • Sep 24, 1270

    End of the Crusades

    Military campaigns sanctioned by the Catholic Church in the Middle Ages. The Pope called Christian soldiers to join the First Crusade. The immediate goal was to guarantee pilgrims access to the Christian holy sites in the Holy Land under Muslim control
  • Sep 25, 1348

    The Plague

    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.
  • Sep 24, 1378

    First appearance of Robin Hood in literature

    Robin Hood is a heroic outlaw in English folklore who, according to legend, was a highly skilled archer and swordsman. He is often portrayed as "robbing from the rich and giving to the poor" alongside his band of Merry Men.
  • Sep 24, 1387

    Chaucer writes The Canterbury Tales

    A collection of 24 stories written by 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.
  • Sep 25, 1455

    War of the Roses

    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. They were fought in several sporadic episodes between 1455 and 1487.
  • Aug 22, 1485

    First Tudor king, Henry VII, is crowned

    Henry won the throne when his forces defeated the forces of Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth Field, the culmination of the Wars of the Roses. Henry was the last king of England to win his throne on the field of battle.
  • Sep 24, 1485

    First printing of Le Morte d’Arthur Political and Social Events

    Means “the death of Arthur," it is a compilation by Sir Thomas Malory of traditional tales about the legendary King Arthur, Guinevere, Lancelot, and the Knights of the Round Table