Top Ten Events of the Middle Ages

By Tiline
  • 1066

    The battle of Hastings and the Norman conquest

    The battle of Hastings and the Norman conquest
    The Norman conquest of 1066 marked a dramatic and irreversible turning point in English history.
  • 1085

    The Domesday Book is completed

    The Domesday Book is completed
    The Domesday Book is England’s earliest surviving public record, unsurpassed in-depth and detail until introducing censuses in the 19th century.
  • 1095

    The First Crusade is decreed

    The First Crusade is decreed
    Pope Urban II’s official call for “holy war” in 1095 heralded the beginning of centuries of religious conflict.
  • 1170

    Thomas Becket is murdered

    Thomas Becket is murdered
    Thomas Becket was very close to the king, but they would fight a lot. This ended in the knights taking action and killing Thomas Becket, thinking that's what the king wanted. They made a tomb for his death
  • 1215

    Magna Carta is signed

    Magna Carta is signed
    Sealed by King John at Runnymede on 15 June 1215, Magna Carta (meaning ‘great charter’) has become one of the founding documents of the English legal system.
  • 1314

    The battle of Bannock burn

    The battle of Bannock burn
    The battle of Bannockburn saw Scottish leader Robert the Bruce take on the English king Edward II in a pivotal conflict in Scotland’s fight for independence.
  • 1348

    The Black Death comes to Britain

    The Black Death comes to Britain
    The summer of 1348 saw the first outbreak of the bubonic plague in England, leading to an epidemic of huge proportions.
  • 1381

    The Peasants’ Revolt

    The Peasants’ Revolt
    The first large-scale uprising in English history, the Peasants’ Revolt of 1381 threatened to overturn the existing social structure and undermine the country’s ruling elite.
  • 1415

    Henry V defeats the French at Agincourt

    Henry V defeats the French at Agincourt
    Soon after becoming king of England in 1413, the ambitious young Henry V turned his attention to expanding his realm
  • 1485

    Richard III is defeated at the battle of Bosworth

    Richard III is defeated at the battle of Bosworth
    The last significant clash of the Wars of the Roses. Lancastrian Henry Tudor defeats Richard III for the English throne.