| 350-399 |
| 344- Picts and Irish begin raiding Brittania; Irish
christened "Scotti" by Romans 350- The British general Magnentius revolts and becomes acknowledged emperor throughout most of the western Roman Empire. 360- The Picts and Scots cross Hadrian’s Wall and attack Roman Britain 375- Fochaid Mugmedon becomes King of Midhe 375- Ogham alphabet introduced back into Ireland from colonies 385- The Roman Empire is split into east and west. 391- The library of Alexandria, is destroyed by fire. |
| 400-499 |
| 400- Old Scots colonise Pictish lands around
Strathclyde in Caledonia. 401- The Visigoths begin to attack the northernmost reaches of Italy 407- Roman legions leave Britain Saxons become rulers of the British Isles. 410- The Huns attack the Roman Empire and sack Rome. The Huns introduce pants to the Roman Empire, which replace traditional togas. 449- The Angles and Saxons conquer Britain. 455- The Vandals sack Rome. 476- The western Roman Empire ends. 480- The Visigoths, whose capital is located in Toulouse, extend their dominion from the Loire River to Gibraltar. |
| 500-599 |
| -- Disease, war, famine, and natural disasters make life in sixth century Europe difficult at best. 507-The Franks, defeat the Visigoths at the Battle of Vouille. 525 - Dionysius Exiguus records in his Easter Tables Jesus' birthday as December 25, 753 years after Rome was founded. The error, an incorrect year and date, is repeated in all Christian calendars. 541- The Great Plague of Justinian (a bubonic plague) ravages eastern and western Europe 552- Emperor Justinian initiates Europe's silk industry by sending missionaries to smuggle silkworms out of China and Ceylon. c.590- The Visigoths are converted from paganism to Christianity. 590- Pope Gregory I (the Great) begins a papacy that will be known for the reform and discipline it brings to parts of Europe. |
| 600-699 |
| 602- Augustine establishes the archiepiscopal city of Canterbury and is made first archbishop. 629- Mohammed returns to Mecca with the Koran (recitation), the holy book of Islam, which records the religion's principles. 680- At the Battle of Kerbela in the forces of Caliph Yazid defeat the armies of Hassan, grandson of the Mohammed, who is killed. 695- The first Arab coins are minted. 699- The Anglo-Saxon epic poem Beowulf is probably finished. |
| 700-799 |
| 708- Tea becomes a popular beverage among the Chinese 731- The Anglo-Saxon scholar monk, Bede, writes his Ecclesiastical History of the English People. 732- At the Battle of Tours, Frankish forces check the Muslim advance into Europe north of the Pyrenees Mountains. -- A three-field system of crop rotation begins to be practiced in western Europe. -- The use of horseshoes in western Europe becomes common 778- Basque forces decimate Charlemagne's rear guard in the Pyrenees. The massacre inspires the later epic The Song of Roland. 793- The first recorded appearance of the Vikings comes from the island of Lindisfarne, Scotland. 796- Offa, King of Mercia, extends his power throughout southern England. |
| 800-899 |
| 800- On Christmas Day, Charlemagne is crowned Emperor of the western Roman Empire. 809- Harun al-Rashid, an Abbasid caliph who will be memorialized in Arabian Nights, dies. 814- Charlemagne dies of pleurisy. 850- Arab scientists perfect the astrolabe, an instrument that facilitates the observation of celestial bodies. -- Yiddish begins to develop as Jews in German states begin combining German, Hebrew, and other languages. 861- Vikings attack the towns of Paris, Cologne, Aix-la-Chapelle, Worms, and Toulouse. 863- The Macedonian missionaries Cyril and Methodius invent the Cyrillic alphabet. 868- The Diamond Sutra becomes the world's first printed book when it is produced in China. 896- England's Alfred the Great ends the threat of the Danes, who return to the mainland or settle in Northumbria and East Anglia. 899- Alfred the Great dies after forcing the Danes to withdraw from his realm, consolidating English power, compiling laws, and encouraging learning. His son, Edward, succeeds him. |
| 900-999 |
| 900- The Norse explorer Gunbjorn discovers Greenland after he is blown off course during a trip from Norway to Iceland. 900- Rhazes, chief physician of a Baghdad hospital, makes the first distinction between measles and smallpox, establishing criteria to diagnose smallpox that will be used until the 18th century. 950- Europe's intellectual center is located in Córdoba, Spain. The Muslim city contains libraries, medical schools, and a paper trade. 957- Edgar, the first King of England, ascends the throne. 969- Shiite Muslims found the city of Cairo, Egypt. 975- Arabs introduce modern arithmetical notation to Europeans. 981- Eric the Red leads an expedition of 700 people to Greenland. Only 14 of the 25 ships make it. 986- Viking Leif Ericson lands in the Western Hemisphere while attempting to sail from Greenland to Norway. He calls this new land, which was the coast of Newfoundland or Nova Scotia, Vinland. 995- Olaf I Tryggvesson of Norway, who with the assistance of English monks Christianized Norway, Iceland, and Greenland, dies fighting the forces of the Danish and Swedish Kings. With his death, the Danes conquer and rule Norway. 999- Fear of the end of the world seizes eastern and western Europeans, who are astonished when Judgment Day does not arrive at the end of the year. |
| 1000-1009 |
| -- The passing of the millennium without incident encourages European Christians to build churches, thanking God for the postponement of
Judgment Day. -- The iron plow replaces its wooden cousin in northern Europe, encouraging more efficient farming, which yields greater food supplies. 1009- The Fatimid caliph of Egypt, al-Hakim, destroys the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, encouraging Europeans to recover the Holy Land. However, Europeans don't mobilize until 1095. 1012- The Viking King, Sweyn Forkbeard, attacks the English and exacts tribute from them in retaliation for Ethelred II's massacre of Danish settlers the previous year. |
| 1010-1019 |
| 1013- The Danes conquer England, compelling the Anglo-Saxon
monarch, Ethelred II, to seek refuge in Normandy. 1015- The Norwegian King, Olaf II, establishes his state's independence from Norway and begins to re-Christianize his Kingdom. 1016- In England, Canute assumes control of Wessex as he prepares to engage Edmund Ironside, son of Ethelred II, in battle. |
| 1020-1029 |
| 1025- Guido d'Arezzo, a Benedictine monk, introduces solmization, the practice of sol-faing (singing doh, ray, mi, fah, sol, lah, te), to
music, and invents the great scale (gamut), the hexachord, and hexachord solmization.. 1028- Canute conquers Norway and rules it-along with Denmark and England-until he dies in 1035. -- Eiga, a Japanese literary work that discusses 200 years (and 15 Emperors) of Japan's history, is written. |
| 1030-1039 |
| -- The Arab physician Avicenna (Abu Sina) writes his Canon of Medicine, which is based on the ideas of Aristotle and Galen and influences medical thinking for centuries to come. |
| 1040-1049 |
| 1047- Scottish ruler Duncan Canmore is slain by his nobles, who invite Macbeth, King of Inverness, to succeed Duncan. Macbeth accepts. -- Pi Sheng, a Chinese printer, begins using movable type of hundreds of clay blocks containing Chinese ideograms for printing. -- King Edward the Confessor of England is crowned on Easter Day. |
| 1050-1059 |
| 1054- A minor star in the constellation of Taurus explodes in a supernova that can be seen for 23 days and 633 nights. The irregular gas cloud
the supernova creates is referred to as the Crab Nebula. 1057- Malcolm Canmore, son of Duncan, beats Macbeth, ruler of Scotland, at Dunsinane. 1057- A naked (and longhaired) Lady Godiva rides through the streets of Coventry in an attempt to persuade her husband, Leofric, earl of Mercia, to stop levying heavy taxes on the population. 1057- Malcolm Canmore murders Macbeth, who is succeeded by his stepson Lulach. |
| 1060-1069 |
| 1065- After 13 years of building, Westminister Abbey is consecrated. 1066- September 25, at the Battle of Stamford Bridge, the army of Harold II of England defeats Harald III and his men, who have invaded England. 1066- On October 14, the Normans, led by William the Bastard (hereafter known as the Conqueror), defeat the battle-weary forces of Harold II at the Battle of Hastings and conquer England. 1066- The comet that will ultimately be named after English astronomer Edmund Halley appears in the sky. 1072- In northern and western England, Saxons challenge William the Conqueror and his Norman barons. He crushes the uprising and confiscates Saxon lands, incorporating them into a hierarchical feudal system headed by the King. |
| 1070-1079 |
|
--
Byzantine power in Asia Minor comes to an end when the armies of the Turkish sultan, Alp Arslan, defeat the forces of Romanus IV
Diogenes at the Battle of Manzikert. -- A two-pronged fork is introduced to Venice by a Byzantine princess who had married a doge. Rich Venetians follow suit. -- Gregory VII compiles the Dictatus Papae, a collection of canons supporting the power of the papacy. |
| 1080-1089 |
| -- In Salerno, Italy, a medical school that draws on the knowledge from Greek, Latin, Jewish, and Arabic texts begins to thrive. -- The Oath of Salisbury makes vassals responsible directly to the English King. 1085- In England, King William the Conqueror orders that a Domesday Book, a list of assets of landowning people, be compiled for purposes of taxation and administration. --The idea of the magnetic compass is born when Chinese waterworks director, Shen Kua, notes that direction can be found by rubbing a needle on a lodestone and hanging it by a thread; the needle usually-though not always-points south. |
| 1090-1099 |
| 1094- Pope Urban II receives a request for aid against the threatening Seljuk Turks from Byzantine Emperor Alexius Comnenus. 1095- Pope Urban II calls for a crusade to take back the Holy Land from the Muslims who now occupy it. Urban's invitation receives an enthusiastic response. 1096- Crusaders attack communities of Jews as they make their way toward the Holy Land. 1096- Those participating in the First Crusade reach Constantinople, the capital city of the Byzantine Empire. Emperor Alexius Comnenus provides food and passage for the armed pilgrims. 1097- A combined force of western and eastern European Crusaders defeat a Muslim army at Nicaea, taking the capital of the Seljuk Turks. 1099- After a one-month siege, Jerusalem falls into Crusader hands. Godfrey Bouillon, who is elected King and assumes the title Defender of the Holy Sepulchre, establishes the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem. 1099- The Order of the Knights of St. John is established in Jerusalem to care for the hospital of St. John. They gradually become militarized in the coming centuries, assuming a combat role. |
| 1100-1109 |
| -- The English language continues to develop, as Middle English begins to supercede Old English. 1101- Having just returned from the First Crusade, Robert Curthose invades England, attempting to take the throne from his brother, Henry I. |
| 1110-1119 |
| 1110- Henry V invades Italy and negotiates with Pope Paschal II. |
| 1120-1129 |
| 1120- Anglo-Saxon scientist Welcher of Malvern pioneers the measurement of the earth in degrees, minutes, and seconds of latitude
and longitude. 1120- Hugh de Pajens establishes the Order of the Knights Templars in Jerusalem for the purpose of protecting pilgrims. These warrior monks are armed and take vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. 1128- Pope Honorius II recognizes and confirms the Order of the Knights Templars. |
| 1140-1149 |
| 1145- Cistercian monk Bernard of Clairvaux preaches the Second Crusade at the church of Vézelay. 1147- Louis VII of France and Conrad III of Germany lead hundreds of thousands of men on the Second Crusade, which has little organization and achieves nothing. 1149- People returning from the disastrous Second Crusade bring back sugar, and some Europeans begin to favor it over honey. |
| 1150-1159 |
| -- Chinese seamen and caravan leaders employ crude magnetic compasses to navigate their journeys. -- The foundation of the University of Paris is laid. -- The music of the troubadours becomes popular in southern France. 1154- King Stephen of England dies, and Henry Plantagenet succeeds him, becoming Henry II of England. |
| 1160-1169 |
| -- England's Henry II and France's Louis VII come to terms, but minor skirmishes between the two powers continue to occur. 1160- Arab forces successfully expel the Normans from North Africa. 1167- The first classes at Oxford University take place. |
| 1170-1179 |
| -- Japan's first recorded ritual suicide occurs when a feudal warrior slashes his stomach and commits seppuku. 1173- King Henry II of EnglandHenry's sons, Henry, Richard, and Geoffrey lead a revolt against their father, but theHouse of Commons remains faithful. 1174- Architect Bonnano Pisano builds a 177-foot bell tower (campanile) that will eventually come to be known as the Leaning Tower of Pisa. |
| 1180-1189 |
| -- Shoguns (generals) assume power in Japan, rendering Emperors puppets. 1187- Sultan Saladin destroys a small group of Knights Hospitalers and Templars, crushes a Christian army at the Battle of Hittin, and takes Jerusalem in retaliation for an attack on a caravan. 1189- Henry II, dies. His son, Richard the Lionheart (Coeur de Lion), succeeds him. Although King for 10 years, Richard spends only one in England. 1189- The Third Crusade begins with the Holy Roman Emperor, Frederick Barbarossa, in the lead. |
| 1190-1199 |
| 1192- Treacherous guides lead the pilgrims of the Third Crusade into the desert, where famine, plague, and desertions decimate the
population. England's King, Richard I Lionheart, makes a truce with Saladin and is captured on the journey home. 1193- Leopold of Austria surrenders King Richard I of England to Holy Roman Emperor Henry VI . Henry is angry about the help the Plantagenets have given to his rival, Henry the Lion. He demands 130,000 marks as ransom. 1194- The first installment of the King's ransom is paid to Holy Roman Emperor Henry VIin , and Richard I of England returns home. 1198- Germans planning for a new Crusade establish The Order of the Knights of the Hospital of St. Mary of the Teutons in Jerusalem (Teutonic Knights) in . Only Germans may be members, and knighthood is reserved for nobles. 1199- Richard I Lionheart of England is killed during a dispute over a treasure trove in France. Richard's brother, John I, becomes King of England. -- Venice is the commercial capital of Europe. |
| 1200-1209 |
| 1202- People who have gathered at Venice at the behest of Pope Innocent III for the Fourth Crusade cannot raise 85,000 marks to pay
the Venetians who will transport them. 1202- Europe begin to learn about Arabic numerals and the zero from the Liber Abaci, written by the Italian Leonardo Fibonacci. -- Jesters begin to appear in European courts. 1203- A brewing industry develops at Hamburg and in the Lowlands. 1204- Crusaders savagely attack the city of Constantinople. Emperor Alexius V Ducas flees, a Latin empire is established in the city, and the East/West schism of 1054 is made final. |
| 1210-1219 |
| 1211- Ghengis Khan invades China. 1212- Led by two young boys, the Children's Crusade sets off for the Holy Land and ends in disaster when many of the children become lost and/or are sold into slavery. 1215- King John I of England is forced to sign at Runnymede the Magna Carta, a charter that limits the power and privilege of the English monarchy in favor of the English barons. 1216- The Dominican order-or Order of Preachers-is founded by Dominic de Guzman, a Spanish priest. 1216- Genghis Khan and his Mongol horsemen invade the Near East, taking many lives and destroying ancient centers of civilization. 1217- Cambridge University is founded. 1217- Pope Innocent III calls for a Fifth Crusade at the Fourth Lateran Council. 1218- Genghis Khan conquers Persia. 1219- Japan's Minamoto shogunate ends. Power transfers into the hands of the Hojo family, where it will remain until 1333. |
| 1220-1229 |
| 1222- Mongol leader Genghis Khan invades Russia,
making his first appearance in Europe. 1223- Europeans witness firsthand the power of the Mongol warriors when the Mongols, led by Subutai, defeat a Russian army at the Battle of the Kalka River. 1224- Yaqut ibn 'Abdullah (Abdullah ur-Ruml), a Greek Muslim geographer, completes the Geographical Dictionary. -- Cotton begins to be manufactured in Spain and becomes a competitor of wool and linen. 1226- St. Francis of Assisi, founder of the Franciscan order dies on October 3. Pope Gregory IX canonizes him two years later. 1227- Genghis Khan dies. 1228- The Sixth Crusade is launched, led by excommunicated Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II. 1229- Frederick II signs a treaty with Sultan Malik-al-Kamil. Kamil surrenders Bethlehem, Nazareth, Jerusalem, and a corridor to the port city of Acre. Frederick crowns himself King of Jerusalem in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. |
| 1230-1239 |
|
1231- Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II founds a medical school in Salerno,Italy. 1233- Gregory IX establishes the Inquisition and employs Dominican friars to staff the office. 1233- A Japanese royal family begins to practice a custom of staining teeth black-ohaguro-which soon becomes a sign of beauty in Japanese culture. -- Pope Gregory IX canonizes Dominic, founder of the Dominican order. -- Surgeons at the medical school in Salerno, Italy, begin to dissect human bodies. 1235- Frederick II commissions Michael Scot to translate into Latin the works of the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle. 1236- Theodoric of Lucca, a Dominican friar, pioneers the use of anesthesia, sponges soaked in narcotics. |
| 1240-1249 |
| 1241- Pope Gregory IX dies. 1244- Mercenaries hired by the Egyptian pasha Khwarazmi recapture Jerusalem. Although his success will inspire a Seventh Crusade, Jerusalem will remain under Egyptian control until 1517. 1247-St. Mary of Bethlehem Hospital for the insane opens in England. Suggesting what the conditions of the hospital were like, the modern word bedlam is derived from its name. 1247- In York, England, a tombstone identifies Robert, earl of Huntington, as Robin Hood. Robert died in December . 1248- Led by the King of France, Louis IX, the Seventh Crusade invades Egypt in and takes the city of Damietta. 1249- Count Willem II of the Netherlands builds a castle in The Hague, establishing the city as the seat of Dutch government. -- Roger Bacon, a Franciscan friar, advocates making science part of the curriculum at Oxford University, maintaining that science complements, not opposes, religion. |
| 1250-1259 |
| 1250- At the Battle of Fariskur, Egyptian forces defeat the scurvy-weakened army of the Seventh Crusade. King Louis IX of
France is captured by the Egyptian caliph but is released once he promises to evacuate Damietta and pay a ransom of 800,000 gold
pieces. 1250- Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II dies and is succeeded by his son, who will reign as Conrad IV. -- Crusaders introduce the decimal system into Europe. -- Crusaders introduce spices such as cinnamon, cloves, coriander, cumin, cubebs, ginger, mace, and nutmeg to Europe. Often they are valued more for their medicinal value than for their flavor. 1256- Kublai Khan's brother, Hulegu, destroys Persia's Assassins, ends the caliphate, and begins a nine-year reign. 1259- While repelling a Mongol invasion with bullets shot through bamboo tubes, China's Sung armies pioneer the use of firearms. |
| 1260-1269 |
| 1260- Kublai Khan, grandson of Genghis Khan, establishes China's Yuan Dynasty. 1260- The great Gothic cathedral of Notre Dame of Chartres, one of the most sublime creations of the Middle Ages, is consecrated. 1261- The Latin Empire, founded in Constantinople, falls when a Greek army drives the Latin King, Baldwin II, from the city. The Palaeologan family takes power and restores Byzantine control of the city. -- Roger Bacon, a scientist at Oxford University, draws plans for the magnetic needle and reading glasses. |
| 1270-1279 |
|
1270- France's Louis IX leads the Eighth Crusade but dies of plague enroute. Heat and disease decimate the Crusader army. Louis is
succeeded by his son, Philip III. 1271- Marco Polo-along with his father, Niccolo, and uncle Matteo- begin a journey to India and the Far East in. 1274- China's Kublai Khan dispatches an army to invade Japan. Mongols enjoy some initial successes but suffer a major setback when a typhoon sinks 200 ships and 13,000 men drown. Terrified survivors retreat to the mainland. 1274- Marco Polo witnesses the Tatars eating chopped raw beef, mutton, buffalo, poultry, and other flesh that has been seasoned with garlic. |
| 1280-1289 |
| 1281- Kublai Khan launches a second invasion of Japan and -as in 1274 - a typhoon destroys most of the invasion fleet. The Japanese
begin to call typhoons kamikaze- divine winds. 1284- The first silver ducats are coined in Venice, which is busily trading with the East. -- Romans begin to consume ravioli. |
| 1290-1299 |
| -- The Ottoman Empire, is established in the Islamic principality of Bithynia by Osman (a.k.a. Othman) al-Ghazi, chief of
the Seljuk Turks. 1290- Scotland is left without a monarch when its child queen, Margaret, dies at the age of seven under suspicious circumstances. -- Venetians develop the great galley, which facilitates trade by enduring long voyages and accommodating large cargoes. 1295- Marco Polo returns to Venice, bringing with him, among other things, spices and eastern cooking customs. 1297- William Wallace (a.k.a. Braveheart), Scottish patriot, launches a series of attacks on English troops as he fights for Scottish self-determination. 1298- At the Battle of Falkirk, English archers prevail over Scottish forces led by William Wallace. The longbow serves the English well in a fight against enemies armed with swords and spears. 1298- Textile production is revolutionized with the invention of the spinning wheel. |
| 1300-1309 |
| 1300- Arnaldus de Villa Nova (a.k.a. Arnaud de Villeneuve), a professor of medicine, distills the first brandy at Montpellier's medical school. 1305- Scottish patriot William Wallace (a.k.a. Braveheart) is captured and brought to London to stand trial for treason. He is found guilty, hanged, and his corpse is drawn and quartered. 1306- The Knights of St. John of Jerusalem, purchases the island of Rhodes. The order remains there until 1522. 1307- Philip the Fair of France seizes the phenomenal wealth of the Knights Templar, justifying his actions with falsified charges against the military order. 1307- The Italian poet Dante Alighieri begins The Divine Comedy, a complex poem of an imaginary journey through Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise. |
| 1310-1319 |
| 1324- At the Battle of Bannockburn, Robert the Bruce and his army achieve the independence of Scotland when they rout Edward II's
forces and take the Stirling Castle, the last Scottish castle in English hands. 1314- Under pressure from Philip the Fair, Jacques de Molay, the Grand Master of France's Knights Templar, is charged with heresy. He is convicted and burned at the stake. 1315- Mondino de Luzzi, an Italian surgeon, oversees the first public, systematic dissection of a corpse. Luzzi's Anatomia will be the first manual founded on practical dissection. 1315-1318 - Famine plagues many areas of Europe. 1317- In an attempt to prevent women or men descended from the female line from succeeding to the French throne, France adopts the Salic Law. |
| 1320-1329 |
| 1320- The paper industry that is developing in Mainz, Germany, will lead to the production of paper money in Europe. |
| 1330-1339 |
| -- In China, starvation weakens the population, making it susceptible to a form of the bubonic plague that gradually spreads westward during the
next 15 years. 1337- The Hundred Years War between France and England begins when the French King challenges England's right to several French territories, and the English King challenges the legitimacy of the Valois line. |
| 1340-1349 |
| -- People returning to Europe from China bring fleas carrying the bubonic plague. -- French surgeon Guy de Chauliac writes his Inventorius sive Collectorium Partis Chirurgicalis Medicinae, which discusses treatment of fractures with slings and weights, operations on hernias and cataracts, and excisions of superficial growths. -- The Dialogues of William of Occam lays the foundation for modern theories on separation of church and state. 1346- England's military power is well established during the Battle of Crécy when Edward III's army - which contains 10,000 longbowmen, crushes France's cavalry near Abbeville in August. 1348- The Black Death or bubonic plague, devastates Europe in what is perhaps the greatest crisis the Continent will ever face. When this wave is over, one third of the entire European population will die. England's misery during the plague is intensified in 1348 when the island experiences its third cold and wet summer in a row. Crop yield is poor and food is short, making people more vulnerable to disease. |
| Sources:
www.thehistorychannel.com www.ehistory.com |