Middle Ages timeline: what happened from 500 to 1450?
Nearly a thousand years of kingdoms and caliphates, crusades and cathedrals, plague and printing, from the fall of Rome to the eve of the Renaissance.
151 events, oldest first.
Timeline of The Middle Ages
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525
The AD system of counting years is devised
Dionysius Exiguus devised it to calculate Easter - and left out a year zero.
Medieval history
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529
Justinian publishes his law code
His Code became the basis of law in much of continental Europe.
Medieval history
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AD 537
Hagia Sophia is completed
It was the world's largest cathedral for nearly a thousand years.
Medieval history
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541
The Plague of Justinian strikes
It was the first recorded outbreak of bubonic plague in Europe.
Medieval history
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578
Kongō Gumi, the world's oldest company, is founded
The Japanese temple builder operated independently for more than 1,400 years before being absorbed in 2006.
Food & brand history
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597
Augustine arrives in England as a missionary
He became the first Archbishop of Canterbury.
Medieval history
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618
The Tang dynasty begins in China
Its capital, Chang'an, was probably the largest city in the world at the time.
Medieval history
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AD 622
Muhammad's journey from Mecca to Medina
The Hijra marks year one of the Islamic calendar.
Medieval history
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c. 625
The Sutton Hoo ship burial takes place
The ship was dragged up from the river and buried with its king's treasures.
Medieval history
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645
Xuanzang returns from his journey to India
The monk's travels later inspired the classic novel Journey to the West.
History of exploration
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691
The Dome of the Rock is completed
It is the oldest major Islamic monument still standing.
Medieval history
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705
The oldest hotel still running opens in Japan
Nishiyama Onsen Keiunkan has been run by the same family for over 50 generations.
Food & brand history
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710
Nara becomes Japan's capital
Nara's Todai-ji temple houses a giant bronze Buddha.
Medieval history
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c. 715
The Lindisfarne Gospels are created
They were made by a single monk, thought to be Bishop Eadfrith.
Medieval history
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731
Bede completes his history of England
Bede helped popularise dating years from the birth of Christ.
Medieval history
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732
Charles Martel wins the Battle of Tours
His victory halted the Umayyad advance into France.
Medieval history
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751
The Battle of Talas
Legend says Chinese prisoners taken there spread papermaking westward.
Medieval history
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762
Baghdad is founded
It was laid out as a perfectly round city.
Medieval history
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c. 785
Offa's Dyke is built
The earthwork ran for much of the border between England and Wales.
Medieval history
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785
Work begins on the Great Mosque of Córdoba
Its forest of red-and-white arches rests on more than 850 columns.
Medieval history
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786
Harun al-Rashid becomes caliph
His court in Baghdad is the setting for many tales in the Arabian Nights.
Medieval history
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793
Vikings raid the monastery at Lindisfarne
The raid shocked Europe and is often seen as the start of the Viking Age.
Medieval history
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794
Kyoto becomes Japan's capital
It remained the imperial capital for more than a thousand years.
Medieval history
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800
Charlemagne is crowned emperor
Pope Leo III crowned him in St Peter's Basilica on Christmas Day.
Medieval history
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c. 800
The Book of Kells is created
Its vellum pages were made from the skins of around 185 calves.
Medieval history
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841
Vikings found Dublin
Dublin's name comes from the Irish 'Dubh Linn', meaning 'black pool'.
Medieval history
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843
The Treaty of Verdun splits Charlemagne's empire
The three-way split roughly foreshadowed modern France and Germany.
Medieval history
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859
Al-Qarawiyyin, the oldest university, is founded
It was founded in Fez, Morocco, by a woman: Fatima al-Fihri.
Medieval history
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868
The Diamond Sutra is printed
Found in a Chinese cave, it is the oldest known dated printed book.
Medieval history
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871
Alfred the Great becomes king
He is the only English monarch known as 'the Great'.
Medieval history
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c. 874
Norse settlers arrive in Iceland
Iceland was one of the last large European islands to be settled.
History of exploration
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910
Cluny Abbey is founded
Its church was the largest in Christendom until St Peter's was rebuilt.
Medieval history
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911
Rollo the Viking founds Normandy
His descendant, William the Conqueror, would conquer England.
Medieval history
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927
Athelstan becomes the first King of England
Alfred the Great's grandson was the first to rule all of England.
Medieval history
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930
Iceland's parliament, the Althing, is founded
It is one of the oldest surviving parliaments in the world.
Medieval history
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960
The Song dynasty begins in China
Under the Song, China issued paper money and used gunpowder weapons.
Medieval history
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962
Otto I is crowned Holy Roman Emperor
The Holy Roman Empire lasted until Napoleon brought it to an end.
Medieval history
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966
Mont-Saint-Michel's abbey is founded
The island abbey is cut off by some of Europe's strongest tides.
Medieval history
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969
Cairo is founded
The Fatimids named it al-Qahira, 'the Victorious'.
Medieval history
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c. 985
Erik the Red founds a colony in Greenland
He chose the name 'Greenland' to attract settlers.
Medieval history
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988
Prince Vladimir of Kiev converts to Christianity
Legend says he rejected Islam partly because it banned alcohol.
Medieval history
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c. 1010
The Tale of Genji is written
Written by Murasaki Shikibu, a lady at the Japanese court, it is often called the first novel.
Art & literature history
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1014
Brian Boru wins the Battle of Clontarf
Ireland's High King won the battle but was killed in its aftermath.
Medieval history
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1016
Cnut becomes King of England
The legend of him ordering back the tide was meant to show his humility, not arrogance.
Medieval history
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1021
Vikings live at L'Anse aux Meadows, Newfoundland
Tree rings in wood cut by Vikings showed they were in North America in exactly that year.
History of exploration
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1024
China issues the first government paper money
Song-dynasty China switched to paper partly because iron coins were too heavy to carry.
Medieval history
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1025
Avicenna completes his Canon of Medicine
It was used as a medical textbook in Europe for about 600 years.
Medieval history
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1040
Macbeth becomes King of Scotland
The real Macbeth ruled for 17 years and was far less villainous than Shakespeare's.
Medieval history
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1040
Weihenstephan brewery begins brewing
The Bavarian brewery claims to be the oldest still operating in the world.
Food & brand history
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1044
The first known gunpowder recipe is written
It appears in a Song-dynasty Chinese military manual.
Medieval history
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1054
Astronomers record the Crab Nebula supernova
It was bright enough to be seen in daylight for 23 days.
Science & technology history
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1054
The Great Schism splits Christianity
It divided the Church into Catholic and Orthodox branches.
Medieval history
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1065
Westminster Abbey is consecrated
Edward the Confessor was too ill to attend and died days later.
Medieval history
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1066
Harald Hardrada is killed at Stamford Bridge
The battle came just weeks before the Battle of Hastings.
Medieval history
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1066
The Battle of Hastings
William of Normandy's victory flooded English with French words, which is why we eat 'beef' from a 'cow'.
Medieval history
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1066
William the Conqueror is crowned at Westminster
Almost every English and British monarch since has been crowned there.
Medieval history
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c. 1070
The Bayeux Tapestry is made
It is actually an embroidery, around 70 metres long.
Art & literature history
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1071
The Battle of Manzikert
The Byzantine emperor was captured by the Seljuk Turks.
Medieval history
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1086
The Domesday Book is compiled
Its survey was so thorough that people compared it to the Last Judgement.
Medieval history
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1088
Shen Kuo describes the magnetic compass
The Chinese scholar described a magnetised needle pointing south.
Medieval history
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1088
The University of Bologna is founded
It is the oldest university in continuous operation in the Western world.
Medieval history
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1096
Teaching begins at the University of Oxford
Oxford was already teaching students more than two centuries before Tenochtitlan was founded.
Medieval history
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1099
The First Crusade captures Jerusalem
The crusaders had marched for about three years to get there.
Medieval history
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c. 1100
Cahokia, a great city on the Mississippi, peaks
No city in what is now the US was larger until around 1800.
Medieval history
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1119
The Knights Templar are founded
The order began with just nine knights protecting pilgrims.
Medieval history
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c. 1136
King Arthur's legend spreads across Europe
Geoffrey of Monmouth's History of the Kings of Britain made Arthur famous.
Art & literature history
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1152
Eleanor of Aquitaine marries Henry of Anjou
She was queen of France, then queen of England.
Medieval history
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1163
Notre-Dame de Paris's foundation stone is laid
The cathedral took almost two centuries to complete.
Medieval history
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1170
Thomas Becket is murdered in Canterbury Cathedral
He was made a saint less than three years later.
Medieval history
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1173
Construction of the Leaning Tower of Pisa begins
It began to tilt during construction, which then paused for almost a century.
Medieval history
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1187
Saladin captures Jerusalem
His capture of the city triggered the Third Crusade.
Medieval history
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1190
Frederick Barbarossa drowns on crusade
Legend says he sleeps under a mountain, waiting to return.
Medieval history
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1192
Japan's Kamakura shogunate begins
It was the first government run by samurai.
Medieval history
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1192
Richard the Lionheart is taken prisoner
England paid a huge ransom to free him from the Holy Roman Emperor.
Medieval history
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1194
Chartres Cathedral is rebuilt after a fire
Its stained glass is famous for a deep blue known as 'Chartres blue'.
Medieval history
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c. 1200
Lalibela's rock-cut churches are carved
The Ethiopian churches were carved downward from solid rock.
Medieval history
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1202
Fibonacci introduces Arabic numerals to Europe
His book Liber Abaci also contains the famous Fibonacci sequence.
Science & technology history
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1204
Crusaders sack Constantinople
The Fourth Crusade was meant to attack Egypt, but sacked a Christian city instead.
Medieval history
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1206
Genghis Khan is proclaimed ruler of the Mongols
The empire he founded became the largest contiguous land empire in history.
Medieval history
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1209
Old London Bridge is completed
The stone bridge stood for over 600 years, lined with houses and shops.
Medieval history
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1209
St Francis founds the Franciscan order
Francis gave up a wealthy life and is said to have preached to birds.
Medieval history
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1209
The University of Cambridge is founded
It was founded by scholars who fled Oxford after a dispute with the townspeople.
Medieval history
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1215
Magna Carta is sealed
Only three of its original clauses are still part of English law.
Medieval history
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1227
Genghis Khan dies
His burial place is still unknown.
Medieval history
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c. 1235
Sundiata founds the Mali Empire
His story is still told by West African griots, or storytellers.
Medieval history
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1241
The Mongols invade Central Europe
They turned back after the death of the Great Khan Ögedei.
Medieval history
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1242
Alexander Nevsky wins the Battle on the Ice
It was fought on a frozen lake on today's Estonia-Russia border.
Medieval history
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c. 1250
The Icelandic sagas are written down
Icelanders today can still largely read the Old Norse they were written in.
Medieval history
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1252
The Great Buddha of Kamakura is cast
The temple hall around it was later washed away by a tsunami.
Medieval history
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1257
The Sorbonne is founded
It is named after its founder, Robert de Sorbon, a chaplain to the French king.
Medieval history
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1258
The Mongols sack Baghdad
The city's famous library, the House of Wisdom, was destroyed.
Medieval history
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1260
The Mamluks halt the Mongols at Ain Jalut
It was one of the first major defeats suffered by the Mongols.
Medieval history
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1265
Simon de Montfort's parliament meets
It was the first English parliament to include elected representatives from towns.
Medieval history
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1265
Thomas Aquinas begins the Summa Theologica
He never finished it.
Medieval history
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1271
Kublai Khan founds the Yuan dynasty
Kublai was Genghis Khan's grandson, and Marco Polo later served at his court.
Medieval history
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c. 1280
Polynesians settle New Zealand
It was one of the last large land masses on Earth to be settled by humans.
History of exploration
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1281
Typhoons wreck a Mongol invasion of Japan
The storms were hailed as kamikaze, or 'divine winds'.
Medieval history
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1283
Edward I begins Caernarfon Castle
Its walls were modelled on those of Constantinople.
Medieval history
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1295
Marco Polo returns to Venice
He dictated his travels to a fellow prisoner after being captured in a war with Genoa.
History of exploration
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1295
The Auld Alliance with France is signed
Scotland and France agreed to support each other against England.
Medieval history
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1295
The Model Parliament meets
It included knights, burgesses and clergy alongside the nobles.
Medieval history
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1296
Edward I takes the Stone of Destiny to London
The Scottish coronation stone was finally returned to Scotland 700 years later.
Medieval history
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1297
William Wallace wins at Stirling Bridge
He won by attacking as the English army crossed a narrow bridge.
Medieval history
-
c. 1299
The Ottoman Empire is founded
It takes its name from its founder, Osman I.
Medieval history
-
c. 1300
The Hereford Mappa Mundi is drawn
The medieval world map puts Jerusalem at the centre of the world.
Medieval history
-
c. 1305
Giotto paints the Scrovegni Chapel
Its starry blue ceiling and lifelike figures influenced Renaissance art.
Art & literature history
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1307
The Knights Templar are arrested
The arrests in France took place on Friday the 13th.
Medieval history
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1309
The popes move to Avignon
Seven popes in a row lived in France rather than Rome.
Medieval history
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1314
Robert the Bruce wins at Bannockburn
The victory was a turning point in Scotland's wars of independence.
Medieval history
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1315
The Great Famine strikes Europe
Years of torrential rain ruined harvests across northern Europe.
Medieval history
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c. 1320
Dante completes the Divine Comedy
He finished it shortly before he died, in exile from his home city of Florence.
Art & literature history
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1320
The Declaration of Arbroath
It asked the Pope to recognise Scotland's independence.
Medieval history
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1324
Mansa Musa makes his pilgrimage to Mecca
He gave away so much gold in Cairo that its value there fell for years.
Medieval history
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1325
Ibn Battuta sets out on his travels
He travelled about 117,000 km over 29 years, far more than Marco Polo.
History of exploration
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1325
The city of Tenochtitlan is founded
Built on an island in Lake Texcoco, the Aztec capital lies beneath modern-day Mexico City.
Medieval history
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1327
Timbuktu's Djinguereber Mosque is built
It is made almost entirely of mud brick and wood.
Medieval history
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1337
The Hundred Years' War begins
It actually lasted 116 years.
Medieval history
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1341
Petrarch is crowned poet laureate in Rome
He is often called the 'father of humanism'.
Medieval history
-
1345
The Ponte Vecchio is rebuilt in Florence
It was the only bridge in Florence that retreating German forces spared in 1944.
Medieval history
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1346
The Battle of Crécy
English longbowmen defeated a much larger French army.
Medieval history
-
1347
The Black Death reaches Europe
It killed perhaps a third of Europe's population within about five years.
Medieval history
-
1348
The Order of the Garter is founded
Its motto means 'Shame on him who thinks evil of it'.
Medieval history
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c. 1353
Boccaccio writes the Decameron
Its 100 tales are told by friends escaping the Black Death.
Art & literature history
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1354
The Ottomans take Gallipoli
It was their first foothold in Europe.
Medieval history
-
1356
The Black Prince wins at Poitiers
The French king, John II, was captured and held for ransom.
Medieval history
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1368
The Ming dynasty is founded
Its founder, Zhu Yuanzhang, had once been a poor peasant and a beggar.
Medieval history
-
1377
Ibn Khaldun writes his Muqaddimah
It is often called one of the first works of sociology.
Medieval history
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c. 1377
Robin Hood first appears in literature
The poem Piers Plowman mentions 'rhymes of Robin Hood'.
Art & literature history
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1381
The Peasants' Revolt
Rebel leader Wat Tyler met the 14-year-old King Richard II face to face.
Medieval history
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c. 1387
Chaucer begins The Canterbury Tales
He planned about 120 stories but finished only 24.
Art & literature history
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1389
The Battle of Kosovo
Both the Serbian prince and the Ottoman sultan were killed.
Medieval history
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c. 1390
The Forme of Cury cookbook is written
It was compiled by the master cooks of King Richard II.
Food & brand history
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1392
The Joseon dynasty is founded in Korea
It ruled Korea for more than 500 years.
Medieval history
-
1397
Kyoto's Golden Pavilion is built
The current pavilion is a rebuild: the original was burned down by a young monk in 1950.
Medieval history
-
1397
The Kalmar Union unites Scandinavia
Denmark, Norway and Sweden shared one monarch for over a century.
Medieval history
-
1397
The Medici Bank is founded in Florence
It made the Medici one of the richest families in Europe.
Medieval history
-
1398
Timur sacks Delhi
The Central Asian conqueror carried off craftsmen to build his capital, Samarkand.
Medieval history
-
1405
Zheng He sets sail on his first treasure voyage
His fleet had over 300 ships, decades before Columbus crossed the Atlantic with three.
History of exploration
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1408
China's Yongle Encyclopedia is completed
It had more than 11,000 volumes.
Medieval history
-
1413
The University of St Andrews is founded
It is Scotland's oldest university.
Medieval history
-
1415
The Battle of Agincourt
Henry V's army was heavily outnumbered, but English longbowmen helped win the day.
Medieval history
-
1420
Beijing's Forbidden City is completed
The palace complex was home to 24 Ming and Qing emperors.
Medieval history
-
1421
Ming China moves its capital to Beijing
The move came a year after the Forbidden City was finished.
Medieval history
-
1428
The Aztec Empire is founded
It began as a Triple Alliance of three city-states: Tenochtitlan, Texcoco and Tlacopan.
Medieval history
-
1429
Joan of Arc lifts the Siege of Orléans
She was only about 17 years old at the time.
Medieval history
-
1432
The Ghent Altarpiece is completed
It is one of the most stolen artworks in history.
Art & literature history
-
1434
Jan van Eyck paints the Arnolfini Portrait
Its tiny convex mirror reflects two extra figures, possibly including the painter.
Art & literature history
-
1436
Brunelleschi completes Florence's cathedral dome
It is still the largest brick dome ever built.
Medieval history
-
1438
Pachacuti begins building the Inca Empire
In less than a century, the Inca built the largest empire in the Americas.
Medieval history
-
1443
King Sejong creates the Korean alphabet
He designed hangul so ordinary people could learn to read easily.
Medieval history
-
c. 1445
The moa is hunted to extinction
The largest of these flightless birds stood about 3.6 metres tall.
Natural history & deep time
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