Timeline of the Middle Ages
Table of Contents
- Early Middle Ages (5th to 11th century)
- High Middle Ages (11th to 14th century)
- Late Middle Ages (14th to 15th century)
Early Middle Ages (5th to 11th century)
476 – The last Western Roman Emperor, Romulus Augustulus is deposed by the Germanic chieftain Odoacer.
481 – Clovis I, the founder of the Merovingian dynasty becomes king of the Salian Franks.
493 – Ostrogothic Kingdom is established in Italy.
527 – Justinian I becomes the Byzantine Emperor.
553 – The Byzantines complete the conquest of Italy.
568 – Foundation of the Lombard Kingdom in Italy.
638 – The Muslims capture Jerusalem.
678 – The First Arab Siege of Constantinople is lifted.
711 – The Moors invade Spain.
718 – The Second Arab Siege of Constantinople ends as a failure.
731 – Charles Martel defeats the Moors in the Battle of Tours and halts the Muslim advance in Western Europe.
751 – Pepin the Short becomes the first Carolingian King of the Franks.
793 – Viking raid of Lindisfarne marks the beginning of the Viking Age.
800 – Charlemagne is crowned Emperor by Pope Leo III in Rome.
843 – The Treaty of Verdun divides the Carolingian Empire into three kingdoms.
859 – Muslim conquest of Sicily is completed.
882 – Kievan Rus’ is founded by Oleg of Novgorod.
895 – Magyars cross the Carpathians.
911 – The Vikings settle in today’s Normandy.
918 – Simeon I of Bulgaria assumes the title Tsar (Emperor).
936 – Edmund I becomes the first Anglo-Saxon king of all England.
963 – Otto I (the Great) is crowned Holy Roman Emperor by Pope John XII.
966 – Mieszko I of Poland coverts to Christianity.
982 – The Viking Eric the Red lands in Greenland.
987 – Hugh Capet is elected King of France.
High Middle Ages (11th to 14th century)
1000 – The Viking Leif Erickson lands in America.
1015 – Danish prince Canute the Great conquers England.
1037 – Ferdinand I the Great unites Castile and Leon.
1038 – Stephen I, the first King of Hungary dies.
1054 – The East-West Schism, also known as the Great Schism permanently divides Christianity into eastern and western branches.
1066 – William the Conqueror becomes King of England.
1095 – Pope Urban II calls for the crusade.
1099 – The Crusaders capture Jerusalem.
1122 – The Concordat of Worms ends the Investiture Controversy between the Holy Roman Emperor and Pope.
1139 – Alfonso I proclaims himself King of Portugal.
1154 – Henry II, Count of Anjou becomes the first King of England from the House of Plantagenet.
1187 – Jerusalem falls to Saladin, Sultan of Egypt and Syria.
1189 – Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa, Richard I of England and Philip II of France launch the Third Crusade.
1091 – Norman conquest of Sicily is completed.
1198 – Beginning of the pontificate of Pope Innocent III.
1204 – The Crusaders capture Constantinople and divide the Byzantine Empire into crusader states.
1209 – The Catholic Church launches the Albigensian Crusade against the Cathars in Languedoc.
1215 – John of England issues the Magna Carta (Great Charter).
1217 – Foundation of Kingdom of Serbia under the Nemanjić dynasty.
1226 – The Golden Bull of Rimini issued by Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II establishes the Monastic State of the Teutonic Knights.
1240 – Mongol conquest of Kievan Rus’ is completed.
1261 – Michael VIII Palaeologus restores the Byzantine Empire.
1273 – Rudolph of Habsburg is crowned King of the Romans (King of Germany).
1282 – Beginning of the War of the Sicilian Vespers.
1291 – The Fall of Acre, the last crusader stronghold in the Holy Land marks the end of the period of crusades.
1296 – Beginning of the Wars of Scottish Independence.
Late Middle Ages (14th to 15th century)
1309 – Beginning of the Avignon Papacy.
1314 – The Knights Templar are disbanded, while the Grand Master Jacques de Molay is burned at the stake.
1328 – The Scottish win independence from England with the Treaty of Edinburgh-Northampton.
1337 – Beginning of the Hundred Years’ War between France and England.
1348 – Peak of the Black Death.
1385 – Foundation of the Polish-Lithuanian Union.
1397 – Denmark, Sweden and Norway are joined into the Kalmar Union.
1399 – Henry IV becomes the first King of England from the House of Lancaster.
1414 – The Council of Constance ends the Western Schism.
1420 – Beginning of the Hussite Wars.
1431 – Jean of Arc lifts the Siege of Orleans.
1434 – Cosimo de’ Medici assumes power in Florence.
1437 – Johannes Gutenberg invents the printing press.
1453 – The Hundred Years’ War ends with the loss of the English possessions in France with the exception of Calais.
1453 – The Ottoman Turks capture Constantinople.
1455 – Beginning of the Wars of the Roses between the rival houses of Lancaster and York.
1462 – Ivan the Great becomes Grand Prince of Moscow.
1469 – Unification of Castile and Aragon through marriage of Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon.
1485 – Henry Tudor becomes King of England.
1492 – Lorenzo the Magnificent dies.
1492 – The Reconquista or Christian reconquest of the Iberian Peninsula is completed.
