Timeline of the Middle Ages

Warwick Castle
The period of the Middle Ages saw a number of events which profoundly influenced the course of history. This timeline of the Middle Ages does not explain their effects and consequences but it does provide an overview of the most important events, many of which influenced both the medieval and modern world.

Table of Contents

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.

800Charlemagne 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.

963Otto 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)

1000The 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.

1095Pope 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.

1189Holy 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.

1492Christopher Columbus discovers America.