Medieval Timeline - Browse by Century

Moors Conquer Spain
Date: July 7th, 711 A.D.
Description:
The Moorish chief Tariq lands in Spain with a small Muslim army at the invitation of the rebel governor of Ceuta. The place where he landed would later become known as Jebel el-Tariq, ('the mountain of Tariq' or later 'Gibraltar'). The Arabs and their Moorish allies quickly defeated Roderick, the last Visigoth king of Spain at the battles of Guadelete and Ecija, and before the end of the year the Visigoth capital, Toledo, would fall without resistance. Within two years all except the northern mountainous regions of Spain would come under Muslim control.

Top

Beowulf is Composed
Date: c. 715 A.D.
Description:
Beowulf is an Anglo-Saxon epic poem written between 672 and 782. It tells the story of a fictional hero, Beowulf, the nephew of the king of the Gaetas (a southern Swedish people). Beowulf slays Grendel, a monster that has been ravaging a neighboring Danish kingdom, and also Grendel's mother. Later, when Beowulf is King of the Gaetas, his kingdom is attacked by a dragon, which he kills, although he is fatally wounded during the battle.

The poem sheds some light on aristocratic Anglo-Saxon traditions and some of the characters are historical.

Top

Boniface Begins Mission to Germany
Date: 718 A.D.
Description:
St. Boniface (680-755) was born in Crediton and his original name was Winfirth.

In 718 Pope Gregory II in Rome gave him the name 'Boniface' and sent him on a mission to convert the Saxons of Germany. St. Boniface built many monasteries and churches and was responsible for the winning of many converts to the Christian faith.

He was martyred at Dekkum in 755 A.D.

Top

Ine of Wessex Abdicates the Throne
Date: 726 A.D.
Description:
King Ine of Wessex abdicates his throne in Wessex.

Top

Bede Writes his History of the English
Date: 731 A.D.
Description:
Bede (673-735) was an Anglo-Saxon scholar who was born in Northumbria and spent most of his life in Jarrow monastery. He was a student of Latin, Greek, and Hebrew and became so renowned a scholar that following his death he was honored with the title 'The Venerable Bede'.

His The Ecclesiastical History of the English People was completed in 731 and is considered to be the most important history record written before the sixteenth century. Bede also popularized the method of dating known as anno domini (or A.D.), and wrote about a number of other subjects including physical science, rhetoric, and astronomy.

King Alfred the Great supervised the translation of Bede's work into Old English.

Top

Battle of Poitiers
Date: October 25th, 732 A.D.
Description:
The real power behind the throne of the Frankish King Thierry IV was Charles Martel (the Hammer), the Mayor of the Palace. A tough soldier, Charles had proved his worth many times in battle against rebellions factions within the Frankish empire. For many years the Moslems of Spain had been threatening Gaul. In 725 an invading army had penetrated as far as Burgundy, but it had been bought off by Duke Eudes, much to Charles' disfavour. In 732 Abd-er-Rahman, the Governor of Spain, crossed the Pyrenees with an immense army, and advanced as far as the River Loire. In October, Charles' Franks engaged Abd-er-Rahman at the Battle of Poitiers outside of the town of Tours. During the battle the Moorish Governor was slain and the remains of his army beat in retreat back to Spain. This battle, perhaps one of the most important in European history, would ensure the survival of Christian civilisation in Western Europe

Top

Introduction of the Silver Penny
Date: c. 735 A.D.
Description:
King Offa of Mercia (757-796) seized power after the civil war that followed the death of his cousin Aethelbert. Offa consolidated control over the southern English, expanded Mercian territory to the north, and through the marriages of his daughters to the Kings of Wessex and Northumbria established his claim as the Bretwalda of England.

Recognized by Pope Adrian I as 'The King of the English' he agreed to the establishment of an Archbishop at Lichfield which would free the Mercian church from the control of Canterbury. In addition he would negotiate a trade treaty with the future emperor Charlemagne on equal terms.

His most long lasting legacy however would be the creation of a new coinage based on the silver penny which bore his name and title. This would be the standard coin in circulation in England until the introduction of the gold coins during the 14th century.

Top

Birth of Charlemagne
Date: April 8th, 742 A.D.
Description:
This is the date of the birth of Carolus Magnus (Charles the Great, or Charlemagne). Charlemagne was the son of the Merovingian mayor of the palace, Pepin the Short. Charlemagne would inherit the northern Frankish lands following the death of his father (crowned king by Pope Stephen II in 754) and those of his brother, Carloman, in 771. After assisting the Pope in the defeat of the Lombards in Italy, he was crowned as the King of the Lombards. After subduing and Christianizing the Saxon tribes of northern Germany, Charlemagne would gain control of large areas of Saxony. A campaign in Spain would add further lands between the Pyrenees and the Llobregat. Bavaria was incorporated in the kingdom in 788, and the Avar people were subdued between 791 and 796. With much of Western Europe under his rule, Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne as Holy Roman Emperor, thereby founding the Holy Roman Empire.

Although he never learned to read, during Charlemagne's reign a renaissance of learning began in Western Europe. With leading scholars (such as the Northumbrian Alcuin) in his service, the Frankish King revised Frankish Laws. These revisions included the first introduction of jury service within courts. Charlemagne maintained diplomatic relations with Byzantium, Baghdad, Mercia, Northumbria, and others. He introduced a new coinage and reformed the weights and measures. In addition, communications were much improved, Church reforms throughout his dominions began, missionary and monastic reforms were supported, the old heroic sagas and other peoples' laws were written down, and religious instruction in the vernacular was promoted.

Top

Foundation of Fulda Monastery
Date: 744 A.D.
Description:
St. Sturm, a disciple of St. Boniface, founded the Benedictine monastery at Fulda (now Hesse) in Germany as a part of Boniface's mission to bring Christianity to the pagan tribes of Germany.

Top

The Abbasid Revolution in Khurasan
Date: 747 A.D.
Description:
For more than a century the Abbasid family, who were descended from Abbas, the uncle of the Prophet Muhammad, had been content with their territories in Khurasan (Eastern Iran) whilst the Umayyad dynasty of Caliphs (661-750) controlled Arabia and the fertile crescent.

However, from the start of the eighth century, the Abbasids would become increasingly involved in a number of disputes with the Umayyads which would ultimately lead to an alliance with the Shiite faction and open revolt. Led by the talented Abu Muslim, the Abbasids having, by 749 AD, united most of the empire in revolt, would commence a series of successful campaigns resulting in the conquest of Iraq and Syria.

Marwan II, the last of the Umayyad caliphs, was finally defeated and killed, leaving the Arabian empire under the control of the Abbasid dynasty. Only in Moslem Spain would the Umayyads continue to hold power. The second Abbasid Caliph, al-Mansur, would commence the building a new city, Baghdad, close to the site of the ancient city of Babylon in 763 (the works were completed by his successor, Harun al Rashid), and it was to here that the empire's capital would be moved from Damascus, thus preserving Persian influence in the Middle East well into the 9th and 10th centuries.

Top

Muslim Introduction of Papermaking
Date: 751 A.D.
Description:
Following an appeal from the ruler of Tashkent for military assistance at the Battle of the Talas River near Samarkand, the Arabs soundly defeated the Chinese. This caused the collapse of the Chinese empire in Central Asia. From captured craftsmen the Arabs would learn the secret of papermaking, a craft that would rapidly spread throughout the Middle East.

Top

The Book of Kells is Composed
Date: c. 760 A.D.
Description:
Created by Columban monks on the remote monastery island of Iona, which lies off the coast of Scotland, the magnificently illustrated and ornamented Book of Kells contains transcriptions of the four Gospels, and it is considered to be the most elaborate manuscript of its kind to have survived from the Middle Ages. Today it is on permanent display at the library of Trinity College, Dublin.

Top

Battle of Benson
Date: 779 A.D.
Description:
Offa, King of Mercia, defeats the West Saxons at Benson, to become the Bretwalda (overlord) of all England.

Subject kings would owe the Bretwalda tribute, suit at court, and military service. They would also have to seek his permission prior to granting any plots of land.

Top

Offa's Dyke Completed
Date: c. 783 A.D.
Description:
Offa's dyke is an earthwork constructed during the reign of King Offa of Mercia and Bretwalda of England to separate his kingdom from the Welsh tribes.

The seventy mile long dyke replaced an earlier boundary built during the reign of Offa's predecessor, Aethelbard.

Top

Sack of Iona
Date: 785 A.D.
Description:
Danish raiders sack the monastery on the island of Iona off the west coast of Scotland. Although it was one of the first of the Viking raids, the monastery buildings were quickly rebuilt by the monks.

Top

New Bishopric at Lichfield
Date: 787 A.D.
Description:
King Offa wanted another archbishopric for Mercia, and this led to the foundation of an archbishopric at Lichfield. Shortly after Offa's death, however, it disappeared, leaving only the archbishoprics at York and Canterbury.

Top

Independent Idrisid Dynasty Established in Morocco
Date: 788 A.D.
Description:
Following the collapse of the Roman Empire, Morocco had been conquered by the Vandals in 429 AD and subsequently by the Byzantines in 533 AD. During the seventh century the Arabs would commence a series of campaigns that would bring all of the North African coastline under Moslem rule by 682 AD. Under the Arabs, North Africa would be divided into three provinces: Egypt (with its capital based at Cairo), Ifriquiva (Capital At Qairwan near Tunis) and Maghreb (capital at Fez).

In 788 , the Arab Caliphate of Maghreb rebelled against the Arabian Caliphs and established an independent state ruled over by the Idrisid Dynasty. This independent state would last for 150 years, during which time the Pagan or Christian inhabitants of Morocco (Berbers) would largely convert to the Islamic faith. The Idrisid caliphate would finally end in 974 AD when the dynasty was overthrown by the Egyptian Fatamid Caliphs.

Top

Offa Annexes East Anglia
Date: 792 A.D.
Description:
Offa, King of Mercia, annexes the minor Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of East Anglia, leaving only the kingdoms of Wessex (in the southern counties) and Northumbria (in the far Northern) as independent Anglo-Saxon kingdoms in England.

Top

Danes Raid Lindisfarne
Date: 793 A.D.
Description:
Danish raiders attack the monastery of Lindisfarne (Holy Island) forcing the monks to flee.

Top

First Danish Raids in England
Date: 796 A.D.

Top