Medieval Timeline - Browse by Century

Charlemagne's Coronation as Emperor
Date: December 25th, 800 A.D.
Description:
Pope Leo III crowns Charlemagne emperor of the West at Christmas mass. The title had not been used since Roman Augustulus held the title in 476.

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Capture of Barcelona
Date: 801 A.D.
Description:
After a two-year siege the Franks capture Barcelona from the Moors.

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Election of King Egbert
Date: 802 A.D.
Description:
Egbert, a son of one of the King of Kent's vassal's, is elected as the new King of Wessex.

In 789 Egbert had been forced into exile by King Offa and had spent his time in exile at the court of the Emperor Charlemagne.

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Battle of Ellendun
Date: 825 A.D.
Description:
In this defeat of Beornwulf of Mercia, Egbert, King of Essex, gained power over lesser kingdoms in the south of England.

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Egbert Becomes Overlord of England
Date: 829 A.D.
Description:
Having defeated Beornwulf of Mercia at the Battle of Ellendun in 825 and temporarily annexing Mercia in 828, the Kingdom of Northumbria recognized Egbert's lordship over England. So by 829 Egbert's claim to be the new Bretwalda had finally been established.

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Egbert Defeats the Danes
Date: 835 A.D.
Description:
In 830 Wiglaf had re-established Mercian independence, thus leaving Egbert only in effective control of Wessex and his subject territories of Surrey, Sussex, Kent and Essex.

The apparent weakness of his kingdom at this time led to an unsuccessful revolt by Cornish rebels assisted by a large force of Danes. After a short campaign the Danes and Cornishmen were successfully routed.

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Æthelwulf's Reign Begins
Date: 839 A.D.
Description:
Æthelwulf, King of Wessex, succeeded to the throne on the death of King Egbert in 839. The first of the Danish invasions were to begin during his reign.

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Foundation of Dublin
Date: c. 840 A.D.
Description:
The Danes found the towns of Dublin and Limerick in Ireland.

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Treaty of Verdun
Date: 843 A.D.
Description:
This treaty divided the Carolingian Empire into three new states. These states were divided amongst the three surviving grandsons of Charlemagne. Lothar, the eldest, kept the imperial title but in reality really only had authority over his third of the empire. That third included Rome and Aachen and stretched from the North Sea to the Italian peninsula in a long portion down Western Europe. After Lothar's death in 855, this kingdom dissolved. Louis the German received East Francia, which encompasses much of modern Germany. The third brother, Charles the Bald, took West Francia from which France would develop.

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Kenneth I, First King of Scotland
Date: 850 A.D.
Description:
Kenneth MacAlpin (King Kenneth I) conquers the Picts to the north of the Forth to become the first King of Scotia.

Originally Scotia meant Ireland but would later come to mean all of Scotland.

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Æthelwulf's Reign Ends
Date: 856 A.D.

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Æthelbald's Reign Begins
Date: 856 A.D.
Description:
Æthelbald, the third son of King Egbert succeeded his father in 856. His short-lived reign lasted just four years before he was succeeded by his brother Æthelbert (the fourth son of Egbert).

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Reign of Donald I
Date: 858 A.D.
Description:
Donald was the brother of Kenneth I MacAlpin. He succeeded his brother in 858 and his short reign was notable for the introduction of Dalriadic (Irish) law into the lands of the Picts. He died of natural causes near Scone, Perthshire in 862.

Donald was described at the time as "the wanton son of the foreign woman". Whether this means that Donald was Kenneth's half brother, or more likely that he was from both Pictish and Irish ancestry (Kenneth's own Grandmother was a Pict) is unclear.

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Æthalbald's Reign Ends
Date: 860 A.D.

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Æthelbert's Reign Begins
Date: 860 A.D.
Description:
Æthelbert, the third son of King Æthelwulf succeeded to the throne upon the death of his elder brother Æthelbald in 860. Like his brother, Æthelbert had a relatively short reign as king (just six years) before he too died. The crown in 866 then passed to his brother Æthelred, the fourth son of Æthelwulf.

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Reign of Constantine I
Date: 862 A.D.
Description:
The son of King Kenneth I MacAlpin, Constantine succeeded Donald I, his uncle, as King of Scotia in 862. During his reign his main concern was combating increasing Viking raids and incursions into his territory. He was killed in a battle in 878 whilst fighting another Viking invasion.

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Conversion of Prince Boris
Date: 865 A.D.
Description:
Prince Boris of the Bulgar Khanate converts to the Christian faith. After a short delay he accepted the jurisdiction of Constantinople rather than that of Rome.

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Æthelbert's Reign Ends
Date: 866 A.D.

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Æthelred's Reign Begins
Date: 866 A.D.

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Reign of Æthelred, King of Wessex
Date: 866 A.D.
Description:
Æthelred, the fourth son of King Æthelwulf, succeeded his brother Æthelbert to the throne of Wessex in 866. In 865 the 'Great Heathen Host', the largest Danish army up until this point, arrived in England under the command of Halfdan, Guthrum, and Ivar bent on conquering lands for settlement. Æthelred and his younger brother Alfred (Alfred the Great) would lead Anglo-Saxon resistance against the Danish invasion into East Anglia throughout his reign.

By 868 the Saxons had forced the Danes to abandon Nottingham, and within two years the Norsemen had been utterly ousted them from Mercia. The Danes meanwhile had established a base in Reading. Æthelred drove them out of their stronghold, and on the (circa) 8th January 871 Alfred would achieve a crushing victory with his West Saxons over the Norsemen at the Battle of Ashdown, which was fought on the Berkshire Downs near Reading. Contemporary chroniclers tended to over exaggerate the importance of this victory. The victory was marred shortly afterwards with the king's defeat at Merton in April 871. Although Æthelred would die from wounds received at the Battle of Merton, he had effectively paved the way for Wessex to unite England in opposition to the heathen Danes.

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Foundation of the Saffarid Dynasty
Date: 867 A.D.
Description:
Ya'cub ibn-al-Laith al-Saffar ('the coppersmith'), a craftsman-turned-bandit leader, seizes control of Seistan (in eastern Persia) and declares independence from the Abbasid caliphate. Under his Saffarid dynasty the Persian language enjoys a revival after two centuries of strong Arabic influence.

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Reign of Basil I
Date: September 24th, 867 A.D.
Description:
In 867 Michael III, the Byzantine emperor, appointed Boris the Macedonian (812-886) to be co-ruler of the Empire. A ruthless protégé, Boris repaid his benefactor by having Michael assassinated on the 24th September 867 and then succeeded him as Emperor. Basil I thus founded the Macedonian dynasty (867-1059) that was to bring the Byzantine Empire to the peak of its power.

On the 3 November 867, Basil I would depose Photius (c. 820-891), the Patriarch of Constantinople. Photius had risen to high office at the Byzantine court and in 858 had been elected as the patriarch in place of Ignatius (who was deposed for political reasons). The Pope Nicholas I, however, supported Ignatius and refused to recognize Photius, who in return excommunicated the Pope. To make matters worse, there was a dispute over Latin missionaries in Bulgaria, a council at Constantinople to which the papal legates were not admitted, and denouncement of the filioque addition to the creed. With Photius' dismissal Ignatius could be restored, and this ended the schism that had existed between the Greek and Roman churches.

With Ignatius as Patriarch, Basil was able to conclude an alliance with the pope in Rome to oppose the danger from Islamic encroachments into the western empire. Although Arab forces managed to seize Sicily, they were successfully checked in Dalmatia. Upon Ignatius' death (877), Photius would once again be appointed Patriarch, but this time with the recognition of Pope John VIII. He would be exiled again in 886, however, by Pope Leo VI.

Basil's reign was one of an almost continuous offensive against the forces of Islam in both the western and the eastern provinces of the empire. In addition, he also began the revision and codification of the body of laws that had first been compiled by Justinian I.

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First Printed Book
Date: May 11th, 868 A.D.
Description:
A printed paper roll, dated 11 May 868 and containing part of a Chinese translation of the Buddhist text Dharani Sutra, is the earliest surviving evidence of a printed book.

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Colonizing of Iceland
Date: 870 A.D.
Description:
The foster brothers Ingolf and Hjorleif become the first Viking colonists of Iceland. Hjorleif was murdered by his Irish slaves, but Ingolf founded a successful settlement at Reykjavik.

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Alfred the Great of England Crowned King of Wessex
Date: 871 A.D.
Description:
Alfred was the youngest of the five sons of King Æthelwulf. He was born at Wantage (in Oxfordshire) in 849 AD. After his brother, King Æthelred, died of wounds at the Battle of Merton in April 871, Alfred succeeded to the throne of Wessex. Alfred's rule was characterized not only by great military successes, but also by his many accomplishments in times of peace.

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Æthelred's Reign Ends
Date: 871 A.D.

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Alfred Purchases a Truce
Date: 872 A.D.
Description:
Alfred the Great purchases a truce from the Danes.

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Spread of the Cult of the Buddha Amida
Date: 873 A.D.
Description:
The cult of the Buddha Amida, or 'the Buddha of Immeasurable Light', begins to spread in Japan. Followers believe that when they die, Amida will take them to paradise in the western heavens. This cult would eventually become extremely popular and spread to China.

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Chinese Peasants' Revolt
Date: 874 A.D.
Description:
In 875, following a terrible drought, a peasant rising led by Huang Chao and Wang Xianzhi broke out against the ruling Tang dynasty regime of China. Discontent against the Tang's regime had been growing for some time. This discontent was fuelled by corrupt officials who illegally annexed land and collected taxes, either in cash or grain, even during periods of natural disaster. The Chinese economy fell into decline as a result of an increasing population competing for ever reducing plots of land, which led ultimately to a reduction in the tax revenue that was essential for the maintenance of the regime's military authority. Unrest increased as large numbers of desperate peasants fled from the fields as a consequence of the resulting poverty and famine, and the Emperor's troops, now no longer capable of even defending China's frontiers, became increasing unable to control the period of lawlessness that ensued.

The revolt itself commenced in Henan and Shandong in eastern China. It soon spread throughout a dozen provinces, and up to 1,000,000 rebels were involved. With such a large force at their disposal, the rebel leaders were soon able to seize control of almost a half of China. When Wang Xianzhi died in battle, Huang Chao would become the sole leader of the rebels army which now marched on and captured the Imperial city of Chang'an. Here they established their own regime (the Da Qi) whilst the Tang Emperor Xizong (873-888) fled to Chengdu.

Despite their large numbers, the rebels would never be able to best the trained armies of the Tang Emperor. Xizong gathered together the remaining elements of his loyal troops and combined them with allied contingents (largely Shatuo Turks) from the regional Fanzhen fortress-border-states. With this force, the Emperor was able to force Huang Chao to abandon Chang'an in 884 AD and, pursued by the Turkish allies, forced him back into Henan where the rebellion had commenced ten years earlier. Here, abandoned by most of his followers, Huang Chao committed suicide.

Despite having defeating the rebellion, the authority of the Tang dynasty had been permanently damaged. The landlord class had been effectively broken as a political power, which now devolved onto provincial warlords and thus would ultimately spell the end to the Tang Dynasty.

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Charles the Bald Becomes King of Italy
Date: January 31st, 876 A.D.
Description:
Having established the military power of his kingdom, Charles in 875 felt strong enough to make a bid for the vacant position of Holy Roman Emperor. Marching into Italy he was crowned as such by the pope, and on the 31st January 876 he gained unopposed, for himself, the crown of the Kingdom of Italy following the death of Louis II without legitimate issue.

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Abbasids Lose Syria
Date: 877 A.D.
Description:
Ahmad-ibn-Tulun, Emir of Egypt, seizes Syria from the declining Abbasid caliphate.

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Guthrum Retreats and is Baptised
Date: 878 A.D.
Description:
Following his defeat at Edington, Guthrum agrees to leave Wessex with his forces and to accept Christianity.

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Battle of Edington
Date: May 878 A.D.
Description:
King Alfred the Great of England defeats Guthrum and the Danish army, saving Wessex from destruction by the Danes.

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West Saxon Chronicle of England
Date: c. 892 A.D.
Description:
Around this year, a West Saxon chronicler wrote a history of England. It covered English history from the birth of Christ until the year 891 and was based upon earlier sources that have been lost.

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Anglo Saxon Chronicle
Date: c. 892 A.D.
Description:
The Anglo Saxon Chronicle is an account of English history that continues from the 892 chronicle. It has many different authors from different monasteries and is actually a series of related chronicles. Some of the surviving manuscripts cover a period of time up until the eleventh century, while one lasts all the way until Henry II's accession to the throne in 1154.

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Alfred the Great of England Dies
Date: 899 A.D.

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Edward the Elder's Reign Begins
Date: 899 A.D.

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