Medieval Timeline - Browse by Century

Construction of St. Paul's
Date: 607 A.D.
Description:
The first St.Paul's church is built in London.

(This is not today's existing cathedral that was designed by Sir Christopher Wren following the Great Fire of London in the 17th century.)

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The Bangor Massacre
Date: 615 A.D.
Description:
The barbaric Angles, after having crossed over England, finally reach the Irish Sea and massacre the Christian monks at their monastery in Bangor.

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Ethelfrith, Founder of Northumbria Dies
Date: 616 A.D.
Description:
The Bernician warrior-king Ethelfrith, founder of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Northumbria, dies. Ethelfrith had united the two kingdoms of Bernicia and Deira to form Northumbria.

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Edwin Becomes King of Northumbria
Date: 616 A.D.
Description:
After defeating Ethelfrith in battle, the Deiran heir Edwin becomes king of Northumbria. Northumbria had been formed when Ethelfrith, a Bernician, united the kingdoms of Bernicia and Deira. Edwin's victory sent the Bernician royal heirs into exile in Scotland.

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Death of Aethelbert I
Date: February 24th, 616 A.D.
Description:
Aethelbert I, King of Kent (560 - 616), who issued the first code of Angle-Saxon laws, dies.

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Founding of the T'ang Dynasty
Date: 618 A.D.
Description:
Li Shih-min, later to become the first T'ang Eamperor T'ang T'ai, having conquered all other rivals in the turmoil that followed the collapse of the Sui Dynasty, founds the T'ang Dynasty. This dynasty would ultimately extend China's frontiers further than any other Chinese Dynasty and survive until 906 A.D.

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Conquest of the Isle of Man
Date: 620 A.D.
Description:
Edwin, the King of Northumbria, conquers the Isle of Man.

Edwin was the son of Aelle, King of Deira. He succeeded his father in 617. Edwin defeated Aethelric, King of Bernicia to become king of a united Northumbria.

Ultimately, he would be acknowledged as the Bretwalda (overlord) of all of England with the exception of Kent.

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Penda Becomes King of Mercia
Date: c. 626 A.D.
Description:
The pagan Penda becomes the last King of Mercia.

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Sutton Hoo Burial
Date: c. 627 A.D.
Description:
The Sutton Hoo burial took place circa 627.

This important site near Woodbridge in Suffolk was discovered in 1939 and is thought to have been the probable barrow of Raedwald, a 7th century King of East Anglia. The site contained a 24-meter boat and a host of golden artifacts and other treasure.

Rawedwald was the only king of East Anglia to become a Bretwalda. He is said to have once protected Edwin from Aethelfirth of Nothumbria whom he defeated at the battle of the River Idle (616). In later life he may have become partially Christianized.

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Conversion of Edwin
Date: 627 A.D.
Description:
King Edwin of Northumbria married the Christian daughter of Aethelbert of Kent in 625. Edwin was converted to Christianity in 627 by St. Paulinua (a Roman missionary to England who was appointed Bishop in 625). In return King Edwin appointed Paulinua as Archbishop of York.

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Death of Mohammad
Date: June 7th, 632 A.D.
Description:
The year of the death of the prophet Mohammad in Medina, Arabia (aged 62).

He was succeeded by Abu Bakr, who founded the Rashidun (or 'Right Guided') dynasty of Caliphs, which lasted through the rule of Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, and Ali until 661.

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Invasion of Palestine
Date: 633 A.D.
Description:
A Muslim army from Saudi Arabia begins the conquest of Palestine.

During the next seven years, these Muslim soldiers would extend Islamic influence into Syria (bringing them up against the mighty Byzantine Empire) and modern-day Iraq.

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King Edwin of Northumbria Dies
Date: 633 A.D.
Description:
Edwin dies at the Battle of Hatfield Chase.

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Battle of Heavenfield
Date: 634 A.D.
Description:
A battle between the Mericans and Welsh under Cadwallon ap Cadfan of Gwynedd and the Northumbrian army of Oswald of Bernicia. Oswald won this battle and was able to reunite Bernicia and Deira and become king of all Northumbria.

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Founding of Lindisfarne Monastery
Date: 635 A.D.
Description:
St. Aidan arrives on the island of Lindisfarne (Holy Island) from Iona with a group of Celtic monks. The monastery he founded there was to become an important missionary center and later a bishopric.

The monks from Lindisfarne went on to build numerous churches in Scotland and Northern England, but many of the monks withdrew to Iona when Lindisfarne accepted the Roman discipline after the synod of Whitby (664 A.D.).

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Conquest of Iran
Date: 638 A.D.
Description:
Muslim armies commence with the invasion of Iran. The Sassanian Empire, however, would put up a stiff resistance and so even as late as 650 A.D., the Arabic leaders would still not have control of the Southern Caspian coast.

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Conquest of Egypt
Date: 639 A.D.
Description:
A Muslim army commenced the conquest of Egypt. This would be the first step that would ultimately see the whole of North Africa coming under Islamic control within seventy years.

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King Oswald of Northumbria Dies
Date: 642 A.D.
Description:
Oswy, Oswald's brother, would take over the throne of Northumbria.

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Battle of Maserfield
Date: August 5th, 642 A.D.
Description:
King Penda of Mercia defeats King Oswald of Northumbria, and Oswald is killed during the battle.

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Battle of Winwaed
Date: November 15th, 655 A.D.
Description:
Oswiu of Bernicia defeats King Penda of Mercia at this battle. Penda dies during the battle.

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Caedmon Begins Writing Poetry
Date: c. 657 A.D.
Description:
St. Caedmon is credited with the earliest surviving poem written in Old English sometime after the establishment of Whitby Abbey in 657.

A common oxherd on the estates of Whitby Abbey, Caedmon was accepted as a monk when it was realized that he had a talent for writing songs and poems, often on religious subjects. Caedmon's poem is known from a nine-line snippet transcribed by Bede in his Ecclesiastical History.

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Founding of Whitby Abbey
Date: 657 A.D.
Description:
Hild (or Hilda) was the granddaughter of Edwin, King of Northumbria. Born in 614 and baptized in 627, she had by 647 become the superior of a nunnery near Hartlepool. Her remarkable organizational skills led to the foundation of a new community at Whitby in Yorkshire, where the synod of 664 would later be held to resolve the differences between Roman and Celtic Christian practices.

Hild was the first Abbess of Whitby from 657 until her death in 680.

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King Oswy Calls the Synod of Whitby
Date: 664 A.D.
Description:
The decision of this council settled a difference between Celtic and Roman Christianity regarding the proper date for Easter. In siding with the Roman position, the decision of this council meant that Christendom would not be divided in England.

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Theodore Named Archbishop of Canterbury
Date: 669 A.D.
Description:
After the pope named Theodore of Tarsus the Archbishop of Canterbury, Theodore set out to organize the English church as one body. He had completed this task by the time of his death.

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King Oswy of Northumbria Dies
Date: 670 A.D.

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Synod of Hertford
Date: 672 A.D.
Description:
At this synod, Theodore, Archbishop of Canterbury, did much to reorganize the church's administration in England and create a more hierarchical structure. Theodore accomplished this through a variety of measures, including the creation of new bishops, as well as the dismantling of some large dioceses. He also ordered that each bishop confine activities within the area of his own diocese and prohibited the clergy and monks from wandering around without permission.

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Founding of Wearmouth Monastery
Date: 674 A.D.
Description:
In this year St. Benedict Biscop founded a Benedictine monastery in Northumbria.

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Founding of Jarrow Monastery
Date: 681 A.D.
Description:
Jarrow monastery was founded by St. Benedict Biscop on the banks of the River Tyne in lands provided by King Ecgfrith of Northumbria. The monastery would become famous for the magnificent library furnished with books brought by Benedict from Rome.

The great Bede would die here in 735 A.D., having written his works, including a history of the Abbots of Jarrow, in the library.

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Battle of Nechtansmere
Date: May 20th, 685 A.D.
Description:
In this battle King Bruide and the Picts annihilated King Ecgfrith's Northumbrian army, thus thwarting the Nothumbrians attempt to subjugate them.

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Ine Becomes King of Wessex
Date: 688 A.D.

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The Dome of the Rock Completed
Date: 692 A.D.
Description:
The Dome of the Rock was the first great Umayyad monument to be completed after the conquest of Judea. This was also the first major monument of the Islamic faith and was built by the Caliph Abn al-Malik on the site of a Jewish Temple. Muslims believe that it was at this spot that the prophet Mohammad ascended to heaven. The Dome of the Rock became the holiest Muslim place after the Kaa'ba in Mecca.

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The Law code of Wihtred
Date: 695 A.D.
Description:
Wihtred, King of Kent (c.690-725) and who maintained Kentish independence against the growing expansion of the Kingdom of Mercia, issues one of the earliest known law codes in Britain.

Wihtred's law code, which dealt primarily with ecclesiastical matters, was to give considerable privileges to the church.

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