Timeline

?33

The crucifixion of Jesus.

?64

The execution of St. Peter in Rome.

?95

St. John writes the Book of Revelation.

?287

The martyrdom of St. Maurice and the Theban Legion.

312

Constantine captures Rome, supposedly after a vision of Christ.

330

The founding of Constantinople.

426

St. Augustine completes his book on the City of God.

?507

The conversion of Clovis, King of the Franks.

711

The Muslim invasion of Spain.

751

Pepin makes himself king, deposing the dynasty of Clovis.

754

Pope Stephen II, having crossed the Alps, anoints Pepin.

800

Charlemagne is crowned Emperor of the West by Pope Leo III.

843

The Treaty of Verdun: Charlemagne’s empire is divided between his three grandsons.

846

Muslim pirates sack St. Peter’s in Rome.

856

Viking pirates sack Orléans.

899

The Hungarians begin their raids on Christendom.

905

The termination of the Carolingian line of emperors: the imperial throne of the West is left vacant.

910

The founding of the abbey of Cluny.

911

Rollo, a Viking warlord, agrees to convert to Christianity, and is granted the overlordship of what will become Normandy.

919

Henry, the Duke of Saxony, is elected King of East Francia.

929

Abd al-Rahman III, Emir of Al-Andalus, proclaims himself Caliph.

936

Henry, King of East Francia, dies, and is succeeded by his son, Otto.

939

The Battle of Andernach: Otto crushes a revolt led by his brother.

955

The Battle of the Lech: the threat to Christendom from the Hungarians is destroyed for good.

962

Otto is crowned emperor by Pope John XII.

966

The baptism of Miesco, Duke of the Poles.

967

Magdeburg is established as an archbishopric.

969

The assassination in Constantinople of Nicephorus Phocas, and his replacement as emperor by John Tzimiskes.

972

The arrival of Theophanu, John Tzimiskes’s niece, in Rome. A council is held at Aurillac, designed to promote the Peace of God.

973

The death of Otto. He is succeeded by his son, Otto II. Edgar, King of the English, stages an imperial coronation at Bath, and establishes a single currency.

975

The death of Edgar.

978

The murder of Edward, Edgar’s son, at Corfe. He is succeeded as king by his half-brother, Ethelred.

982

The Battle of Cotrone. Otto II retreats to Rome.

983

The revolt of the Slavs. Otto II dies in Rome. His infant son, Otto III, is crowned king.

986

The settlement of Greenland.

987

Hugh Capet is elected King of France. Fulk Nerra becomes Count of Anjou. Sweyn Forkbeard deposes his father, Harald Bluetooth, to become King of Denmark.

988

Vladimir of Kiev converts to Christianity.

991

The Battle of Maldon. Fire in Rome almost destroys St. Peter’s.

992

The death of Adso of Montier-en-Der while on pilgrimage to Jerusalem.

994

Odilo becomes Abbot of Cluny. The relics of St. Martial are publicly displayed on a hill above Limoges in a successful attempt to arrest a pestilence.

996

Otto III appoints his cousin as the first German pope, and is crowned as emperor. Robert II “the Pious” becomes King of France. Al-Hakim becomes the Fatimid Caliph of Egypt.

997

The martyrdom of St. Adalbert. The suppression of a peasant insurrection in Normandy. Al-Mansur, the effective ruler of al-Andalus, sacks Santiago.

998

Otto III suppresses an insurrection in Rome.

999

Otto III appoints Gerbert of Aurillac as Pope.

1000

Otto III visits the shrine of St. Adalbert in Poland and the tomb of Charlemagne in Aachen. The conversion of Iceland to Christianity. The death of Olaf Trygvasson, following his defeat by Sweyn Forkbeard.

1002

The death of Otto III. He is succeeded by Henry II. The death of al-Mansur. Ethelred orders a pogrom of Danes living in England: the St. Brice’s Day Massacre.

1003

Henry II enters an alliance with the Wends.

1004

Muslim pirates sack Pisa.

1006

Count Richard II of Normandy lays claim to the title of “duke.”

1009

The massacre of the Berber residents of Córdoba. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre is demolished on the orders of the Caliph al-Hakim.

1010

Berber forces lay Córdoba under siege. Jews are persecuted – and almost certainly massacred – for the first time in France.

1013

The fall and sack of Córdoba. Sweyn Forkbeard invades England.

1014

The death of Sweyn Forkbeard and the return from exile in Normandy of Ethelred.

1016

The death of Ethelred. Canute establishes himself as King of England. Turkish horsemen attack Armenia.

1018

A band of Norman mercenaries take service with the Byzantines in southern Italy.

1022

Twelve clerics are burned to death for heresy in Orléans.

1024

The death of Henry II marks the extinction of the Liudolfing dynasty. Conrad II is elected as king.

1026

A mass pilgrimage, sponsored by Duke Richard III of Normandy, arrives in Jerusalem.

1027

Canute arrives in Rome for Conrad II’s coronation as emperor.

1028

The public frustration of Adémar’s attempt to prove that St. Martial had been one of Christ’s original apostles.

1030

The Battle of Stiklestad and the death of Olaf, King of Norway. Olaf’s half-brother, Harald Hardrada, seeks sanctuary with Yaroslav, the King of the Rus.

1031

Olaf’s body is exhumed and found to be incorrupt: he starts to be hailed as a saint.

1033

Adémar – and a great crowd of other pilgrims – arrive in Jerusalem. Peter Damian becomes a hermit.

1035

The arrival in Jerusalem of Duke Robert of Normandy is followed soon afterwards by his death in Nicaea. He is succeeded as duke by his infant son, William. The death of Canute. Harald Hardrada travels to Constantinople.

1039

Henry III succeeds his father, Conrad II, as king of the Reich.

1043

Henry III marries Agnes of Aquitaine. Edward “the Confessor” is crowned as King of England.

1044

Harald Hardrada flees Constantinople.

1045

Harald Hardrada marries Elizabeth, Yaroslav’s daughter.

1046

The Synod of Sutri: Henry III disposes of three rival popes, and replaces them with a German appointee of his own.

1047

The arrival of Robert of Hauteville – soon to be nicknamed “Guiscard” – in southern Italy. Duke William of Normandy wins his first battle. Harald Hardrada becomes undisputed King of Norway.

1048

Bruno of Toul is crowned in Rome as Pope Leo IX. He tours the Rhineland, and stages a council in Reims. Hugh of Semur becomes Abbot of Cluny in succession to Odilo.

1053

The Battle of Civitate: Leo IX is taken prisoner by the Normans.

1054

Cardinal Humbert’s embassy to Constantinople: its ultimate result is schism between the churches of the Old and the New Rome. The death of Leo IX.

1055

Beatrice and Matilda of Tuscany are exiled by Henry III to the Rhineland.

1056

The death of Henry III. He is succeeded as king by his infant son, Henry IV.

1057

Peter Damian becomes a cardinal. Street battles break out in Milan between supporters of the archbishop and insurrectionists known as the “Patarenes.” Beatrice and Matilda return to Tuscany.

1059

The cardinals lay claim to the right to choose a pope. Peter Damian arrives in Milan in an attempt to make peace between the archbishop and the Patarenes. Robert Guiscard is accepted as a papal vessel, and invested with the dukedom of Apulia.

1061

The Normans invade Sicily.

1062

Henry IV is kidnapped by the Archbishop of Cologne.

1065

Henry IV comes of age. His mother, Agnes, leaves for Rome.

1066

The death of Edward the Confessor. Harald Godwinsson succeeds him as King of England. The Battle of Stamford Bridge: the defeat and death of Harald Hardrada. The Battle of Hastings: the defeat and death of Harald Godwinsson. William of Normandy is crowned as King of England.

1070

A public penance is imposed on all who fought at Hastings.

1071

The Battle of Manzikert.

1072

Rival bishops are appointed in Milan. The death of Peter Damian. Palermo is captured by the Normans. Alfonso VI becomes King of León.

1073

Archdeacon Hildebrand is elected Pope. He takes the name Gregory VII. Rebellion against Henry IV breaks out in Saxony.

1074

The abandonment of Gregory’s expedition to Constantinople and Jerusalem.

1075

Henry IV suppresses the revolt in Saxony. Gregory charges the Germans not to obey disobedient bishops. Henry imposes his own candidate on the archbishopric of Milan.

1076

Gregory threatens Henry IV with excommunication. At a conference in Worms, two-thirds of the German bishops renounce their loyalty to Gregory. Gregory excommunicates Henry. Rebellion breaks out again in Saxony, and Henry is threatened with deposition by a gathering of rebellious princes at Tribur.

1077

Henry IV stages a public penance at Canossa, and is absolved from excommunication. An assembly of princes at Forcheim elects Duke Rodulf of Swabia as king. Civil war in the Reich. The death of Agnes.

1078

Gregory formally bans the investiture of bishops by emperors and kings.

1080

Gregory excommunicates Henry IV for a second time. Henry nominates an anti-pope. Rudolf of Swabia dies in battle. Alfonso VI imposes the Roman form of the Mass on his kingdom.

1081

Henry IV marches abortively on Rome. Alexius Comnenus becomes emperor in Constantinople. Robert Guiscard crosses the Adriatic.

1082

Robert Guiscard withdraws again to Apulia.

1083

Henry IV captures St. Peter’s.

1084

Henry IV captures Rome and is anointed as emperor by Clement III, the newly crowned anti-pope. He retreats before the advance of Robert Guiscard, who rescues Gregory from the Castel Sant’Angelo and sacks Rome.

1085

Death of Gregory. Alfonso VI captures Toledo. Death of Robert Guiscard.

1087

Urban II is crowned as Pope.

1090

The last Muslim outpost in Sicily submits to Norman rule.

1095

The Council of Piacenza. Urban II tours France. He consecrates the “maior ecclesia” of Cluny. At a council held at Clermont, he calls for an armed expedition to restore Jerusalem to Christendom.

1097

The capture of Nicaea from the Turks.

1099

The capture of Jerusalem.