CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE OF IMPORTANT DATES AND EVENTS

714

Charles Martel becomes ruler of Francia

717

Victory of Charles Martel over Neustrian Frankish opponents at Vinchy (21 March)

732

Charles Martel defeats Islamic invading forces near Poitiers (17 October): effective end of Moorish threats to penetrate beyond Pyrenees

733–48

Frankish campaigns against Frisia, Burgundy, Provence (733–41); Aleman nia and Bavaria (743–8)

751

Pippin III, father of Charlemagne, becomes King of the Franks

768

Charlemagne becomes King of the Franks

771

Completion of the Frankish conquest of Aquitaine

772–85

Charlemagne’s first Saxon war

774

Frankish conquest of Lombardy

778

Frankish campaign in Spain, rearguard of the army ambushed and defeated at Roncevaux (engagement remembered in the Song of Roland)

787–8

Frankish conquest of Bavaria

792–803

Charlemagne’s second Saxon war

793

Viking sack of Lindisfarne, Northumberland (8 June), marking conventional beginning of the ‘Viking Age’

794–5

Numerous Viking raids on islands off the coasts of Scotland and Ireland

795

Charlemagne’s army captures the Avar ring, and their treasure: collapse of Avar power follows

799

First recorded Viking raid on Francia, on the monastery of St Philibert on the island of Noirmoutier

800

Charlemagne crowned Emperor in Rome

800–1

Siege of Barcelona by Spanish Muslims

808

Godfred, King of the Danes, reinforces the defensive line of the Danevirke, in Southern Jutland

810

Danish attack on Frisia, large tribute taken

814

Death of Charlemagne: succeeded as Emperor by his son Louis the Pious (814–40)

830–5

Civil wars between Louis the Pious and his sons

834–7

Successive Danish attacks on the major Frankish trading settlement at Dorestad

835

First recorded Danish raid on England, on the Isle of Sheppey (Thames estuary)

837

Two large Norwegian fleets appear on the Boyne and the Liffey: more intensive phase of Viking warfare in Ireland commences

840–3

Following the death of Louis the Pious, civil war reopens between his sons in Francia

841

Battle of Fontenoy (25 June): Lothar (eldest son of Louis) defeated by Charles the Bald and Louis the German (younger sons)

843

Treaty of Verdun: partition of the Frankish empire between Charles the Bald (to be King of West Francia), Louis (King of the Germans), and Lothar (titular Emperor and ruler of the ‘Middle Kingdom’)

858–9

East Frankish invasion of West Francia

860

Scandinavian ‘Rus’ attack Constantinople

864

Charles the Bald, at assembly of Pîtres, orders the fortification of strategic bridges in West Francia

865

Landing of the Danish ‘Great Army’ in East Anglia; inaugurating more intensive ‘Viking’ warfare in England

869–88

Prolonged internal fighting in Francia over the division of territories, with Italy, Lotharingia, and Burgundy all establishing separate identities

c.870

King Harald Fairhair wins naval victory at Hafrsfjord, near Stavanger, and extends his power in Norway

875

Charles the Bald invades Italy

876

Charles the Bald attempts to conquer East Francia, but is defeated at Andernach (8 October)

877

Charles the Bald invades Italy again

878

West Saxons under King Alfred defeat the Danes under Guthrum at Edington (May)

879

Scandinavian forces establish an encampment at Asselt, inaugurating more intensive Viking warfare in the Frankish region (879–91)

881

Franks under King Louis III defeat a Viking army at Saucourt-en-Vimeu (3 August); remembered in the celebratory poem Ludwigslied Magyar raids on East Francia

882

Charles III the Fat unsuccessfully besieges Asselt

885–6

Long-drawn-out but unsuccessful siege of Paris by Danes under King Sigfred

888

Charles the Fat deposed: Arnulf becomes King of the Franks

891

Vikings engaged in constructing a winter camp on the River Dyle near Louvain are defeated by a Frankish army under Arnulf

895–6

Magyar conquest of the Carpathian basin

895–900

The ‘classic’ Viking warship, later buried at Gokstad, is built in southern Norway

896

Disbandment of the remnants of the Danish army in England; it returns to Francia

899

Italians under King Berengar defeated by the Magyars at Brenta (24 September)

907

The Russian Prince Oleg attacks Constantinople

910

Danish raiders defeated by King Edward the Elder at Tettenhall (6 August), presaging West Saxon conquest of north-eastern England

911

Treaty of Claire-sur-Epte: the Viking leader Rollo established in the region of future Normandy, by agreement with the West Frankish King Charles the Simple

914

A great Viking fleet arrives at Waterford, inaugurating a second intensive phase of Viking warfare in Ireland

919

Henry I the Fowler, duke of Saxony, becomes King of the East Franks (Germans) Dublin Vikings annihilate a major Irish army at Islandbridge (14 September): zenith of Scandinavian power in Ireland

923

Battle of Soissons (15 June): Carolingian Charles the Simple of West Francia defeated by Robert, Capetian Count of Paris (killed in the battle): Raoul of Burgundy becomes King of the West Franks Battle of Fiorenzuola (17 July): Berengar I of Italy defeated by Rudolf II of Burgundy

933

Henry the Fowler, King of East Franks, defeats the Magyars at Riade (15 March)

936(73)

Otto I becomes King of East Francia

937

West Saxons under King Æthelstan defeat a coalition led by Olaf Guthfrithsson, King of Dublin, at Brunanburh

939

Otto I defeats East Frankish rebels under Henry of Bavaria, Eberhard of Franconia and Giselbert of Lotharingia in two battles, at Birten and at Andernach

941

Varangian naval attack on Constantinople under the leadership of Igor, Prince of Kiev, repulsed by Greek fire

950–1

Otto I’s first expedition to Italy

955

Battle of the Lechfeld (10 August): great victory of Otto I over the Magyars

958–67

Ottonian campaigns against Slavs on German eastern borders

962–5

Otto I’s second expedition to Italy

962

Otto I crowned Emperor in Rome

967–72

Otto I’s third expedition to Italy

973

Death of Otto I, succeeded by Otto II

975

Council of Le Puy: Bishop Guy calls on all good churchmen to respect the property of the church and the poor: and involves Counts of Brioude and Gévaudan in enforcing the council’s canons

980

Vikings resume raids on England, marking beginning of the ‘second Viking Age’ Dubliners and their allies from the Scottish Isles defeated at Tara by King Mael Sechnaill of Mide (Meath)

982

Otto II defeated by the Saracens near Stilo in south Italy (July)

983

Death of Otto II: major rising of the Slavs against the Germans on the Elbe frontier

989

Church Council at Charroux imposes penalties on those who attack churches, clerks, peasants, and their beasts

991

A local English force under Ealdorman Byrtnoth is defeated by Danish Vikings at Maldon, Essex (10? August); commemorated in the poem The Battle of Maldon

1000

Olaf Tryggvason, King of Norway, defeated and killed in battle against Sven Forkbeard, King of Denmark, at Svold

1003–18

Campaigns of Emperor Henry II, King of East Franks, against the Poles.

1008

Death of Abd al Malik; break up of the Muslim Caliphate of Córdoba (Spain)

1014

A Leinster and Dublin Viking coalition, along with Viking allies from the Isle of Man and the Scottish Isles, is defeated by Brian Bórama (Brian Boru), King of Munster, at Clontarf (23 April)

1015

Pisans and Genoese commence attacks on Muslims of Corsica and Sardinia

1016

Danish defeat of King Edmund Ironside at Ashingdon (18 October) leads to the temporary partition of England Cnut of Denmark becomes King of England, following the death (30 November) of Edmund Ironside

1018

Byzantine Greeks defeat Lombards and Norman mercenaries at Cannae (S. Italy, early October)

1023

Peace Council at Beauvais, which imposes an ‘oath of peace’

1026

Danes win naval victory over Swedes at Stangebjerg

1027

Church Council at Toulouges proclaims Truce of God, limiting fighting to certain days of the week (Mon.–Wed.), and banning it in Advent and Lent

1028

Danes win naval victory over Swedes and Norwegians at Helgeå

1030

Norman leader Rainulf becomes lord of Aversa (S. Italy) Olaf Haraldsson, exiled King of Norway, is defeated and killed at Stiklestad (30 June)

1038–41

Last Greek Byzantine expedition to Sicily, under George Maniaces

1041

Norman victory over the Greeks at Cannae

1046

Arrival in Italy of Robert Guiscard, future Norman leader, in Southern Italy

1047

William Duke of Normandy defeats Norman rebels at Val-ès-Dunes (January)

1051

Norman victory over forces assembled by Pope Leo IX at Civitate, S. Italy (23 June)

1054

Church Council of Narbonne forbids the shedding of Christian blood by Christians

1059

Pope Nicholas II at Melfi recognizes Robert Guiscard as Duke of Apulia

1061

Normans under Roger de Hauteville first invade Sicily

1064

Capture of Coimbra (Spain) from the Moors

1066

Battles of Fulford (20 September), Stamford Bridge (25 September), and Hastings (14 October); Harald Hardrada, King of Norway, defeated and killed at Stamford Bridge, Harold of England at Hastings. William of Normandy becomes King of England

1071

Robert Guiscard takes Bari (S. Italy). Seljuk Turks under Alp Arslan defeat the Byzantines under Emperor Romanus Diogenes at Mantzikert (26 August)

1072

Palermo (Sicily) taken by the Normans

1073

Revolt of the Saxons against Henry IV of Germany Amalfi taken by the Normans

1075

Henry IV defeats the Saxons on the Unstrut (9 June)

1077–1122

Wars of Investiture in Germany and Italy, between Emperors Henry IV and V and supporters of the papacy

1078

Henry IV defeated by the Saxons at Mellrichstadt (7 August)

1080

Henry IV defeated by the Saxons at Flarchheim (27 January) and again on the Elster (15 October)

1085

Capture of Toledo (Spain) from the Moors Capture of Syracuse (Sicily) by the Normans

1085–6

Threatened Danish invasion of England precipitates mobilization of troops, followed by the Domesday survey of the country

1086

Henry IV defeated by the Saxons and others at Pleichfeld (11 August) Alfonso VI of Castile defeated by the Almoravids at Sagrajas (23 October)

1088

Baronial rebellion against William II of England, quashed after William’s successful siege of Rochester

1091

Completion of the Norman Conquest of Sicily

1094

Capture of Valencia by the Cid from the Moors (recaptured 1102)

1095

Pope Urban II preaches the First Crusade at the Council of Clermont. At the same council, the Pope endorses the principles of the Peace of God

1096

First Crusade armies reach Constantinople, and confer with Greek Emperor Alexius I Comnenus. Church Council at Rouen affirms the Peace of God, on the basis of the Clermont decree

1097–8

Crusaders besiege and finally take Antioch (October 1097–June 1098)

1099

Crusaders capture Jerusalem (15 July) and found the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem

1104

Foundation of the Arsenal of Venice

1106

Henry I of England defeats Duke Robert of Normandy at Tinchebrai (28 September) and reunites England and Normandy

1109

Crusaders capture Tripoli (12 July)

1115

Henry V of Germany defeated by the Saxons at Welfesholz (11 February); end of the Saxon wars

1119

Roger, crusader Prince of Antioch, defeated and killed at the Battle of Blood (Darb Sarmada: 28 June) Henry I of England defeats forces of Louis VI of France at the Battle of Brémule (20 August)

1124

Battle of Bourgthéroulde (26 March); Anglo-Norman victory over the French. Crusaders, aided by Venetian fleet, capture Tyre (7 July)

1127

Roger II of Sicily seizes Apulia after the death of William of Apulia Zengi becomes governor of Mosul; beginnings of Muslim recovery in Syria and Mesopotamia

1130

Roger II proclaimed King of Sicily

1135

Stephen succeeds Henry I as King of England and Duke of Normandy, despite claims of Henry’s daughter Matilda, wife of Geoffrey of Anjou

1136–44

Geoffrey of Anjou overruns Normandy

1138

David I of Scotland defeated by the English at the Battle of the Standard (22 August)

1139–53

Civil war in England between followers of Stephen and Matilda

1141

King Stephen captured at the Battle of Lincoln (2 February)

1144–6

County of Edessa conquered from the crusaders by Zengi

1146

Death of Zengi; succeeded by his sons

1147–8

Second Crusade to Syria; ends with the failure of the crusaders before Damascus (July 1148)

1147

Henry the Lion of Saxony, aided by Albrecht the Bear and Adolf of Holstein, leads a German crusade against the Slavs east of the Elbe Alfonso VII of Castile takes Almeria from the Moors (7 October), and the Portuguese take Lisbon (24 October)

1148

Raymond Berengar of Barcelona and the Aragonese take Tortosa

1153

Christians under King Baldwin III of Jerusalem capture Ascalon

1154

Nur al-Din, son of Zengi, becomes ruler of Damascus (until his death in 1174)

1155

Emperor Frederick Barbarossa’s first expedition to Italy

1160–2

Frederick Barbarossa besieges and finally takes Milan

1163–9

Crusaders under King Amaury of Jerusalem compete with Nur al-Din Din’s lieutenants, Shirkuh and Saladin, for control of Fatimed Egypt

1167–77

Renewed wars of Frederick Barbarossa with the cities of the Lombard League

1169

Saladin becomes Vizir of Egypt

1171–2

Henry II of England’s expedition to Ireland

1173

French and Scots support rebellion against Henry II

1174

King William of Scotland captured at Alnwick; end of the rebellion against Henry II Saladin establishes control over both Egypt and Damascus, following death of Nur al-Din

1176

Frederick Barbarossa defeated by the Milanese at Legnano (29 May)

1177

Saladin defeated at Montgisard (25 November) by the forces of the ‘leper king’, Baldwin IV of Jerusalem

1187

Battle of Hattin (4 July): Saladin defeats the crusaders under King Guy de Lusignan and overruns most of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, including the Holy City

1188–92

The Third Crusade

1189–91

Crusaders besiege and finally, under leadership of Philip Augustus of France and Richard I of England, take Acre (July 1191)

1191–2

Richard the Lionheart of England, on crusade, campaigns in Southern Palestine

1191

Battle of Arsur (6 September); victory of Richard the Lionheart over Saladin

1192

Richard the Lionheart leaves Holy Land from Acre: end of Third Crusade

1193

Death of Saladin

1194–1204

Wars of Philip II Augustus of France against Richard and John of England, in Normandy and the Loire Valley

1194

Richard I defeats Philip of France at Frétéval (4 July)
Emperor Henry VI, son of Frederick Barbarossa, conquers Kingdom of Sicily

1195

Alfonso VIII of Castile defeated by the Almohads at Alarcos (19 July)

1197

Richard I builds a new castle, Château Gaillard, to dominate the Seine at Les Andelys

1204

Latin Forces of the Fourth Crusade capture Constantinople from the Greeks Conquest of Normandy by the French, from King John of England

1209–29

Albigensian Crusade against the heretics of Languedoc: northern French crusading hosts led initially by Simon de Montfort (d. 1218) and later under royal leadership

1212

Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa (16 July): victory of King Peter of Aragon over the Moorish Almohads

1213

Battle of Muret (12 September): victory of the northern French crusaders led by Simon de Montfort over the confederation of King Peter of Aragon, Count Raymond VI of Toulouse and the lords of Languedoc

1214

Battle of Bouvines (27 July): victory of Philip II Augustus of France over the allies of John of England, who included Otto IV of Germany, the Count of Flanders, and Rainald of Dammartin

1215–17

Civil war in England, rebel barons, backed by Prince Louis of France, oppose first King John, and after his death supporters of his son Henry III

1217–21

Fifth Crusade

1217

Battle of Lincoln (20 May); William Marshal, for Henry III, defeats rebel barons and French led by Prince Louis
Battle of Sandwich (24 August); English naval victory over French fleet of Eustace the Monk

1217–18

Unsuccessful siege of Toulouse by Albigensian crusaders; Simon de Montfort killed in its course

1219

Christian forces of Fifth Crusade capture Damietta (5 November) on the Nile delta

1221

Fifth Crusade surrounded in the Nile delta and surrenders (30 August); Damietta evacuated

1228–9

Crusade of the Emperor Frederick II: Jerusalem reoccupied by the Christians after negotiations with Sultan of Egypt

1229

Teutonic Order begins the conquest of Prussia Conquest of Majorca by Jaume I of Aragon

1237

Battle of Cortenuova (27 November): victory of Frederick II over the forces of the second Lombard League

1241

Mongol invasion of eastern Europe: they defeat the Poles at Leignitz and the Hungarians at Mohi (April)

1244

Khorasmians storm and take Jerusalem (23 August): subsequently combined Khorasmian and Egyptian forces defeat the Syrian crusader army at La Forbie (17 October)

1248

Frederick II defeated by his Italian enemies at Parma (19 February) Conquest of Seville by Ferdinand III of Castile

1248–54

First crusade of King Louis IX of France

1250

Louis IX overwhelmed and captured (6 April) at Mansourah (Egypt): on release withdraws to Syria (Acre)

1254

Foundation of Königsberg (Prussia) by the Teutonic Knights Louis IX returns to France

1260

Mamluks of Egypt defeat the Mongols at ‘Ain Jalut’ (3 September) Victory of the Italian Ghibellines over the Guelfs at Montaperti (4 September)

1260–77

Reign of Sultan Baybars of Egypt and Syria

1261

Byzantine recapture of Constantinople

1264

Battle of Lewes (14 May): victory of Simon de Montfort the Younger and rebel English barons over King Henry III

1265

Battle of Evesham (4 August): Simon de Montfort defeated and killed by Lord Edward, son of Henry III

1265–8

Charles Count of Anjou invades Italy, as champion of the Church and the Guelfs against Manfred of Sicily and the Ghibellines

1266

Charles of Anjou defeats Manfred at Benevento (26 February), and makes good his title as King of Sicily Baybars captures Saphet (Syria) from the crusaders

1268

Charles of Anjou defeats the German and Ghibelline forces of Conradin at Tagliacozzo (23 August): Conradin executed Baybars captures Beaufort, Jaffa, and Antioch

1270

Second crusade of Louis IX, to Tunis: death of Louis IX (25 August)

1271

Baybars captures Crac des Chevaliers

1277–83

Edward I of England conquers Wales

1278

Battle of Durnkrut/Marchfield (26 August): German Emperor, Rudolf of Habsburg, with Hungarian support, defeats Ottokar of Bohemia

1282–1302

War of the Sicilian Vespers; following rising of the Sicilians against Charles of Anjou and Aragonese intervention in their support

1283

Catalans under Roger Loria win naval victory over the Angevin fleet off Malta (8 June)

1284

Battle of Meloria (6 August): Genoese naval victory over the Pisans

1285

Unsuccessful French invasion of Aragon Catalan victory over French fleet off Palamos (4 September) Muslim capture of Marqab

1289

Muslim capture of Tripoli

1291

Muslim capture of Acre (18 May): end of the Frankish states in Syria and Palestine

1294

French establish the Clos des Galées (naval arsenal) at Rouen

1294–7

Anglo-French war, chief field of operations in Gascony

1296

Commencement of Edward I’s Scottish wars

1297

Victory of the Scots under William Wallace over the English at Stirling Bridge (11 September)

1298

Victory of Edward I over the Scots at Falkirk (22 July)

1302

Battle of Courtrai (11 July): Flemings defeat King Philip IV and the French Treaty of Caltabellotta: end of the war of the Sicilian Vespers

1303–12

Following the Treaty of Caltabellotta, Catalan companies engaged on the Sicilian side first take service with the Byzantine Emperor (1303), subsequently with the Duke of Athens; and after turning against both, establish the Catalan Duchy of Athens

1311

Battle of Kephissos (15 March): mercenaries of the Catalan Company defeat the Frankish Duke of Athens

1314

Battle of Bannockburn (23–4 June): Robert Bruce defeats the English royal army of Edward II

1315

Battle of Mortgarten (15 November): Swiss victory over the Austrians

1324–5

War of St Sardos between French and English in Aquitaine

1328

Battle of Cassell (28 August): French under Philip VI defeat the Flemings

1330

Battle of Posada (November): Wallachians defeat the Hungarians

1332

English troops defeat a larger Scottish army at Dupplin Moor (8 August)

1333

Battle of Halidon Hill (19 July): Edward III victorious over the Scots

1337

Opening of the Hundred Years War between England and France

1339

Battle of Laupen (21 June): victory of the Swiss (of Berne) over a coalition of Fribourg, the Bishop of Basle, and local nobles

1340

Battle of Sluys (24 June): major English naval victory over the French Iberian powers defeat a Moorish fleet at Tarifa (30 October)

1342

Werner of Urslingen’s mercenary company established in Italy

1346

Battle of Crécy (26 August): English under Edward III defeat the French under Philip VI Battle of Neville’s Cross (17 October): Scottish invaders defeated by the English

1346–7

Edward III besieges Calais and starves it into surrender (September 1346–August 1347)

1347

Hungarian troops enter Italy in support of Queen Joanna I of Naples

1347–50

First outbreak of plague (the Black Death) in Europe

1349

Battle of Meleto: mercenaries under Fra Moriale, Werner of Urslingen, and Conrad of Landau, fighting for Joanna I, defeat army of the Neapolitan barons

1354

Execution in Rome of the mercenary captain, Fra Moriale

1356

Battle of Poitiers (19 September): Edward the Black Prince defeats and captures King John II of France

1360

Peace of Brétigny between England and France: Aquitaine ceded to the English as an independent principality

1366–70

War of Succession in Castile; King Pedro the Cruel (formally allied with England) challenged for the throne by his bastard brother, Henry of Trastamare, with French support. Pedro driven out 1366

1367

Battle of Nájera (3 April): Franco Castilian army of Henry of Trastamare defeated by Edward the Black Prince, in alliance with Pedro the Cruel, who is restored to Castilian throne

1369

Reopening of the Anglo-French war

1370

Battle of Montiel (14 March): French mercenaries under Du Guesclin defeat Pedro the Cruel who is afterwards killed: Henry of Trastamare becomes King of Castile

1377

Franco-Castilian fleet raids the English south coast (summer): Rye and Portsmouth damaged

1378

Outbreak of the Great Schism in the Papacy, between Roman and Avignonese Popes

1379

Battle of Marino (30 April): Alberigo da Barbiano, in service of Pope Urban VI, defeats the Breton mercenary companies supporting the Avignonese Pope Clement VII

1382

Battle of Westrozebeke (27 November): French troops crush Flemish rebels

1385

Battle of Aljubarotta (14 August): Anglo-Portuguese army of James of Aviz defeats the Castilians

1386

Battle of Sempach (9 July): Swiss victory over the Austrians

1387

Battle of Castagnaro (11 March): Sir John Hawkwood, in service of Padua, defeats the Veronese

1394

Death of Sir John Hawkwood

1396

Battle of Nicopolis (25 September): the Ottoman Sultan Bayazid I defeats the combined army of the Hungarians and French crusaders

1402

Death of Gian Galeazzo Visconti, Duke of Milan Ottoman Sultan Bayazid defeated and taken prisoner in battle near Ankara (20 July) by Timur the Tartar

1410

Battle of Tannenburg (15 July): Teutonic Knights defeated by the Poles and Lithuanians

1415

Battle of Agincourt (25 October): Henry V’s great victory over the French

1416

Battle of San Egidio: Braccio de Montone, condottiere captain, defeats the Perugians

1417

Henry V invades Normandy, and takes Caen and Alençon

1418–19

Henry V besieges Rouen and starves it into surrender (August 1418–January 1419)

1420

Treaty of Troyes: Henry V recognized by Charles VI and the Burgundians as heir of France First German crusade against the Bohemian Hussites: repulsed by Zizka at the Vitkov (14 July)

1421

Battle of Baugé (22 March): Franco-Scottish army defeats the English under the Duke of Clarence

1422

Battle of Arbedo (30 June): Milanese defeat the Swiss Death of King Henry V (31 August)

1424

Zizka triumphs in the civil war of the Hussites at Malesor (7 June) Battle of Verneuil, the ‘second Agincourt’ (17 August): Franco-Scottish army defeated by John Duke of Bedford, Regent of France

1428–9

English siege of Orléans (October 1428–May 1429): broken up by Joan of Arc

1429

Battle of Patay (18 June): English defeated by Joan of Arc

1431

Frederick of Brandenberg, leading Imperial forces, defeated by the Hussites at Taus (14 August)

1434

Battle of Lipany (30 May): Catholic and moderate Hussite nobles defeat the radical Hussite Taborites and Orphans led by Zizka’s successor, Prokop the Bald: effective end of the Hussite wars

1435

Peace Congress of Arras; Philip Duke of Burgundy leaves the English alliance and renews loyalty to Charles VII of France

1442

Alfonso V of Aragon seizes the throne of Naples

1444

French defeat a small Swiss army at St Jacob-en-Birs (24 August) Battle of Varna (10 November): Hungarian and Polish crusading army de feated by the Ottomans

1448

Battle of Caravaggio (15 September): Milanese defeat the Venetians on land Battle of Kossovo Polje (18–19 October): Ottomans defeat Hungarians under John Hunyadi

1449

French recover Rouen from the English with little fighting (October)

1450

Battle of Formigny (15 April): English field army under Sir Thomas Kyriell defeated by the French: followed by final collapse of English in Normandy (August)

1453

Sultan Mehmet II the Conqueror besieges Constantinople (April–May) and captures the city for the Ottomans Battle of Castillon (17 July): English field army in Gascony led by John Talbot Earl of Shrewsbury defeated by the French

1454

Peace of Lodi, between the major Italian states (Florence, Venice, Milan, the Papacy, and later including Naples)

1455

Battle of St Albans (22 May): victory of the Yorkist lords in the first engagement of the Wars of the Roses in England

1456

John Hunyadi successfully defends Belgrade against the Turks

1459–67

Turkish conquest of most of the southern Balkans: Serbia (1459); the Morea (1460); Bosnia (1464); Herzegovina (1467)

1460

Yorkists defeat and capture Henry VI of Lancaster at Northampton (10 July); but are defeated by his Queen Margaret at Wakefield (30 December)

1461

Battle of Towton (29 March): Yorkist victory clinches Edward IV’s position as King of England

1465

War of the Public Weal in France: indecisive engagement at Monthléry (16 July) between the forces of Louis XI and those of the League, under Charles of Charolais, future Charles the Bold of Burgundy

1471

Edward IV returns to England from Flanders, and defeats Lancastrians at Barnet (14 April) and Tewkesbury (4 May)

1472

Hostilities between France and Burgundy

1475

Charles the Bold of Burgundy unsuccessfully besieges Neuss
Edward IV invades France, but comes to terms with Louis XI at Picquigny

1476

Charles the Bold of Burgundy defeated by the Swiss at Grandson (2 March) and Morat (22 June)

1477

Charles the Bold defeated and killed at the battle of Nancy (5 January) Maximilian of Austria marries Mary, heiress of Burgundy; leading to further hostilities with Louis XI

1479

Louis XI’s forces defeated by Maximilian at Guinegate (7 August) Union of Aragon and Castile under Ferdinand and Isabella

1480

First, unsuccessful, siege of Rhodes by the Turks

1481

Commencement under Ferdinand and Isabella, of new war of reconquest from the Moors in southern Spain

1485

Battle of Bosworth (22 August): victory of Henry Tudor over Richard III of England

1492

Fall of Granada (2 January) to the Spaniards: final completion of the wars of reconquest from the Moors

1494

Charles VIII invades Italy, in pursuit of French claims in Naples

1495

Charles VIII enters Naples: at Fornovo (14 July) defeats the forces of the League of Venice, formed to oppose him

1499

Accession of Louis XII of France; preparations for a renewed Italian of fensive
Beginning of Turkish-Venetian war

1500

Louis XII takes Milan

1502

French and Spaniards at war in Italy over the Kingship of Naples

1503

Gonsalvo de Córdoba, ‘the Great Captain’ for Spain, defeats the French at Cerignola (April) and at Garigliano (28 December)

1515

Battle of Marj Dabiq (24 August): Ottomans defeat the Egyptian Mamluks
Battle of Marignano (14–15 September): Swiss in the pay of Milan defeated by the French

1516

Battle of Raydaniya (23 January): Ottomans again defeat the Mamluks

1525

Battle of Pavia (25 February): victory of the Emperor Charles V over the French under Francis I, who is taken prisoner

1526

Battle of Mohács (28 August): Ottomans under Süleyman the Magnificent defeat the Hungarians