History Timeline

1001 - 1300 AD

1016 - 1035 Reign of Canute over England, Denmark, Norway, Sweden
1021 Birth of Wang Anshi
1027 Birth of William I - William the Conqueror - first Norman king of England
1138 Birth of Saladin
1048 Alexius I Comnenus (Byzantine emperor) defeats the Normans of Sicily
1050 Rise of the sect of Zen, emphasizing meditation, and intense self-discipline (in Asia)
   Crossbows invented
1066 William, Duke of Normandy is victorious at the battle of Hastings
1079 Birth of Peter Abelard
1095 - 1291 The 7 Crusades take place
1100 Indian philosopher Ramanuja states that God is fundamentally different than the human being (opposite of Shankara)
1130 Birth of Zhu Xi
1200 Birth of Pope Innocent IV
   End of Romanesque style
1123 Birth of Frederick Barbarossa (king of Germany and the Holy Roman Empire)
1129 Birth of Henry the Lion
1137 Eleanor of Aquitane becomes queen of France
1165 Birth of Phillip II (king of France and Spain)
1173 Saladin becomes sultan of Egypt
1187 Jerusalem falls to the Muslims
1190 Teutonic order of knights is set up in Germany to defend Christianity from Muslims
1194 Birth of Frederick II
1200 Japan is invaded by Mongols twice. Each time the Mongols are held back by strong typhoons.
   Spinning wheel is introduced to Europe from India
   Invention of magnetic compass, chimney, horseshoe, 3-field crop rotation, windmill
1215 Magna Carta signed
   Birth of Kublai Khan
1221 Mongols invade northern India and remain dominant power there until 1500
   1221 Birth of Alfonso X (later King of Leon and Castile in Spain)
1222 Mongols invade and destroy much of Persia
1223 Genghis Khan invades Russia and destroys much of it
1225 Thomas Aquinas is born
1233 Spanish Inquisition begins
1235 Sun Diat founds Mali empire in West Africa
1239 Birth of Edward I (Edward Longshanks)
1240 Russian Alexander Nevski defeats the Swedes in the battle of the R Neva
1242 Alexander Nevski defeats the Teutonic knights on the L Peipus
1260 Foundation of the Medici family in Italy, banking and political family that ruled Florence
1265 Birth of Dante
1279 - 1368 Yuan Dynasty in China
1286 Invention of the clock
1290 Invention of spectacles
1299 Turkish Ottoman Empire founded