529
Foundation by St Benedict of a monastery on Montecassino

526
Theoderic dies

527-65
Justinian Roman Emperor in Byzantium

531
A Frankish army under King Theuderic defeats King Irminfrid of the Thuringians and destroys their kingdom

534
Promulgation of a code of laws by Emperor Justinian

534-48
Theudebert King of the Franks

535
Byzantine troops defeat Vandals in Africa

535
Byzantine troops march into Italy against Ostrogoths

542
Outbreak of an epidemic of bubonic plague

547
Date of the accession of Ida> the first recorded king of Bernicia in Britain

554
Byzantine troops take control of Italy

559
Date of the accession of Aelle, the first recorded king of Deira in Britain

560-616
Ethelbert King of Kent

568
Lombards settle in northern Italy
King Reccared of the Visigoths converts to Catholicism

590
Columbanus> a Catholic missionary from Ireland, and his companions arrive in Gaul

590-604
Pope Gregory I

596
St Augustine of Canterbury arrives from Rome and begins Catholic mission in Kent

612
Columbanus founds a monastery at Bobbio

616-40
Eadbald King of Kent

635
Aidan, a missionary from Ireland, arrives at Lindisfarne at the request of King Oswald of Northumbria

638
Arabs take control of Jerusalem

664
The synod of Whitby settles disputes between Irish and Roman Catholic missionaries

669
Wilfrid becomes Bishop of York
Perctarit, King of the Lombards, converts to Catholicism

685-88
Caedwalla, King of the West Saxons, abdicates and dies in Rome 689

688-726
Ine, King of the West Saxons, rules together with his father, Coenred> for some time, abdicates and dies in Rome in or after 726

690-725
Wihtred King of Kent

697
Arabs take control over Carthage
Arab-led troops appear in the Iberian peninsula

719
Winfrith-Boniface receives a papal mandate to become a missionary in areas north of the Alps

722
Winfrith-Boniface appointed Bishop by Pope Gregory II

732
Defeat of Arab-led troops by the Frankish Majordomus Charles Martel in the battle of Tours and Poitiers

744
Sturmi becomes the first abbot of the monastery founded by St Boniface at Fulda

751
Pippin III deposes the last of the descendants of Clovis and has himself elected king of the Franks

754
Pippin seeks support from Pope Stephen II to consolidate his position as king of the Franks

768-814
Charlemagne, son of Pippin III, King of the Franks

772-805
Charlemagne fights a series of campaigns against Saxons

774
Charlemagne becomes also King of the Lombards

791-842
King Alfonso II of Asturias, propagates the supposed identification of a late Roman mausoleum as, the grave of Apostle James the Elder (dec. c. 44) at a place subsequently named Santiago de Compostela; from the tenth century, the place attracts pilgrims from all over Europe

793
Lindisfarne sacked by Vikings

800
Charlemagne receives an imperial crown in Rome from Pope Leo III (795-816)

812
Disputes between Charlemagne and the Roman emperors in Byzantium end

814
Foundation of the bishopric of Halberstadt

814-40
Louis the Pious, son of Charlemagne, King of the Franks

827
Arab troops take control of parts of Sicily
Vikings establish themselves in Ireland and found Dublin

840-77
Charles the Bald, youngest son of Louis the Pious, King of the Franks and Emperor

843
Charles the Bald and his two brothers divide the Frankish kingdom among themselves in the Treaty of Verdun

855-70
Edmund King of East Anglia

858-67
Pope Nicholas I

860
Vikings from Kiev attack Constantinople

865
The Viking `Great Army' moves into England

871-99
Alfred King of Wessex

876
Byzantine troops begin a series of campaigns against Arabs in Sicily

898-923
Charles the Simple King of the Franks

899
Hungarian raids in Italy

899-924
Edward the Elder King of the West Saxons

910
Duke William the Pious founds Cluny

911
Conrad I elected as King by representatives of political groups in the Frankish kingdom east of the Rhine; King Charles the Simple grants parts of Normandy to the Viking leader Rollo

919-36
Henry I, Duke of the Saxons, succeeds Conrad as King

920-23
Duke Robert of Neustria elected against King Charles the Simple

c.922
Henry I authorises the building of fortifications against Hungarians in his kingdom

933
Henry I defeats Hungarians at Riade

936-73
Otto I, son of Henry I, succeeds his father as King

953-54
Otto I's son, Duke Liudolf, revolts against his father, dies 957

955
Otto I defeats Hungarians on the Lechfeld near Augsburg

957/9-75
Edgar King of England

962
Otto I crowned emperor by Pope John XII in Rome

965
Brun, youngest son of Otto I, dies as archbishop of Cologne and Duke of Lorraine

968
Otto I founds the archbishopric of Magdeburg

973-83
Otto II succeeds his father Otto I as king and emperor

982
Otto defeated by Arab troops at Cotrone

983-1002
Otto III (born 980) succeeds his father as king and emperor under the regencies of his mother Theophanu and his grandmother Adelheid

987-96
Hugh Capet, grandson of King Robert, King of the Franks

996-1021
al-Hakim Khalif of Baghdad

996-1031
Robert II King of the Franks in succession to his father Hugh Capet

999-1003
Pope Sylvester II (Gerbert of Aurillac) teacher of Emperor Otto III

1000
Otto III visits Gniezno in Poland and promotes the foundation of an archbishopric there; King Stephen of Hungary establishes a series of bishoprics; King Olaf of Sweden accepts Catholicism

c. 1000
Vikings cross the northern Atlantic and reach America which they call Vinland

1002-24
Emperor Henry II

1007
Henry II establishes a bishopric at Bamberg

1009/10
The Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem demolished

1016
Vikings appear in Sicily

1016-35
King Cnut succeeds as King of England, becomes also King of Denmark and King of Norway

1024-39
Emperor Conrad II

1039-56
Emperor Henry III

1056-1105
Emperor Henry IV

1059
Papal election decree

1066
King Harold of England defeats King Harald Hardrada of Norway in the Battle of Stamford Bridge and is defeated in the Battle of Hastings by Duke William of Normandy who becomes King of England

1066-87
William the Conqueror King of England

1071
Saxon revolt against Henry IV; Byzantine troops defeated by Turkish troops in the Battle of Manzikert

1073-85
Pope Gregory VII

1076
Gregory VII excommunicates Emperor Henry IV

1077
Henry IV visits Gregory VII at Canossa who lifts the ban from the emperor

1087-1100
William II King of England

1088-99
Pope Urban II

1095
Urban II demands a crusade against Muslims in Palestine at a council in Clermont-Ferrand

1097-99
First Crusade against Muslims in Palestine

1099
Jerusalem conquered by crusaders

1100-1135
Henry I King of England

1106-25
Emperor Henry V

1122
Concordate signed at Worms between Emperop Henry V and Pope Calixtus II

1130
Roger II crowned King of Sicily

1135-1154
Stephen King of England

1140
Abelard condemned by a council at Sens

1146
St Bernard of Clairvaux supports demands for another crusade

1147
Pope Eugene III issues a bill which encourages crusades against Slavs and against Muslims in Spain

1147-49
Second Crusade against Muslims in Palestine

1152
King Louis VII of France (1137-80) divorces his wife, Eleanor of Aquitaine, who soon afterwards marries Henry, son of Duke Geoffrey of Anjou

1152-90
Frederick I German King and (since 1155) Roman Emperor

1154-89
Henry of Aquitaine King of England as Henry II

1156
Frederick restores Bavaria to Duke Henry the Lion of Saxony (1129/30-95); Henry Jasimirgott (1141-77), the former Duke of Bavaria, becomes Duke of Austria

1157
The empire styled Holy Roman Empire for the first time

1168
Henry the Lion marries Mathilda, daughter of King Henry II of England

1180
Henry the Lion is deprived of his duchies

1180-1223
Philip II August King of France

1187
Sultan Saladin (Salah-ed-Din) conquers Jerusalem from the crusaders

1188
The sons of Henry II of England rebel against their father

1189-92
Third Crusade against Muslims in Palestine

1189-99
Richard Lionheart, King of England

1190
Emperor Frederick I dies during the Third Crusade before reaching Palestine; at the time of the siege of Acre, the Ordo domus S. Mariae Teutonicorum (Teutonic Order) in Jerusalem is established for the care of injured; it begins its conquest of Prussia in 1226

1190-97
Henry VI succeeds his father Frederick I as Emperor, prepares another crusade, but dies before the crusade gets on its way

1198
War in the empire between rival parties supporting three candidates for the imperial succession: Philip of Swabia, brother of Henry VI; Frederick II> son of Henry VI; and Otto of Brunswick, son of Henry the Lion

1198-1216
Pope Innocent III

1199-1216
John Lackland King of England

c. 1200
Groups of mainly German settlers migrate eastward beyond a line from Schwerin to Dresden into areas inhabited by Slavic population groups

1204
Fourth Crusade; crusaders conquer Byzantium, expell the Roman emperors from the city and establish a new Latin Empire

1209-29
Crusades against Albigensians in southern France

1210
St Francis receives approval from the pope for his mendicant monastic order

1212-50
Frederick II German King and Roman Emperor

1214
Philip II August defeats a coalition of Plantagenet and Imperial troops in the battle of Bouvines

1216
Papal approval for the foundation of the Order of the Preachers (Dominicans)

1216-72
Henry III King of England

c. 1225-74
St Thomas Aquinas

1226-70
Louis IX, King of France; dies during a crusade.

1227-41
Pope Gregory IX

1228-29
Frederick II leads the Fifth Crusade as an excommunicated emperor

1229
Frederick II crowned King of Jerusalem

1230
Unification of the kingdoms of Leon and Castile

1237-42
Mongols reach Hungary, Poland and the Adriatic Sea

1244
Jerusalem reverts to Muslim rule

1245-73
Succession crisis in the Roman Empire of the Occident

1254
Union of towns and aristocrats in the Rhineland in support of King William of Holland (1252-56)

1261
End of the Latin Empire in Byzantium
Charles of Anjou, King of Sicily (1265-82), defeats Conradin, the last descendant of Frederick II, in the battle of Tagliacozzo

1269-95
Journey of the Polo family to East Asia

1272-1307
Edward I King of England
Rudolf of Habsburg German king and King of the Romans

1282
`Sicilian Vespers': Charles of Anjou (1265-82) expelled from Sicily, Peter III of Arag6n takes his place as King of Sicily (1282-85)

1282-84
Edward I conquers Wales

1285-1314
Philip IV the Fair King of France

1291
Acre, the last stronghold of the crusaders in Palestine, taken over by Muslims; the Swiss cantons of Schwyz, Unterwalden and Uri conclude a perpetual union against the Habsburg lords

1302
A mounted French army under Philip the Fair defeated by Flemish infantry forces in the Battle of Kortrijk

1306-29
Robert I King of Scotland

1307-27
Edward II King of England

1309-77
Papacy in Avignon

1310-13
Emperor Henry VII (1308-13) leads an expedition to Italy; dies in its course

1313-75
Giovanni Boccaccio, writes his Novellae 1349-51

1314
Edward II defeated by Scottish troops under Robert I of Scotland at the battle of Bannockburn

1315
The Swiss defend their autonomy against Duke Frederick of Austria (1314-30) in the Battle of Morgarten

1322-28
Charles IV King of France

1327-77
Edward III King of England

1328-50
Philip VI King of France

1337-1492
`Hundred Years War'

1338
Declaration of Rhense renounces the right of the pope to approve of a candidate elected as German king and king of the Romans

1340
Edward III, King of England (1327-77), assumes the title King of France

c.1343-c.1400
Geoffrey Chaucer, writes his fragment Canterbury Tales c. 1393-1400

1346
English troops defeat their French counterpart at Crecy

1346-78
Charles IV Roman Emperor

1347
English forces conquer Calais

1347-50
The Black Death in Europe

1350-64
John II King of France

1354
Turkish conquest of Gallipoli

1356
English victory at Poitiers

1358
Jacquerie (peasant rising) in France

1360
Treaty of Bretigny through which Edward III renounces his claims to the French throne

1363-1404
Philip the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, becomes Count of Flanders and Artois in 1384, Duke of Limburg in 1396

1364-80
Charles V King of France

1372
French-Castilian naval victory over the English fleet at La Rochelle

1377-99
Richard II King of England

1378-1417
Great Schism of the Catholic Church

1380-1422
Charles VI King of France

1381
Great English Rising

1387
Thessalonica comes under Ottoman Turkish control

1389
A mixed southern Slav army defeated by an Ottoman Turkish force in Kosovo

1397
Norway, Sweden and Denmark establish a union at Kalmar

1399-1413
Henry IV King of England

1404-19
John the Fearless Duke of Burgundy

1413-22
Henry V King of England

1415
English victory at Agincourt; Ceuta conquered by Portuguese forces

1419-36
Wars and crusades against Hussites in Bohemia

1419-67
Philip the Good Duke of Burgundy

1422-61
Charles VII King of France

1422-72
Henry VI King of England

1423-54
Wars between Milan, Florence and other principalities in Italy 1428

1428
Joan of Arc begins her campaign against English troops in France

1431
Joan of Arc sentenced to death and burnt

1438
The Pragmatic Sanction of Bourges confers on the king powers over the Catholic Church in France

1440-93
Emperor Frederick III

1453
Constantinople conquered by a Turkish army under Sultan Mehmed II (1451-81); English troops withdraw from France except for the town of Calais

1454
Peace of Lodi ends Italian wars

1458-64
Pope PiusII

1458-71
George of Podiebrad King of Bohemia

1461-83
Louis XI King of France

1462
Cape Verde islands colonised by Portuguese

1467-77
Charles the Bold Duke of Burgundy

1473
In Trier Charles the Bold and Emperor Frederick III negotiate the conditions of Charles's succession as emperor

1474-75
Charles the Bold besieges Neuss

1476
Swiss infantry armies defeat Charles the Bold at Grandson and Murten

1477
Charles the Bold dies in the battle of Nancy against Swiss infantry forces

1477-82
Mary, daughter of Charles the Bold, Duchess of Burgundy, married to Maximilian, son of Emperor Frederick III

1480-81
Turkish occupation of Otranto on the Italian mainland

1487
Bartholomew Dias rounds the southern tip of Africa

1492
The last Muslim emirs of Granada withdraw peacefully from the city; Jews expelled from Spain

1492-93
First voyage of Christopher Columbus

1493-1519
Maximilian 1 Roman King and Emperor Elect

1494-95
Charles VIII, King of France (1483-98), invades Italy

1495 An Imperial Diet meeting at Worms attempts major reforms of the Roman Empire under the leadership of Maximilian I

1497-99 Vasco da Gama sails around Africa and reaches Calicut in southwest India