Breakup of al-Andalus (c. 1000-1031) 1000-1066 Last Anglo-Saxons Schism of Catholic and Orthodox Churches (1054) 1066-1154 Anglo-Normans
By the late eleventh century Anglo-Saxon England was one of the most prosperous areas of Europe. The success of the Duke of Normandy, William the Conqueror, in making himself king represents a conquest of country by French princes and culture. In the succeeding centuries a distinct English culture and language emerged from the effects of the conquest.
Text: William of Malmesbury: The Battle of Hastings 1066, excerpts.
Weblink: Medieval Sourcebook: England 1066-1087 William I
William the Conqueror (1066 — 1087) took control of England as personal possession. His efforts to find out exactly what he now owned resulted in the Doomsday book, a county by county survey of England that remains one of our best sources for social, economic, and demographic history.
Text: The Domesday Book: Instructions and Example
Image: William the Conqueror
Weblink: Regia Anglorum: Anglo-Saxon, Viking, Norman and British Living History 1087-1100 William II First Crusade (1096-1099)
Pope Urban II was responding to a request from the Byzantine emperor Alexius I Comnenus for aid against Muslim enemies. In calling for such aid, Urban ignited passions he could not have foreseen and initiated the Crusades. In 1099 the Crusaders captured Jerusalem in a bloody battle and established a Latin Christian presence there that lasted for almost 200 years.
Text: Urban II. Speech at Clermont 1095
Image: 1095 Pope Urban II Preaching at Clermont [BNF: Miniature of 1490]
Image: Crusaders Capturing Jerusalem [From MS illustration]
Weblink: Medieval Sourcebook: Crusades
Weblink: War Machines 1100-1135 Henry I
Henry I succeeded his brother William II as King of England and Duke of Normandy. The Anglo-Norman regnum he created developed some of the most advanced governmental methods in Europe.
Text: Orderic Vitalis: Ecclesiastical History [1075-1141]
Image: Europe, 1099 1100-1135 Establishment of Itinerant Justices and Exchequer 1135-1154 Stephen's Anarchy 1154- Angevins 1154-1214 Angevin Empire 1154-1189 Henry II
Henry II of Anjou rivaled Frederick I Barbarossa as the most powerful prince of his age. From his father he inherited the counties of Anjou, Touraine, and Maine; from his mother (Matilda, daughter of King Henry I of England) he inherited the Duchy of Normandy and the throne of England; through his marriage to Eleanor of Aquitaine he had control of Aquitaine, and by conquest he established his power in Wales and Ireland. This "Angevin Empire" was much more extensive than the area controlled by the King of France, Henry's nominal overlord for the French territories. In England, he is perhaps most significant in establishing a series of royal courts that began the creation of the common law tradition.
Text: Gerald of Wales: On Henry II and his Sons
Image: The Angevin Empire, c. 1174
Weblink: Thomas Becket Page 1189-1199 Richard
Richard I "the Lionheart" was king of England, but spent most of his reign in defending his territories in France and as one of the leaders of the Third Crusade.
Text: Roger of Hoveden: Order of Coronation of Richard I, 1189. 1199-1216 John
After his loss of Normandy to Philip II Augustus, John concentrated his political activity in England and, in doing so, induced a discontent among the aristocracy that lead to a civil war.
Text: King John of England: Fees for Use of the Great Seal, 1199 Sack of Constantinople (1204)
The diversion of the Fourth Crusade to Constantinople and the violent capture of the city by Latin Christians ended the Byzantine Empire as a great power and permanently embittered relations between Catholic and Orthodox churches. Although the Byzantines regained the city in 1261, the Byzantine Empire was reduced to a series of territories that could not resist the attacks of the Turks.
Text: The Fourth Crusade 1204: Collected Sources. Fourth Lateran Council (1215)
Pope Innocent II called the Fourth Lateran Council, so-called because it met in the Church of St. John Lateran in Rome, and it was the most wide ranging Western church council during the Middle Ages. In addition to matters of church doctrine and organization, it addressed newer problems such as popular heresy. For lay Catholics, its greatest impact was its demand that all Catholics go to confession at least once each year.
Text: The Fourth Lateran Council: Selected Canons Magna Carta (1215)
The "Great Charter" of 1215 represents the efforts of the English aristocracy to make the king deal with them according to agreed rules. Its significance is not so much in establishing "freedom" as in the fact that the barons presented themselves as "men of the realm" and acted as if the result of conflict with the king should be new rules for the entire kingdom, not more independence for individual lords.
Text: Magna Carta, 1215
Image/Weblink: British Library: Magna Carta 1216-1272 Henry III Interregnum in the Holy Roman Empire (1254-1273) 1258 Provisions of Oxford 1264-1265 Simon de Montfort's Rebellion 1272-1307 Edward I
Edward I (1272-1307) succeeded his father, Henry II, and was much more successful in maintaining royal power. As a soldier he directed efforts against Wales and Scotland. In order to raise money for his campaigns, the king called the so-called Model Parliament in 1295, where he summoned not only lords and bishops but also members of the lower orders.
Text: Three Summonses to the Parliament 1295
Text: Edward I: Confirmation of the Charters, 1297.
Image: Edward I Longshanks 1272 Development of Parliament Page 281 Breakup of al-Andalus (c. 1000-1031) 1000-1109 Early Capetians
Hugh Capet (987 - 996) was able to establish the "third race" of French kings (after the Merovingians and Carolingians) due to the enfeeblement of the last Carolingian kings. Unlike the previous dynasties, which began with powerful monarchs, for many generations the Capetians' power was limited to the area around Paris. A steady sucession of unchallenged sons to inherit the throne made secure the Capetians' hold on the crown
Text: Richer: The Election of Hugh Capet, 987 Schism of Catholic and Orthodox Churches (1054) First Crusade (1096-1099)
Pope Urban II was responding to a request from the Byzantine emperor Alexius I Comnenus for aid against Muslim enemies. In calling for such aid, Urban ignited passions he could not have foreseen and initiated the Crusades. In 1099 the Crusaders captured Jerusalem in a bloody battle and established a Latin Christian presence there that lasted for almost 200 years.
Text: Urban II. Speech at Clermont 1095
Image: 1095 Pope Urban II Preaching at Clermont [BNF: Miniature of 1490]
Image: Crusaders Capturing Jerusalem [From MS illustration]
Weblink: Medieval Sourcebook: Crusades
Weblink: War Machines 1109-1137 Louis VI "The Fat" 1109-1137 Consolidation of the Royal Demesne 1137-1190 Louis VII 1154-1214 Angevin Empire 1180-1223 Philip II "Augustus"
Philip II came to power as king of France with control of little more than the territory around Paris and Orleans. By using his wealth, his diplomatic skills, and where necessary military power, he was able to dislodge the Angevin family from much of their territory and began the piecemeal process whereby France was brought under the actual control of the French king.
Text: Philip Augustus: Suppression of Etampes Commune, 1199-1200
Image: The Growth of the French Royal Domain, 1182-1350
Weblink: Medieval Sourcebook France 1180-1223 Extension of Royal Authority Through Use of Bailiffs 1200 Population of Paris 50,000 Sack of Constantinople (1204)
The diversion of the Fourth Crusade to Constantinople and the violent capture of the city by Latin Christians ended the Byzantine Empire as a great power and permanently embittered relations between Catholic and Orthodox churches. Although the Byzantines regained the city in 1261, the Byzantine Empire was reduced to a series of territories that could not resist the attacks of the Turks.
Text: The Fourth Crusade 1204: Collected Sources. Fourth Lateran Council (1215)
Pope Innocent II called the Fourth Lateran Council, so-called because it met in the Church of St. John Lateran in Rome, and it was the most wide ranging Western church council during the Middle Ages. In addition to matters of church doctrine and organization, it addressed newer problems such as popular heresy. For lay Catholics, its greatest impact was its demand that all Catholics go to confession at least once each year.
Text: The Fourth Lateran Council: Selected Canons Magna Carta (1215)
The "Great Charter" of 1215 represents the efforts of the English aristocracy to make the king deal with them according to agreed rules. Its significance is not so much in establishing "freedom" as in the fact that the barons presented themselves as "men of the realm" and acted as if the result of conflict with the king should be new rules for the entire kingdom, not more independence for individual lords.
Text: Magna Carta, 1215
Image/Weblink: British Library: Magna Carta 1223-1226 Louis VIII 1226-1270 Louis IX ("St. Louis")
King Louis IX of France, later canonized, was renowned during his lifetime for his holiness. His piety, expressed through conventional methods such as charity and more spectacularly in two crusades, should not hide the fact that he continued the state-building policies of Philip II. With the breakdown of the Holy Roman Empire after 1250, he was the strongest king in Europe for twenty years.
Text: St. Louis: Advice to His Son
Image: Scenes from the Life of St. Louis [BNF: 14th Cent MS Illustrations] 1226-1270 Extension of Royal Justice Interregnum in the Holy Roman Empire (1254-1273) 1270-1285 Philip III 1285-1314 Philip IV "The Fair"
Along with Philip II, Philip IV, known as "the fair," was one of the kings most responsible for creating a united French kingdom. On a wider perspective, his refusal to submit to the demands of Pope Boniface VIII -- who was attacked by Philip's thugs -- indicates that secular states were now stronger than the Church.
Text: William of Hundlehy: The Outrage at Anagni, 1303 Philip IV of France's physical attack on Boniface VIII.
Image: Philip the Fair 1285-1314 Struggler with Pope Boniface VIII: First Meeting of the Estates General 1300 Population of Paris 200,000 | 
2002 McGraw-Hill Higher Education