681 Event Middle Ages Bulgaria
First Bulgarian Empire
Byzantium recognises a Bulgarian state south of the Danube: Europe’s oldest still-named Slavic state.
A shared history
European construction did not begin in 1950. This thread links the ancient inheritance, the Judeo-Christian matrix and the contemporary Union.
326
events
3600 BC
earliest marker
46
countries covered
0
already discussed
Event density
One century per bar before 1500, one decade after: archives are not evenly spread.
600 :
1 event
700 :
3 events
800 :
2 events
900 :
6 events
1000 :
4 events
1100 :
4 events
1200 :
13 events
1300 :
14 events
1400 :
7 events
Ancient Greece
Early Middle Ages
Renaissance
Enlightenment
Concert of Europe
European integration
Rome
High and Late Middle Ages
Reformation and wars of religion
Age of revolutions
World wars
Cold War
600
1049
1499
54 events
600 699
Early Middle Ages 1 event700 799
Early Middle Ages 3 events711 War Middle Ages Spain
Muslim conquest
The Visigothic kingdom collapses. By the tenth century Córdoba is one of the largest cities in the world.
756 Event Middle Ages Vatican City
Birth of the Papal States
The Donation of Pepin founds a temporal power that will last eleven centuries.
793 War Middle Ages Norway
Raid on Lindisfarne
The sack of the English monastery conventionally opens the Viking age.
800 899
Early Middle Ages 2 events800 Text Middle Ages Ireland
The Book of Kells
A masterpiece of insular illumination, symbol of Ireland’s role in transmitting texts.
870 Event Middle Ages Malta
Arab period
Two centuries of Aghlabid rule give Maltese its Semitic base.
900 999
Early Middle Ages 6 events907 Event Middle Ages Slovakia
End of Great Moravia
The first West Slavic state collapses; the territory passes to Hungary for a thousand years.
925 Event Middle Ages Croatia
Kingdom of Croatia
Tomislav is recognised as king; the country anchors itself in Latin Christendom.
930 Institution Middle Ages Iceland
Foundation of the Althing
At Þingvellir the world’s oldest still-functioning parliament is born.
962 Event Middle Ages Germany
Birth of the Holy Roman Empire
Otto I is crowned in Rome. The Empire claims direct descent from ancient Rome and acts as the secular arm of the Church.
963 Institution Middle Ages Luxembourg
Foundation of Lucilinburhuc
Siegfried acquires a rock on the Alzette: the castle will give the country its name.
996 Event Middle Ages Austria
First mention of Ostarrîchi
An imperial charter names for the first time the “eastern realm”, origin of the name Österreich.
1000 1099
High and Late Middle Ages 4 events1016 Event Middle Ages Denmark
Empire of Cnut the Great
The Danish king rules England, Norway and Denmark: a North Sea empire.
1066 War Middle Ages United Kingdom
Norman Conquest
William imposes a French-speaking aristocracy; English absorbs thousands of Latin words.
1085 Institution Middle Ages Spain
Capture of Toledo and school of translators
The reconquered city becomes the workshop where the West recovers Greek science via Arabic and Hebrew.
1088 Institution Middle Ages Italy
University of Bologna
Europe’s oldest university is born around the study of the Digest: Roman law becomes a living science again.
1100 1199
High and Late Middle Ages 4 events1102 Event Middle Ages Croatia Hungary
Union with Hungary
An eight-century personal union, Croatia keeping its diet and its ban.
1143 Event Middle Ages Portugal
Independence of Portugal
The Treaty of Zamora recognises Afonso Henriques as king. Today’s borders begin to take shape.
1163 Event Middle Ages France
Notre-Dame and the Gothic surge
From Saint-Denis to Chartres, Gothic architecture turns light into theology and spreads across Europe.
1191 Event Middle Ages Cyprus
Lusignan kingdom
After the crusade, a Frankish dynasty rules the island for three centuries.
1200 1299
High and Late Middle Ages 13 events1215 Event Middle Ages United Kingdom
Magna Carta
The barons impose written limits on King John: the first milestone of constitutionalism.
1220 Event Middle Ages Iceland
The age of the sagas
Snorri Sturluson and his contemporaries commit Norse mythology and settler history to writing.
1222 Event Middle Ages Hungary
Golden Bull
Seven years after Magna Carta, the Hungarian nobility obtains written guarantees against royal arbitrariness.
1240 War Middle Ages Ukraine
Sack of Kyiv
The Mongol invasion destroys the capital and disperses the political legacy of Rus’.
1243 Event Middle Ages San Marino
First captains-regent
Two heads of state elected for six months: the system still operates today.
1253 Figure Middle Ages Lithuania
Coronation of Mindaugas
Lithuania’s only king is crowned with papal approval; the state enters the European concert.
1262 Treaty Middle Ages Iceland Norway
Old Covenant
Iceland recognises the sovereignty of the king of Norway; the free state ends.
1278 Event Middle Ages Andorra
First paréage
The feudal act sharing sovereignty is still the country’s constitutional basis.
1278 Event Middle Ages Austria
Rise of the Habsburgs
Rudolf’s victory on the Marchfeld opens six centuries of dynastic rule.
1282 Event Middle Ages Latvia
Riga joins the Hanse
Trade in timber, flax and grain links Livonia to Lübeck, Bruges and Novgorod.
1290 Institution Middle Ages Portugal
University of Coimbra
Founded by King Dinis, it transmits canon and Roman law to the whole Lusophone world.
1291 Treaty Middle Ages Switzerland
Federal Charter
Three Alpine valleys swear mutual assistance: the founding act of the Confederation.
1297 Event Middle Ages Monaco
Capture of the rock
Francesco Grimaldi seizes the fortress; the dynasty has reigned ever since.
1300 1399
High and Late Middle Ages 14 events1302 War Middle Ages Belgium
Battle of the Golden Spurs
Flemish communal militias crush the French chivalry: an assertion of urban power.
1346 Event Middle Ages Kosovo
Patriarchate of Peć
The seat of the Serbian Orthodox Church is established in Kosovo, spiritual heart of the kingdom.
1348 Institution Middle Ages Czechia
Charles University
Charles IV founds Central Europe’s first university and makes Prague the capital of the Holy Roman Empire.
1349 Event Middle Ages Serbia
Dušan’s Code
The emperor promulgates a code inspired by Byzantine law, among Europe’s oldest.
1354 Event Middle Ages Luxembourg
Elevation to duchy
Charles IV raises his native county to a duchy of the Holy Roman Empire.
1358 Event Middle Ages Croatia
Republic of Ragusa
Dubrovnik becomes an independent merchant republic and a diplomatic model.
1359 Event Middle Ages Romania
Principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia
Two Orthodox, Romance-speaking states take shape between the Carpathians, Danube and Dniester.
1364 Institution Middle Ages Poland
University of Kraków
Casimir the Great founds one of Central Europe’s oldest universities; Copernicus will study there.
1377 Event Middle Ages Bosnia and Herzegovina
Kingdom of Bosnia
Tvrtko I is crowned king; the country reaches its medieval zenith.
1389 War Middle Ages Serbia
Battle of Kosovo
Defeat by the Ottomans becomes the founding narrative of Serbian memory.
1389 War Middle Ages Kosovo
Battle of Kosovo
The clash becomes a contested site of memory between Serbian and Albanian narratives.
1396 War Middle Ages Bulgaria
Ottoman conquest of Bulgaria
The fall of Vidin completes the conquest; five centuries of domination begin.
1397 Treaty Middle Ages Denmark
Kalmar Union
The three Scandinavian kingdoms are united under a single crown for more than a century.
1397 Treaty Middle Ages Norway
Kalmar Union
Norway enters a Scandinavian union dominated by Denmark for four centuries.
1400 1499
Renaissance 7 events1410 War Middle Ages Lithuania
Battle of Grunwald
Poles and Lithuanians break the Teutonic Order and redraw the Baltic.
1415 Event Middle Ages Czechia
Jan Hus burned at the stake
Condemned at Constance, the Czech reformer becomes a national martyr and a forerunner of Luther.
1443 War Middle Ages Albania
Skanderbeg’s revolt
Twenty-five years of resistance to the Ottomans make him a hero of Christendom.
1453 Event Middle Ages Greece
Fall of Constantinople
Byzantine scholars flee to Italy with their manuscripts, feeding the Renaissance directly.
1453 Event Middle Ages Türkiye
Capture of Constantinople
Mehmed II ends the Eastern Roman Empire; Europe’s commercial and intellectual horizon shifts.
1457 Figure Middle Ages Moldova
Reign of Stephen the Great
Forty-seven years of resistance to the Ottomans and of monastic foundations.
1463 War Middle Ages Bosnia and Herzegovina
Ottoman conquest of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Four centuries of rule begin; a large share of the population converts to Islam.