The document summarizes key events in medieval English history from the Norman Conquest in 1066 to the establishment of the Tudor dynasty in 1485. It describes William the Conqueror becoming the first Norman king of England after defeating King Harold at the Battle of Hastings. It also discusses the reign of King Henry II and the murder of Thomas Becket, as well as the Hundred Years' War between England and France that lasted from 1337 to 1453. Finally, it outlines the War of the Roses between the houses of Lancaster and York from 1455 to 1485, ending with Henry Tudor defeating Richard III at Bosworth Field to become King Henry VII and unite the houses.

1. Medieval England
2 ESO
Fall 2014

2. Norman Conquest
 1066 A.D. Harold II is crowned king.
 1066 A.D. Battle of Hastings – William of Normandy kills King Harold.
 1066 A.D. William I the Conqueror is crowned king. He is the first Norman
King of England.
 1067 A.D. Work is started on the Tower of London.

3. Henry II of England
 1152 A.D. Marriage of King Louis
VII and Eleanor of Aquitaine is
annulled under the grounds of a
blood relationship.
 1152 A.D. Eleanor of Aquitaine
marries Henry of Normandy (King
Henry II of England). King Richard
I (Lionheart) and King John
Lackland were their two most
famous sons.

4. Henry II of England
 1155 A.D. Henry appoints Thomas
Becket, Archdeacon of
Canterbury, as Chancellor.
 1162 A.D. Thomas Becket is
appointed Archbishop of
Canterbury. He starts to fight with
Henry over the Church’s rights.
 1170 A.D. Thomas Becket and
Henry II reconcile, but Thomas
Becket is murdered by four men
when he returns to Canterbury.

5. Henry II of England
 1173 A.D. Henry II’s three
eldest sons, Henry, Richard,
and Geoffrey, rebel against
their father with the support
of their mother, Eleanor.
 1173 A.D. Thomas Becket is
canonized. Canterbury
becomes a place of
pilgrimage.

6. John Lackland
 1199 A.D. John Lackland, youngest
son of Henry II and Eleanor of
Aquitaine, is crowned King of England.
 1209 A.D. Cambridge University is
founded.
 1209 A.D. Pope Innocent III
excommunicates King John for
attacking church property.

7. John Lackland
 1213 A.D. King John resigns his
kingship to Pope Innocent III and
then receives his kingship back as a
holding from Rome.
 1215 A.D. King John signs the Magna
Carta.

8. The Hundred Years War
 1337 A.D. Philip VI of France
declares Edward III of
England’s fiefs forfeit and starts
to harass the frontiers of
Aquitaine. Edward III declares
himself King of France in
retaliation for Philip attacking
his lands in France.
 THE HUNDRED YEARS WAR
BEGINS

9. The Hundred Years War
 1338 A.D. Edward III formally
claims the French crown
and the English make an
alliance with the Holy
Roman Empire (Treaty of
Koblenz).
 1340 A.D. The English gain
control of the English
Channel when they win a
naval victory at Sluys.

10. The Hundred Years War
 1346 A.D. Edward III invades
France and beats Philip VI’s
larger army in the Battle of
Crécy.
 1347 A.D. The English capture
Calais.

11. The Hundred Years War
 1348 A.D. The Bubonic Plague/Black Death reaches Europe.
 1356 A.D. Edward the Black Prince defeats the French and captures King
John II of France.
 1360 A.D. The first stage of the Hundred Years War ends and Edward III
relinquishes his claim to the French throne.

12. The Hundred Years War
 1369 A.D. The second
stage of the war starts.
 1372 A.D. The French
regain control of the
English Channel when
they will the Battle of La
Rochelle.

13. The Hundred Years War
 1373 A.D. John of Gaunt, the third
son of Richard III, leads another
English invasion of France.
 1374 A.D. John of Gaunt returns to
England and takes control of the
government.
 1375 A.D. The Truce of Bruges ends
the hostility between England and
France.

14. The Hundred Years War
 1387 A.D. Geoffrey
Chaucer starts to write
“The Canterbury Tales”.
 1399 A.D. John of Gaunt
dies. His son, Henry of
Bolingbroke, lands in
England with 40 followers.
Richard III is deposed and
Bolingbroke is crowned
Henry IV.

15. The Hundred Years War
 1415 A.D. Henry V
invades France and
defeats them in the
Battle of Agincourt.
 1428 A.D. Henry VI
begins the siege of
Orleans.
 1429 A.D. Joan of Arc
relieves the siege of
Orleans.

16. The Hundred Years
War
 1430 A.D. Burgundians capture
Joan of Arc and turn her over
to the English.
 1421 A.D. Joan of Arc is burned
at the stake as a witch at
Rouen.
 1421 A.D. Henry VI of England is
crowned King of France in Paris.
 1453 A.D. The Hundred Years
War end when the French
capture Bordeaux. England
only keeps Calais. Henry VI
goes mad.

17. The War of the Roses
 1454 A.D. Richard of York is regent
while England while Henry VI is
insane.
 1455 A.D. Henry VI recovers.
Richard of York is replaced by
Somerset and excluded from the
Royal Council.
 1455 A.D. The War of the Roses
begins. War between the
Plantagenet houses of Lancaster
and York.
 1455 A.D. Somerset is defeated and
killed in the Battle of St. Albans.

18. The War of the Roses
 1460 A.D. Richard of York is capture
and killed in the Battle of Wakefield.
 1460 A.D. The Kingmaker, Richard
Neville, Earl of Warwick, captures
London for the Yorkists.
 1460 A.D. Henry VI is captured by
the Yorkists in the Battle of
Northampton.

19. The War of the
Roses
 1461 A.D. Richard of
York’s son, Edward of
York, defeats the
Lancastrians and is
crowned King Edward IV
of England.
 1465 A.D. Richard VI is
imprisoned by Edward
IV.

20. The War of the Roses
 1466 A.D. Warwick starts to fight
with Edward IV. Warwick makes
an alliance with Louis XI of
France.
 1470 A.D. The Kingmaker, Earl of
Warwick, defeats Edward IV and
puts Richard VI back on the
throne.
 1471 A.D. Edward IV defeats and
kills Warwick in the Battle of
Barnet.
 1471 A.D. Henry VI dies; most
likely murdered in the Tower of
London.

21. The War of the Roses
 1483 A.D. Edward IV dies.
 1483 A.D. Edward V is
deposed by his uncle, Richard
Duke of Gloucester. Richard is
crowned Richard III and
Edward V and his brother
Prince Richard are declared
illegitimate and their parents
marriage is annulled.

22. The War of the Roses
 1483 A.D. Edward V
and his brother Prince
Richard are murdered
in the Tower of
London.
 The mystery of the
Princes in the Tower –
there is no physical
proof that they were
murdered.

23. The War of the Roses
 1485 A.D. Henry Tudor,
supported by King Charles III of
France, returns to England. He
is the Lancastrian heir. At the
Battle of Bosworth Field, he kills
Richard III.

24. The War of the
Roses
 This was the end of the
Plantagenet Dynasty and
the start of the Tudor
Dynasty.
 Henry Tudor (Lancastrian)
married Elizabeth of York
(daughter of Edward IV)
to unite the feuding
cousins, and thus end
what would also be
known as the Cousin’s
War.