Middle Ages
Concordat of Worms (1122): Ending the Investiture Controversy
The emperor gave up investing bishops with ring and staff and allowed free church elections, while keeping a role in elections and in granting their lands.
Era · c. 500 – 1500
Middle Ages
Kingdoms, crusades and plagues: the medieval world from the end of the Western Roman Empire to the fall of Constantinople.
Middle Ages
Jingkang Incident (1127): The Fall of Kaifeng and Northern Song
Jin victory; Kaifeng fell, two Song emperors were taken captive and the Song court re-formed in the south as the Southern Song.
Middle Ages
Kingdom of Sicily (1130): Roger II and Norman Palermo
Roger II united Sicily and southern Italy into a kingdom that lasted, under various dynasties, until the nineteenth century.
Middle Ages
Novgorod Republic: Medieval Russia's Merchant City-State
A self-governing merchant republic for over three centuries, Novgorod was annexed by Moscow in 1478 and its veche abolished.
Middle Ages
Zagwe Dynasty: Ethiopia's Medieval Kings Before the Solomonids
The Zagwe kings revived the Christian kingdom of the Ethiopian highlands and left major churches, but were overthrown in 1270 by Yekuno Amlak, founder of the Solomonic dynasty.
Middle Ages
Eleanor of Aquitaine: Queen of France and Then of England
Eleanor brought the duchy of Aquitaine first to the French crown and then to the Angevin kings of England, and played a leading political role into her eighties.
Middle Ages
Abbot Suger and Saint-Denis: The Birth of Gothic Architecture
Suger's new west front and choir introduced pointed rib vaults, an open ambulatory and large stained-glass windows, the combination now regarded as the first Gothic architecture.
Middle Ages
Hangzhou (Lin'an): The Southern Song Capital City (1138)
Hangzhou served as the Southern Song capital from 1138 until its surrender to the Mongols in 1276.
Middle Ages
The Anarchy (1138–1153): Stephen and Matilda's Civil War
The war ended in stalemate; by the settlement of 1153 Stephen kept the crown for life and recognised Matilda's son Henry as his heir, who became Henry II in 1154.
Middle Ages
Hildegard of Bingen: Visionary Abbess, Composer and Scholar
Hildegard became one of the best-known writers, composers and religious leaders of the 12th century and was declared a Doctor of the Church in 2012.
Middle Ages
Krak des Chevaliers: The Great Crusader Castle in Syria
The Hospitallers turned the castle into the strongest fortress of the crusader states; it surrendered to the Mamluk sultan Baybars on 8 April 1271.
Middle Ages
Yue Fei: The Song General Executed in 1142 and His Legend
Yue Fei was put to death on false charges as the Song made peace with the Jin; he was rehabilitated in 1162 and became a symbol of loyalty.