Middle Ages
Battle of Stamford Bridge (1066): End of the Viking Age
Decisive English victory; Harald Hardrada and Tostig were killed and the Norwegian survivors sailed home in 24 ships.
Region
Europe
Middle Ages
Bayeux Tapestry: The Embroidered Story of the Norman Conquest
A unique embroidered narrative of the events of 1064-1066 that survived more than 900 years and is now displayed in Bayeux.
Middle Ages
Santiago de Compostela Cathedral and the Medieval Camino
A great Romanesque pilgrimage church was built over the shrine of St James, making Santiago one of the three chief pilgrimage goals of medieval Christendom.
Middle Ages
Walk to Canossa (1077): Henry IV Humbled Before Pope Gregory
Gregory VII absolved Henry IV of excommunication, but the conflict between empire and papacy soon resumed and lasted until the Concordat of Worms in 1122.
Middle Ages
Tower of London: William the Conqueror's White Tower
A great Norman stone keep that grew into a concentric royal castle and one of England's most important centres of power.
Middle Ages
Battle of Dyrrhachium (1081): Normans Against Byzantium
Norman victory; Alexios fled wounded, Dyrrhachium fell in February 1082 and the Normans advanced into Macedonia and Thessaly.
Middle Ages
Alexios I Komnenos: The Komnenian Restoration of Byzantium
Alexios stabilised the Byzantine Empire, recovered western Anatolia with crusader help and founded a dynasty that ruled until 1185.
Middle Ages
Capture of Toledo (1085): Alfonso VI Takes a Great Moorish City
Toledo surrendered to Alfonso VI and became a Christian capital, prompting the Almoravid intervention in al-Andalus.
Middle Ages
Battle of Sagrajas (1086): Almoravids Defeat Alfonso VI
Decisive Almoravid and Andalusi victory; Alfonso VI's advance was halted, though Toledo remained in Christian hands.
Middle Ages
Domesday Book (1086): William the Conqueror's Great Survey
A detailed record of landholding and resources in most of England, still the oldest surviving public record in The National Archives.
Middle Ages
University of Bologna (1088): The Oldest University in Europe
Bologna became the leading centre of legal studies in medieval Europe and a model for later universities, especially in southern Europe.
Middle Ages
Durham Cathedral: Norman Romanesque Masterpiece of England
A great Norman cathedral and Benedictine priory church was built around St Cuthbert's shrine, with some of the earliest high rib vaults in Europe.