The medieval world runs from about 500 to 1500 CE. After the end of Roman rule in the West, new kingdoms formed in Europe, the Byzantine and Islamic worlds flourished, and the Silk Roads and Indian Ocean linked Asia, Africa and Europe.
Gothic cathedrals, universities, the Viking voyages, the Mongol conquests and the Black Death of the 1340s are among the events that shaped the period.
Explore this era on the timeline
Key events of the Medieval world
18,609 events are on the timeline for this era; these are among the most notable, in date order.
- 5th centurySalic law
- c. 500sRise of medieval music
- 537 CEConstruction of Hagia Sophia
- 593 CEConstruction of Itsukushima Shrine
- 597 CEConstruction of Canterbury Cathedral
- 7th centuryOrigins of chess
- from 618 CE to 907 CETang dynasty
- from 622 CE to 750 CEMuslim conquests
- 622 CEConstruction of Quba Mosque
- 622 CEConstruction of Prophet's Mosque
- from 13 September 622 CE to 27 September 622 CEHijra
- 628 CEBrahmagupta sets out the rules for zero
- 631 CEOrigins of Islam
- 637 CEConstruction of Potala Palace
- 642 CEOrigins of sumo
- 670 CEConstruction of Kairouan
- 691 CEConstruction of Dome of the Rock
- 7th centuryOrigins of chaturanga
- 706 CEConstruction of Umayyad Mosque
- 710 CEConstruction of Al-Aqsa Mosque
- from 711 CE to 1492Al-Andalus
- from 722 CE to 1492Reconquista
- from 750 CE to 1258Abbasid Caliphate
- 778 CEConstruction of Kiyomizu-dera
- 786 CEConstruction of Mosque-Cathedral of Cordoba
- 787 CESecond Council of Nicaea
- 8 June 793 CEVikings raid Lindisfarne
- from 794 CE to 1185Heian period
- from 8th century to 9th centuryRise of Carolingian Renaissance
- 8th centuryConstruction of Borobudur Temple
- from 800 CE to 1258Islamic Golden Age
- 8th centuryOrigins of Pattadakal Group of Monuments
- 9th centuryConstruction of Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela
- 9th centuryConstruction of Aachen Cathedral
- 802 CEConstruction of Angkor Wat
- 803 CELeshan Giant Buddha
- c. 820sAl-Khwarizmi writes the book that gives algebra its name
- 828 CEConstruction of St Mark's Basilica
- August 843 CETreaty of Verdun
- 850 CEOrigins of Chan Chan
- 850 CEConstruction of Prambanan Temple
- c. 850sGunpowder is invented in China
- from 882 CE to 1240Kievan Rus'
- 9th centuryGunpowder
- 9th centuryConstruction of Prague Castle
- 9th centuryHanbalism
- from 960 CE to 1279Song dynasty
- from 2 February 962 CE to 6 August 1806Holy Roman Empire
- 990 CEConstruction of Château de Montsoreau
- from 1000 to 1200Rise of Romanesque art
- from 11th century to 18th centuryHouse of Habsburg
- c. 1010sMurasaki Shikibu writes The Tale of Genji
- from 1011 to 1934Construction of Saint Sophia Cathedral
- 1021Ibn al-Haytham completes the Book of Optics
- 1021Vikings are at L'Anse aux Meadows in Newfoundland
- 1024The Song dynasty issues the first government paper money
- 1025Avicenna completes the Canon of Medicine
- 1031Construction of Krak des Chevaliers
- 1051Construction of Kyiv Pechersk Lavra
- July 1054East-West Schism
- 1066Construction of Tower of London
- from 28 September 1066 to 1 January 1075Norman conquest of England
- 1070Construction of Windsor Castle
- from 1075 to 1124Investiture controversy
- 1086William the Conqueror's survey: the Domesday Book
- from 1095 to 1291Crusades
- 27 November 1095Pope Urban II calls the First Crusade
- 1096Founding of University of Oxford
- from 1096 to 1099First Crusade
- from 11th century to 14th centuryOrigins of Catharism
- 11th centuryPublication of The Song of Roland
- 11th centuryBayeux Tapestry
- 11th centuryRise of House of Hohenzollern
- c. 1100sThe magnetic compass is used for navigation at sea
- 12th centuryConstruction of Basilica of Saint-Denis
- from c. 1113 to 1150Suryavarman II builds Angkor Wat
- from c. 1120s to 1390sRise of Guelphs and Ghibellines
- from 1126 to 1485House of Plantagenet
- 1137Construction of St. Stephen's Cathedral
- from 1140 to 1530Gothic art
- from 1147 to 1149Second Crusade
- from 1189 to 1192Third Crusade
- 1193Origins of Chernobyl
- 1194Construction of Minaret of Jam
- from 1200 to 1523Aztec
- 12th centuryRise of Waldensians
- from 12th century to 19th centuryFounding of Hanseatic League
- from 1202 to 1204Fourth Crusade
- from 1206 to 1368Mongol Empire
- 1206Temujin is proclaimed Genghis Khan
- 1209Founding of University of Cambridge
- 15 June 1215Magna Carta
- 1220Construction of Notre-Dame de Chartres
- from 1235 to 1670Mali Empire
- 1239Construction of Alhambra
- from 1243 to 1502Golden Horde
- 1270Rise of House of Valois
- 1270Glasses
- from 1271 to 1368Yuan dynasty
- from 1271 to 1295Marco Polo sets out for China
- 1272Rise of House of Bourbon
- 1275Construction of Reims Cathedral
- 1279Kublai Khan completes the conquest of China
- c. 1280sPolynesian navigators settle New Zealand
- 1 August 1291Founding of Switzerland
- 8 September 1296Construction of Florence Cathedral
- 1299Rise of Ottoman dynasty
- from 29 July 1299 to 17 November 1922Ottoman Empire
- 13th centuryDiscovery of arsenic
- from 1303 to 1850Little Ice Age
- 1320The Divine Comedy
- 1324Mansa Musa's pilgrimage to Mecca
- 14 June 1325Ibn Battuta sets out from Tangier
- from 24 May 1337 to 9 October 1453Hundred Years' War
- 1340Construction of Doge's Palace
- 1342Construction of Palace of Westminster
- 1346Construction of Himeji Castle
- from 1346 to 1352Black Death
- from October 1347 to January 1351The Black Death reaches Europe
- 14th centuryPublication of The Romance of the Three Kingdoms
- 1353Publication of The Decameron
- from 1368 to 1644Ming dynasty
- from 1370 to 1789Construction of Bastille
- 1371Rise of House of Stuart
- 1373Construction of Leaning Tower of Pisa
- 1386Construction of Heidelberg University
- 1386Construction of Milan Cathedral
- 1387Publication of The Canterbury Tales
- 1400Rise of Renaissance music
- from 14th century to 17th centuryRenaissance
- 1402Construction of Charles Bridge
- 1402Construction of Seville Cathedral
- from 1402 to 1976Spanish Empire
- 1417Construction of Tiananmen Square
- 1420Construction of Kremlin
- 8 May 1429Joan of Arc relieves Orleans
- from 1438 to 1533Inca Empire
- 1439Printing press
- from 6 April 1453 to 29 May 1453Fall of Constantinople
- from 22 May 1455 to 16 June 1487Wars of the Roses
- 1460Construction of Topkapı Palace
- 1469Origins of Sikhism
- 1473Construction of Sistine Chapel
- from 1478 to 1834Spanish Inquisition
- from 22 August 1485 to 24 March 1603House of Tudor
- c. 1490sThe Last Supper
- 1492European colonization of the Americas
- 2 January 1492The fall of Granada ends Muslim rule in Spain
- 7 June 1494Treaty of Tordesillas
- 1496Introduction of złoty