Stephen Batchelor

Article / Updated 03-26-2016

Keep this helpful timeline in hand to remind yourself of the significant periods of time and essential events that took place throughout this important part of world history. 2600 BC: Beginning of the Minoan Period 1450 BC: Development of Linear B writing 1400 BC: Foundation of Mycenaean Palaces Bronze Age 1370 BC: Palace complex at Knossos destroyed. Minoan civilisation comes to an end. c.1250 BC: The Trojan War 1200 BC: Destruction of Mycenaean Palaces. Doric invasions 1000 BC: End of Mycenaean civilisation Iron Age 776 BC: First Olympic Games c.750 BC: The Iliad and the Odyssey composed. Greek alphabet established. Greek colonies established in Sicily and Southern Italy 630 BC: Colony of Cyrene established 594 BC: Solon renews the laws of Athens. 508 BC: Kleisthenes reforms the Athenian constitution and Athens becomes a democracy! 490 BC: Battle of Marathon: Greece versus Persia I (Greece wins!) 483 BC: Athenians discover silver in the mines at Laureion. 480 BC: Battle of Thermopylae: Greece versus Persia II. Battle of Salamis 479 BC: Battle of Plataea (Greece wins . . . eventually!) 477 BC: Athens establishes the Delian League. 461–445 BC: First Peloponnesian War: Athens versus Sparta (draw) 431–404 BC: Second Peloponnesian War: Athens versus Sparta (Sparta wins.) 430 BC: Plague in Athens 429 BC: Death of Pericles 415 BC: Athenian expedition to Sicily defeated 399 BC: Socrates tried and executed 359 BC: Philip II becomes king of Macedonia. 356 BC: Alexander the Great born 331 BC: Alexander the Great defeats the Persians at Gaugamela and becomes the new King of Persia! 323 BC: Death of Alexander the Great 322 BC: Death of Aristotle 300 BC: Ptolemy the Great founds the library at Alexandria. 214 BC: Philip V of Macedon defeated by the Romans 172 BC: Macedonia becomes a Roman province. 146 BC: Romans invade Greece and take control. Ancient Greece comes to an end.

Article / Updated 03-26-2016

Want to impress people with your knowledge of Ancient Greece? Print out and pin up this handy map as a quick and useful point of reference.

Article / Updated 03-26-2016

When historians talk about the Middle Ages and a view of the medieval world, they are generally talking about events that took place in and around modern-day Europe and a few adjacent areas, as this figure shows.

Article / Updated 03-26-2016

Famine, plague and public execution – the medieval period wasn’t the best time for some, but heroic rulers like Charlemagne, William the Conqueror and Henry V made sure that it was full of action. Here are the key dates for the big events of the medieval period. Date in Middle Ages What Happened in Medieval History c. AD 450 The first Anglo-Saxons arrive in England. 476 Romulus Augustulus is deposed; the Western Roman Empire ends. 496 Clovis the Frank converts to Christianity. 597 Augustine of Canterbury begins to convert the Anglo-Saxons to Christianity. 638 Jerusalem falls to Islamic forces. 711 Tarik-Ibn-Ziyad begins the Muslim conquest of Spain. 751 Pippin III becomes the first Carolingian king. c. 790 The Vikings begin raiding Ireland. 800 Charlemagne is crowned as the first Holy Roman Emperor. 827 Islamic forces invade Sicily. 843 The Treaty of Verdun splits the Frankish kingdom into three parts, creating modern France and Germany along the way. 863 The Eastern Church and the papacy in Rome split in the First Great Schism. c. 870 The Vikings discover Iceland. 871 Alfred becomes the king of Wessex. 909 Charles the Simple grants lands around Rouen to Viking settlers, beginning the Norman civilisation in France. 987 Louis V, the last Carolingian king, dies. Hugh Capet begins the Capetian line of French kings. 1016 Cnut of Denmark becomes king of England. 1066 William of Normandy invades England; the Battle of Hastings takes place. 1095 Pope Urban II preaches the First Crusade. 1097 The First Crusade arrives at Constantinople. 1099 The First Crusade recaptures Jerusalem and establishes the kingdom of Outremer. 1147–48 The Second Crusade fails to make any gains and is forced to retreat from Damascus. 1189 The Crusade of Frederick Barbarossa ends in failure when he drowns in Asia Minor. 1190–91 The Third Crusade pits Richard I against Saladin. 1204 The Fourth Crusade sacks Constantinople. 1215 King John agrees to the Magna Carta, weakening the authority of the English crown. 1291 The city of Acre falls, and the kingdom of Outremer ends. 1324 Marsilius of Padua criticises the papacy in the Defensor pacis. 1337 The Hundred Years’ War begins. 1346 The Battle of Crecy is fought during the Hundred Years’ War. 1348 The Black Death hits Europe. 1381 The Peasants’ Revolt happens in England. 1415 The Battle of Agincourt is fought during the Hundred Years’ War. 1431 Joan of Arc is executed by the English after leading the French recovery during the Hundred Years’ War. 1453 The French recover Gascony; the Hundred Years’ War ends. The Ottoman Turks capture Constantinople; the Byzantine Empire ends. 1470 Leonardo da Vinci begins work as a professional artist in Florence as the Italian Renaissance gathers pace. 1492 Christopher Columbus discovers America.