slug: western-roman-empire

label: Western Roman Empire

description: independently administered western provinces of the Roman Empire

section: Births

text: Magnus Maximus, Western Roman emperor (approximate date)

title: 335

text: Battle of Thessalonica: The Goths under Fritigern defeat a Roman army in Macedonia. Theodosius I retreats to Thessalonica and leaves Gratian in control of the Western Roman Empire.

title: 380

section: Events › By place › Roman Empire

date: August 22

text: August 22 – Arbogast nominates Eugenius, Roman teacher of rhetoric, as the next emperor of the Western Roman Empire. He sends ambassadors to Theodosius's court asking for his recognition.

title: 392

date: January 23

text: January 23 – Emperor Theodosius I proclaims his son Honorius, age 8, co-ruler (Augustus) of the Western Roman Empire.

title: 393

section: Deaths

date: January 17

text: January 17 – Emperor Theodosius I, age 48, dies of a disease involving severe edema in Milan. The Roman Empire is divided for the final time into an eastern and a western half. The Eastern Roman Empire is centered in Constantinople under Arcadius, son of Theodosius, and the Western Roman Empire in Mediolanum under his brother Honorius.

title: 395

text: Stilicho, Roman general (magister militum), controls the young emperor Honorius as his regent, and becomes the de facto ruler of the Western Roman Empire. He enlists the Alemanni and the Franks, to defend the Rhine frontier.

title: 396

text: Gildonic Revolt: Gildo, a Berber serving as a high-ranking official (comes) in Mauretania, rebels against the Western Roman Empire. The Gildonic Revolt is instigated by a powerful official in the Eastern Roman Empire named Eutropius, who wishes to undermine his enemies in the Western Roman Empire by cutting off the grain supply to Rome. After Gildo takes much of North Africa and cuts off the grain supply to Rome, Flavius Stilicho returns to Italy to raise troops against the rebels. After a short campaign in the desert, he defeats Gildo. Gildo flees and commits suicide by hanging himself.

title: 398

text: Ricimer, de facto ruler of the Western Roman Empire (approximate date)

title: 405

text: Flavius Constantius, Roman general and politician, is promoted to the rank of magister militum. He becomes the imperial adviser of Honorius, and the power behind the throne in the Western Roman Empire.

title: 410

text: Following the defeat of Constantine III, the Burgundians and the Gallic nobility proclaim Jovinus, Gallo-Roman senator, emperor of the Western Roman Empire at Mogontiacum (modern Mainz).

title: AD 411

text: The Visigoths are granted Aquitaine, and become allies (foederati) of the Western Roman Empire. King Wallia establishes his capital at Toulouse.

title: 417

date: July 2

text: July 2 – Valentinian III, emperor of the Western Roman Empire (d. 455)

title: 419

title: AD 420

date: February 8

text: February 8 – Constantius III is appointed co-emperor (Augustus) with his ineffectual brother-in-law, Honorius, and becomes the real ruler of the Western Roman Empire.

title: 421

date: September 2

text: September 2 – Constantius III, emperor of the Western Roman Empire

title: 421

date: August 15

text: August 15 – Emperor Honorius, age 38, dies at Ravenna of dropsy, perhaps pulmonary edema. With no children to claim the throne, Joannes, primicerius notariorum ("chief notary", head of the civil service), seizes the throne of the Western Roman Empire, and is declared emperor. Among his supporters are Flavius Aetius, Roman general (magister militum). Joannes' rule is accepted in the dioceses of Gaul, Hispania and Italia, but not in Africa.

title: 423

date: October 23

text: October 23 – Emperor Theodosius II nominates his cousin Valentinian, age 5, the imperial title nobilissimus Caesar ("most noble") of the Western Roman Empire. Valentinian is betrothed to Theodosius's own daughter Licinia Eudoxia, who is only 2 years old.

title: 424

text: October 23 – Valentinian III, six-year-old son of Galla Placidia, is installed as emperor (Augustus) of the Western Roman Empire. Real power is in the hands of his mother who becomes a regent.

title: 425

text: Flavius Felix is elected consul for the Western Empire and issues consular diptychs during his political office.

title: 428

text: Aetius pushes the Salian Franks back across the River Somme. King Chlodio signs a peace treaty and becomes a foederatus of the Western Roman Empire.

title: 431

text: Petronius Maximus is appointed consul of the Western Roman Empire.

title: 433

text: Huneric, eldest son of Genseric, is sent as a child hostage to the court at Ravenna to secure the alliance with the Western Roman Empire.

title: 435

section: Events › By place › Africa

text: July 2 – Valentinian III, age 18, rules as emperor over the Western Roman Empire. His mother Galla Placidia ends her regency, but continues to exercise political influence until her death in 450.

title: 437

text: Vandal War (439-442): King Genseric breaks his treaty with the Western Roman Empire and invades Africa Proconsularis.

title: 439

text: Litorius, general of the Western Roman Empire

title: 439

text: The Huns under Attila reappear in force, along the frontier of the Western Roman Empire. They attack merchants on the north bank of the Danube and cities in Illyricum, including (according to Priscus) Viminacium, city of Moesia.

title: 440

text: Valentinian III issued Novel 17 (Novella XVII) on July 8. It was an imperial edict recognizing papal authority in the Western Roman Empire.

title: 445

text: Eudocia, daughter of Emperor Valentinian III, marries Huneric in Ravenna. The engagement serves to strengthen the alliance between the Western Roman Empire and the Vandal Kingdom.

title: 451

section: Crime & Justice

text: Theodoric II succeeds his brother Thorismund as king of the Visigoths, Thorismund having been murdered after he violated the alliance with the Western Roman Empire.

title: 453

date: September 21

text: September 21 – Emperor Valentinian III stabs his commander-in-chief Flavius Aetius to death, during a meeting of the imperial council at Ravenna. He has accused Aetius of plotting against him to seize power. After his assassination, the Western Roman Empire has no effective defender against its hostile barbarian neighbors (Alans, Franks, Ostrogoths, Vandals and Visigoths).

title: 454

date: March 17

text: March 17 – Petronius Maximus, former domesticus ("elite bodyguard") of Aetius, becomes (with support of the Roman Senate) emperor of the Western Roman Empire. He secures the throne by bribing officials of the imperial palace. Maximus consolidates his power by a forced marriage with Licinia Eudoxia, widow of Valentinian III.

title: 455

date: May 31

text: May 31 – Petronius Maximus, emperor of the Western Roman Empire

title: 455

text: Avitus, emperor of the Western Roman Empire

title: 457

date: December 28

text: December 28 – Majorian is crowned emperor of the Western Roman Empire and recognized by Pope Leo I. His rule is accepted in Italy, Dalmatia and some territories in Northern Gaul.

title: 457

text: Battle of Arelate: Majorian defeats the Visigoths under King Theodoric II at Arles (Southern Gaul), near the Rhone River. Theodoric is forced to sign a peace treaty and becomes a foederatus (pl. foederati) of the Western Roman Empire.

title: 458

text: Romulus Augustulus, last emperor of the Western Roman Empire (approximate date)

title: 460

date: August 7

text: August 7 – Majorian, emperor of the Western Roman Empire

title: 461

date: November 19

text: November 19 – Libius Severus, Roman senator from Lucania, is declared emperor of the Western Roman Empire.

title: 461

text: August 15 – Libius Severus, emperor of the Western Roman Empire

title: 465

text: August 15 – Libius Severus, puppet emperor of the Western Roman Empire, dies after a 4-year reign.

title: 465

text: April 12 – Emperor Leo I has his general Anthemius elected emperor of the Western Roman Empire. He allies himself with Ricimer, de facto ruler of Rome, and marries Anthemius's daughter Alypia to him, to strengthen the relationship and end the hostilities between the Eastern and Western Empire.

title: 467

text: The Vandals reconquer Sicily, administering a decisive defeat to the Western forces.

title: 468

text: The Western Roman Empire enters a period of unrest. Relations between Ricimer, de facto ruler, and Emperor Anthemius deteriorate completely. Epiphanius, bishop of Pavia, negotiates a peace agreement.

title: 472

text: July 11 – Anthemius, emperor of the Western Roman Empire

title: 472

text: March 3 – Gundobad (nephew of Ricimer) nominates Glycerius as emperor of the Western Roman Empire. Emperor Leo I refuses to recognize him, and chooses Julius Nepos as candidate to the Western throne.

title: 473

text: June 24 – Julius Nepos arrives at Portus, and marches on Ravenna. He forces Glycerius to abdicate the throne, and proclaims himself emperor of the Western Roman Empire.

title: 474

text: October 31 – Romulus Augustus is installed as emperor by his father Orestes, who becomes regent in effect of the Western Roman Empire. Augustus will ultimately rule for 10 months, as the last Western Emperor.

title: 475

text: September 4 – Romulus Augustulus, Roman usurper of the Western Roman Empire, is deposed by Odoacer at Ravenna. Odoacer spares the boy's life and gives him a pension of 6,000 solidi, but exiles him to the "Castellum Lucullanum" (Castel dell'Ovo), on the island of Megaride in the Gulf of Naples. This event will later be romanticized in Western literature and history as the Fall of Western Rome, and is traditionally used by historians to mark the beginning of the European Middle Ages.

title: 476

text: Julius Nepos, former emperor of the Western Roman Empire, plans military campaigns in Dalmatia against Odoacer, hoping to regain control of Italy himself.

title: 479

text: Julius Nepos, former emperor of the Western Roman Empire, dies in exile in Dalmatia (he is murdered by his own soldiers, in his villa, near Salona).

title: 480

text: By this date, the Roman Empire under Justinian I has reached its height. Justinian I has reconquered many former territories of the Western Roman Empire, including Italy, Dalmatia, Africa and Southern Hispania.

title: 555


slug: western-turkic-khaganate

label: Western Turkic Khaganate

description: former Khaganate

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

text: Istämi, ruler of the Western Turkic Khaganate, establishes diplomatic relations with the Byzantine Empire.

title: 558

section: Events › By place › Asia

text: Tardu succeeds his father Istämi, as governor (yabgu) of the Western Turkic Khaganate (Central Asia).

title: 575

text: Istämi, ruler (yabgu) of the Western Turkic Khaganate

title: 575

section: Conflict & Security

text: Rebellious Göktürks depose and kill the ambitious ruler (khagan) Tardu, of the Western Turkic Khaganate (Central Asia).

title: 603

text: Tong Yabghu Qaghan becomes the new ruler (khagan) of the Western Turkic Khaganate, founding the Khazar Khaganate. He maintains close relations with the Tang dynasty, and possibly marries into the imperial family.

title: 618

text: Shikui Khagan, ruler of the Western Turkic Khaganate

title: 618

text: Heshana Khan, ruler of the Western Turkic Khaganate

title: 619

date: November 2

text: November 2 – Tang campaigns against the Western Turks: A khagan of the Western Turkic Khaganate is assassinated in a Chinese palace by Eastern Turkic rivals, with the approval of Emperor Gaozu of Tang.

title: 619

section: Exploration & Expansion

text: The Western Turks conquer the Oxus valley and cooperate with Heraclius against Persia, taking Khorasan (modern Afghanistan).

title: 622

text: Winter – Heraclius makes an alliance with Tong Yabghu Qaghan, ruler (khagan) of the Western Turkic Khaganate, for a joint invasion of the Persian Empire the following spring. He promises his daughter Eudoxia Epiphania, age 15, in marriage to Tong Yabghu and sends her under escort with wondrous gifts.

title: 626

section: Events › By place › Byzantine Empire

text: Third Perso-Turkic War: The Western Göktürks under their leader Tong Yabghu Qaghan plunder Tbilisi (modern Georgia). The Persian defenders are executed or mutilated, Tong Yabghu appoints governors (tuduns) to manage various tribes under his overlordship.

title: 628

text: Emperor Taizong of the Tang dynasty (China) instigates a civil war in the Western Turkic Khaganate, by supporting Isbara Yabghu Qaghan.

title: 641

text: Taizong supports a revolt by Turkic tribes against the rebellious Tu-lu Qaghan of the Western Turkic Khaganate.

title: 642

text: Emperor Taizong of the Tang dynasty sends a Chinese expeditionary force, to invade and annex the Tarim Basin kingdom of Karasahr in Xinjiang, a vassal of the Western Turkic Khaganate. The oasis state is conquered, and Western Turks sent to assist Karasahr are defeated by the Tang forces.

title: 644

text: Tang general Ashina She'er re-establishes Tang control of Karasahr, and leads a military campaign against the Tarim Basin kingdom of Kucha in Xinjiang, a vassal of the Western Turkic Khaganate.

title: 648

text: Tang campaigns against the Western Turks: Emperor Gao Zong dispatches a military campaign led by Su Dingfang. He annexes the Western Turkic Khaganate.

title: 657

text: The Karluks defeat the Turgesh Khaganate in Central Asia. Most of Turkestan (former Onoq territory) falls under Karluk rule, except west of Lake Aral, where the loose confederation of the Oghuz Turks is about to emerge.

title: 766


slug: western-wei

label: Western Wei

description: dynasty in Northwest China during the Northern and Southern Dynasties period

text: Wen Di, emperor of Western Wei (d. 551)

title: 507

text: Wei Xiaokuan, general of Western Wei (d. 580)

title: 509

text: Yifu, empress of Western Wei (d. 540)

title: 510

text: Yujiulü, empress of Western Wei (d. 540)

title: 525

text: The Northern Wei dynasty ends: The northern region of China is split into the Eastern Wei and the Western Wei during a civil war. The first ruler is Wen Di; he makes his son Fei Di crown prince.

title: 535

text: Eastern Wei sends an advance guard of three army columns through the Tong Pass, to attack Western Wei. The Western army under Yu-Wen Tai defeats one of the columns while the others retreat. Yu-Wen follows up, but runs into the main Eastern army (200,000 men). The Westerners are pushed back through the pass, and the Eastern army emerges from the mountains. Unexpectedly they are charged in the flank by 10,000 Western cavalry, and 6,000 Easterners are killed and 70,000 captured.

title: 537

text: Gong Di, emperor of Western Wei (d. 557)

title: 537

text: Yifu, empress of Western Wei (b. 510)

title: 540

text: Wen Di, emperor of Western Wei (b. 507)

title: 551

text: Gong Di succeeds his brother Fei Di as emperor of Western Wei. He is deposed by general Yuwen Tai who puts him to death.

title: 554

section: Events › By place › China

text: Fei Di (Yuan Qin), emperor of Western Wei

title: 554

text: Yuwen Tai, general of Western Wei (b. 507)

title: 556

text: The Western Wei Dynasty ends: Yuwen Hu deposes emperor Gong Di, and places Yuwen Tai's son Xiaomin on the throne. Yuwen Hu becomes regent and establishes the Northern Zhou dynasty in China.

title: 557

text: Wei Xiaokuan, general of Western Wei (b. 509)

title: 580


slug: western-xia

label: Western Xia

description: kingdom or empire in ancient China (1038–1227)

text: Jing Zong, Chinese emperor of Western Xia (d. 1048)

title: 1003

section: Religion & Belief

text: The Tangut script is devised by Yeli Renrong, for Emperor Jing Zong of Western Xia.

title: 1036

date: November 10

text: November 10 – Li Yuanhao proclaims himself Emperor of the Western Xia, declaring independence from the Song dynasty in China.

title: 1038

text: Yizong, Chinese emperor of Western Xia (d. 1068)

title: 1047

date: January 19

text: January 19 – Jingzong, Chinese founding emperor of Western Xia (b. 1003)

title: 1048

text: Hui Zong, Chinese emperor (Western Xia) (d. 1086)

title: 1060

text: Yi Zong, emperor of Western Xia (b. 1047)

title: 1068

text: Shen Kuo, Chinese polymath scientist and statesman, begins his defensive military campaign against the Tangut people of the Western Xia. He successfully defends the invasion route to Yanzhou (Shaanxi province).

title: 1080

text: Huizong, Chinese emperor (Western Xia) (b. 1060)

title: 1086

text: Xian Zong, Chinese emperor of Western Xia (d. 1226)

title: 1181

text: Ren Zong, Chinese emperor of the Western Xia (b. 1124)

title: 1193

text: Huan Zong, Chinese emperor of Western Xia (b. 1177)

title: 1206

text: Spring – The Mongols led by Genghis Khan begin their first invasion against the Western Xia state (or Xi Xia). They push up along the Yellow River, capturing several garrisons and defeating an imperial army. The Mongols besiege the capital Zhongxing – which holds a well-fortified garrison of some 70,000 men (hastily reinforced with another 50,000). Genghis lacks the proper equipment and experience to take the city. In October, an attempt to flood the city by diverting the Yellow River is disastrous and floods the Mongol camp, forcing the Mongols to withdraw.

title: 1209

text: Jochi, Mongol leader and eldest son of Genghis Khan, begins a campaign against the Kyrgyz. Meanwhile, Emperor Xiang Zong of Western Xia agrees to submit to Mongol rule, he gives his daughter, Chaka, in marriage to Genghis and pays him a tribute of camels, falcons, and textiles.

title: 1210

text: Autumn – Subutai is assigned a new campaign by Genghis Khan against the Tanguts. He crosses the Gobi Desert with a Mongol army and advances south into the Western Xia (or Xi Xia). Meanwhile, Genghis, in his mid-sixties, becomes wounded during hunting. His injury – a dislocated shoulder, perhaps, or a bruised rib – forces him to take some rest.

title: 1225

section: Events › By place › Mongol Empire

date: August

text: August – At Xingqing in what is now China's Yinchuan province, Emperor Xianzong of the Western Xia Empire dies after a three-year reign, and is succeeded by his nephew, Li Xian. The Mongols under Genghis Khan force the surrender of Western Xia the following year, bringing an end to the Yinchuan province as a separate nation.

title: 1226

section: Events › July – September

text: Siege of Yinchuan: Mongol forces eliminate the Western Xia (or Xi Xia) and execute Emperor Mo (or Li Xian). Genghis Khan dies during the siege under debated circumstances, but this is kept secret from the army until the siege's end. Yinchuan is pillaged and its entire population is slaughtered or sold into slavery. Genghis orders the imperial family to be executed, effectively ending the Tangut royal lineage.

title: 1227


slug: westminster-abbey

label: Westminster Abbey

description: Gothic abbey church in London, England, UK

text: A shrine on the site of the future Westminster Abbey (London) is founded (approximate date).

title: 616

section: Events › By topic › Religion

date: January 23

text: January 23 – Edward the Confessor, King of England, marries Edith of Wessex (daughter of Earl Godwin) and she is crowned queen consort at Winchester. This year also in England, Edward begins construction of Westminster Abbey.

title: 1045

section: Events

text: December 28 – Westminster Abbey is consecrated by King Edward the Confessor.

title: 1065

section: Events › By place › England

date: January 6

text: January 6 – Harold Godwinson (now known as Harold II) is crowned king of England, probably in the new Westminster Abbey, where Edward the Confessor's funeral took place not long before the coronation.

title: 1066

section: Events › Europe › England and Scotland

date: May 11

text: May 11 – William I brings his wife Matilda of Flanders to England. She is crowned queen in Westminster Abbey.

title: 1068

text: William II orders the construction of Westminster Hall near Westminster Abbey in London. The hall is designed to hold banquets, ceremonies and coronations that take place in the Abbey nearby.

title: 1097

date: August 5

text: August 5 – Henry I is crowned King of England, at Westminster Abbey. The power of the new monarch is ill-assured, and to mollify the barons he has to grant them the Charter of Liberties, one of the first examples of a written constitution in Europe.

title: 1100

section: Events › By place › Europe

text: Henry I orders the tomb of Edward the Confessor be opened; the body of the former king is supposedly found undecayed. The Westminster monks start to claim Edward as a saint.

title: 1102

date: December 26

text: December 26 – Stephen of Blois is crowned at Westminster Abbey in London by Archbishop William de Corbeil. Matilda (pregnant with child) and her husband Geoffrey V ("the Fair") leave for their own safety to Normandy, where she plans how to overthrow Stephen and claim the English throne for her own.

title: 1135

text: Westminster School is founded by Benedictine monks of Westminster Abbey (by papal command) in England.

title: 1179

date: September 3

text: September 3 – Richard I is crowned king of England in Westminster Abbey. During the coronation, a number of notable Jews are expelled from the banquet and rumours spread that Richard has ordered a massacre of the Jews. This causes an actual massacre of the Jews in London; among those killed is Jacob of Orléans, a respected French Jewish scholar.

title: 1189

section: Events › By place › Britain

date: May 26

text: May 26 – John returns to London and chooses people to help him to rule the kingdom. He appoints Archbishop Hubert Walter as his advisor and chancellor. Geoffrey Fitz Peter is chosen as Chief Justiciar and William (the Marshal) becomes Marshal of John's household. On May 27, John is crowned as king of England at Westminster Abbey.

title: 1199

date: May 17

text: May 17 – The 12-year-old Henry III is crowned at Westminster Abbey. He is reminded of his duties as king to maintain peace, defend the rights of the English crown, and the barons swear an oath of fealty.

title: 1220

section: Events › By place › United Kingdom

date: January 14

text: January 14 – King Henry III marries the 14-year-old Eleanor of Provence, one of the four daughters of Raimond Berenguer, count of Provence. The ceremony takes place at Canterbury Cathedral, with Simon de Montfort, as Lord High Steward, takes care of the banquet and kitchen arrangements. Eleanor is crowned queen at Westminster Abbey shortly afterward.

title: 1236

text: King Henry III starts the work of rebuilding Westminster Abbey, as a tribute to Edward the Confessor.

title: 1245

date: August 2

text: August 2 – Edward I of England finally returns from the Holy Land to be crowned king of England on August 19 at Westminster Abbey two years after his father King Henry III's death.

title: 1274

date: July 7

text: July 7 – King Edward I of England, known as Edward Longshanks, dies at Burgh by Sands after a 34-year reign. He is succeeded by his son 23-year-old Edward II, who becomes new ruler of England. After his death Edward's body is embalmed and transported to Waltham Abbey in Essex. Here it lay unburied for several weeks so that people can come and see the body lying in state. After this, Edward is taken to Westminster Abbey for a proper burial on October 28.

title: 1307

date: February 25

text: February 25 – Edward II is crowned at Westminster Abbey under the guidance of Henry Woodlock, bishop of Winchester. During the ceremony, Piers Gaveston is given the honour of carrying the crown. At the banquet that followed, Edward spends more time with Gaveston than with his wife Isabella of France. Isabella's family, who have travelled with her from France, leave to report back to Philip IV of Edward's favouritism for Gaveston over Isabella. As part of the coronation, Edward swears an oath to uphold "the rightful laws and customs which the community of the realm shall have chosen".

title: 1308

section: Events › January – March

date: February 1

text: February 1 – The coronation of King Edward III as ruler of England takes place at Westminster Abbey with the approval of the English Parliament. Walter Reynolds, Archbishop of Canterbury, places the crown upon the new King.

title: 1327

date: January 9

text: January 9 – The funeral of the late Queen Philippa, who had served as Queen consort of England for 61 years as the wife of King Edward III, is held at Westminster Abbey.

title: 1370

section: Events › January–March

date: July 16

text: July 16 – Richard II, the 10-year-old grandson of Edward III, is crowned king of England at Westminster Abbey. A minority government is established, and a series of continual councils rule on his behalf until 1381.

title: 1377

section: Events › July–September

date: August 8

text: August 8 – King Richard II of England summons the members of the House of Commons and the House of Lords to assemble at Westminster Abbey on October 1 for his 14th Parliament, dubbed by historians as the "Wonderful Parliament". Although the King's purpose is to secure funding to defend against an imminent invasion from France, the parliament members begin plans to reform the unpopular king's government.

title: 1386

date: January 8

text: January 8 – Isabella of Valois, the 7-year-old wife of King Richard II since their marriage on October 31, is formally crowned as Queen consort of England at Westminster Abbey.

title: 1397

date: October 13

text: October 13 – Henry Bolingborke is crowned as King Henry IV of England at Westminster Abbey.

title: 1399

section: Events › October–December

date: December 4

text: December 4 – By order of King Henry V of England, the remains of King Richard II (whom Henry V's father had overthrown and imprisoned in 1399) are moved from the grounds of King's Langley Priory in Hertfordshire and reinterred at Westminster Abbey, the traditional final resting place of English monarchs.

title: 1413

date: March 20

text: March 20 – King Henry IV of England dies at Westminster Abbey, where the English Parliament has been meeting, in the Jerusalem Chamber of the house of the Abbot, William de Colchester.

title: 1413

date: February 23

text: February 23 – The coronation of Catherine of Valois as Queen consort of England takes place at Westminster Abbey.

title: 1421

date: May 30

text: May 30 – At a ceremony at Westminster Abbey, the coronation of Margaret of Anjou as Queen consort of England takes place before John Stafford, Archbishop of Canterbury.

title: 1445

section: Events › April–June

date: July 6

text: July 6 – Richard III and Anne Neville are crowned king and Queen of England, at Westminster Abbey.

title: 1483

date: January 24

text: January 24 – Construction of the Henry VII Chapel at Westminster Abbey begins in the perpendicular Gothic style, the final stage of English Gothic art.

title: 1503

date: June 1

text: June 1 – Cranmer crowns Anne Boleyn as queen consort of England, in Westminster Abbey.

title: 1533

date: February 20

text: February 20 – Edward VI of England is crowned at Westminster Abbey.

title: 1547

date: January 15

text: January 15 – Elizabeth I of England is crowned, in Westminster Abbey.

title: 1559

date: April 28

text: April 28 – The funeral of Elizabeth I of England is held in Westminster Abbey.

title: 1603

text: July 25 – The formal coronation of James I as King of England takes place at Westminster Abbey. Ceremonies are limited because of plague.

title: 1603

text: May 13 – Anne of Denmark, queen consort of England, is buried at Westminster Abbey.

title: 1619

text: November 15 – Thomas Parr, dead at the alleged age of 152, is buried in Westminster Abbey.

title: 1635

text: July 1 – The Westminster Assembly of theologians ("divines") and parliamentarians is convened at Westminster Abbey with the aim of restructuring the Church of England.

title: 1643

text: April 23 (May 3 N.S.) – King Charles II of England, Scotland, and Ireland is crowned in Westminster Abbey.

title: 1661

text: April 23 – The coronation of King James II of England (and his Queen Consort, Mary of Modena) takes place at Westminster Abbey.

title: 1685

text: October 20 – The coronation of George I of Great Britain and Ireland takes place in Westminster Abbey, a little less than three months after George became the new British monarch.

title: 1714

text: June 28 – The coronation of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom takes place at Westminster Abbey in London.

title: 1838

text: August 9 – Coronation of Edward VII as King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, Emperor of India at Westminster Abbey in London.

title: 1902

text: June 22 – George V and Mary are crowned King and Queen of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, at Westminster Abbey in London.

title: 1911

text: November 11 – In London, The Cenotaph is unveiled and The Unknown Warrior is buried in Westminster Abbey; while in Paris the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is consecrated beneath the Arc de Triomphe.

title: 1920

text: April 26 – Wedding of Prince Albert and Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon: The future King George VI of the United Kingdom marries the future Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother in Westminster Abbey.

title: 1923

text: May 12 – George VI and Elizabeth are crowned King and Queen of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor and Empress of India at Westminster Abbey, London.

title: 1937

text: November 20 – Wedding of Princess Elizabeth and Philip Mountbatten, Duke of Edinburgh: Princess Elizabeth (later Elizabeth II), the daughter of George VI of the United Kingdom, marries The Duke of Edinburgh at Westminster Abbey in London.

title: 1947

text: April 11 – After its clandestine removal from Westminster Abbey on Christmas Day, 1950, the Stone of Scone resurfaces at Arbroath Abbey in Scotland.

title: 1951

text: June 2 – Elizabeth II is crowned Queen of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms, at Westminster Abbey.

title: 1953

text: July 23 – In London, the then Prince Andrew, Duke of York (later Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor) marries Sarah Ferguson at Westminster Abbey.

title: 1986

text: September 6 – The funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales, takes place at Westminster Abbey, London, UK, watched by over two billion people worldwide.

title: 1997

text: April 29 – An estimated two billion people watch the wedding of Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and Catherine Middleton at Westminster Abbey in London.

title: 2011

text: September 19 – The state funeral of Elizabeth II is held in Westminster Abbey, London. Her coffin is then taken by procession to Windsor Castle for burial with her husband, parents and sister in the King George VI Memorial Chapel. The funeral is speculated to be the most watched television event in world history.

title: 2022

text: May 6 – The coronation of Charles III and Camilla as King and Queen of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms is held in Westminster Abbey, London.

title: 2023


slug: westminster

label: Westminster

description: area of the City of Westminster in the London Region in England

text: Ordinance of the Jewry: Beginning of strict records of financial transactions by Jews liable to taxation. The Exchequer of the Jews at Westminster regulates the taxes and the law-cases (also in Wales).

title: 1194

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

text: King John puts an embargo on wheat exported to Flanders, in an attempt to force an allegiance between the states. He also puts a levy of a fifteenth on the value of cargo exported to France and disallows the export of wool to France without a special license. The levies are enforced in each port by at least six men – including one churchman and one knight. John affirms that judgments made by the court of Westminster are as valid as those made "before the king himself or his chief justice".

title: 1201

section: Events › By place › British Isles

date: January 20

text: January 20 – In Westminster, the first elected English parliament (called Montfort's Parliament) conducts its first meeting in the Palace of Westminster, later to be known as the Houses of Parliament.

title: 1265

section: Conflict & Security

date: December

text: December – John Balliol is summoned by Edward I to Westminster to answer an appeal by Macduff of Fife against a judgment imposed on him by the Scottish Parliament. John refuses to answer Macduff's appeal, 'without consulting the people of his realm'. Edward asks for compensation for the violation of English law and demands to hand him over three Scottish castles as repayment for the crime committed.

title: 1292

date: November 13

text: November 13 – King Edward I of England ("Longshanks") summons the Model Parliament to Westminster, the composition of which serves as a model for later parliaments. The parliament agrees that a tax can be raised to allow him to launch campaigns against France and the rebellious Scots for the forthcoming year.

title: 1295

text: May 30 – The English Parliament meets at Westminster in a one-day session, on orders of King Edward I, a week after Whit Sunday and passes a five percent tax on "citizens and burgesses and communities of all the cities and boroughs of the realm and the tenants of our demesne."

title: 1306

section: Events › April – June

date: October 20

text: October 20 – The English Parliament begins its fourth session of the reign of King Edward II and meets at Westminster.

title: 1308

section: Events › October – December

date: February 8

text: February 8 – The English Parliament opens at Westminster, after being summoned on October 26. The Parliament will continue to meet until April 12.

title: 1310

date: November 21

text: November 21 – King Edward III opens the English Parliament at Westminster and demands more money to be raised to continue the war with France.

title: 1373

date: May 20

text: May 20 – Edward the Black Prince, eldest son and heir apparent to England's King Edward III, presides over a council of bishops and nobles at Westminster on Whitsunday to review a demand by Pope Gregory XI for a subsidy from England to help the Papal States in the war against the Republic of Florence. In his letter, the Pope asserts his right as Lord Spiritual and refers to himself as "Lord of all". The English nobles conclude, and the bishops agree, that the Kingdom of England will not be subject to the Pope's authority.

title: 1374

date: December 28

text: December 28 – King Edward III summons the English Parliament to assemble at Westminster on April 28, 1376.

title: 1375

date: November 25

text: November 25 – The fourth parliament of King Henry IV of England closes at Westminster after two months and the passage of new laws, including the penal Laws against Wales which stop the Welsh from gathering together, obtaining office, carrying arms and living in English towns. The laws apply to any Englishman who marries a Welsh woman.

title: 1402

date: September 29

text: September 29 – The Duke of Bedford Regent for King Henry VI of England, summons the members of Parliament to assemble at Westminster on November 9.

title: 1422

date: July 17

text: July 17 – The English Parliament closes its session at Westminster. Royal assent is given in the King's name to the Electors of Knights of the Shire Act 1432 ("Certain things required in him who shall be a chooser of the knights of the parliament"), the Appearance of Plaintiffs Act (setting "the penalty of him that maketh a false entry, that the plaintiff doth offer himself in person, where his doth not") and the Exportation Act ("All wools and woolfells that shall be carried to any other place than to Calais, shall be forfeited to the King and the finder.")

title: 1432

date: May 12

text: May 12 – The new English Parliament session is opened at Westminster by the regents for King Henry VI of England, and Sir John Russell is elected by his peers as Speaker of the House of Commons.

title: 1432

date: July 8

text: July 8 – The English Parliament assembles at Westminster, and Roger Hunt is elected as Speaker of the House of Commons.

title: 1433

date: September 25

text: September 25 – King Henry VI of England summons the English Parliament, directing all members to assemble at Westminster on November 12.

title: 1439

date: January 25

text: January 25 – The English Parliament opens at Westminster for a 60-day session, and the House of Commons re-elects William Tresham as its speaker.

title: 1442

section: Science & Discovery

date: November 18

text: November 18 – William Caxton produces Earl Rivers' translation into English of Dictes or Sayengis of the Philosophres, at his press in Westminster, the first full-length book printed in England on a printing press.

title: 1477

date: January 16

text: January 16 – At Westminster, King Henry VII opens his sixth English Parliament for a two-month session. The House of Commons elects Sir Thomas Englefield as its speaker.

title: 1497

section: Crime & Justice

date: June 10

text: June 10 – Thomas Cromwell, Chief Minister for King Henry VIII, is arrested at meeting of the Privy Council of England at Westminster and charged with treason. Cromwell is removed from his positions as Chancellor of the Exchequer, Lord Privy Seal, Lord Great Chamberlain and Governor of the Isle of Wight, and will be executed on July 28.

title: 1540

section: Culture & Society

date: December 16

text: December 16 – Robert Baden-Powell gives the first public display of the new Wolf Cub section of Scouting at Caxton Hall, Westminster.

title: 1916

section: Events › December


slug: whigs-british-political-party

label: Whigs (British political party)

description: historic liberal political party in the United Kingdom (1678-1859)

section: Religion & Belief

date: November 17

text: November 17 – The Green Ribbon Club, a predecessor of the British Whigs, organizes a procession to burn an effigy of the Pope in London for the second year running.

title: 1680

date: July 27

text: July 27 – The Bank of England is founded through Royal charter by the Whig-dominated Parliament of England, following a proposal by Scottish merchant William Paterson to raise capital, by offering safe and steady returns of interest guaranteed by future taxes. A total of £1.2 million is raised for the war effort against Louis XIV of France by the end of the year, to establish the first-ever government debt.

title: 1694

section: Exploration & Expansion

text: The Whigs sponsor Captain Kidd of New York as a privateer against French shipping.

title: 1698

section: Events › Date unknown

date: November 12

text: November 12 – The 1713 British general election concludes with the conservative Tories winning 358 of the 558 available seats in the House of Commons, and the liberal Whigs having 200.

title: 1713

date: March 27

text: March 27 – Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke, flees from Great Britain to France. His part in secret negotiations with France, leading to the Treaty of Utrecht, has cast suspicion on him in the eyes of the Whig government of Britain. He becomes secretary of state to the Pretender, James Edward Stuart.

title: 1715

date: October 17

text: October 17 – With voting for the British House of Commons concluding, the Whigs, led by Sir Robert Walpole, increase their supermajority, winning 415 of the 558 seats. The Tories share of Commons decreases from 169 to 128.

title: 1727

date: June 6

text: June 6 – With the conclusion of the British general election (voting having begun in some constituencies on April 22), the Whigs, led by Prime Minister Robert Walpole, lose 85 seats but retain their majority.

title: 1734

date: June 11

text: June 11 – 1741 British general election, begun on April 30, concludes with Prime Minister Robert Walpole's Whigs retaining their majority in the House of Commons but losing 44 seats to candidates who have defected to the new Patriot Whigs to oppose his policies.

title: 1741


slug: white-house

label: White House

description: official residence and office of the President of the United States

date: October 13

text: October 13 – Foundation of Washington, D.C.: The cornerstone of the United States Executive Mansion (known as the White House after 1818) is laid.

title: 1792

date: June 3

text: June 3 – U.S. President John Adams moves to Washington. Because the President's Mansion is still under construction, President Adams takes up residence at Tunnicliffe's City Hotel near the unfinished U.S. Capitol Building.

title: 1800

date: November 1

text: November 1 – U.S. President John Adams becomes the first President of the United States to live in the Executive Mansion (later renamed the White House).

title: 1800

date: August 24

text: August 24 – War of 1812 – Burning of Washington: British troops, after defeating American forces at the Battle of Bladensburg, occupy Washington, D.C., setting numerous buildings on fire, including the Capitol and Presidential Mansion.

title: 1814

date: August 16

text: August 16 – U.S. President John Tyler vetoes a bill which called for the re-establishment of the Second Bank of the United States. Enraged Whig Party members riot outside the White House, in the most violent demonstration on White House grounds in U.S. history.

title: 1841

date: June 2

text: June 2 – U.S. President Grover Cleveland marries Frances Folsom in the White House (Washington, D.C.), becoming the only President of the United States to wed in the executive mansion. She is 27 years his junior.

title: 1886

section: Events › June

date: January 2

text: January 2 – Alice Sanger becomes the first female staffer in the White House.

title: 1890

section: Events › January

section: Technology & Infrastructure

date: February 8

text: February 8 – President of the United States Warren G. Harding introduces the first radio in the White House.

title: 1922

section: Events › February

date: February 22

text: February 22 – Calvin Coolidge becomes the first President of the United States to deliver a radio broadcast from the White House.

title: 1924

date: November 9

text: November 9 – An agreement founding the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration is signed by 44 countries in the White House, Washington, D.C.

title: 1943

section: Events › November

date: February 14

text: February 14 – First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy takes television viewers on a tour of the White House.

title: 1962

date: June 17

text: June 17 – Watergate scandal: Five White House operatives are arrested for burgling the offices of the Democratic National Committee.

title: 1972

date: June 23

text: June 23 – Watergate scandal: U.S. President Richard M. Nixon and White House chief of staff H. R. Haldeman are taped talking about using the C.I.A. to obstruct the investigation by the F.B.I. into the Watergate break-ins.

title: 1972

date: July 16

text: July 16 – Watergate scandal: Former White House aide Alexander Butterfield informs the United States Senate Watergate Committee that President Richard Nixon had secretly recorded potentially incriminating conversations.

title: 1973

section: Events › July

date: March 26

text: March 26 – In a ceremony at the White House, President Anwar Sadat of Egypt and Prime Minister Menachem Begin of Israel sign an Egypt–Israel peace treaty.

title: 1979

section: Events › March

date: October 7

text: October 7 – Pope John Paul II ends his first U.S. papal visit in Washington, D.C., with his first-ever visit to the White House.

title: 1979

section: Events › October

date: February 28

text: February 28 – A meeting between U.S. president Donald Trump and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy takes place at the White House. Trump and V.P. JD Vance sharply criticise Zelenskyy, raising questions about support for Ukraine, a proposed end to the war, and the country's future in general.

title: 2025


slug: white-star-line

label: White Star Line

description: British shipping company

section: Disasters & Accidents

date: February 11

text: February 11–19 – White Star Line cargo liner sinks without a trace in heavy seas on the Liverpool–New York transatlantic passage.

title: 1893

date: January 14

text: January 14 – The White Star Line's transatlantic ocean liner is launched from the Belfast shipyards in Ireland. At 17,272 gross register tons and 704 ft m, she is the largest ship afloat at this time.

title: 1899

date: May 22

text: May 22 – The White Star Liner SS Ionic is launched by Harland and Wolff in Belfast.

title: 1902

section: Events › May

date: July 27

text: July 27–28 – The 1908 Hong Kong typhoon sinks the passenger steamer Ying King, causing 421 deaths.*July 29 - The White Star Line company begins the construction of the Titanic

title: 1908

date: January 24

text: January 24 – The White Star Line RMS Republic sinks the day after a collision with SS Florida off Nantucket. Almost all of the 1,500 passengers are rescued.

title: 1909

section: Events › January–February

date: October 20

text: October 20 – The hull of White Star ocean liner is launched, at the Harland and Wolff shipyards in Belfast.

title: 1910

date: April 10

text: April 10 – White Star liner departs from Southampton, England, with more than 2,200 passengers and crew on her maiden voyage, bound for New York.

title: 1912

section: Events › April

date: November 21

text: November 21 – WWI: Hospital ship HMHS Britannic, designed as the third for White Star Line, sinks in the Kea Channel of the Aegean Sea after hitting a mine; 30 lives are lost. At 48,158 gross register tons, she is the largest ship lost during the war.

title: 1916

date: June 28

text: June 28 – The keel of the first 1,000 ft (300 m)-long ocean liner, Oceanic, for the British White Star Line, is laid by Harland and Wolff in Belfast; construction is delayed, and cancelled on 23 July 1929.

title: 1928


slug: widukind

label: Widukind

description: Duke of Saxony

section: Conflict & Security

text: Westphalian Saxons, probably commanded by Widukind, cross the Weser and fight an inconclusive battle at Hlidbeck (modern-day Lübbecke). Charlemagne claims victory, but perhaps in reality suffers a setback. He reunites his forces and inflicts a real defeat upon the Saxons, seizing considerable booty and taking hostages, though Widukind escapes.

title: 775

section: Events › By place › Europe

text: Saxon Wars: King Charlemagne spends Easter in Nijmegen, and leads a large Frankish army to Paderborn, where a general assembly of Carolingian and Saxon leaders had been summoned. Saxon lands are integrated into the Frankish Kingdom, and divided into missionary parishes. Duke Widukind and his followers flee to King Sigfred of Denmark, seeking refuge and support.

title: AD 777

text: Saxon Wars: Widukind and his close followers return to Saxony from Denmark. He probably makes alliances with the Danes and the northwestern Slav tribes. Saxon rebels destroy the fortress of Karlsburg and sack Deutz (near Cologne), but are unable to cross the Rhine. They are driven back by the garrison of Koblenz, but then ambush and defeat the Frankish pursuers. Counter-attacking Frankish forces pursue the Saxons up the Lahn Valley, and defeat them near Leisa.

title: 778

text: Saxon Wars: King Charlemagne assembles a Frankish army at Düren, crosses the Rhine at the modern town of Wesel, and defeats the Saxons in battle near Bocholt (North Rhine-Westphalia). All the main Westphalian leaders are captured, except Widukind. Charlemagne crosses the Weser, Oker and Ohre rivers into Eastphalian territory, where local leaders submit to Frankish rule and hand over hostages. Widukind remains in northern Saxony, and relies on guerrilla warfare.

title: 779

text: Saxon Wars: King Charlemagne decrees the death penalty for any subdued Saxon refusing Christian baptism. Meanwhile Widukind builds up rebel strength in northern Saxony.

title: 780

text: Battle of Süntel: The Franks under Charlemagne are defeated by Saxon rebels, led by Widukind. He succeeds in wiping out more than half of the occupying Frankish forces and again raises the banner of revolt.

title: 782

text: Winter – Saxon Wars: Charlemagne defeats the Saxon rebels in a three-day battle next to the Hase River, and perhaps overruns fortifications on the Wittekindsberg, before ravaging southern Saxony. A Frisian uprising against Carolingian rule is supported by Duke Widukind.

title: 783

text: Saxon Wars: King Charlemagne summons a major assembly of Saxon and Frankish lords at Paderborn, then leads his army across Saxony as far as the Lower Elbe, without significant resistance. Duke Widukind retreats with his 'rebel' forces beyond the Elbe, but then negotiates and exchanges hostages. Charlemagne returns to his palace at Attigny (Ardennes), followed by Widukind; here the Saxon leaders are baptized as Christians on Christmas Day. Widukind and the Saxon nobility swear fealty to Charlemagne.

title: 785

section: Deaths

text: Widukind, duke of Saxony (approximate date)

title: 807


slug: wikileaks

label: WikiLeaks

description: organization that publishes leaks provided by anonymous sources

date: December 1

text: December 1 – WikiLeaks leaks Hassan Dahir Aweys' conspiracy to assassinate Somali government officials.

title: 2006

section: Events › December

date: November 7

text: November 7 – Whistleblower website WikiLeaks leaks the standard US army protocol at Guantanamo Bay.

title: 2007

section: Crime & Justice

date: February 18

text: February 18 – WikiLeaks releases allegations of illegal activities carried out by the Cayman Islands branch of Swiss banking corporation Julius Baer; a subsequent lawsuit against WikiLeaks prompts a temporary suspension of the website, but uproar about violations of freedom of speech causes WikiLeaks to be brought back online.

title: 2008

date: January 28

text: January 28 – WikiLeaks releases 86 intercepted telephone recordings of politicians and businessmen involved in the 2008 Peru oil scandal.

title: 2009

text: October 20 – WikiLeaks leaked the membership listing of a radical political group known as the British National Party.

title: 2009

section: Economy & Finance

date: September 22

text: September 22 – WikiLeaks exposes the contents of Kaupthing Bank's internal documents prior to the Icelandic Financial Crisis. These documents showed suspicious amounts of money were loaned to bank owners, and debts being written off.

title: 2009

section: Events › September

date: April 5

text: April 5 – Julian Assange leaks footage of a 2007 airstrike in Iraq titled "Collateral Murder" on the website WikiLeaks.

title: 2010

date: July 25

text: July 25 – WikiLeaks, an online publisher of anonymous, covert, and classified material, leaks to the public over 90,000 internal reports about the United States-led involvement in the War in Afghanistan from 2004 to 2010.

title: 2010

date: November 28

text: November 28 – WikiLeaks releases a collection of more than 250,000 American diplomatic cables, including 100,000 marked "secret" or "confidential".

title: 2010

date: October 22

text: October 22 – The 2010 Iraq War Documents leak occurs, being deemed the biggest US government leak in history. WikiLeaks being responsible for revealing 391832 documents concerning the 2003 Iraq War which revealed approximately 60% of the Iraqi deaths were civilian casualties, the Iraq War body count project showing the casualty percentage is closer to 80%.

title: 2010

text: September 22 – Anonymous initiates Operation Payback, a coordinated cyberattack on multiple corporations, law firms, and politicians over the banning of file-sharing websites such as LimeWire and The Pirate Bay and also the politicians and financial institutions against WikiLeaks, a whistleblower website.

title: 2010

date: April 24

text: April 24 – The 2011 Guantanamo Bay files leak occurs, WikiLeaks and other organisations publishing 779 classified documents about Guantanamo Bay detainees, and it had been exposed 150 innocent citizens from Afghanistan and Pakistan were held in the camp without trial and detainees being as young as 14 years old.

title: 2011

text: October 7 – Three events that will play a significant role in the 2016 United States presidential election all take place on the same afternoon: (1) U.S. intelligence agencies publicly accuse the Russian government of using computer hacking to interfere with the U.S. election process; (2) The Washington Post releases a videotape showing candidate Donald Trump privately bragging about sexual improprieties; (3) WikiLeaks releases thousands of private emails from inside the political campaign of candidate Hillary Clinton.

title: 2016

date: April 11

text: April 11 – WikiLeaks co-founder Julian Assange is arrested after seven years in Ecuador's embassy in London.

title: 2019

date: June 24

text: June 24 – WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange leaves the United Kingdom after being freed from prison in a plea deal with the United States. He returns to his native Australia two days later.

title: 2024


slug: wilfrid

label: Wilfrid

description: Christian saint, Bishop of York from 664 to 678

section: Births

text: Wilfrid, Anglo-Saxon bishop (approximate date)

title: 633

section: Religion & Belief

text: Wilfrid, Anglo-Saxon abbot, refuses to be consecrated in Northumbria as bishop, and travels to Compiègne (France) to be consecrated by Agilbert, archbishop of Paris.

title: 665

section: Events › By topic › Religion

text: Wilfrid returns to Great Britain, but is shipwrecked in Sussex. When he finally reaches Northumbria, he finds he has been deposed and is forced to retire to Ripon.

title: AD 666

section: Events › By place › Religion

text: Wilfrid, bishop of York, brings stonemasons, plasterers and glaziers from France and Italy to build Ripon Cathedral (England).

title: 672

text: Æthelthryth, former queen of Northumbria, gives large areas of land to bishop Wilfrid to found Hexham Abbey.

title: 674

text: Dagobert II, son of the late king Sigibert III, becomes (partly with the help of Bishop Wilfrid) the new ruler of Austrasia, after his predecessor Clovis III is murdered.

title: 676

text: Wilfrid, bishop of York, is at the height of his power and owns vast estates throughout Northumbria. After his refusal to agree to a division of his see, Ecgfrith and Theodore, archbishop of Canterbury, have him banished from Northumbria.

title: 678

text: Wilfrid returns to Northumbria, with papal support, but is imprisoned by King Ecgfrith, and again exiled. He travels to the Kingdom of Sussex and begins to evangelise the people.

title: 680

text: King Æthelwalh of Sussex gives Wilfrid, exiled bishop of York, lands in Selsey to found a cathedral, named Selsey Abbey.

title: 681

section: Events › By place › Britain

section: Exploration & Expansion

text: The wandering ex-Wessex sub-king, Cædwalla, seeks St. Wilfrid as his spiritual father, but does not convert to Christianity.

title: 682

text: Wilfrid, bishop of York, becomes an advisor of Cædwalla, and is sent to the Isle of Wight to evangelise the inhabitants.

title: 686

text: Wilfrid, abbot of Ripon, tries to make himself bishop of all Northumbria. King Aldfrith seizes many of his Ripon Abbey estates, and proposes to create a bishopric there. Wilfrid is banished and flees to Mercia, where King Æthelred makes him bishop of Leicester.

title: 691

text: Berhtwald, archbishop of Canterbury, calls the Council of Austerfield to decide the rights of Wilfrid, some-time bishop of York. He is offered Ripon Abbey if he will relinquish his claims as bishop. Wilfrid rejects this offer and appeals to Rome.

title: 702

text: Wilfrid, Anglo-Saxon bishop, travels to Rome again, and is supported in his struggle to retain his see of York by the pope. On his way Wilfrid stops in Frisia (modern Netherlands), to visit Willibrord.

title: 703

date: December 14

text: December 14 – King Aldfrith of Northumbria dies after a 20-year reign. His throne is seized by Eadwulf I, of unknown descent. Wilfrid travels to Driffield to support Eadwulf, but his advances are rejected (approximate date).

title: 704

text: Prince Osred of Northumbria, assisted by ealdorman, defeats the usurper Eadwulf I. He becomes king at the age of nine; the government is controlled by the powerful bishop Wilfrid.

title: 705

text: Wilfrid, Anglo-Saxon bishop (or 710)

title: 709

text: King Eadred ravages Northumbria and burns down St. Wilfrid's church at Ripon. On his way home, he sustains heavy losses at Castleford. Eadred manages to check his rivals, and the Northumbrians are forced to pay him compensation.

title: 948

section: Events › By place › England


slug: william-henry-harrison

label: William Henry Harrison

description: president of the United States in 1841 (1773-1841)

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

date: June 7

text: June 7 – Indiana Territory governor (and future U.S. president) William Henry Harrison signs treaties at Fort Wayne, with representatives of the Delaware, Shawnee, Potawatomi, Miami, Kickapoo, Eel River, Wea, Piankeshaw and Kaskaskia Indian tribes. The U.S. Senate ratifies the treaties on November 25.

title: 1803

section: Events › April–June

date: November 3

text: November 3 – The Treaty of St. Louis is signed by Quashquame and William Henry Harrison; controversy surrounding the treaty eventually causes the Sauk people to ally with the British during the War of 1812, and is the main cause of the Black Hawk War of 1832.

title: 1804

section: Events › October–December

text: November 7 – Battle of Tippecanoe: American troops led by William Henry Harrison defeat the Native American spiritual leader Tenskwatawa, also known as The Prophet (Chief Tecumseh's brother).

title: 1811

date: February

text: February – War of 1812 in North America: General William Henry Harrison sends out an expedition to burn the British vessels at Fort Malden by going across Lake Erie via the Bass Islands in sleighs, but the ice is not hard enough, and the expedition returns.

title: 1813

section: Events › January–March

date: October 5

text: October 5 – War of 1812 – Battle of the Thames in Upper Canada: William Henry Harrison defeats the British, and native leader Tecumseh is killed in battle.

title: 1813

date: December 7

text: December 7 – 1836 United States presidential election: Martin Van Buren defeats William Henry Harrison, and three other Whig candidates, marking the most recent time a Democrat is elected to succeed a two-term Democratic U.S. president.

title: 1836

date: December 6

text: December 6 – The Whig Party (United States), at its first ever national convention, in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, nominates former U.S. Army General William Henry Harrison to be its candidate for President of the United States in the 1840 election. Although Senator Henry Clay of Kentucky has received 103 of the 128 necessary votes on the first ballot, he obtains only 90 on the final vote, while Harrison gets 148. Former U.S. Senator John Tyler is unanimously nominated for vice president.

title: 1839

section: Climate & Environment

date: November 4

text: November 4 – 1840 United States presidential election: William Henry Harrison defeats Martin Van Buren in a landslide.

title: 1840

date: April 4

text: April 4 – President William Henry Harrison dies of pneumonia, aged 68, becoming the first president of the United States to die in office, and at one month, the American president with the shortest term served. He is succeeded by Vice President John Tyler.

title: 1841


slug: william-ii-of-england

label: William II of England

description: King of England from 1087 to 1100

text: William II (William Rufus), king of England (d. 1100) (approximate date)

title: 1057

section: Deaths

date: September 9

text: September 9 – William the Conqueror dies in Rouen after a fall from his horse. He is succeeded as king of England by his third son William II.

title: 1087

section: Conflict & Security

text: Spring – A rebellion led by William the Conqueror's half-brothers Odo of Bayeux and Robert (2nd Earl of Cornwall), begins against King William II with the aim to remove him from the throne. Odo's revolt in Kent and Sussex is supported by nobles across the country.

title: 1088

text: Northumbria is divided by King William II into the counties of Northumberland, County Palatine of Durham, Yorkshire, Westmorland and Lancashire.

title: 1089

date: February 2

text: February 2 – King William II of England invades western Normandy with a large army. His brothers, Henry and Robert Curthose, mobilize mercenary forces to resist him during a siege at Mont-Saint-Michel. Under terms of the Treaty of Caen, estates on the Cotentin Peninsula of Normandy are surrendered to William, matters being concluded in August.

title: 1091

section: Events › By place › Britain and France

text: Summer – King William II annexes Cumbria from the Scottish Celtic kingdom of Strathclyde, and builds Carlisle Castle.

title: 1092

date: March 6

text: March 6 – Anselm, Italian Benedictine abbot and theologian, becomes archbishop of Canterbury in England, succeeding Lanfranc. The post of archbishop has been left vacant since 1089 by King William II of England – so he can collect the church's income for himself.

title: 1093

date: January

text: January – After attacking four Norwegian merchant ships lying in the River Tyne, Robert de Mowbray, earl of Northumberland, is called for by King William II of England to explain his actions. Instead, Mowbray rises up in rebellion against William along with other Norman nobles. William leads an army and besieges Bamburgh Castle; de Mowbray is captured after fleeing the stronghold.

title: 1095

date: October

text: October – Robert Curthose, duke of Normandy (a brother of King William II of England), sets off to join the First Crusade. He assembles his army at Pontarlier and travels through Italy to Rome. To raise money for the Crusade Robert mortgages the Norman duchy to William, for the sum of 10,000 pennies.

title: 1096

section: Events › By place › First Crusade

text: King Donald III of Scotland ("the Fair") is deposed by his nephew Edgar (who is supported by King William II of England) after a 4-year reign. Edgar (nicknamed Probus, "the Valliant") becomes ruler of Scotland until 1107.

title: 1097

section: Events › By place › Scotland

date: August 2

text: August 2 – King William II of England (William Rufus) dies in a hunting accident in the New Forest. Sir Walter Tirel is accused of having shot the arrow, but flees the country to avoid a trial. Henry I claims the throne.

title: 1100

section: Events › By place › Europe


slug: william-iii-of-england

label: William III of England

description: King of England, Scotland, and Ireland from 1689 to 1702 (1650-1702)

text: November 4 – William III of Orange becomes Prince of the House of Orange at the moment of his birth, succeeding his father, who had died a few days earlier. He does not become stadtholder, so the United Provinces becomes a true republic.

title: 1650

date: October 1

text: October 1 – Treaty of Raalte: William III, Prince of Orange is no longer stadtholder of Overijssel.

title: 1657

date: February 25

text: February 25 – Willem, Prince of Orange, the 21-year-old Stadtholder of Gelderland and Utrecht, is approved by the States General of the Dutch Republic to command the Dutch States Army for the impending war with England.

title: 1672

section: Culture & Society

date: July 4

text: July 4 – William III of Orange is appointed Stadtholder of Holland and Zeeland.

title: 1672

section: Events › July–September

date: November 13

text: November 13 – Dutch troops commanded by Raimondo Montecuccoli and William, Prince of Orange conquer Bonn.

title: 1673

date: September 12

text: September 12 – William, Prince of Orange occupies Naarden, Netherlands.

title: 1673

date: April 26

text: April 26 – In the Netherlands, the jurisdiction of Willem, Prince of Orange, Stadtholder of Holland (on the west coast, including Amsterdam and Rotterdam) and Zeeland (southwest coast, including Middelburg, Zeeland), increases in the Dutch Republic as his followers in the inland States of Utrecht (Utrecht, Gelderland and Overijssel) designate him as the hereditary stadtholder. In 1689, he becomes the King of England in addition to his role as the Stadtholder of the Netherlands.

title: 1674

date: August 11

text: August 11 – The French army under Prince Louis, Grand Condé fights the Dutch–Spanish–Imperial army under William III of Orange at Seneffe in a very bloody, but inconclusive battle.

title: 1674

date: April 11

text: April 11 – Franco-Dutch War: Battle of Cassel – A French force under Philippe I, Duke of Orléans, defeats a combined Dutch-Spanish force under William of Orange in French Flanders.

title: 1677

date: August 14

text: August 14 – William of Orange, the leader of the Dutch Republic, is forced to end the siege of the Spanish Netherlands (modern-day Belgium) city of Charleroi after six days.

title: 1677

text: November 4 – The future Mary II of England marries William of Orange in London.

title: 1677

section: Religion & Belief

date: July 17

text: July 17 – King James II of England appoints four Roman Catholics to the Privy Council of England, in defiance of the Test Acts, which bar Catholics from public office. Suspicions about James's intentions lead to a group of conspirators meeting at Charborough House in Dorset, to plan his overthrow and replacement with the Protestant Dutch Stadtholder, William III of Orange-Nassau (James's son-in-law).

title: 1686

date: August 27

text: August 27 – The funding of the armed invasion of William III in England causes a financial crisis in the Dutch Republic.

title: 1688

date: December 18

text: December 18 – William of Orange, Stadtholder of the Dutch Republic and the future King William III of the United Kingdom, enters London.

title: 1688

date: June 30

text: June 30 – A high-powered conspiracy of notables (the Immortal Seven) invite Dutch stadtholder William III of Orange and Princess Mary to "defend the liberties of England", and depose King James VII and II.

title: 1688

date: November 15

text: November 15 (November 5 OS) – The Glorious Revolution begins: William of Orange lands at Torbay, England with a multinational force of 20,000 soldiers. He makes no claim to the British Crown, saying only that he has come to save Protestantism and to maintain English liberty, and begins a march on London.

title: 1688

text: Supporters of William of Orange seize Liverpool Castle in the north west of England.

title: 1689

section: Events › Date unknown

text: April 11 (O.S.) – William III and Mary II are crowned in London as King and Queen of England, Scotland, and Ireland. Ireland does not recognise them yet, while the Estates of Scotland declare King James VII deposed.

title: 1689

date: February 23

text: February 23 (February 13, 1688 O.S.) – William III and Mary II are proclaimed co-rulers of England, Scotland and Ireland.

title: 1689

date: July 27

text: July 27 – First Jacobite rising: Battle of Killiecrankie near Pitlochry in Perthshire – Scottish Covenanter supporters of William III and Mary II (under Hugh Mackay) are defeated by Jacobite supporters of James II, but the latter's leader, John Graham, Viscount Dundee, is killed. Hand grenades are used in action.

title: 1689

date: May 12

text: May 12 – Nine Years' War: With England and the Netherlands now both ruled by William III, they join the Grand Alliance (League of Augsburg), thus escalating the conflict, which continues until 1697. This is also the effective beginning of King William's War, the first of four North American Wars (until 1763) between English and French colonists, both sides allied to Native American tribes. The nature of the fighting is a series of raids on each other's settlements, across the Canadian and New England borders.

title: 1689

date: February 6

text: February 6 – King William III of England calls for new elections for the 512-member House of Commons

title: 1690

date: July 11

text: July 11 (July 1 O.S.) – Battle of the Boyne in Ireland: King William III of England (William of Orange) defeats the deposed James II, who returns to exile in France. The rebellion in Ireland continues for a further year until the Orange army gains full control.

title: 1690

date: June 14

text: June 14 – King William III of England (William of Orange) lands in Ireland to confront James II.

title: 1690

date: January 6

text: January 6 – King William III of England, who rules Scotland and Ireland as well as being the Stadtholder of the Dutch Republic, departs from Margate to tend to the affairs of the Netherlands.

title: 1691

date: February 13

text: February 13 – Massacre of Glencoe: The forces of Robert Campbell slaughter around 30 members of the Clan MacDonald of Glencoe in Scotland (from whom they have previously accepted hospitality), for delaying to sign an oath of allegiance to King William III of England.

title: 1692

date: January 30

text: January 30 – English Army General John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, a close adviser to King William III of England, is fired from all of his jobs by the English Secretary of State, the Earl of Nottingham, on orders of Queen Mary II.

title: 1692

date: July 29

text: July 29 – Nine Years' War – Battle of Landen: William III of England is defeated by the French (with Irish Jacobite mercenaries).

title: 1693

date: January 7

text: January 7 (December 28, 1694 O.S.) – The United Kingdom's last joint monarchy, the reign of husband-and-wife King William III and Queen Mary II comes to an end with the death of Queen Mary, at the age of 32. Princess Mary had been installed as the monarch along with her husband and cousin, Willem Hendrik von Oranje, Stadtholder of the Dutch Republic, in 1689 after King James II was deposed by Willem during the "Glorious Revolution".

title: 1695

date: October 11

text: October 11 – King William III of England dissolves Parliament in the wake of a scandal involving former Speaker of the House of Commons John Trevor and other Tory MPs.

title: 1695

date: September 1

text: September 1 – Nine Years' War: France surrenders Namur, Spanish Netherlands to forces of the Grand Alliance, led by King William III of England, Stadtholder of the Dutch Republic, following the 2-month Siege of Namur.

title: 1695

date: August 13

text: August 13 – The Dutch state of Drenthe makes William III of Orange its Stadtholder.

title: 1696

date: February 15

text: February 15 – A plot to ambush and assassinate King William III of England in order to restore King James and the House of Stuart to the throne is foiled when the king cancels his usual plan to return from a hunting trip by way of the road between Turnham Green and Brentford. The king's guard is alerted by the Earl of Portland, William Bentinck, who had been approached on February 13 by Sir Thomas Prendergast.

title: 1696

text: March 7 – King William III of England departs from the Netherlands.

title: 1696

text: September 20 – The Treaty of Ryswick is signed by France and the Grand Alliance, to end both the Nine Years' War and King William's War. Louis XIV of France recognises William III as King of England & Scotland, and both sides return territories they have taken in battle. In North America, the treaty returns Port-Royal (Acadia) to France.

title: 1697

text: December 8 – King William III of England issues a proclamation of "our most gracious pardon unto all such pirates in the East Indies, viz., all eastward of the Cape of Good Hope, who shall surrender themselves for piracies or robberies committed by them upon sea or land" before April 30, 1699, to Captain Thomas Warren, but specifically "excepting Henry Every, alias Bridgman, and William Kidd.

title: 1698

text: January 20 – The Parliament of England (under Tory dominance) limits the size of the country's standing army to 7,000 'native born' men; hence, King William III's Dutch Blue Guards cannot serve in the line. By an Act of February 1, it also requires disbandment of foreign troops in Ireland.

title: 1699

text: June 24 – The Act of Settlement 1701 is passed by the Parliament of England, to exclude the Catholic Stuarts from the British monarchy. Under its terms, King William III, childless, will be succeeded by Queen Mary II's sister Princess Anne and her descendants. If Anne should have no descendants, she will be succeeded by Sophia of Hanover and her descendants (hence the Hanoverian Succession in 1714).

title: 1701

text: November 11 (O.S., November 22 N.S.) – The House of Commons of England is dissolved by King William III and new elections are called for all 531 seats.

title: 1701

text: March 3 (February 20 O.S.) – King William III of England is fatally injured in an accident when he is thrown from his horse, "Sorrel", when it trips on a molehill in Hampton Court Park near London. Already in poor health before the accident, he dies from complications 16 days later at the age of 51.

title: 1702

text: May 30 – Arnold Joost van Keppel, 1st Earl of Albemarle, Dutch favorite of William III of England (b. 1670)

title: 1718

text: March 11 (February 29 Old Style) – Queen Ulrika Eleonora of Sweden resigns, to let her husband Frederick I take over as king of Sweden. She had desired a joint rule, in a similar manner to William III and Mary II in Britain, but as the Riksdag of the Estates (Sweden's parliament) refuses this, she abdicates in her husband's favour instead.

title: 1720

text: January 21 – Charles Paulet, 2nd Duke of Bolton, English supporter of William III of England (b. 1661)

title: 1722

text: April 19 – Elizabeth Hamilton, Countess of Orkney, mistress of William III of England (b. 1657)

title: 1733


slug: william-iv

label: William IV

description: King of the United Kingdom and Hanover from 1830 to 1837

section: Births

text: August 13 – Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen, queen of William IV of the United Kingdom (d. 1849)

title: 1792

section: Births › July–December

date: July 5

text: July 5 – Dorothea Jordan, Irish-born actress, mistress of the future King William IV of the United Kingdom (b. 1761)

title: 1816

section: Deaths › July–December

date: June 11

text: June 11 – Prince William, Duke of Clarence and St Andrews, third oldest son of King George III and the future King William IV of the United Kingdom, marries Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen.

title: 1818

date: March 4

text: March 4 – Princess Elizabeth of Clarence, daughter of William, Duke of Clarence (later King William IV) (b. 1820)

title: 1821

section: Deaths › January–June

date: June 26

text: June 26 – William IV succeeds his brother George IV, as King of the United Kingdom.

title: 1830

date: September 8

text: September 8 – Coronation of King William IV of the United Kingdom (he will reign until 1837).

title: 1831

date: November 14

text: November 14 – William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne becomes the last Prime Minister of the United Kingdom to be dismissed by the British monarch. King William IV temporarily appoints Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, to form a caretaker government.

title: 1834

date: June 20

text: June 20 – Queen Victoria, 18, accedes to the throne of the United Kingdom, on the death of her uncle King William IV without legitimate heirs (she will reign for more than 63 years). Under Salic law, the Kingdom of Hanover passes to William's brother, Ernest Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, ending the personal union of Britain and Hanover which has persisted since 1714.

title: 1837

date: December 2

text: December 2 – Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen, queen of William IV of the United Kingdom (b. 1792)

title: 1849


label: William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke

description: Anglo-Norman soldier and statesman (1146-1219)

text: William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke (d. 1219)

title: 1147

text: Stephen besieges Newbury Castle and holds the young William as a hostage to ensure that his father, John Marshal, keeps his promise to surrender the castle. When John refuses to comply, Stephen threatened to have the young boy catapulted over the walls. After this, William remains a crown hostage for many months.

title: 1152

section: Events › By place › England

text: 12-year-old William Marshal is sent from England to the Château de Tancarville in Normandy to be brought up in the household of William de Tancarville, a cousin of William's mother. He begins his training as a knight; this also includes academic studies, practical lessons in chivalry and courtly life, and warfare and combat (using wooden swords and spears).

title: 1158

text: Anglo-Norman soldier William Marshal is knighted while on campaign in Normandy; he will be described as "the greatest knight that ever lived".

title: 1166

section: Events › By place › British Isles

section: Crime & Justice

date: March 27

text: March 27 – Patrick of Salisbury, Angevin governor of Poitou, is killed in an ambush at Poitiers by French forces under Guy of Lusignan. He is escorting Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine on a journey near the border of Aquitaine. Patrick's nephew, William Marshal, is part of the royal escort and is taken prisoner. Later he is ransomed and becomes a member of Eleanor's household.

title: 1168

date: June 14

text: June 14 – King Henry II has his 15-year-old son, Henry the Young King, crowned by Roger, Archbishop of York, as junior king and heir to the English throne. The coronation drives Pope Alexander III to allow the exiled Thomas Becket (whose privilege as Archbishop of Canterbury to crown English monarchs has been infringed) to lay an interdict on England as punishment, and this threat forces Henry to negotiate with Becket. Sir William Marshal is appointed tutor-in-arms to Henry the Young King.

title: 1170

text: William Marshal, Norman knight and head of the household of Henry the Young King, is accused of having an affair with Henry's wife, Queen Margaret of France. Although contemporary chroniclers doubt the truth of these accusations. Henry starts the process to have his marriage annulled, William leaves the royal retinue, undergoing a period of self-imposed exile, and goes on a pilgrimage to Cologne.

title: 1182

date: August

text: August – William Marshal marries the 17-year-old Isabel de Clare (daughter of Richard de Clare). Through this marriage, he becomes 1st Earl of Pembroke, acquiring huge estates in England, Normandy, Wales and Ireland.

title: 1189

section: Events › By place › Britain

text: Cartmel Priory is founded by William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke, in England.

title: 1190

section: Events › By topic › Religion

text: August – Siege of Château Gaillard: French forces under Philip II begin the siege at Château Gaillard as part of a campaign to reconquer the continental properties of King John of England. During the winter of 1203/1204, the English under William Marshal attempt to relieve the castle.

title: 1203

text: Autumn – William Marshal is recalled and humiliated by King John at court in London, while John gives his justiciar in Ireland, Meiler Fitzhenry the order to invade Marshal's lands there, burning the town of New Ross.

title: 1208

date: October 19

text: October 19 – Nine-year-old Henry III succeeds his father, King John of England, when the latter dies of dysentery at Newark Castle, Nottinghamshire. William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke, becomes regent.

title: 1216

section: Events › By continent › Europe

date: May 20

text: May 20 – Battle of Lincoln: Henry III's forces led by William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke defeat the French army of Prince Louis and the rebel barons who are besieging Lincoln Castle. During the battle, Thomas, Comte du Perche is killed and Louis is expelled from his base in the southeast of England. The looting that takes place afterward is known as the "Lincoln Fair". The citizens of Lincoln are loyal to Louis so Henry's forces sack the city. To the south, inhabitants of towns between Lincoln and London ambush and kill many of the French soldiers.

title: 1217

section: Events › Other events by place › Europe


slug: william-pitt-the-younger

label: William Pitt the Younger

description: British statesman (1759–1806)

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

date: January

text: January – William Pitt the Younger, later Prime Minister of Great Britain, enters Parliament, aged 21.

title: 1781

section: Events › January–March

date: December 19

text: December 19 – William Pitt the Younger becomes Prime Minister of Great Britain.

title: 1783

section: Events › October–December

date: January 9

text: January 9 – The North Carolina General Assembly authorizes nine commissioners to purchase 100 acre km2 of land for the seat of Chatham County. The town is named Pittsborough (later shortened to Pittsboro), for William Pitt the Younger.

title: 1787

section: Health & Medicine

date: November 20

text: November 20 – In the United Kingdom, the Houses of Parliament are given the first formal report by Prime Minister Pitt of the mental illness of King George III. Parliament adjourns for two weeks, to await the results of examinations by royal physicians.

title: 1788

section: Conflict & Security

date: May 27

text: May 27 – Pitt–Tierney duel takes place on Putney Heath. British Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger fights a duel against opposition politician George Tierney

title: 1798

section: Events › January–June

section: Economy & Finance

text: January 9 – British Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger introduces an income tax of two shillings to the pound, to raise funds for Great Britain's effort in the French Revolutionary Wars.

title: 1799

date: February 4

text: February 4 – William Pitt the Younger resigns as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

title: 1801

date: May 10

text: May 10 – William Pitt the Younger begins his second term as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

title: 1804

section: Events › April–June

section: Deaths

date: January 23

text: January 23 – Following the death of William Pitt the Younger, his cousin Lord Grenville succeeds him as wartime Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

title: 1806


slug: william-shakespeare

label: William Shakespeare

description: English playwright and poet (1564–1616)

section: Culture & Society

date: November 29

text: November 29 – Ten years before he begins writing his first known plays, William Shakespeare, 18 years old, marries pregnant 26-year-old Anne Hathaway in England.

title: 1582

text: After April – William Shakespeare's poem Venus and Adonis probably becomes his first published work, printed in London from his own manuscript. In his lifetime it will be his most frequently reprinted work: at least nine times.

title: 1593

date: December 28

text: December 28 – The earliest known performance of William Shakespeare's play The Comedy of Errors takes place at Gray's Inn in London, and is played by the Lord Chamberlain's Men acting company. The production is held before members of the English court on Innocents' Day as part of the Gray's Inn Christmas festivities.

title: 1594

text: Probable first performance of William Shakespeare's plays Romeo and Juliet and A Midsummer Night's Dream in London.

title: 1595

section: Events › Date unknown

date: December 9

text: December 9 – What is probably the first performance of William Shakespeare's play, Richard II, takes place in London.

title: 1595

date: August 11

text: August 11 – Hamnet Shakespeare, son of William Shakespeare (b. 1585)

title: 1596

date: April 23

text: April 23 – Probable first performance of William Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor.

title: 1597

date: July 22

text: July 22 – William Shakespeare registers the rights to his new play, The Merchant of Venice, in the Register of the Stationers Company, under the title The Marchaunt of Venyce or otherwise called The Jewe of Venyce.

title: 1598

section: Events › July–September

section: Religion & Belief

date: February 21

text: February 21 – At Southwark, near London on the south bank of the River Thames, the land upon which the Globe Theatre will be built is leased by Nicholas Brend to a team of investors led by William Shakespeare, Thomas Pope, actors Cuthbert and Richard Burbage, and three others.

title: 1599

text: William Shakespeare's plays Henry IV, Part 2, Henry V, The Merchant of Venice, A Midsummer Night's Dream and Much Ado About Nothing are published in London.

title: 1600

text: Possible first performance of William Shakespeare's tragedy Hamlet, perhaps in springtime.

title: 1601

date: September 7

text: September 7 – John Shakespeare, English glover, father of William Shakespeare (b. 1529)

title: 1601

section: Deaths › July–September

text: William Shakespeare's comedy The Merry Wives of Windsor.

title: 1602

date: February 2

text: February 2 (Candlemas night) – In London, the first known production of William Shakespeare's comedy Twelfth Night takes place.

title: 1602

date: July 26

text: July 26 – William Shakespeare's tragedy Hamlet, recently premiered by the Lord Chamberlain's Men, is licensed for publishing in London but not in fact printed at this time.

title: 1602

section: Technology & Infrastructure

date: May 19

text: May 19 – The King's Men, a troupe of English professional actors composed primarily of former members of the Lord Chamberlain's Men, is granted its royal patent by King James. The company will give the first performances of many of the plays of William Shakespeare, who is one of the company's 26 principal actors. Named in order of priority on the patent are manager Lawrence Fletcher, Shakespeare, and Richard Burbage.

title: 1603

date: November 1

text: November 1 – The first recorded performance of William Shakespeare's tragedy, Othello, takes place at the Palace of Whitehall in London.

title: 1604

date: January 1

text: January 1 – William Shakespeare's play A Midsummer Night's Dream, copyrighted 1600, is given its earliest recorded performance, and witnessed by the Viscount Dorchester.

title: 1605

text: August (approx.) – Possible first performance of William Shakespeare's tragedy Macbeth in London.

title: 1606

date: December 26

text: December 26 – William Shakespeare's play King Lear is given its first recorded performance, staged at the Palace of Whitehall.

title: 1606

date: June 5

text: June 5 – Dr John Hall marries Susanna, daughter of William Shakespeare, at the Church of the Holy Trinity, Stratford-upon-Avon (England).

title: 1607

text: May 20 – London publisher Thomas Thorpe issues Shake-speares Sonnets, with a dedication to "Mr. W.H.", and the poem A Lover's Complaint appended; it is uncertain whether this publication has Shakespeare's authority.

title: 1609

date: April 20

text: April 20 – William Shakespeare's play, The Tragedie of Macbeth, is given its first performance, staged at the Globe Theatre in London.

title: 1610

date: May 11

text: May 11 – The first known performance of William Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale, probably new this year, is given at the Globe Theatre in London.

title: 1611

text: November 1 – At Whitehall Palace in London, William Shakespeare's last solo play, The Tempest, is given its earliest reported performance.

title: 1611

date: November 8

text: November 8–December 5 – Publication between these dates in London of the "First Folio" (Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies), a collection of 36 of the plays of Shakespeare, half of which have not previously been printed.

title: 1623

date: February 9

text: February 9 – Judith Quiney, English daughter of William Shakespeare (b. 1585)

title: 1662

date: May 2

text: May 2 – The first performance of the semi-opera The Fairy-Queen by Henry Purcell, based on William Shakespeare's comedy A Midsummer Night's Dream, takes place at the Queen's Theatre, Dorset Garden in London.

title: 1692

text: The first modern edition of William Shakespeare's plays is published in London, edited by Nicholas Rowe.

title: 1709

date: April 29

text: April 29 – Inside the house at Stratford-upon-Avon in England known as Shakespeare's Birthplace, a bricklayer, identified only as "Mosely", re-tiling the roof, discovers a supposed pro-Catholic testament of John Shakespeare, father of William Shakespeare, more than 150 years after the elder's death. The finding starts "what remains one of the most controversial topics in Shakespeare studies" because of disagreements over its authenticity and date.

title: 1757

date: February 11

text: February 11 – The People's Republic of China lifts a ban on works by Aristotle, William Shakespeare and Charles Dickens.

title: 1978

section: Events › February

date: September 19

text: September 19 – A 1634 edition of The Two Noble Kinsmen, the last play by English playwright William Shakespeare, is discovered at the Royal Scots College's library in Salamanca, Spain. It is believed to be the oldest copy of any of his works in the country.

title: 2020

section: Events › September


slug: william-the-conqueror

label: William the Conqueror

description: King of England from 1066 to 1087, Duke of Normandy from 1035 to 1087 (1028–1087)

section: Births

text: William I (the Conqueror), king of England (approximate date) (d. 1087)

title: 1028

text: c. July 3 – 8-year-old William I becomes duke of Normandy after his father Robert I ("the Magnificent") dies on a pilgrimage at Nicaea (modern Turkey). Robert's death leads to a period of instability in Normandy, as William is too young to take his father's place. The Norman nobles in the region take the opportunity to settle old feuds and to increase their private wealth.

title: 1035

section: Events › By place › Europe

date: August 10

text: August 10 – Battle of Val-ès-Dunes: Norman duke William I secures control over Normandy with assistance from King Henry I of France by defeating rebel Norman barons at Caen. Later in October, William promulgates the "Truce of God" throughout his duchy.

title: 1047

text: Spring – William of Normandy consolidates his power in Normandy. He fights over the control of Maine (after the death of Count Hugh IV), and lays siege to the fortresses of Alençon and Domfront (Western France).

title: 1051

section: Events › By place › Continental Europe

text: Battle of Mortemer: The Normans, led by Duke William the Conqueror, defeat a French army (near Mortemer), as it is caught pillaging and plundering. King Henry I of France withdraws his main army from the Duchy of Normandy as a result. Guy I, Count of Ponthieu, is captured during the course of the battle.

title: 1054

text: Judith of Lens, niece of William the Conqueror (or 1055)

title: 1054

text: Judith of Lens, niece of William the Conqueror (or 1054)

title: 1055

date: August

text: August – Battle of Varaville: Norman forces under William the Conqueror defeat a Franco-Angevin army at the mouth of the Dives. King Henry I of France on campaign in Normandy is forced to retreat his army.

title: 1057

text: Spring – Robert de Grandmesnil, his nephew Berengar, half-sister Judith (future wife of Roger I), and eleven monks of the Abbey of Saint-Evroul, are banished by Duke William II ("the Bastard") of Normandy for violence, and travel to Southern Italy.

title: 1061

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

text: Duke William I (the Bastard) claims the province of Maine and betroths his son Robert to Margaret, daughter of late Count Herbert II.

title: 1063

section: Crime & Justice

text: Duke William I (the Bastard) demands the release of Harold Godwinson from Guy I (after a ransom being paid). Harold must swear an oath to aid William to the throne of England.

title: 1064

date: September 12

text: September 12 – William, Duke of Normandy, assembles a fleet (around 700 warships) at Saint-Valery-sur-Somme, in readiness for an invasion of England.

title: 1066

section: Events › Europe

section: Exploration & Expansion

date: September 27

text: September 27 – William, Duke of Normandy and his army set sail from the mouth of the River Somme, beginning the Norman conquest of England. The following day he lands on the English coast at Pevensey, splits his forces, and sails with the main army to Hastings.

title: 1066

section: Events › Europe › England and Scotland

text: Spring – King William I (the Conqueror) returns to Normandy and takes with him Edgar Ætheling (grandson of Edmund Ironside), Archbishop Stigand, and the brothers Morcar and Edwin.

title: 1067

section: Events › By place › England

text: Siege of Exeter: Norman forces under King William I (the Conqueror) take the city of Exeter after a siege of 18-days.

title: 1068

text: At Stafford, William the Conqueror swiftly defeats a rebellion led by Edwin, Earl of Mercia.

title: 1069

text: Winter of 1069–1070 – Harrying of the North: King William the Conqueror quells rebellions made by his English subjects against his rule, campaigning through the north of England with his forces, burning houses, crops, cattle and land from York to Durham, resulting in the deaths of over 100,000 people, mainly from starvation and winter cold.

title: 1069

section: Climate & Environment

text: Harrying of the North: William the Conqueror quells rebellions in the north of his Kingdom of England following the invasion by Sweyn II. Widespread famine follows the devastation wrought.

title: 1070

section: Events

text: The English rebels under Hereward the Wake and Morcar, Saxon former earl of Northumbria, are forced to retreat to their stronghold on the Isle of Ely in The Fens. They make a desperate stand against the Norman forces led by King William the Conqueror, but are defeated.

title: 1071

text: William the Conqueror, King of England, invades Scotland and receives the submission of King Malcolm III. He agrees to sign the Treaty of Abernethy.

title: 1072

section: Events › By place › Britain

text: Revolt of the Earls: The Earls Ralph de Gael, Roger de Breteuil and Waltheof, begin a revolt against King William I (the Conqueror) in the last serious act of resistance to the Norman Conquest.

title: 1075

date: May 31

text: May 31 – Waltheof, Earl of Northumbria, a participant in the Revolt of the Earls against King William the Conqueror, is beheaded near Winchester.

title: 1076

text: Robert Curthose instigates his first insurrection against his father, King William the Conqueror in the Normandy.

title: 1077

text: King William the Conqueror establishes the New Forest in Southern England. He proclaims it as a royal forest, using it for hunting, mainly of deer.

title: 1079

date: May 14

text: May 14 – Walcher, bishop of Durham, is killed by rebel Northumbrians. King William the Conqueror sends a punitive expedition led by his half-brother Odo of Bayeux to pacify Northumbria.

title: 1080

text: King William the Conqueror of England orders the creation of a castle at Cardiff during his armed pilgrimage in southern Wales. The first castle on the site would be a motte and bailey type and is built on existing Roman fortifications.

title: 1081

text: King William the Conqueror imprisons his half-brother Odo of Bayeux for planning a military expedition to Italy.

title: 1083

text: The Domesday Survey is commissioned by King William the Conqueror, apparently prompted by the abortive invasion of Canute IV, to ensure proper taxation and levies.

title: 1085

date: August 1

text: August 1 – King William the Conqueror calls for a meeting at Old Sarum, where he invites his major vassals and tenants-in-chief to swear allegiance to him. This is known as the Oath of Salisbury.

title: 1086

date: September 9

text: September 9 – William the Conqueror dies in Rouen after a fall from his horse. He is succeeded as king of England by his third son William II.

title: 1087

text: Spring – A rebellion led by William the Conqueror's half-brothers Odo of Bayeux and Robert (2nd Earl of Cornwall), begins against King William II with the aim to remove him from the throne. Odo's revolt in Kent and Sussex is supported by nobles across the country.

title: 1088

date: December 1

text: December 1 – King Henry I dies at Lyons-la-Forêt in Normandy after a 35-year reign. He is succeeded by his nephew Stephen of Blois (grandson of William the Conqueror), who asserts his claim to the throne in opposition to claims by Henry's daughter Matilda (prolonged in a civil war known as The Anarchy).

title: 1135


slug: william-the-lion

label: William the Lion

description: King of Alba from 1165 to 1214

text: William the Lion, king of Scotland (approximate date)

title: 1142

section: Deaths

date: December 9

text: December 9 – King Malcolm IV of Scotland dies at Jedburgh after a 12-year reign and is succeeded by his brother William the Lion as ruler of Scotland (until 1214).

title: 1165

section: Events › By place › British Isles

section: Conflict & Security

date: March

text: March – Henry the Young King withdraws to the French court, marking the beginning of the Revolt of 1173–1174, a dispute between King Henry II, his estranged wife Eleanor of Aquitaine and three of their sons over the territories they control. Eleanor is placed under de facto house arrest. William the Lion, King of Scotland, invades the North of England in support of the rebellion.

title: 1173

date: July 13

text: July 13 – Battle of Alnwick: King William I (the Lion), supported by Flemish mercenaries, invades England, to help fight in the baronial rebellion against King Henry II. William attacks Prudhoe Castle in Northumberland, but is unable to capture it. He is captured by Lord Ranulf de Glanvill, and brought back to Newcastle. Henry occupies a part of Scotland, with its five strongest castles: Roxburgh, Berwick, Jedburgh, Edinburgh and Stirling.

title: 1174

text: King William I (the Lion) establishes two castles at the Beauly Firth and the Cromarty Firth in northern Scotland. On his return, the city of Aberdeen is chartered by Wiliam.

title: 1179

date: November

text: November – Richard of Poitou, son of King Henry II, take the Cross to help capture Jerusalem from the Muslims. He empties his coffers for the mission and makes a deal with King William the Lion of Scotland, giving him full feudal autonomy in return for cash.

title: 1187

date: December 5

text: December 5 – King William I ("the Lion") of Scotland gives Richard I 10,000 marks to buy his kingdom's independence. This overturns the Treaty of Falaise which William had to sign when he was captured in 1174.

title: 1189

text: Summer – King William the Lion of Scotland supports John's claim to the English throne, in exchange for ownership of the northern territories (including Northumberland and Cumberland).

title: 1199

section: Culture & Society

date: November 22

text: November 22 – During a tour of the Midlands, John receives homage from William the Lion, king of Scotland, at Lincoln. William is looking to move into the areas of Northumberland, Cumberland, and Westmoreland. John on the other hand ensures that these areas are controlled by English nobles he can trust.

title: 1200

date: December 4

text: December 4 – King William the Lion of Scotland dies after a 49-year reign at Stirling. He is succeeded by his son, Alexander II, who is crowned at Scone (until 1249).

title: 1214