Timeline of English History, 1066-1100

[Cearnach]

1066
• Death of Edward the Confessor, Saint and last King of Anglo-Saxon England. Having no children of his own, the throne is claimed by three contenders: Harold Godwinson, a Saxon and the wealthiest landowner in England; Harald Hardrada, the King of Norway, who is pursuing a re-establishment of Norse hegemony in England; and William the Bastard, Duke of Normandy, Edward's first cousin once removed.
• The Witan elects Harold Godwinson king, and he is crowned in Westminster Abbey.
• Halley's Comet reaches perihelion.
• Harald Hardrada lands at Scarborough
• Battle of Stamford Bridge: Harold Godwinson defeats Harald Hardrada and his traitorous brother Tostig Godwinson.
• William the Bastard arrives at Pevensey, but sails for Hastings just after.
• Battle of Hastings. Harold Godwinson is killed.
• The Witan elects Edgar Aetheling king of England, but he is never crowned, and submits to William, who becomes known as the Conqueror.
• William the Conqueror is crowned at Westminster Abbey, confirming it as the site of English coronations for the next millennium.

1067
• William the Conqueror returns to Normandy for a time, taking Archbishop Stigand of Canterbury, the brother-earls Morcar and Edwin, and Edgar the Aetheling with him.
• William also orders the construction of Winchester Castle, which will be the seat of the Norman kings of England
• Canterbury Cathedral catches fire.

1068
• The earls of Stafford, Nottingham, Lincoln, and York revolt against the Conqueror, but are defeated.
• Edgar Aetheling escapes to Scotland with his sister Margaret, who marries King Malcolm III
• William's wife Matilda is crowned Queen of England.

1069
• Edwin and Morcar, brothers and earls of Northumbria and Mercia, revolt.
• The Northumbrians kill the new Norman earl of Northumbria and attack York.
• King Sweyn II Estridsson of Denmark arrives at York with a fleet to support the Northumbrians.
• William the Conqueror crushes Edwin, Earl of Mercia at Stafford.
• The Harrying of the North begins, in which William campaigns through the north of England burning pretty much everything of value from York to Durham. This leads to the deaths of over 100,000 people, largely from starvation and exposure.

1070
• Hereward the Wake captures the Isle of Ely in East Anglia, sacking Peterborough Abbey with the support of the Danes.
• Archbishop Stigand is deposed by papal legates for holding multiple sees in defiance of several successive popes. William confiscates his wealth and throws him in prison for the rest of his natural life. He uses this conflict with the papacy to begin to replace Saxon bishops with Norman ones all over England.
• King Sweyn, figuring he has looted enough and cannot actually conquer England with his forces, goes home to Denmark.
• Malcolm III of Scotland invades northern England, but is repelled.
• Canterbury Cathedral and York Minster are rebuilt.

1071
• Hereward the Wake and Morcar of Northumbria are finally defeated at Ely.
• Edwin of Mercia rebels a second time, but is betrayed and killed, his vast lands are redistributed to Norman lords.

1072
• The Archbishop of Canterbury is named the head of the English church, though he remains subordinate to the Bishop of Rome.
• William the Conqueror invades Scotland and forces Malcolm III to sign the Treaty of Abernethy, in which Malcolm swears allegiance to William and bans Edgar Aetheling from his court in exchange for some estates in Cumbria.

1074
• Edgar Aetheling is promised a castle on the Norman border by Philip I of France so he can raid the lands of his enemy. Unfortunately, shipwreck leads to the loss of many of Edgar's companions and he is forced to give up many of his ambitions.

1075
• Revolt of the Earls: Ralph de Gael, Roger de Breteuil, and Waltheof engage in the last serious revolt against William the Conqueror. Although Anglo-Saxon nationalism motivates some of the conspirators, the largest part are other Normans dissatisfied with their share in the spoils. The revolt is a failure, and the earls are stripped of their lands and imprisoned for the rest of their lives.
• Edward the Confessor's Queen, Edith, dies at Winchester. She is buried with Edward the Confessor with great ceremony in a funeral arranged by William.

1076
• Lanfranc, Archbishop of Canterbury, uses Anglo-Saxon law to recover lands for the church that had been usurped by Odo of Bayeux, the Earl of Kent and half-brother of the King.
• In November, a frost settles on the land that does not abate until April of the following year.

1077
• William's eldest son Robert Curthose, living in Normandy, revolts against his father for the first time. He is defeated.
• The first Trial by Combat is held.
• In an unrelated and probably accidental event, much of London burns to the ground.

1078
• The White Tower of the Tower of London is begun.

1079
• William establishes the New Forest as a royal hunting preserve, with severe penalties for poaching.

1080
• Rebel Northumbrians kill the bishop of Durham. Odo of Bayeux is sent north on yet another punitive expedition.
• Robert Curthose is sent to invade Scotland. He chases Malcolm III to Falkirk and starts construction of what will become Newcastle-on-Tyne.

1081
• In Wales, Gruffudd ap Cynan, working with Rhys ap Tewdwr, prince of Deheubarth, defeats his enemies and becomes King of Gwynedd.
• William the Conqueror orders a castle to be built atop Roman foundations at Cardiff in Wales.

1082
• Rochester Cathedral is finished.

1083
• William the Conqueror imprisons his half-brother Odo of Bayeux, who was planning a military expedition to Italy.

1085
• Canute IV of Denmark almost invades England, but founds the Katedralskolan, the oldest school in Scandinavia, at Lund instead.
• William the Conqueror commissions the Domesday Survey, a systematic recording of land ownership.

1086
• William the Conqueror calls his major vassals together at Old Sarum to swear the Oath of Salisbury, an oath of personal loyalty to him.
• The Domesday Book is completed. The population of England is estimated to be 1.25 million citizens. Taxes become inevitable.

1087
• William the Conqueror falls off his horse and dies. His third son, William II Rufus, so called because of the red hair he had as a child, become king. This irks Robert Curthose something awful.
• London mostly burns down again.

1088
• William the Conqueror's half-brothers Odo of Bayeux and Robert, Earl of Cornwall, revolt in an effort to unseat William II Rufus. They are joined by nobles across the country, though loyalists like Wulfstan, bishop of Worcester, manage to quell some of the risings.
• William calls representatives of the fyrd, which were the levees of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom, to London. With the support of the Archbishop of Canterbury, William promises them tax relief and more just laws if they will help him against the rebellious nobles.
• William captures Odo and Robert at Pevensey Castle, and compels Odo to go to Rochester to convince the rebels to stand down. Odo, being a duplicitous and crafty gentleman, simply assumes leadership of the rebel force.
• William lays siege to Rochester, defeats the rebels, strips Odo of his lands and exiles him to Normandy.
• Richard fitzGilbert de Clare resigns his lordship and retires to a monastery. He is succeeded by his son, Gilbert fitzRichard de Clare, who joins the rebellion against William Rufus, but is defeated and wounded.

1089
• The Earldom of Northumbria is divided into the counties of Northumberland, Durham, Yorkshire, Westmorland, and Lancashire.
• There is a massive earthquake in England.
• Archbishop Lanfranc of Canterbury dies, and the seat remains vacant for the next four years so that William Rufus can collect money off of Church lands.

1090
• The troubadour tradition, which will be imported to England by Eleanor of Aquitaine, begins in Poitou, Saintonge, and Gascogne.
1091
• Tensions between William II Rufus and his brothers Robert Curthose and Henry Beauclerc erupt. William invades Normandy, defeats his brothers, and seizes several castles belonging to Henry.
• Believing William to still be in Normandy, Malcolm III of Scotland invades the north of England and lays siege to Durham. William, recently returned to England, gathers his army and marches north. Malcolm hightails it back to Scotland, but is forced to acknowledge that the King of England is the overlord of the King of Scotland.
• Cardiff Castle is Finished.
1092
• William II formally annexes Cumbria and builds Carlisle Castle.
• Lincoln Cathedral is consecrated.
• High tides in the North Sea cause massive floods in England and Scotland.
1093
• Battle of Alnwick--King Malcolm III of Scotland invades Northumberland, but is killed by the English under Robert de Mowbray while laying siege to Alnwick Castle. He is succeeded by Donald III Ban, who purges the Scottish court of Norman and Anglo-Saxon courtiers, royally annoying the English.
• Lord Robert fitzHamon leads an English force to occupy southern Wales. Pembroke Castle is constructed.
• Anselm, who will become St. Anselm, is appointed Archbishop of Canterbury.
• Winchester Cathedral is completed. Construction of Durham Cathedral begins.
1094
• Duncan II, backed by Norman knights, invades Scotland and takes the throne from Donald Ban.
• Donald Ban raises another army and kills Duncan II in battle, retaking the Scottish throne.
1095
• Robert de Mowbray, Earl of Northumberland, attacks four Norwegian merchant ships in the Tyne. William Rufus calls for an explanation, but de Mowbray rises in rebellion instead, supported by a few other Norman nobles.
• William Rufus captures Mowbray as he attempts to escape the siege at Bamburgh.
• Urban II preaches the First Crusade at the Council of Clermont in response to Alexios Komnenos request for help against the Seljuks. Crusading fever sweeps Western Europe, but especially France and the Rhineland.

1096
• The first documented teaching at the University of Oxford begins.

1097
• King Donald Ban of Scotland is deposed by his nephew Edgar, who is backed by William Rufus.
• William Rufus orders the construction of Westminster Hall near Westminster Abbey. The hall is designed to hold the banquets and other large gatherings that ceremonies in the abbey require.
• St. Anselm of Canterbury chooses exile in Rome to avoid further conflict with William Rufus. Rufus confiscates the land of the Archbishopric.

1098
• Norman lords invade Gwynedd, but are forced to withdraw after the arrival of a Norwegian fleet under Magnus III Barefoot, King of Norway.
• Magnus seizes the Orkney islands, the Isle of Man, and the Hebrides for Norway. The conquests are acknowledged by King Edgar of Scotland.

1099
• Jerusalem is taken by the First Crusade, and the Kingdom of Jerusalem is established under Godfrey of Bouillon.

1100
• William Rufus dies in a suspicious hunting accident in the New Forest, with Gilbert fitzRichard de Clare in attendance. Sir Walter Triel is accused of having shot the arrow, but flees England to avoid a trial. The throne passes to William's brother Henry Beauclerc.
• In order to ensure his succession, Henry Beauclerc issues the Charter of Liberties, a sort of constitution guaranteeing some rights for the barons of England.
• St. Anselm is invited to return from exile by King Henry.
• Henry marries Matilda of Scotland, the daughter of Malcolm III, who is descended from the Anglo-Saxon House of Wessex.
• Henry grants Carisbrooke Castle on the Isle of Wight to Richard de Redvers.
* The Vexin area of Normandy is lost by the barons of Robert Curthose, who is on Crusade, to Philip I of France. This will become a large point of contention between the Kings of England and France for the next hundred years.