1000–1099 (A.D.) World History

Updated February 21, 2017 | Factmonster Staff

Mesa VerdeCliff Dwellings(c. 1000–1300)
Pete Maio
leaning tower of Pisa
Cathedral and Tower at Pisa
Tasha Vincent

c. 1000–1300
Classic Pueblo period of Anasazi culture; cliff dwellings.
c. 1000
Hungary and Scandinavia converted to Christianity. Viking raider Leif Eriksson discovers North America, calls it Vinland. Beowulf, Old English epic.
c. 1008
Murasaki Shikibu finishes The Tale of Genji, the world's first novel.
1009
Muslims destroy Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.
1013
Danes control England. Canute takes throne (1016), conquers Norway (1028), dies (1035); kingdom divided among his sons: Harold Harefoot (England), Sweyn (Norway), Hardecanute (Denmark).
1040
Macbeth murders Duncan, king of Scotland.
1053
Robert Guiscard, Norman invader, establishes kingdom in Italy, conquers Sicily (1072).
1054
Final separation between Eastern (Orthodox) and Western (Roman) churches.
1055
Seljuk Turks, Asian nomads, move west, capture Baghdad, Armenia (1064), Syria, and Palestine (1075).
1066
William of Normandy invades England, defeats last Saxon king, Harold II, at Battle of Hastings, crowned William I of England (“the Conqueror”).
1068
Construction on the cathedral in Pisa, Italy, begins.
1073
Emergence of strong papacy when Gregory VII is elected. Conflict with English and French kings and German emperors will continue throughout medieval period.
1095
At Council of Clermont, Pope Urban II calls for a holy war to wrest control of Jerusalem from Muslims, which launches the First Crusade (1096), one of at least 8 European military campaigns between 1095 and 1291 to regain the Holy Land. (For detailed chronology, see The Crusades.)
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