Gothic Era

The **Gothic Era** is a period in the Middle Ages of the Historical Era of Earth. Stretching from 1000-1300 CE, it followed the Dark Ages and preceded the Renaissance.

## Individuals

### Africa

* Sundiata (1217-1255), founder of the Mali Empire

* Maimonides (1135-1204), Jewish philosopher
* Prester John (c. 1100-1180)

### Asia

* Avicenna (980-1037), Persian polymath: physician, philosopher, scientist, astronomer, chemist, geologist, logician, mathematician, physicist, poet, psychologist, Sheikh, soldier, statesman and Islamic theologian
* Omar Khayyam (1048-1131), Persian poet, mathematician, philosopher and astronomer
* Genghis Khan (1162-1227), Great Khan of the Mongol Empire
* Kublai Khan (1215-1294), Khan ruler, founder of Yuan Dynasty in China
* Hassan-i Sabah (1050-1124), Assassin
* Saladin (1139-1193), sultan of Egypt and Syria

### England

* Anselm (1033-1109), Saint, Abbot of Bec and Archbishop of Canterbury
* Canute the Great (995-1035), ruler of England, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden
* Edward the Confessor (1003-66), King of England
* Eleanor of Aquitaine (1122-1204)
* Ethelred the Unready (968-1016), king of England
* Lady Godiva (1040-80), Countess of Mercia
* Ivanhoe, Knight
* John of England (1166-1216), king and Duke of Normandy
* William the Conqueror (1028-1087), ruler of Normandy and England
* Richard Lionheart (1157-1199), king and Duke of Normandy
* Robin Hood and his Merry Men
* Roger Bacon (1219-1292), Franciscan friar, philosopher, and scientist

* Thomas Becket (1119-1170), Saint, Archbishop of Canterbury and Chancellor of England

### Scotland

* Duncan (1001-1040), King of Scotland

* Macbeth (1005-57), ruler of Scotland
* Lady Macbeth
* Malcolm (1031-1093), King of Scotland
* William Wallace (1270-1305), Scottish national leader

### France

* Peter Abelard (1079-1142), French philosopher and logician
* Saint Bernard (1090–1153), Saint, Abbot of Clairvaux, preacher and reformer
* Honorius II (1060-1130), Antipope

* Eleanor of Aquitaine (1122-1204), queen consort of France and later of the Kingdom of England

* Saint Louis IX of France (1214-1270), St. Louis, French king and crusader
* Peter the Hermit (d. 1115), Crusader

### Germany

* Albertus Magnus (1193-1280), German philosopher and theologian
* Frederick Barbarossa (1122-1190), Holy Roman Emperor

### Ireland

* Brian Boru (941-1014), High king of Ireland
* Richard Strongbow (1130-76), Conqueror

### Italy

* Anthony of Padua (1195-1231), Portuguese Franciscan friar, bishop
* Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274), Neapolitan Catholic friar and theologian
* Francis of Assisi (1182-1226), Saint, founder of the Order of Friars Minor
* Dante Alighieri (1265-1321), Florentine writer and poet
* Marco Polo (1254-1324), Venetian trader and explorer
* Bonaventure (1221-1274), Franciscan theologian, bishop, and cardinal

### Scandinavia

* Canute the Great (995-1035)
* Leif Eriksson (970-1020), first European explorer to land in North America
* Saint Olaf (995-1030), King of Norway
* Snorri Sturluson (1179-1241), historian and saga-writer

### Spain

* El Cid (1049-99), Castilian nobleman
* Averroes Ibn Rushd (1126-1198), Spanish Islamic polymath
* Dominic Guzman (1170-1221), Spanish Catholic friar and founder of the Order of Preachers
* Maimonides (1135-1204)

### Russia

* Alexander Nevsky (1221-1263), Grand Prince of Novgorod and Vladimir

## Timeline

**1000** Apocalypse averted.

**1002**

* Leif Ericson (970-1020) discovers Vinland.
* Brian Boru (941-1014) becomes High King of Ireland.

**1017** Canute the Great (995-1035) becomes King of England, unsuccessfully commands waves to stop.

**1020** Habsburg Castle is built in Switzerland, seat of the House of Habsburg that will come to control much of Europe.

**1025** Avicenna (980-1037) completes his 14-volume Canons of Medicine--Hamadan, Persia.

**1040** Macbeth (1005-57) kills King Duncan (b. 1001) and becomes King of Scotland.

**1042** Edward the Confessor (1003-66) becomes King of England.

**1054**

* The Great Schism permanently separates the Eastern and Western churches.
* **July 4:** The light from the supernova whose explosion formed the Crab Nebula reaches Earth, where it is observed by Chinese astronomers.

**1057**

* Lady Godiva (1040-80) rides naked through the town of Coventry to convince her husband to repeal onerous taxation. No one watches except for the original Peeping Tom.
* King Macbeth killed by Malcolm (d. 1093).

**1066** October 16: William the Conqueror defeats the English forces at the Battle of Hastings to achieve the Norman Conquest.

**1068** The poet Omar Khayyam (1048-1131) begins his scholarly career--Samarkand.

**1076** Saint Anselm proves the existence of God--Normandy.

**1077** The Bayeux Tapestry embroiders the history of the Norman Conquest.

**1078** Tower of London built by William.

**1086** The Domesday Book, a survey of taxable property in England and Wales, is completed. It takes its name from the fact that, like the Last Judgment, its reckonings are not appealable.

**1086** Magnetic compass first used for navigation--China.

**1088** The University of Bologna, the longest existing university in the world, is founded.

**1090** Hassan-i Sabah (1050-1124) captures the fortress of Alamut, and founds the Order of Assassins there.

**1094** El Cid (1044-99) conquers Valencia.

**1096**

* Peter the Hermit (d. 1115) launches the First Crusade, which lasts until 1099.
* Founding of the University of Oxford.

**1099**

* Founding of Priory of Zion.
* Establishment of the Kingdom of Jerusalem.

**1100**

* Founding of Knights of Malta
* Establishment of Great Zimbabwe

**1102** The first troubadours appear, singing songs inspired by the Crusades--Aquitaine.

**1113** The Khmer Empire begins the construction of Angkor Wat.

**1118**

* Founding of Knights Templar at Jerusalem by Hughes de Payns.
* Peter Abelard (1079-1142) becomes the teacher of Heloise (1101-62)--and soon becomes her lover.

**1137**

* April 9: Eleanor (1112-1204) becomes Duchess of Aquitaine;
* August 1: Having married King Louis VII (1120-80), Eleanor of Aquitaine becomes Queen of France.

**1139 July 25:** The Kingdom of Portugal declares its independence.

**1143** The Cathar heresy first emerges in Cologne, Germany.

**1145**

* Eleanor gives birth to her only child with Louis--a daughter who will grow up to be the poet Marie de France.
* The Second Crusade is launched, led by King Louis VII of France.

**1147** Lisbon liberated from the Moors by Crusaders en route to the Holy Land.

**1149** The Second Crusade ends, unsuccessful in its aim of shoring up the Crusader Kingdoms.

**1152 May 18:** After her marriage to Louis is annulled, Eleanor of Aquitaine marries Prince Henry of England (1154-89).

**1154 October 25:** Her husband now Henry II, King of England, Eleanor becomes Queen of England.

**1157 September 8:** Richard the Lionheart born to King Henry and Queen Eleanor.

**1160** The philosopher Averroes (1126-98) is appointed Qadi of Seville.

**1162** Thomas Becket (1118-70) becomes Archbishop of Canterbury.

**1163** Rashid ad-Din Sinan (1132-92), a leader of the Order of the Assassins, establishes a stronghold at Masyaf in Syria, where he becomes known as The Old Man of the Mountain.

**1163** Construction begins of Notre Dame de Paris.

**1165** Prester John writes to the Byzantine Emperor, revealing the existence of a vast kingdom of Nestorian Christians in Central Asia.

**1166** December 24: Prince John born to King Henry and Queen Eleanor.

**1168** Maimonides (1135-1204) completes his commentary on the Talmud--Fez, Morocco.

**1169** Richard Strongbow (1130-76) begins the Norman invasion of Ireland.

**1170**

* The troubadour Chrétien de Troyes begins composing his Arthurian romances--Champagne.
* December 29: Four knights assassinate Archbishop Thomas Becket, thereby ridding King Henry II of that meddlesome priest--Canterbury.

**1173** Tower of Pisa built; it’s leaning by 1178.

**1175** Saladin strikes an alliance with Rashid ad-Din Sinan, the Old Man of the Mountain, after Rashid’s assassins twice almost kill the Sultan.

**1187** Saladin (1137-1193) recaptures Jerusalem.

**1189-92** Third Crusade

**1189** Richard the Lionheart becomes King of England.

**1190** Hassan i-Sabbah (1150-1124) captures the fortress Alamut in Persia and founds the Hashishin--the Order of Assassins.

**1190**

* Richard the Lionheart (1157-1199) embarks on the 3rd Crusade, leaving Prince John as regent. Around this time Robert of Locksley (1160-1247) turns outlaw and becomes Robin Hood, gathering around him a band of Merry Men in Sherwood Forest--Little John, Friar Tuck, Will Scarlet, Alan a Dale and the rest. Robin, perhaps the greatest archer in British history, struggles against the wicked Sheriff of Nottingham, wins the heart of Maid Marian and, of course, steals from the rich to give to the poor.
* Holy Roman Emperor Frederick Barbarossa (b. 1122) reportedly dies while engaged in the 3rd Crusade, though he actually sleeps beneath the Kyffhäuser mountain in Thuringia.

**1191**

* September 7: The armies of Saladin and Richard the Lionhearted battle for Jerusalem--Arsuf.
* Zen Buddhism and green tea brought to Japan from China.

**1192**

* June: Ending the Third Crusade, Saladin and Richard sign a treaty that keeps Jerusalem in Muslim hands, but allows access for Christian pilgrims--Ramla.
* Richard the Lionheart held captive.

**1194** Ivanhoe rescues the Jewish healer Rebecca from being burned at the stake as a witch, and marries the fair Saxon Rowena. King Richard returns from his captivity.

**1193** Construction of the cathedral at Chartres begins; it will last until 1250.

**1199** On the death of Richard, his brother John becomes King of England.

**1200** Construction of the Grand Village of the Natchez.

**1204** The Fourth Crusade decides to skip the Holy Land and sacks Orthodox Christian Byzantium instead.

**1206** Genghis Khan (1162-1227), a descendant of Prester John, unites the Mongol tribes and begins his conquest of most of the world.

**1209**

* The Pope orders the Albigensian Crusade against the Cathar heresy, which has become the predominant faith of the South of France.
* Francis of Assisi (1182-1226) founds the Franciscan brotherhood.

**1212** Thousands of young people join the Children’s Crusade, led by a Rhineland shepherd who promises to lead them to the Holy Land, where their example will convert the Moors to Christianity. In August they arrive at Genoa, where merchants who promise to take them to their destination instead sell them into slavery in Tunisia.

**1215**

* Genghis Khan conquers Peking.
* King John signs the Magna Carta--Runnymede.

**1216:** Saint Dominic establishes the Dominican Order--Rome.

**1220** Snorri Sturluson (1179-1241) writes the Younger Edda--Iceland.

**1224** Abandonment of the city of Chichen Itza.

**1226** Saint Louis (1214-70) becomes King of France

**1228** Wandering Jew is sighted in Armenia,

**1229** The Inquisition is established to stamp out the remnants of the Cathar heresy--Toulouse.

**1235** Sundiata founds the Mali Empire.

**1242 April 5:** Prince Alexander Nevsky of Novgorod defeats the Teutonic Knights in the Battle on the Ice--Livonia.

**1244**

* **March 16:** The Cathar stronghold of Montsegur surrenders and more than 200 defenders are burnt for their refusal to renounce their beliefs.
* Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) begins studying with Albertus Magnus (1200-1280), philosopher and alchemist.

**1245** King Henry III begins the building of Westminster Abbey.

**1250** Islanders on Rapa-Nui begin carving the enormous stone heads.

**1260** Emperor Kublai Khan of China (1215-1294), grandson of Genghis Khan, builds Xanadu

**1261** Tannhauser emerges from the Venusburg

**1265** Thomas Aquinas begins *Summa Theologiae*.

**1266** Marco Polo travels the Silk Road to Cathay to meet Kublai Khan.

**1267** Roger Bacon (1214-94) sends the Pope his Majus Opus.

**1274** Dante Alighieri (1265-1321) sees the love of his life, Beatrice (1266-90), for the first time; he’s nine years old and she’s eight.

**1282** Dante and Beatrice meet for the second and last time on Earth.

**1284** Pied Piper rids the town of Hamlin, Germany, of rats and children.

**1286** Eyeglasses invented--Pisa, Italy.

**1291** End of Crusades

**1297** William Wallace (1270-1305) routs English forces at the Battle of Stirling Bridge.

**1299** Osman I becomes the first Sultan of the Ottoman Empire.