Europe IV - Middle Ages Europe 750-1500

Charlemagne the Great and the Carolingian Dynasty 751-887

The Carolingians consolidated its power and eventually making the offices of Mayor of the Palace and dux et princeps Francorum hereditary and becoming the de facto rulers of the Franks behind the throne.

Events in Italy and Francia combined to form the central political alliance of the Middle Ages.  With Charles Martel ruling Francia as mayor of the palace and with Pope Gregory III being harassed by the Lombard kings, the scene was set in 739 for the first approach by the papacy-which was not acted upon-to obtain Frankish military assistance.

The papal concern was for security of the Rome, over which the pope had de facto authority, against the threats of the Lombards, not only from the northern centre of the Lombard kingdom but also from the two Lombard duchies (Spoleto and Benevento) separated from their northern brothers.  An issue also was the fate of the exarchate of Ravenna, now without an effective Byzantine presence.

By 750 Charles Martel's son Pepin, had become mayor of the palace.  The king was Childeric III, a mere figurehead, who, in fact, had been appointed by Pepin in 743.  According to the Royal Frankish Annals, written after the events, Pepin, in 751, asked Pope Zachary the famous question: Who should be king, he who has the title but no power or he who has the power but not the title? The annals state that the pope answered that he who has the power should be king.

When the Exarchate of Ravenna finally fell to the Lombards in 751, the Duchy of Rome was completely cut off from the Byzantine Empire.  The popes renewed earlier attempts to secure the support of the Franks.

Carolingian dynasty 751-843

Pope Zachary would have been involved in the creation of a new Frankish dynasty, the Carolingian dynasty.  In 751, Pepin was not only crowned as king of the Franks but also anointed with holy chrism by the Frankish bishops.

About two years later the pope (now Stephen II) crossed the Alps to Francia to met King Pepin, who acceded to the pope's request for military assistance to thwart Lombard aggression against papal lands.  While in Francia, Pope Stephen anointed King Pepin at the church of St Denis outside Paris; he also conferred on Pepin the title ‘Patrician of the Romans'.

In the spring of 755 Pepin led a small army into Italy and marched against the Lombards.   In 756, he defeated the Lombards, took the twenty-two cities and made a gift (Donation of Pepin) of the properties formerly constituting the Exarchate of Ravenna to the pope, increasing the core area of the Papal States.

Name	King From	King Until	Relationship with Predecessor(s)	Title
Pepin the Younger, the Short	751	24 Sept 768	Son of Charles Martel	King of the Franks
Carloman I	24 Sept 768	4 Dec 771	Son of Pepin the Short	King of the Franks
Charlemagne (Charles I, the Great)	24 Sept 768	28 Jan 814	Son of Pepin the Short	King of the Franks; King of the Lombards (774-814); Emperor of the Romans (800-814)
Pepin Carloman	781	8 July 810	Son of Charlemagne	King of the Lombards
Bernard	810	17 Apr 818	Legitimate son of Charlemagne	King of the Lombards
Louis I the Pious, the Debonaire	28 Jan 814	20 June 840	Only son survived with Charlemagne	King of the Franks; Emperor of the Romans
Lothair I	20 June 840	29 Sept 855	Son of Louis I the Pious	King of the Franks; King of Italy (822-855)

Carolingian Empire 768-843

The coming of Charlemagne (the Great) to power in 768, a power shared with his brother till the latter's death in 771, promised a continuation of the his father's policy of papal alliance but in ways beyond imagining.

Charlemagne subsequently conquering the Lombards in northern Italy (774), incorporating Bavaria (788) into his realm, defeating the Avars of the Danubian plain (796), advancing the frontier with Islamic Spain as far south as Barcelona (801), and subjugating Lower Saxony after a prolonged campaign (804).

Charlemagne sent the Lombard king to a monastery and made himself king of the Lombards.  During 774 he went to Rome, with Pope Hadrian I went to St Peter's Basilica at Easter time, where they swore mutual oaths, thus confirming the alliance with the papacy.  The meaning of the alliance was spelled out by Charlemagne in a letter to Pope Leo III in 796.

Charles then called himself Gratia Dei rex Francorum et Langobardorum ("By the grace of God king of the Franks and the Lombards"), realizing a personal union of the two kingdoms.

The Iron Crown of Lombardy, one of the oldest surviving royal insignias of Christendom, may have originated in Lombard Italy as early as the 7th century and continued to be used to crown Kings of Italy until Napoleon Bonaparte in the early 19th century.

Charlemagne always acted according to the high principles of Christian teaching, which they openly supported, this section must conclude with the sad tale of the forced conversion of pagan Saxons by the Christian king of the Franks.  Attempts by the Franks to conquer the Saxons long predated the reign of Charlemagne but invariably met with frustrating failures.

It would also lead to the extension of Christianity to these heathen people.  The campaigns began in earnest in 772 and continued with almost annual regularity for over thirty years, ranging from major military efforts to punitive raids.  At war's end, the victorious Franks had extended their border to the Elbe River, even to its further bank.

Charlemagne transformed the Ripuarian area of Austrasia into the heartland of the Carolingian Empire.  The imperial city Aachen is the residence of Charlemagne.  Aachen Cathedral is the oldest cathedral in northern Europe and was constructed by order of the Charlemagne, who was buried there after his death in 814.  From 936 to 1531, the Aachen chapel was the church of coronation for thirty German kings and twelve queens.

Charlemagne reached the height of his power in 800 when he was crowned "Roman Emperor" by Pope Leo III at Christmas Mass in St Peter's Basilica.  He was the first “Emperor of the Romans” in the west after the fall of Western Roman Empire in 476.  His successors maintained the title until 887.

Emperor Louis the Pious, son of Charlemagne, followed his father as the ruler of a united empire in 814.  However, this Carolingian Empire would not survive Louis I's death.

Treaty of Verdun 843

Sole inheritance remained a matter of chance, rather than intent.  When Louis died in 840, the Carolingians adhered to the custom of partial inheritance.

Lothair I, the eldest son of the Emperor Louis the Pious, led his full-brothers Pippin I of Aquitaine and Louis the German in revolt against their father to protest against attempts to make their half-brother Charles the Bald a co-heir to the Frankish domains.  Upon the father's death, Charles and Louis joined forces against Lothair in a three-year civil war (840–843).

They made an agreement in 843 (Treaty of Verdun) in the Oaths of Strasbourg, which divided the Carolingian Empire into three kingdoms among the three surviving sons of Louis the Pious:

1. Lothair retained his title as emperor and he received the central portion of the empire: the Low Countries, Lorraine, Alsace, Burgundy, Provence, and the Kingdom of Italy, collectively called Middle Francia.

2. Louis the German received the eastern portion (east of the Rhine) and to the north and east of Italy, which was called East Francia and later became Germany.

3. Charles the Bald received the western portion (west of the Rhône), which was called West Francia and later became France.  Pepin II was granted the kingdom of Aquitaine, but only under the authority of Charles.

The trilingual text in the Oaths of Strasbourg contains, alongside with Latin, are Old High German (teudisca lingua) and Gallo-Romance (lingua romana), which were clearly distinct from Latin.

Carolingian dynasties 843-888

Mid Francia

In Italy, Louis II (c.825-875) was the King of Italy and Roman Emperor from 844, co-ruling with his father Lothair I until 855, after which he ruled alone.

Name	King From	King Until	Relationship with Predecessor(s)	Title
Lothair I	843	29 Sept 855	Son of Louis I	King of the Franks; Emperor of the Romans and King of Italy
Louis II the Younger	29 Sept 855	12 August 875	Son of Lothair I	King of the Franks; Emperor of the Romans and King of Italy
Lothair II	29 Sept 855	8 Aug 869	Second son of Lothair I	King of the Lotharingia
Charles of Provence	29 Sept 855	Jan 863	Youngest son of Lothair I	King of Provence

The Middle Francia were partitioned into the Kingdoms of Burgundy (Lower Burgundy and Provence proper), Lotharingia (Austrasia, Frisia and Upper Burgundy) and Lombardy after the death of Emperor Lothair I in 855, and Kingdom of Lotharingia was further partitioned between Charles the Bald and Louis the German by the Treaty of Meerssen in 870.

After the death of the Louis II in 875, supported by Pope John VIII, Louis the German traveled to Italy, receiving the royal crown at Pavia and the imperial insignia in Rome.

West Francia

In West Francia, the kingdom was ruled by Charles the Bald, his son and grandsons.  After the death of Charles's grandson, Carloman II, in 884, the West Frankish nobles elected his uncle, Charles the Fat, already king in East Francia and Kingdom of Italy, as their king.  He was probably crowned "King in Gaul" (rex in Gallia) in 885 at Grand.

Name	King From	King Until	Relationship with Predecessor(s)	Title
Charles II the Bald	20 June 840	6 Oct 877	Son of Louis I	King of the Franks; Emperor of the Romans (875–877)
Louis II the Stammerer	6 Oct 877	10 Apr 879	Son of Charles II	King of the Franks
Louis III	10 Apr 879	5 Aug 882	Son of Louis II	King of the Franks
Carloman II	5 Aug 882	6 Dec 884	Son of Louis II	King of the Franks
Charles III the Fat	20 May 885	13 Jan 888	Son of Louis the German, Uncle of Louis II and Carloman II	King of the Franks; Emperor of the Romans (881-887)

Outside the old Frankish territories, it was largely outside the control of the West Frankish kings.  In the south local nobles were semi-independent after 887 as Duchies were created: Burgundy, Aquitaine, Brittany, Gascony, Normandy, Champagne and County of Flanders.

East Francia

When the Frankish Empire was divided among Charlemagne's heirs in 843, the East Francia consisted mostly of lands only annexed to the Carolingian Empire in the 8th century.  These included stem duchies of Alemanni, Bavarii, Franconia, Saxon and Thuringii.

These kingdoms were ruled by the three sons of Louis the German in cooperation and were reunited by his younger son Charles the Fat in 882.

Name	House	King	Emperor	Ended	Notes
Louis the German	Carolingian	11 Aug 843	-	23 Aug 876	Son of Louis the Pious
Louis the Younger	Carolingian	28 Aug 876	-	20 Jan 882	Son of Louis the German; ruled in East Francia, Saxony; from 880, also Bavaria
Carloman	Carolingian	28 Aug 876	-	22 Mar 880	Son of Louis the German; ruled in Bavaria; from 877, also King of Italy
Charles the Fat	Carolingian	28 Aug 876	12 Feb 881	11 Nov 887	Son of Louis the German; ruled in Alemannia, Raetia; King of Italy from 879; King of East Franks from 882; King of Frankish Kingdom from 884
Arnulf of Carinthia	Carolingian	30 Nov 887	25 April 896	8 Dec 899	Son of Carloman
Louis the Child	Carolingian	21 Jan 900	-	20 Sept 911	Son of Arnulf of Carinthia
Conrad I	Conradine	10 Nov 911	-	23 Dec 918	Franconian

Last Carolingian Emperors 881-887

Charles III the Fat was the last Carolingian to rule over the briefly re-united empire.  During a coup led by his nephew Arnulf of Carinthia in November 887, Charles was deposed in East Francia and Kingdom of Italy in January 888.

After the Carolingian king Louis the Child died without issue in 911, East Francia did not turn to the Carolingian rulers of West Francia to take over the realm but instead elected one of the dukes, Conrad of Franconia, as rex Francorum.

The imperial title (Emperor of the Romans) ceased to be held in the western realm.  The Robertian Odo, count of Paris and dukes of France, was chosen by the western Franks to be their king following the removal of Emperor Charles the Fat.

Byzantine Emperors 717-1085

The Twenty Years' Anarchy is the period of acute internal instability in the Byzantine Empire marked by the rapid succession of several emperors to the throne between the first deposition of Justinian II in 695 and the ascent of Leo III the Isaurian to the throne in 717, marking the beginning of the Isaurian dynasty.

Isaurian dynasty 717-802

In 717 the Umayyad Caliphate launched the Second Siege of Constantinople which lasted for one year.  However, the combination of Leo III's military genius, the Byzantines' use of Greek Fire, a cold winter in 717-718, and Byzantine diplomacy with the Khan Tervel of Bulgaria resulted in a Byzantine victory.

Leo III turned back the Muslim assault in 718 and addressed himself to the task of reorganising and consolidating the themes in Asia Minor.  His successor, Constantine V, won noteworthy victories in northern Syria and thoroughly undermined Bulgarian strength.

Name	Reign	Comment
Leo III "the Isaurian"	25 Mar 717– 18 June 741	Born c. 685 in Germanikeia, Commagene, rose in rebellion and secured the throne in spring 717. Repelled the Second Arab Siege of Constantinople and initiated the Byzantine Iconoclasm.
Constantine V "the Dung-named"	18 June 741– 14 Sept 775	Born in 718, the only son of Leo III. Co-emperor since 720. After overcoming the usurpation of Artabasdos, he continued his father's iconoclastic policies.
Artabasdo	June 741/742– 2 Nov 743	General and son-in-law of Leo III, Count of the Opsician Theme. Led a revolt that secured Constantinople, but was defeated and deposed by Constantine V.
Leo IV "the Khazar"	14 Sept 775– 8 Sept 780	Born on 25 January 750 as the eldest son of Constantine V. Co-emperor since 751.
Constantine VI	8 Sept 780– Aug 797	Born in 771, the only child of Leo IV. Co-emperor in 776, until 790 under the regency of his mother, Irene of Athens. He was overthrown on Irene's orders, blinded and imprisoned, died shortly after.
Irene of Athens	Aug 797– 31 Oct 802	Born c. 752 in Athens, married Leo IV. Regent for her son Constantine VI in 780-790, she overthrew him in 797 and became empress-regnant. Deposed in a palace coup in 802, exiled and died on Aug 803.

Byzantine Iconoclasm

The 8th and early 9th centuries were also dominated by controversy and religious division over Iconoclasm, which was the main political issue in the Empire for over a century.  Icons (here meaning all forms of religious imagery) were banned by Leo III and Constantine V from around 730, leading to revolts by iconodules (supporters of icons) throughout the empire.  

After the efforts of Empress Irene, the Second Council of Nicaea met in 787 and which condemned the practice of iconoclasm and restored the veneration of icons to Christian practice.  Irene is said to have endeavored to negotiate a marriage between herself and Charlemagne.

In the early 9th century, Leo V (r. 813-820) reintroduced the policy of iconoclasm, until its abolition by Empress Theodora with the help of Patriarch Methodios in 842.

Nikephorian and Amorian dynasties 803-867

Following the deposition of the Byzantine empress Irene of Athens, the throne of the Byzantine Empire passed to Nikephoros I.  The empire was in a weaker and more precarious position than it had been for a long time.

Byzantium was almost continually at war on two frontiers which drained its resources, Nikephoros I (r. 802-811) himself died while campaigning against the Bulgars to the north.  Furthermore, Byzantium's influence continued to wane in the west with the crowning of Charlemagne (800-814) as Roman emperor by Pope Leo III in Rome.  The establishment of a new empire in Western Europe laying claim to the universal Roman monarchy.

The Byzantine Empire was ruled by the Amorian dynasty (820-867).  The dynasty continued the policy of restored iconoclasm.  The continued iconoclasm further worsened relations between the East and the West, which were already bad following the papal coronations of a rival line of "Roman Emperors" in 800.

Name	Reign	Comment
Nikephoros I "the Logothete"	31 Oct 802 – 26 July 811	A patrician from Seleucia Sidera, Nikephoros was appointed finance minister by the Empress Irene. With the help of the patricians and eunuchs he contrived to dethrone and exile Irene, and to be chosen as Emperor .
Michael I "the Rangabe"	12 Oct 811 – 11 July 813	Son-in-law of Nikephoros I, he succeeded Staurakios (Son of Nikephoros I) on his abdication.
Leo V "the Armenian"	12 July 813 – 25 Dec 820	A senior general of Armenian descent, he forced Michael I Rangabe to abdicate and assumed the throne. He ended the decade-long war with the Bulgars, and initiated the second period of Byzantine Iconoclasm. He was assassinated by supporters of Michael the Amorian, one of his most trusted generals.
Michael II "the Amorian"	25 Dec 820 – 2 Oct 829	Born in 770 at Amorium, he became an army officer. A friend of Leo V, he was raised to high office but led the conspiracy that murdered him, lost Crete to the Arabs and faced the beginning of the Muslim conquest of Sicily, reinforced iconoclasm.
Theophilos	2 Oct 829 – 20 Jan 842	Only son of Michael II.
Michael III "the Drunkard"	20 Jan 842 – 24 Sept 867	Son of Theophilos, he succeeded on Theophilos' death. Under the regency of his mother Theodora until 856, and under the effective control of his uncle Bardas in 862-866. Ended iconoclasm. Murdered by Basil the Macedonian.

Relations worsened even further during the so-called Photian Schism, when Pope Nicholas I challenged Photios' elevation to the patriarchate.  However, the era also saw a revival in intellectual activity which was marked by the end of iconoclasm under Michael III, which contributed to the upcoming Macedonian Renaissance.

Macedonian dynasty 867-1056

Macedonian dynasty was one of revival and resurgence period for two and a half centuries.  The Empire moved from defending against external enemies to reconquers of territories formerly lost.

By 1025, the Empire stretched from Armenia in the east to Southern Italy in the west, ranging from the conquest of Bulgaria to the annexation of parts of Georgia and Armenia, and the reconquers of Crete, Cyprus, and the important city of Antioch.

Leo VI achieved the complete codification of Byzantine law in Greek.  This monumental work of 60 volumes became the foundation of all subsequent Byzantine law and is still studied today.  He also reformed the administration of the Empire, redrawing the borders of the administrative subdivisions (the Themata) and tidying up the system of ranks and privileges, as well as regulating the behaviour of the various trade guilds in Constantinople.

Under the Macedonian emperors, the city of Constantinople flourished, becoming the largest and wealthiest city in Europe, with a population of approximately 400,000 in the 9th and 10th centuries.  The emperors employed a strong civil service staffed by competent aristocrats that oversaw the collection of taxes, domestic administration, foreign policy and fostering trade with Western Europe, particularly through the sale of silk and metalwork.

Name	Reign	Comment
Basil I "the Macedonian"	867– 2 Aug 886	Born in the Theme of Macedonia ca. 811, he rose in prominence through palace service, becoming a favourite of Michael III of Amorian. He overthrew Michael and established the Macedonian dynasty. He led successful wars in the East against the Arabs and the Paulicians, and recovered southern Italy for the Empire.
Leo VI "the Wise"	886 - 11 May 912	Born on Sept 866, likely either son of Basil I or Michael III, Leo was known for his erudition. His reign saw a height in Saracen (Muslim) naval raids, culminating in the Sack of Thessalonica, and was marked by unsuccessful wars against the Bulgarians under Simeon I
Alexander	11 May 912 - 6 June 913	Son of Basil I, born in 870 and raised to co-emperor in 879. Sidelined by Leo VI, Alexander dismissed his brother's principal aides on his accession.
Constantine VII "the Purple-born"	6 June 913 - 9 Nov 959	Son of Leo VI, born in 905 and raised to co-emperor in 908. His early reign was dominated by successive regencies, and from 919 by the admiral Romanos Lekapenos, who wedded his daughter to Constantine in 920. Constantine asserted his control by deposing Romanos's sons in early 945. He is notable for his promotion of the "Macedonian Renaissance", sponsoring encyclopaedic works and histories. He was a prolific writer himself, best remembered for the manuals on statecraft (De administrando imperio) and ceremonies (De ceremoniis) he compiled for his son, Romanos II.
Romanos I Lekapenos	17 Dec 920 - 16 Dec 944	Admiral of lowly origin, Romanos rose to power as a protector of the young Constantine VII. He crowned himself senior emperor after becoming the emperor's father-in-law.
Romanos II "the Purple-born"	9 Nov 959 - 15 Mar 963	Born on March 938 and the only surviving son of Constantine VII.
Nikephoros II Phokas	16 Aug 963 - 11 Dec 969	After the death of Romanos II, he rose to the throne with the support of the army and people as regent for the young emperors Basil II and Constantine VIII, marrying the empress-dowager Theophano. He was murdered by his nephew John Tzimiskes.
John I Tzimiskes	11 Dec 969 - 10 Jan 976	A successful general, he fell out with his uncle and led a conspiracy of disgruntled generals who murdered him. Tzimiskes ended the Bulgarian tsardom before going on to campaign in the East, where he died.
Basil II "the Bulgar-Slayer"	10 Jan 976 - 15 Dec 1025	Eldest son of Romanos II. Basil solidified his position through a marriage alliance with Vladimir I of Kiev, and after suppressing the revolts, he embarked on his conquest of Bulgaria. Bulgaria was finally subdued in 1018 after over 20 years of war. Basil also expanded Byzantine control over most of Armenia. His reign is widely considered as the apogee of medieval Byzantium.
Constantine VIII "the Purple-born"	15 Dec 1025 - 15 Nov 1028	The second son of Romanos II.
Zoe	15 Nov 1028 - June 1050	The daughter of Constantine VIII, she succeeded on her father's death, as the only surviving member of the Macedonian dynasty, along with her sister Theodora. Her three husbands, Romanos III (1028-1034), Michael IV (1034-1041) and Constantine IX (1042-1050) ruled alongside her.
Theodora	19 April 1042 - Aug 1056	The younger sister of Zoe, raised as co-ruler on April 1042. After Zoe married her third husband in June 1042, Theodora was again sidelined. After the respective death of Zoe and Constantine in 1050 and 1055, Theodora assumed full governance until her death. She nominated Michael VI as her successor.

The East-West Schism 1054

In 1054, relations between the Eastern and Western traditions within the Christian Church reached a terminal crisis, known as the East-West Schism.  It was the medieval division of Chalcedonian Christianity into Eastern (Greek) and Western (Latin) branches, which later became commonly known as the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church.

The so-called Great Schism was actually the culmination of centuries of gradual separation.  In 1053, the first step was taken in the process which led to formal schism. Patriarch of Constantinople Michael Cerularius ordered the closure of all Latin churches in Constantinople.

Christian Reconquista in Iberia 712-1230

The Reconquista (Spanish and Portuguese for the "reconquest") is the period of history spanning approximately 770 years after the Islamic conquest of Hispania in 718 and before the fall of the last Islamic state at Granada to the expanding Christian kingdoms in 1492.

The monarchy in Spain has its roots in the Visigothic Kingdom and its Christian successor states of Navarra, Asturias (later the Leon and Castille) and Aragon, which fought the Reconquista of the Iberian peninsula following the Umayyad invasion.

It was a process not only of war and conquest, as Christian kingdoms opposed and conquered the Muslim kingdoms understood as a common enemy, but also repopulation.  Christian kings took their own people to locations abandoned by Muslims, in order to have a population capable of defending the borders. It finally produced the emergence of the Christian realms: Leon, Galicia, Castile, Aragon, Navarre and Portugal.

Asturias 718-924

In a minor battle known as the Battle of Covadonga, a Muslim force sent to put down the Christian rebels in the northern mountains was defeated by Pelagius of Asturias, who established the monarchy of the Christian Kingdom of Asturias.  It was the first Christian political entity established after the Umayyad conquest in 718.

In 739, a rebellion in Galicia, assisted by the Asturians, drove out Muslim forces and it joined the Asturian kingdom.  The kingdom became the main base for Christian resistance to Islamic rule in the Iberian Peninsula for several centuries.

In 910, King Alfonso III the Great divided the kingdom between his three sons (or he was forced by his sons to abdicate with his lands partitioned):

1. García I received León,
2. Ordoño II received Galicia, and
3. Fruela II received Asturias.  

In 924, Asturias was merged with León after the death of Fruela II.

Navarre 824-1589

The Kingdom of Navarre, originally the Kingdom of Pamplona, was a Basque-based kingdom that occupied lands on either side of the western Pyrenees between present-day Spain and France.  It was formed when the native chieftain Íñigo Arista was elected or declared King and led a revolt against the regional Frankish authority.

The southern part of the kingdom was conquered by the Crown of Castile in 1512, becoming part of the unified Kingdom of Spain.  The northern part of the kingdom remained independent, until 1589 when King Henry III of Navarre inherited the French throne as Henry IV of France as personal union.

León, Galicia and Portugal 910–1230

Originally founded by Suebic king in 409, Galicia was the first kingdom which adopted Catholicism officially.  The first episode of a short-lived distinct kingdom was created and inherited by Ordoño II (r. 910–924).

León was created and inherited by García I (r. 911–914).  His successor was Ordoño II of Galicia (r. 914–924), who moved the capital to the city of León.

After 924 Galicia became a part of the newly founded Christian kingdoms of Asturias and León, while occasionally achieving independence under the authority of its own kings.

The County of Portugal was separated from León to become the independent Kingdom of Portugal in 1139.  The eastern, inland part of León was joined to the Kingdom of Castile in 1230.  The independence of Portugal determined southern boundary of Galicia.

Castile 1065-1230

Its name comes from the host of castles constructed in the region.  It began as the County of Castile, an eastern frontier lordship of the Kingdom of León in the 9th century.   During the 10th century its counts increased their autonomy, it was separated from León and became Kingdom of Castile in its own right in 1065.  Between 1072 and 1157 it was again united with León, and after 1230 this union became permanent.

Throughout this period the Castilian kings made extensive conquests in the southern Iberia at the expense of the Islamic principalities.  Castile and León, with their southern acquisitions, came to be known collectively as the Crown of Castile.

Emperor of All Spain

Emperator totius Hispaniae is a Latin title meaning "Emperor of all Spain". In Spain, the title "emperor" (from Latin imperator) was used under a variety of circumstances from the ninth century onwards, as a formal and practical title between 1086 and 1157.  It was primarily used by the Kings of León and Castile.

Ferdinand I the Great (r. 1037-1065) was the Count of Castile from his uncle's death in 1029 and the King of León after defeating his brother-in-law in 1037.  Ferdinand then assumed the royal title as king of León and Castile.  He was the first to have himself crowned Emperor of Spain in 1056, and his heirs carried on the tradition.

Aragon 1035-1164

The Kingdom of Aragon was an offshoot of the Kingdom of Navarre. It was formed when Sancho III of Navarre (r. 1000-1035) decided to divide his large realm among all his sons.  Aragon was the portion of the realm which passed to Ramiro I of Aragon, an illegitimate son of Sancho III.  The kingdoms of Aragon and Navarre were several times united in personal union until the death of Alfonso the Battler in 1135.

The Kingdom of Aragon eventually passed, by marriage, to the Counts of Barcelona, who was vassals of the King of France.  In 1164, with the dynastic union between Aragon and Barcelona; it created the Crown of Aragon.

Iberian Languages

These were the Latin-based Romance languages of Castilian, Aragonese, Catalan, Galician, Aranese, Asturian, Portuguese and Leonese, and the ancient language isolate of Basque.  

Iberian Peninsula in around 1230

Throughout the century, Castilian (what is known today as Spanish) gained a growing prominence in the Kingdom of Castile as the language of culture and communication, at the expense of close dialects Leonese and Aragonese.  While Catalan, Galician and Portuguese became the standard languages in their respective territories.

Vikings and the Normans 790-1066

The period from the earliest recorded in 790s until the Norman conquest of England in 1066 is commonly known as the Viking Age.  Vikings used the Norwegian Sea and Baltic Sea for sea routes to the south.  The Norwegians expanded to the north and west at Ireland, Scotland, Iceland, and Greenland; the Danes to England and France, settling in the Northern/eastern England and Normandy of France; and the Swedes to the east (the Rus).

The Vikings did not expand or conquer much into mainland Europe.  Their realm was bordered by powerful cultures to the south. Early on it was the Saxons, who were located in today Northern Germany.  The Saxons were often in conflict with the Vikings, and the Vikings soon witnessed the violent subduing of the Saxons by Charlemagne, in the thirty-year Saxon Wars in 772-804.

The Normans were the people who gave their name to Normandy, a region in northern France..  They were descended from Viking conquerors of the territory and the native Merovingian culture.  The Duchy of Normandy grew out from the 911 treaty between King Charles III of West Francia and leader of the Vikings Rollo.

Anglo-Saxons Kingdoms 800-1066

Kingdoms of England emerged from the gradual unification of the various kingdoms that were established following the Anglo-Saxon settlement of the former Roman province of Britannia.  By 800, the minor kingdoms in time coalesced into the seven kingdoms known as the Heptarchy: East Anglia, Mercia, Northumbria, Kent, Essex, Sussex, and Wessex. The Viking invasions shattered the pattern of the English kingdoms.

Alfred the Great (r. 871-899), King of Wessex, successfully defended his kingdom against the Viking attempt at conquest, and had become the dominant ruler in England.

On 12 July 927 the monarchs of Britain gathered at Eamont in Cumbria to recognise Æthelstan, grandson of Alfred the Great, as king of the English.  This can be considered England's foundation date, although the process of unification took almost 100 years.

House of Wessex: 871-1013, 1042-1066

- Alfred the Great, 871-899
- Edward the Elder, Oct 899-924
- Ælfweard July-Aug 924, Disputed claimant
- Æthelstan, King of the Anglo-Saxons 924-927, King of the English 927-939
- Edmund I, Oct 939-946
- Eadred, May 946-955
- Eadwig, Nov 955-959
- Edgar the Peaceful, Oct 959-975
- Edward the Martyr, July 975-978
- Æthelred the Unready, Mar 978-1013 (first reign), Feb 1014–1016 (second reign)

House of Denmark: 1013-1014, 1016-1042

England came under the rule of Danish kings (1013-1014, 1016-1042) during and following the reign of Æthelred the Unready.  

- Cnut, Oct 1016–Nov 1035
- Harold Harefoot, Nov 1035–Mar 1040, Son of Cnut and Ælfgifu of Northampton
- Harthacnut (Hardeknud), Mar 1040–June 1042, Son of Cnut and Emma of Normandy

House of Wessex (restored) :1042-1066

After Harthacanute of Denmark, there was a brief Saxon Restoration between 1042 and 1066.

- Edward the Confessor (Eadweard), June 1042-1066
- Harold Godwinson, Jan-Oct 1066
- Edgar the Ætheling, Oct-Dec 1066, Proclaimed but never crowned

Normand conquest of England 1066

In 1066 William II, Duke of Normandy, a vassal to the King of France, invaded and conquered England in the Norman conquest of England, and made permanent the recent removal of the capital from Winchester to London.  Following the death of King Harold II in the decisive Battle of Hastings in October, the Anglo-Saxon were unable to resist the invaders.  William was crowned King William I of England on Christmas Day 1066, in Westminster Abbey, and is known as William the Conqueror.

Kings of East and West Franks 888-987

Robertians in West Francia

In 888, the Robertian Odo was chosen by the western Franks to be their king following the removal of Emperor Charles the Fat.  The Robertians, counts of Paris and dukes of France, later established the Capetian dynasty after 987, and the kingdom came to be known as France.

Charles, the posthumous son of Louis II, was crowned by a faction opposed to the Robertian Odo at Reims Cathedral, though he only became the effectual monarch as Charles III with the death of Odo in 898.

Name	King From	King To	Relationship with Predecessor(s)	Title
Odo of Paris	February 888	January 898	Son of Robert the Strong (Robertians), elected king against young Charles III.	King of the Franks
Charles III the Simple	January 898	June 922	Posthumous son of Louis II (Carolingian) Younger half-brother of Louis III and Carloman II	King of the Franks
Robert I	June 922	June 923	Son of Robert the Strong (Robertians), younger brother of Odo	King of the Franks
Rudolph (Raoul de France)	July 923	January 936	Son of Richard, Duke of Burgundy (Bosonids), Son-in-law of Robert I	King of the Franks
Louis IV of Outremer	June 936	Sept 954	Son of Charles III (Carolingian)	King of the Franks
Lothair	Nov 954	March 986	Son of Louis IV (Carolingian)	King of the Franks
Louis V the Lazy	June 986	May 987	Son of Lothair (Carolingian)	King of the Franks

The power of the kings continued to decline, together with their inability to resist the Vikings and to oppose the rise of regional nobles who were no longer appointed but became hereditary local dukes.  In 877 Boso of Provence, brother-in-law of Charles the Bald, crowned himself as the king of Burgundy and Provence.  His son Louis the Blind was king of Provence from 890 and Emperor 901-905. Rudolph II of Burgundy established the Kingdom of Arles in 933.

Invaders were engaged by local nobles: Richard of Burgundy and Robert of Neustria who managed to defeat Viking Rollo in 911 at Chartes.  The Duchy of Normandy arose out of a grant of land to the Viking by the king Charles III of West Francia and the Norman threat was eventually ended.

Nobles became increasingly opposed to Charles.  After revolting against the Carolingian king Charles III (who fled his kingdom under their onslaught), they elected Robert I (Younger brother of Odo) as King of West Francia in 922.

Hugh the Great 898-956

Hugh the Great was the son of King Robert I of Francia and Béatrice of Vermandois, daughter of Herbert I, Count of Vermandois.  At the death of his father in battle at Soissons in 923, Hugh refused the crown and it went to his brother-in-law, Rudolph of Burgundy.

At the death of Rudolph in 936, Hugh was in possession of nearly all of the region between the Loire and the Seine, corresponding to the ancient Neustria, with the exceptions of Anjou and Normandy.  He took a very active part in bringing Louis IV (son of King Charles the Simple and Eadgifu of Wessex) from the Kingdom of England.

In 937 Hugh married Hedwige of Saxony, a daughter of Henry the Fowler of Saxony, and soon quarrelled with Louis.  In 938 King Louis IV began attacking fortresses and lands held by his family members, Herbert II of Vermandois.  Louis IV looked to the land of his ancestors, Lotharingia.

In 939 Gilbert, Duke of Lorraine rebelled against King Otto I of East Francia (son of Henry the Fowler) and offered the crown to Louis IV, who received homage of the Lotharingian aristocracy in Verdun on his way to Aachen.  King Louis attacked Hugh the Great and Duke William Longsword of Normandy, after which a truce was concluded, lasting until June.  That same year Hugh, along with Count Herbert II and Duke William Longsword paid homage to the Otto the Great, and supported him in his struggle against Louis.

On the death of Louis IV in 954, Hugh was one of the first to recognize Lothair as his successor, and, at the intervention of Lothair's mother, Gerberga of Saxony, was instrumental in having him crowned.  Hugh was invested by the new king with the duchies of Burgundy and Aquitaine.  In the same year, Duke Gilbert of Burgundy acknowledged himself his vassal and betrothed his daughter to Hugh's son Otto-Henry.

Ottonians in East Francia

In East Francia, Conrad of Franconia yielded the crown to his main rival, Henry the Fowler of Saxony, who was elected king at the Diet of Fritzlar in 919.  Henry reached a truce with the raiding Magyars, and in 933 he won a first victory against them in the Battle of Riade.

Stem duchies (tribal duchies) originated as the areas of the Germanic tribes of a given region.  These included stem duchies of Alemanni (later called Swabians), Bavarii, Franconia (Ripuarian Franks), Saxon and Thuringii.  The concept of such duchies survived especially in the mid-9th century in the areas which would become part of East Francia.

Name	House	King	Emperor	Ended	Notes
Henry I the Fowler	Liudolfing (Saxony)	April 919	-	July 936
Arnulf the Bad	Luitpolding (Bavarian)	919	-	921	Rival king to Henry I
Otto I, the Great	Luitpolding (Saxony)	Aug 936	Feb 962	May 973	Son of Henry I

From 919 to 936, these Germanic peoples were united under Henry the Fowler of Saxony, who took the title of king.  For the first time, the term "Kingdom of the Germans" (Regnum Teutonicorum) was applied to a Frankish kingdom.  (Latin scholars from the 10th century utilized the adjective teutonicus when referencing East Francia for that area and all of its subsequent inhabitants.)

Henry the Fowler's descendants, the Ottonians, would continue to rule the Eastern kingdom for roughly a century.  Otto of Saxony (the Great), his son and designated successor, was elected King in Aachen in 936.

Otto the Geeat founded a series of border counties or marches.  To the North, the North March which would become Brandenburg.  In the South, the marches included Carniola and Styria, which would become March of Austria.

Otto the Great 936-962

Otto overcame a series of revolts from other dukes and he managed to control the appointment of dukes: Arnulf I of Bavaria as marshal, Herman I, Duke of Swabia, Eberhard of Franconia as steward.  The dukes signaled cooperation with the new king, and clearly showed their submission to his reign.

In 936, he appointed Hermann Billungas as Margrave, granting him authority over the North March (as the enthroned Duke of Saxony, he was in Italy from 961 until 972 and Hermann served as Otto's personal representative in governing Saxony), maintaining the duchy's Eastern borders and expanding them further to the East, (the Billung March) alongside the North March.

In 937, Eberhard planned a rebellion against Otto.  He promised to assist Otto's younger brother Henry in claiming the throne and Gilbert, Duke of Lorraine, joined the rebellion.  Otto exiled Henry from East Francia and he fled to the court of King Louis IV of West Francia.  The West Frankish king, in hopes of regaining dominion over Lorraine once again, joined forces with Henry and Gilbert.

In 939. Otto's forces claimed an overwhelming victory: Eberhard was killed and Gilbert drowned in the Rhine while attempting to escape.  With Eberhard dead, Otto assumed direct rule over the Duchy of Franconia and dissolved it into smaller counties and bishoprics.  Louis IV recognized his suzerainty over Lorraine.  Otto withdrew his army and arranged for his sister Gerberga of Saxony (widow of Gilbert) to marry Louis IV.

Louis IV's second attempt to reign over Lorraine in 940 was based on his asserted claim to be the rightful Duke of Lorraine due to his marriage to Gerberga (widow of Duke of Lorraine).  In the following years, both sides tried to increase their influence in Lorraine until the death of Louis IV in 954.

In 953 King Otto I appointed his younger brother Bruno as Duke of Lorraine.  Bruno divided the duchy into Upper and Lower Lorraine; this division became permanent following his death in 965.  Lower Lorraine disintegrated into smaller territories such as the County of Luxembourg, the Electorate of Trier, the County of Bar and the "Three Bishoprics" of Verdun, Metz and Toul.

The power of the Germanic Empire was now confirmed.  Otto the Great defeated the Magyars at the Battle of Lechfeld in 955, thus ending the Hungarian invasions of Western Europe.  The territory captured from Hungary was given to the Babenberg family as March of Austria.  Vienna lay at its border to Hungary, while Boleslaus I of Bohemia was granted the March of Moravia.  Bohemia would remain an autonomous state under the empire for several decades.  The Slavs between the Elbe and the Oder rivers were also subjugated.

Kings of Imperial and Southern Italy 888-1194

Imperial Italy (Kingdom of Lombardy at Northern and Central Italy) fell into instability after 887, with many rulers claiming the kingship simultaneously:

Berengar I of Friuli (Verona) (888–896) and Guy of Spoleto (889–894).

Lambert of Spoleto (891–896) and Arnulf of Carinthia (894–899).

Arnulf of Carinthia lost control of Italy in 896, which was divided between Berengar I and Lambert of Spoleto.

Lambert of Spoleto (896–898), Berengar I (896–924) who seized Lambert's portion upon the latter's death in 898 and crowned Emperor of Roman from 915 to 924.

Louis III of Provence (900-905) opposed Berengar 900-902 and 905.

Rudolph II of Burgundy (922–933) defeated Berengar but fled Italy in 926.

Hugh of Arles (926–947) elected by Berengar's partisans in 925.

Lothair II of Provence (945–950) son of Hugh of Arles, married at 947 to the fifteen-year-old Adelaide, the spirited and intelligent daughter of Rudolph II of Burgundy and Bertha of Swabia.

Berengar II of Ivrea (Lombardy) (950–961) attempted to cement his usurped political power in Lombardy by forcing Lothair's widow to marry his son Adalbert.

Adalbert of Ivrea (950–963) jointly with his father.

Formation of Holy Roman Empire 950-962

In 940, Berengar II of Ivrea, a grandson of former emperor Berengar I, led a revolt of Italian nobles against his uncle Hugh.  In 945 Hugh abdicated in favor of his son (as King Lothair II of Italy).  Berengar II made terms with Lothair and established himself as the decisive power behind the throne.

Lothair's brief reign came to an end with his death in November 950, and Berengar II was crowned king in December, with his son Adalbert of Ivrea as co-ruler.  Failing to receive widespread support, Berengar II attempted to legitimize his reign and tried to force Adelaide of Burgundy, the respective daughter, daughter-in-law and widow of the last three Italian kings, into marriage with Adalbert.

Adelaide refused to marry Adalbert and was imprisoned for four months.  She managed to escape from captivity and send an emissary to Otto I of Saxony to ask for his protection and marriage.  A marriage to Adelaide would have strengthened the king's position to claim the Italian throne and ultimately the Emperorship.  Otto accepted Adelaide's marriage proposal and prepared for an expedition into Italy.

Otto arrived in northern Italy in September 951 without opposition from Berengar II.  As they descended into the Po River valley, the Italian nobles withdrew their support and provided aid to Otto and his advancing army.

Berengar II fled from his capital in Pavia.  When Otto arrived at the old Lombard capital of Pavia, the city willingly opened its gate to the German king.  Otto married Adelaide in Pavia, and in accordance with Lombard tradition, he was crowned with the Iron Crown of the Lombards in October 951.

In 960 when Berengar II attacked the Papal States again, King Otto the Great, summoned by Pope John XII, defeated Berengar II and had himself crowned Emperor of Roman at Rome in 962, and, breaking tradition, also crowned Adelaide as Holy Roman Empress.  The union of the crowns of Italy and Germany with that of the Empire of the Romans, created the Holy Roman Empire.

Kingdoms of Southern Italy 831-1194

In south Italy and Sicily a different pattern develops, as this southern area were dominated by a succession of powerful dynasties from overseas.

Emirate of Sicily 831–1072

In south Italy and Sicily, there were attacks from the Umayyad and Abbasid Caliphate.  The Emirate of Sicily was an Islamic state which existed from 831 to 1072. Its capital was Palermo.

Muslims seized control of the Island from the Byzantines in a prolonged series of conflicts from 827 to 902.  An Arab-Byzantine culture developed, producing a multi-confessional and multilingual state.  The Emirate was finally conquered by Christian Norman mercenaries under Roger I of Sicily in 1071.

Byzantine Provinces 661-1071

The Duchy of Naples (661-1137) began as a Byzantine province that was constituted in the 7th century, in the reduced coastal lands that the Lombards had not conquered during their invasion of Italy in the 6th century.

The Catepanate of Italy (965-1071) was a province of the Byzantine Empire, comprising mainland Italy south of a line drawn from Monte Gargano to the Gulf of Salerno, Amalfi and Naples.

Following the fall of the Exarchate of Ravenna in 751, Byzantium had been absent from the affairs of southern Italy for almost a century, but the accession of Basil I the Macedonian (r. 867-886) to the throne changed this: the imperial fleet and Byzantine diplomats were employed in an effort to secure the Adriatic Sea from Saracen raids, re-establish Byzantine dominance over Dalmatia, and extend Byzantine control once more over parts of Italy.

They were conquered by the Norman by 1071 and Byzantine authority was finally terminated in Italy.

Norman Dynasties 1042-1194

The County and later the Duchy of Apulia and Calabria (1042-1130), was a Norman country founded by William of Hauteville in 1042 in the territories of Gargano, Capitanata, Apulia, Campania, and Vulture.

The County and later the Kingdom of Sicily (1071-1130, 1130-1194) was a Norman state comprising the islands of Sicily and Malta.  The county began to form during the Christian reconquest of Sicily (1061–1091) from the Muslim Emirate, thus a transitional period took place for the Sicilians.

The Kingdom of Sicily at 1130 united with the areas included the Maltese Archipelago conquered from the Arabs and the Byzantines.  The Norman Kingdom fell in 1194 to the House of Hohenstaufen, when daughter of King Roger II, Constance, married future Holy Roman Emperor Henry VI.

Holy Roman Empire, Houses of Ottonian, Salian and Hohenstaufen 962-1254

Emperor Otto the Great revived the old Carolingian program of appointing missionaries in the border lands.  By granting land to the bishops he appointed, Otto actually made these bishops into "princes of the Empire" in this way.

In 963, he marched on Rome again and drove John XII from the papal throne and for years controlled the election of the pope, setting a firm precedent for imperial control of the papacy for years to come.

This renewed the conflict with the Eastern Emperor in Constantinople, especially after Otto's son Otto II adopted the designation imperator Romanorum.  The German kings were consistently using the title rex Romanorum (King of the Romans).  The title remained until the end of the Empire in 1806.

The Holy Roman Emperor evolved into an elected monarchy, but the emperor elect was required to be crowned by the Pope before assuming the imperial title.  The title was held in conjunction with the rule of the Kingdom of Germany and the Kingdom of Italy (Imperial Northern Italy).

Ottonian dynasty 962-1024

Otto II was the youngest and sole surviving son of Otto the Great and Adelaide of Italy.  When his father died after a 37-year reign, Otto II continuing his father's policy of strengthening Imperial rule in Germany and extending the borders of the Empire deeper into southern Italy.

Otto III was crowned as King of Germany in 983 at the age of three, after his father's death in southern Italy while campaigning against the Byzantine and the Emirate of Sicily.  Otto III's minor status ensured his various regents held power over the Empire.  His cousin Henry, Duke of Bavaria, claimed regency and attempted to seize the throne for himself in 984.  His rebellion failed to gain the support of Germany's aristocracy, and Otto III's mother and grandmother (Empress Adelaide of Italy), both served as regents until 994.

Name	House	King	Emperor	Ended	Notes
Otto I the Great	Ottonian	7 Aug 936	2 Feb 962	7 May 973	Son of Henry I; first king crowned Roman Emperor in Aachen Cathedral since Lothair I
Otto II the Red	Ottonian	26 May 961	25 Dec 967	7 Dec 983	Son of Otto I; Otto by the grace of God King under his father 961–973
Otto III	Ottonian	25 Dec 983	21 May 996	21 Jan 1002	Son of Otto II; Otto by the grace of God King
Henry II	Ottonian	7 June 1002	26 April 1014	13 July 1024	Great-grandson of Henry I

After 983, the Slavs rebelled against imperial control, forcing the Empire to abandon its territories east of the Elbe River.  Through Otto III was able to extend the influence of Christianity by supporting mission work in Poland and through the crowning of Stephen I as the first Christian king of Hungary.  In 1002, he suffered a sudden fever and died at the age of 21.

With no clear heir to succeed him, Otto III's Cousin Henry II, the new Duke of Bavaria, asked the bishops and nobles to elect him as the new king of Germany.  Without an Emperor on the throne, Italy began to break away from German control.  The Lombard Margrave of Ivrea, was elected King of Italy in Pavia in 1002.

Henry II was crowned as King of Germany in 1002 after defeating several claimants to the throne.  He aided Duke of Bohemia against the Poles, definitively incorporating the Duchy of Bohemia into the Empire.

Henry II died without children in 1024, and Conrad II, a great-great-grandson of Emperor Otto I and duke of Franconia, was elected king only after some debate among dukes and nobles.  This group eventually developed into the college of Electors.

Prince-Elector

The German practice of electing monarchs began when ancient Germanic tribes formed ad-hoc coalitions and elected the leaders thereof.  The composition of Prince-Elector, or Electors, at that time is unclear, but appears to have included representatives of the church (the Archbishop of Mainz, Trier and Cologne), and the dukes of Germany: Franks, Swabians, Saxons and Bavarians.

Salian dynasty 1024-1125

The first Salian regent Conrad II was elected by the majority of the Prince-electors and was crowned king of German in Mainz.  Early in 1026 Conrad went to Milan, where archbishop of Milan crowned him King of Italy.  When Rudolph III, King of Burgundy died 1032, Conrad II also claimed this kingship on the basis of an inheritance.  This Kingdom of Burgundy would become known as the Kingdom of Arles under Conrad's successors.

Already in 1028 Conrad II had his son Henry III elected and anointed king of Germany.  During his reign, Speyer Cathedral was expanded to be the largest church in Western Christendom.  Henry's conception of a legitimate power of royal disposition in the duchies was successful against the dukes, and thus secured royal control.  In 1046 he ended the papal schism, freed the Papacy from dependence on the Roman nobility, and laid the basis for its universal applicability.

Name	House	King	Emperor	Ended	Notes
Conrad II	Salian	8 Sept 1024	26 Mar 1027	4 June 1039	Great-great-grandson of Otto I
Henry III	Salian	14 April 1028	25 Dec 1046	5 Oct 1056	Son of Conrad II; King of the Germans under his father 1028–1039
Henry IV	Salian	17 July 1054	21 Mar 1084	31 Dec 1105	Son of Henry III; King of Germany under his father, 1054–1056
Rudolf	Rheinfeld	15 Mar 1077	-	15 Oct 1080	Rival king to Henry IV
Hermann	Salm	6 Aug 1081	-	28 Sept 1088	Rival king to Henry IV
Conrad	Salian	30 May 1087	-	27 July 1101	Son of Henry IV; King of Germany under his father 1087–1098, King of Italy 1093–1098, 1095–1101 in rebellion.
Henry V	Salian	6 Jan 1099	13 April 1111	23 May 1125	Son of Henry IV; King of Germany under his father, 1099–1105, forced his father to abdicate

The Salians owed much of their success to their alliance with the Church, which gave them the support to subdue rebellious dukes.  However, the alliance broke down in 1075 during the Investiture Controversy, a struggle in which the reformist Pope Gregory VII demanded that Emperor Henry IV renounce his rights over the Church in Germany.

Investiture Controversy

In 1075, Henry IV adhered to Papal decrees to secure the Church's support for his expeditions in Saxony and Thuringia, Gregory saw the opportunity to press the Church's agenda and he composed the Dictatus Papae that asserted that the deposal of an emperor was under the sole power of the pope.

He reacted to this declaration by withdrawing his imperial support of Gregory as pope.  In 1076 Gregory responded by excommunicating Henry, and deposed him as German king, releasing all Christians from their oath of allegiance.

A reference to the "Germans" indicating the emergence of a German nation, did not appear until the 11th century, when Gregory VII referred to Henry IV as rex Teutonicorum (king of the Teutons), in order to brand him as a foreigner.

German princes and the aristocracy were happy to hear of the king's deposition.  They used religious reasons to continue the rebellion, and for seizure of royal holdings.  Aristocrats claimed local lordships over peasants and property and built up localized fiefdoms to secure their autonomy from the empire.

To marshal his forces to fight the rebellion, Henry stood in the snow outside the castle of Canossa for three days in 1077, begging the pope to rescind the sentence, popularly portrayed as without shoes, taking no food or shelter, in what has become known as the Walk of Canossa.

Gregory lifted the excommunication, but the rebellions, which became known as the Great Saxon Revolt, were not willing to give up.  They elected a rival king, Rudolf von Rheinfeld.  In June 1080, Henry had Pope Gregory deposed and replaced by the primate of Ravenna, the Antipope Clement III.  Henry entered Rome in March 1084, when Pope Clement III was elected and he was crowned emperor.

Concordat of Worms

Henry V became emperor in 1106 in the midst of a civil war.  Hoping to gain complete control over the church inside the Empire, Henry V surrendered to the demands of the second generation of Gregorian reformers by the settlement of the Concordat of Worms in 1111.

This agreement stipulated that the pope would appoint high church officials but gave the German king the right to veto the papal choices.  Imperial control of Italy was lost for a time, and the imperial crown became dependent on the political support of competing aristocratic factions.

Feudalism also became more widespread as freemen sought protection by swearing allegiance to a lord.  These powerful local rulers, having acquired extensive territories and large military retinues, took over administration within their territories and organized it around an increasing number of Castles.

Kingdom of Italy within the Empire 962-1250

The Kingdom of Italy (Regnum Italiae) was one of the constituent kingdoms of the Holy Roman Empire, along with the kingdoms of Germany, Bohemia, and Burgundy.  It comprised northern and central Italy and its capital was Pavia (until the 11th century).

Although emperors sometimes appointed their heirs to rule in Italy and occasionally the Italian bishops and noblemen elected a king of their own in opposition to that of Germany, the idea that Italy was a kingdom within the empire remained and Emperors frequently sought to impose their will on the evolving Italian city-states.

The resulting wars between Guelphs and Ghibellines, the anti-imperialist and imperialist factions respectively, were characteristic of Italian politics in the 12th-14th centuries.  Subsequent emperors used the title "King of Italy" until Charles V (r. 1516-1556) of Habsburg.  At first they were crowned in Pavia, later Milan, and Charles was crowned in Bologna.

The cities first demonstrated their increasing power during the reign of the Hohenstaufen Emperor Frederick Barbarossa (r. 1152-1190), whose attempts to restore imperial authority in the peninsula led to a series of wars with the Lombard League, a league of northern Italian cities, and ultimately to a decisive victory for the League at the Battle of Legnano in 1176, which forced Frederick to recognize the autonomy of the Italian cities.

Frederick's son Henry VI actually managed to extend Hohenstaufen authority to the Norman's Kingdom of Sicily, which comprised Sicily and Southern Italy.  Henry's son, Frederick II, - the first German Emperor to actually base himself in Italy - attempted to return to his father's task of restoring imperial authority in the northern Italian Kingdom, which led to fierce opposition from the reformed Lombard League and the Popes.

Frederick II's efforts to bring all of Italy under his control failed as signally as those of his grandfather, and his death in 1250 marked the effective end of the Kingdom of Italy as a genuine political unit.  In 1250 the Lombard League became obsolete and was disbanded.

Hohenstaufen dynasty 1138-1254

When the Salian dynasty ended with Henry V's death in 1125, the princes chose not to elect the next of kin, but rather Lothair, the moderately powerful but already Duke of Saxony.  When he died in 1137, the princes again aimed to check royal power; accordingly they did not elect Lothair's favoured heir, his son-in-law Henry the Proud of the Welf family, but Conrad III of the Hohenstaufen family, the grandson of Emperor Henry IV.  This led to over a century of strife between the two houses.

Conrad ousted the Welfs from their possessions, but after his death in 1152, his nephew Frederick I "Barbarossa" succeeded him and made peace with the Welfs, since he was a Welf on his mother's side.  The Welf duke of Saxony, Henry the Lion, would not be appeased however, remaining an implacable enemy of the Hohenstaufen monarchy.

During the Hohenstaufen period, German princes facilitated a peaceful eastward settlement of lands that were uninhabited or inhabited sparsely by West Slavs.  German speaking farmers, traders, and craftsmen, both Christians and Jews, moved into these areas.  The eastward settlement expanded the influence of the Empire to include Pomerania and Silesia, as did the intermarriage of the local Slavic rulers with German spouses.  The Teutonic Knights were invited to Prussia by Duke Konrad of Masovia to Christianize the Prussians in 1226.

In 1212, Ottokar I of Bohemia (bearing the title "King" since 1198) extracted a Golden Bull of Sicily from the Emperor Frederick II, confirming the royal title for Ottokar and Duchy of Bohemia was raised to Kingdom of Bohemia.

Name	House	King	Emperor	Ended	Notes
Conrad III	Hohenstaufen	7 Mar 1138	-	15 Feb 1152	Grandson of Henry IV (through his mother); Previously Rival King to Lothair III 1127–1135
Henry Berengar	Hohenstaufen	30 Mar 1147	-	Aug 1150	Son of Conrad III; King of Germany under his father 1147-1150
Frederick I Barbarossa	Hohenstaufen	4 Mar 1152	18 June 1155	10 June 1190	Nephew of Conrad III
Henry VI	Hohenstaufen	15 Aug 1169	14 April 1191	28 Sept 1197	Son of Frederick I; King of Germany under his father 1169–1190
Philip of Swabia	Hohenstaufen	6 Mar 1198	-	21 Aug 1208	Son of Frederick I; rival king to Otto IV
Otto IV	Welf	29 Mar 1198	4 Oct 1209	5 July 1215	Rival king to Philip of Swabia; later opposed by Frederick II; deposed 1215
Frederick II	Hohenstaufen	5 Dec 1212	22 Nov 1220	26 Dec 1250	Son of Henry VI; Rival king to Otto IV until 5 July 1215
Henry VII	Hohenstaufen	23 April 1220	-	15 Aug 1235	Son of Frederick II; King of Germany under his father, 1220–1235
Conrad IV	Hohenstaufen	May 1237	-	1 May 1254	Son of Frederick II; King of Germany under his father, 1237-1250

Frederick I Barbarossa

Eager to restore the Empire to the position it had occupied under Charlemagne and Otto I the Great, Frederick concluded the treaty of Constance with the Pope Eugene III in March 1153, whereby he promised, in return for his coronation, to defend the papacy, to make no peace with King Roger II of Sicily, and to help Eugene regain control of the Rome.

He became King of Italy and Roman Emperor in 1155.  Two years later, the term Sacrum ("Holy") first appeared in a document in connection with his Empire.  Among his contributions to Central European society and culture include the reestablishment of the Corpus Juris Civilis, or the Roman rule of law, which counterbalanced the papal power that dominated the German states since the conclusion of the Investiture Controversy.

Under Frederick Barbarossa and his son Henry VI, the Hohenstaufen dynasty reached its apex.  Henry VI added the Norman kingdom of Sicily to his domains, held English king Richard the Lionheart captive, and aimed to establish a hereditary monarchy when he died in 1197.  His son, Frederick, though already elected king, was still a small child and living in Sicily.

Frederick II

At the age of three, Frederick II was crowned King of Sicily as a co-ruler with his mother, Constance of Hauteville, the daughter of Roger II of Sicily.  When Henry VI died in 1197, German princes chose to elect an adult king, resulting in the dual election of Frederick Barbarossa's youngest son Philip of Swabia and Henry the Lion's son Otto of Brunswick, who competed for the crown.  Upon Constance's death in 1198, Pope Innocent III succeeded as Frederick's guardian.

Otto of Brunswick had been crowned Emperor in 1209.  However, Innocent III later sided against Otto, and in September 1211 at the Diet of Nuremberg, Frederick was elected in absentia as German King by a rebellious faction backed by the pope.  Frederick was crowned King of Germany in 1212 and finally crowned Emperor as Frederick II in Rome in 1220.

Frederick's reign saw the Empire achieve its greatest territorial extent.  His political and cultural ambitions were enormous as he ruled a vast area beginning with Sicily and stretching through Italy all the way north to Germany.  As the Crusades progressed, he acquired control of Jerusalem and styled himself king of the Jerusalem.

Speaking six languages (Latin, Sicilian, Old Germanic, Langues d'oïl, Greek and Arabic), Frederick played a major role in promoting literature through the Sicilian School of poetry.  His royal court in Palermo saw the first use of a literary form of an Italo-Romance language, Sicilian.  The poetry that emanated from the school had a significant influence on on what was to become the modern Italian language.

Viewing himself as a direct successor to the Roman emperors of antiquity, he was frequently at war with the papacy, who eventually prevailed.

His dynasty collapsed soon after his death in 1250.  The German kingdom was divided between his son Conrad IV and the anti-king, William of Holland, followed by the Interregnum after the death of Conrad IV in 1254.

In 1266, the Papacy declared the Kingdom of Sicily escheated because of disloyalty of the Hohenstaufen.  With Papal and Guelph support, Charles of Anjou, brother of King Louis IX of France, descended into Italy and defeated the Hohenstaufen became King of Sicily in 1268.

Turkic and Mongol Invasion of Eastern Europe 985-1241

The Oghuz (the Western Turkic) were a historical Turkic tribal confederation conventionally named the Oghuz Yabgu State in Central Asia (750-1055).  The original homeland of the Oghuz, like other Turks, was the Ural-Altay region of Central Asia.

Although their mass-migrations from Central Asia occurred from the 800's onwards, they were present in areas west of the Caspian Sea centuries prior.  They migrated westward from the Jeti-su area after a conflict with the Karluks (an Eastern Turkic confederation).

The later Seljuq and Ottoman Turks; and residents of Turkey, Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan today are their descendants (the Oghuz Turkic language group).

The Pechenegs (860-1091) were a semi-nomadic Turkic people of the Central Asian steppes.  They were forced to leave their homeland by a coalition of the Oghuz Turks, Karluks and Kimaks and statred their westward migration between the 790s and 850s.  They settled in the steppe corridor between the rivers Ural and Volga.  By the 9th and 10th centuries, they controlled much of the steppes of southwestern Eurasia and the Crimean Peninsula.

The Kipchaks (1067-1239) were a Turkic people originating in the Kimek Khanate, who lived in the steppes of Southern Siberia by 100 BC.  They conquered large parts of the Eurasian steppe during the Turkic expansion of the 11th and 12th centuries together with the Cumans, and were in turn conquered by the Mongol invasions in 1239.

The Cuman-Kipchak confederation was a predecessor of the Kazakh Khanate and later modern-day Kazakhstan.

Seljuq Turks 985-1307

In 985, the Seljuq clan split off from the bulk of the Tokuz-Oghuz, a confederacy of nine clans long settled between the Aral and Caspian Seas.  The Seljuqs migrated into Khurasan.  The Ghaznavid attempted to stop them raiding the local Muslim populace, and the victorious Seljuqs became masters of Khurasan.

By 1055, they had advanced into mainland Persia to Baghdad, setting themself as the champion of the Abbasid caliph, who honored them with the title Sultan (the Great Seljuq Empire).

The Seljuks won the battle of Manzikert in 1071, and then conquered the eastern Anatolia, wresting it from the Byzantine Empire.  The decisive defeat of the Byzantine army played an important role in undermining Byzantine authority in Anatolia and Armenia, and allowed for the gradual Turkification of Anatolia.

In the 1070s, a Seljuq commander and a former contender for the throne of the Empire, came to power in western Anatolia.  In 1075, he captured the Byzantine Nicaea (İznik) and Nicomedia (İzmit) cities.  He declared himself sultan of an independent Seljuq state (Seljuq Rum, Rum means Roman) in 1077.  This was one of the impetuses for the First Crusade (1095-1099).

In 1299, a Seljuq general Osman I, who arrived in Anatolia from Merv (Turkmenistan) to aid the Seljuks Rum against the Byzantines, and finally they conquested the Constantinople in 1453 to form the Ottoman Empire.

Mongol Invasion 1223-1241

The Mongol Empire of the 13th and 14th centuries was the largest contiguous land empire in history.  Originating in Mongolia in East Asia, the Mongol Empire at its height stretched from the Sea of Japan to parts of Eastern Europe, extending eastward and southward into the Indian subcontinent, Mainland Southeast Asia and the Iranian Plateau; and westward as far as the Levant and the Carpathian Mountains.

The Mongol Empire emerged from the unification of several nomadic tribes in the Mongol homeland under the leadership of Genghis Khan (c. 1162–1227), whom a council proclaimed as the ruler of all Mongols in 1206.

The Mongols' first campaign at Europe was heralded by the Battle of the Kalka River in 1223, which resulted in a their victory over the forces of several Rus' principalities.  They destroying numerous cities including Ryazan, Kolomna, Moscow, Vladimir, and Kiev.

The Mongols nevertheless retreated.  In 1237 the Mongols started their second western invasion. The Mongolian army led by Batu (nephew of Ögedei Khan; grandson of Genghis Khan) invaded and destroyed Cuman-Kipchak, Volga Bulgaria and Kievan Rus'.

The advance into central Europe continued with invasions of Poland and Hungary.  Before Batu's forces could continue into Holy Roman Empire's Vienna, news of death of Ögedei in December 1241 brought a halt to the invasion.  Batu withdrew and established the Golden Horde khanate on Volga riverside.

Capetian and Normandy Dynasty in France and England 987-1223

Capetian dynasty 987–1328

After the death of Louis V, Hugh Capet, the son of Hugh the Great, was elected by the nobility as king of France.  The Capetian Dynasty, the male-line descendants of Hugh Capet, ruled France continuously from 987 to 1792 and again from 1814 to 1848.  The cadet branches of the dynasty which ruled after 1328 are generally given the specific branch names of Valois and Bourbon.

Initially obeyed only in their own demesne, the Île-de-France, the Capetian kings slowly but steadily increased their power and influence until it grew to cover the entirety of their realm.   They restored the royal palace on the Île de la Cité, of Paris and built a church where the Sainte-Chapelle stands today.  Prosperity returned gradually to the Paris city and the right bank began to be populated.

Members of the dynasty were traditionally Catholic. The early Capetians had an alliance with the Church.  The French were also the most active participants in the Crusades, culminating in a series of Crusader Kings - Louis VII, Philip Augustus, Louis VIII and Saint Louis,.

Name	King From	King Until	Relationship with Predecessor(s)	Title
Hugh Capet	3 July 987	24 Oct 996	Grandson of Robert I, son of Hugh the Great	King of the Franks
Robert II the Pious, the Wise	24 Oct 996	20 July 1031	Son of Hugh the Great	King of the Franks
Henry I	20 July 1031	4 Aug 1060	Son of Robert II	King of the Franks
Philip I the Amorous	4 Aug 1060	29 July 1108	Son of Henry I	King of the Franks
Louis VI the Fat	29 July 1108	1 Aug 1137	Son of Philip I	King of the Franks
Louis VII the Young	1 Aug 1137	18 Sept 1180	Son of Philip I	King of the Franks
Philip II Augustus	18 Sept 1180	14 July 1223	Son of Louis VII	King of the Franks; King of France;
Louis VIII the Lion	14 July 1223	8 Nov 1226	Son of Philip II Augustus	King of France

Philip Augustus 1180-1223

Philip II, called Philip Augustus was King of France from 1180 to 1223.  Philip's predecessors had been known as kings of the Franks, but from 1190 onward, Philip became the first monarch to style himself king of France.

He built the massive Louvre fortress, designed to protect the right bank of the Seine against an English attack from Normandy.  After a twelve-year struggle in the Anglo-French War of 1202-14, Philip II of France acted decisively to exploit the weaknesses of King John of England, both legally and militarily.

He broke up the large Angevin Empire presided over by the crown of England and defeated a coalition of his rivals (German, Flemish and English) at the Battle of Bouvines in 1214.  This victory would have a lasting impact on western European politics: the authority of the French king became unchallenged.

Philip II transformed France from a small feudal state into the most prosperous and powerful country in Europe.  He checked the power of the nobles and helped the towns to free themselves from seigniorial authority, granting privileges and liberties to the emergent bourgeoisie.

Normandy dynasty 987-1154

In 1066, Duke William of Normandy defeated Harold II of England and was subsequently crowned King of England.  William and his nobles spoke and conducted court in Norman French, in England as well as in Normandy.  The use of the Anglo-Norman language by the aristocracy endured for centuries and left an indelible mark in the development of Middle English.

Anglo-Norman and French relations became complicated after 1066 Conquest.  The Norman dukes retained control of their holdings in Normandy as vassals owing fealty to the King of France, but they were his equals as kings of England.

Name	King From	King Until	Claim	Death
William I, the Bastard, the Conqueror	Dec 1066	Sept 1087	Son of Robert I, Duke of Normandy	Aged 59 after wounding himself on the saddle when his horse stumbled.
William II, Rufus	Sept 1087	Aug 1100	Son of William I (appointment)	Aged 42 when shot with an arrow, events still unclear.
Henry I, Beauclerc	Aug 1100	Dec 1135	Son of William I (seizure of the crown)	Aged 67 apparently from eating a surfeit of lampreys
Stephen of Blois	Dec 1135	Oct 1154	Son of Stephen, Count of Blois; Grandson of William I (appointment/ usurpation)	Aged about 58 from dysentery
Empress Matilda	Jul 1141	Nov 1141	Daughter of Henry I (seizure of the crown)	Aged 65, died 1167

Empress Matilda was declared heir presumptive by her father Henry I, after the death of her brother, and acknowledged as such by the barons.  However, upon Henry I's death, the throne was seized by Matilda's cousin, Stephen of Blois.  The Anarchy ensued, with Matilda being a de facto ruler for a few months in 1141—the first woman so to be—but she was never crowned.

Stephen came to an agreement with Matilda in November 1153 with the signing of the Treaty of Wallingford, where Stephen recognized her son, Henry of Anjou, as the heir-apparent to the throne in lieu of his own son, who had died that August.

House of Anjou, The Angevin Empire 1154-1216

Tensions between the English and French thrones over continental land had increased after William the Conqueror's descendants in England had gained further lands in France. Henry II of Anjou, King of England (r. 1154-1189) inherited the County of Anjou from his father and control of the Dukedom of Aquitaine through his wife Eleanor of Aquitaine.

Eleanor of Aquitaine was Queen of France (1137-1152) as the wife of King Louis VII, Queen of England (1154-1189) as the wife of King Henry II, and Duchess of Aquitaine in her own right from 1137 until her death in 1204.  As the heir of the House of Poitiers, rulers in southwestern France, she was one of the wealthiest and most powerful women in western Europe during the Middle Ages.

As Queen of France, Eleanor participated in the unsuccessful Second Crusade (1147-1150).  Soon afterwards, she sought an annulment of her marriage.  Eventually, Louis agreed to an annulment, as 15 years of marriage had not produced a son.  Their daughters were declared legitimate, custody was awarded to Louis, and Eleanor's lands were restored.

Name	King From	King Until	Claim	Death
Henry II, Curtmantle	Dec 1154	July 1189	Son of Geoffrey V of Anjou and Matilda, daughter of Henry I	Aged 56
Henry the Young	1170	June 1183	Son of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine	Aged 28, co-ruler with his father
Richard I, the Lionheart	Sept 1189	April 1199	Son of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine (primogeniture)	Aged 41, from an arrow wound in the shoulder that became infected
John, Lackland	April 1199	Oct 1216	brother of Richard I (appointment)	Aged 49, probably from dysentery brought on by eating peaches and drinking wine.

However, Henry imprisoned Eleanor in 1173 for supporting the revolt of their eldest son, Henry, against him.  Eleanor was not released until July 1189, when her husband died and their third son, Richard I, ascended the throne.  As queen dowager, Eleanor acted as regent while Richard went on the Third Crusade.  She lived well into the reign of her youngest son, John.

They ruled over the Angevin Empire during the 12th and 13th centuries, an area stretching from the Pyrenees to Ireland.  They did not regard England as their primary home until most of their continental domains were lost by King John.

Though the Angevin Dynasty was short-lived, their male line descendants included the House of Plantagenet, Lancaster and York in England.

Richard I the Lionheart 1189-1199

Richard I was known as Richard the Lionheart because of his reputation as a great military leader and warrior.  He was a central Christian commander during the Third Crusade (1189-1192), leading the campaign after the departure of Philip II of France and scoring considerable victories against his Muslim counterpart, Saladin.

He also ruled as Duke of Normandy, Aquitaine and Gascony, Lord of Cyprus, Count of Poitiers, Anjou, Maine, and Nantes, and Overlord of Brittany at various times during the same period.  He lived for most of his adult life in Aquitaine in southwestern France.  Following his accession, he spent very little time, perhaps as little as six months, in England; most of his life as king was spent on Crusade, in captivity, or in actively defending his lands in France.

Rather than regarding his kingdom as a responsibility requiring his presence as ruler, he has been perceived as preferring to use it merely as a source of revenue to support his armies.   Nevertheless, he was seen as a pious hero by his subjects and remains one of the few kings of England remembered by his epithet, rather than regnal number, and is an enduring iconic figure both in England and in France.

His successor, his younger brother John, however, lost much of those territories following the disastrous Battle of Bouvines in 1214.

Byzantine Emperors and the Crusades 1056-1204

Michael VI Bringas, a court bureaucrat and stratiotikos logothetes, was crowned emperor by Theodora on August 1056.  He was deposed by military revolt under Isaac Komnenos.  Isaac was crowned emperor in the Hagia Sophia on September 1057.

However, in summer 1059, Isaac Komnenos fell ill and abdicated his throne in favour of Constantine X Doukas.

Doukid and Komnenid dynasties 1059-1185

During the Doukid dynasty (1059-1081), Byzantium was fighting a losing battle against the Seljuk Turks, losing most of its remaining possessions in Asia Minor following the catastrophic defeat at the Battle of Manzikert in 1071 and the following civil war after the death of Romanos IV Diogenes.

The Byzantium also incurred substantial loss of territory in the Balkans, to the Serbs, as well as losing its final foothold in Italy to the Normans.

Byzantium under the Komnenoi (1081-1185) played a key role in the history of the Crusades in the Holy Land, while also exerting enormous cultural and political influence in Europe, the Near East, and the lands around the Mediterranean Sea.

The Crusades 1095–1204

The First Crusade was launched on 27 November 1095 by Pope Urban II with the primary goal of responding to an appeal from Byzantine Emperor Alexios I of Komnenos, who requested that western volunteers come to his aid and help to repel the invading Seljuk Turks from Anatolia.  An additional goal soon became the principal objective: the Christian re-conquest of the sacred city of Jerusalem and the freeing of the Eastern Christians from Muslim rule.

The First Crusade established the first four crusader states in the Eastern Mediterranean, including the Kingdom of Jerusalem (1099-1291), Edessa, Antioch and Tripoli (around 1098-1289), as the first experiments in "Europe Overseas".

The Second Crusade 1145-1148

The fall of Edessa in November 1144 caused great consternation in Jerusalem and Western Europe, tampering the enthusiastic success of the First Crusade. In December 1145 the recently elected pope Eugene III was calling for a new crusade, one that would be more organized and a route that would be pre-planned. The armies would be led by the strongest kings of Europe.

The pope called on Bernard of Clairvaux to preach the Second Crusade.  Among those answering the call were Louis VII of France and Conrad III of Germany.  Louis, his wife, Eleanor of Aquitaine, and many princes and lords prostrated themselves at the feet of Bernard to take the cross.  Conrad and his nephew Frederick Barbarossa also received the cross from the hand of Bernard.

Conrad engaged the Seljuks of Rûm under sultan Mesud I.  Mesud and his forces almost totally destroyed Conrad's contingent at the Second Battle of Dorylaeum in October 1147.

The French met the remnants of Conrad's army in northern Turkey, and Conrad joined Louis's force. They fended off a Seljuk attack at the Battle of Ephesus in December 1147.  Louis was not as lucky at the Battle of Mount Cadmus in January 1148 when the army of Mesud inflicted heavy losses on the Crusaders.

The disastrous performance of this campaign damaged the standing of the papacy, soured relations between the Christians of the kingdom and the West for many years, and encouraged the Muslims of Syria to even greater efforts to defeat the Franks.

The Third Crusade 1187-1192

The Second Crusade left the Muslim East in a stronger position with the rise of the Ayyubid Saladin, sultan of Egypt and Syria.  A united Egypt-Syria led to the fall of Jerusalem in 1187 and the launch of Third Crusade.

Gregory VIII issued the bull Audita tremendi on 29 October 1187 describing the events in the East and calling for a new crusade to the Holy Land to be led by Frederick Barbarossa and Richard I of England.

Frederick sent an ultimatum to Saladin, demanding the return of Palestine and challenging him to battle in May 1189.  In March 1190, Frederick embarked to Asia Minor.  The armies pushed on through Anatolia, defeating the Turks and reaching as far as Cilician Armenia.  In June 1190, however, Frederick drowned near Silifke Castle and his death caused several thousand German soldiers to leave the force.  The remaining German army moved under the command of the English and French forces that arrived shortly thereafter.

Richard I England and Philip II of France agreed to go on the Crusade in January 1188.  Richard led his support to the stalemated siege of Acre.  The Muslim defenders surrendered on July 1191.  Richard remained in sole command of the Crusader force after the departure of Philip II on July 1191.

On 2 September 1192 Richard and Saladin entered into the Treaty of Jaffa, providing that Jerusalem would remain under Muslim control, while allowing unarmed Christian pilgrims and traders to freely visit the city.  This treaty ended the Third Crusade.

Angelid dynasty 1185-1204

The Angeloi rose to the throne following the deposition of the last male-line Komnenos.  Whilst in power, the Angeloi failed to stop the invasions of the Turks by the Sultanate of Rum, the successful uprising and resurrection of the Bulgarian Empire, and the loss of the Dalmatian coast and much of the Balkan areas to the Kingdom of Hungary.

The weakening of the Angeloi dynasty invited the end of the empire centered at Constantinople when in 1204 soldiers of the Fourth Crusade overthrew the last Angeloi Emperor Alexios V.  Both the Crusaders and the citizens of Constantinople agreed that Alexios V had to go.

Crowns of Castile and Aragon, Kingdom of Portugal 1230-1302

Crown of Aragon 1162-1302

The Crown of Aragon originated in 1137, when the Kingdom of Aragon and the County of Barcelona merged by dynastic union upon the marriage of Petronilla of Aragon and Raymond Berenguer IV of Barcelona; their individual titles combined in the person of their son Alfonso II of Aragon (r.1162-1196).

Alfonso II inherited two realms and with them, two different expansion processes.  The House of Jiménez looked south in a battle against Castile for the control of the Iberian peninsula.  The House of Barcelona looked north to its origins, Occitania, where through family ties it had significant influence, towards the south along the Mediterranean coast and towards the Mediterranean sea.

In Sicily, opposition to French taxation combined with incitement of rebellion by agents from the Crown of Aragon and the Byzantine Empire led to the successful insurrection of the Sicilian Vespers followed by the invitation and intervention by king Peter III of Aragon in 1282.

The resulting War of the Sicilian Vespers (fought in Sicily, Catalonia (the Aragonese Crusade) and elsewhere in the western Mediterranean) lasted until the Peace of Caltabellotta in 1302.

The war resulted in the division of the old Kingdom of Sicily; Charles II of Anjou (r. 1285-1309) was confirmed as king of Sicily's peninsular territories ("Kingdom of Sicily on the other side of the Strait", that is, Naples), while Frederick III of Aragon was confirmed as king of the island territories ("Kingdom of Sicily across the Strait", that is, Trinacria).

The house of Anjou rule in Naples ended in 1442 when Alfonso V of Aragon (r.1416-1458) conquered Naples and crowned as King Alfonso I of Naples in 1442.

Crown of Castile 1217-1284

Ferdinand III (r. 1217-1252) received the Kingdom of Castile from his mother, Queen Berengaria of Castile (granddaughter of Sancho III) in 1217, and the Kingdom of León from his father Alfonso IX of León (son of Ferdinand II) in 1230.  From then on the two kingdoms were united under the name of the Kingdom of León and Castile, or simply as the Crown of Castile.

Ferdinand III later conquered the Guadalquivir Valley, while his son Alfonso X (r. 1252-1284) conquered the Kingdom of Murcia from Al-Andalus, further extending the area of the Crown of Castile.

Spanish language

In the last years of the reign of Ferdinand III, Castilian (later Spanish) began to be used for important documents, such as the Visigothic Code, the basis of the legal code for Christians living in Muslim Cordova.  During the reign of Alfonso X that it became the official language.

Henceforth all public documents were written in Castilian, all translations of Arabic legal and government documents were made into Castilian instead of Latin.

Kingdom of Portugal 1130-1279

The Kingdom of Portugal was established from the County of Portugal in the 1130s, ruled by the Portuguese House of Burgundy.  The monarchs of Portugal all came from a single ancestor, but direct lines have sometimes ended.  This has led to a variety of royal houses coming to rule Portugal, though all having Portuguese royal lineage.

Afonso I, son of Henry of Burgundy and Theresa, daughter of King Alfonso VI of León and Castile, achieved the independence of the southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia, from Galicia's overlord, the King of León.  In 1139, he established the kingdom, became King Afonso I of Portugal (r. 1139-1185) and doubling its area with the Reconquista.  

The Portuguese part in the Reconquista was essentially completed with the ascension of Afonso III of Portugal (r. 1248-1279), the first to claim the title of King of Portugal and the Algarve.  In his reign the Algarve, the southernmost region of continental Portugal, became part of the kingdom.

Kingdoms of Slavs, Magyars and Turkics in Eastern Europe 830-1300

First and Second Bulgarian Empire 681-1018, 1185-1396

The First Bulgarian Empire was founded circa 681 when Bulgar tribes led by Asparukh moved to the northeastern Balkans.  There they secured Byzantine recognition of their right to settle south of the Danube by defeating (with the help of local South Slavic tribes) the Byzantine army led by Constantine IV.

It entered into a centuries-long interaction with the Byzantine Empire.  Bulgaria emerged as Byzantium's chief antagonist to its north.  The two powers also enjoyed periods of peace and alliance, most notably during the Second Arab siege of Constantinople, where the Bulgarian army broke the siege and destroyed the Arab army.   Byzantium had a strong cultural influence on Bulgaria, which led to the eventual adoption of Christianity in 864.  After the disintegration of the Avar Khaganate, the country expanded its territory northwest to the Pannonian Plain.

Bulgaria became the cultural center of Slavic Europe after the adoption of Christianity.   Its leading cultural position was further consolidated in the capital Preslav with the invention of the Glagolitic and early Cyrillic alphabets.  The Bulgars and other non-Slavic tribes in the empire gradually adopted an essentially foreign Slavic language.  Since the late 10th century, the name Bulgarians gained prevalence and became permanent designations for the local population.

Under Tsar Simeon I (Simeon the Great), who was educated in Constantinople, Bulgaria became again a serious threat to the Byzantine Empire and reached its greatest territorial extension.  Simeon I hoped to take Constantinople and fought a series of wars with the Byzantines throughout his long reign (893-927).  he styled himself "Emperor (Tsar) of the Bulgarians and Autocrat of the Greeks".

Bulgarian power slowly declined after Simeon's death in 927.  In a peace treaty the same year, the Byzantines officially recognized the Imperial title of his son Peter I and the Bulgarian Patriarchate.  Peter faced internal problems, and in the 930s he was forced to recognize the independence of Rascia (Principality of Serbia).

In 1018, when the Byzantine emperor Basil II conquered the First Bulgarian Empire, he ruled it cautiously.  The existing tax system, laws, and the power of low-ranking nobility remained unchanged until his death in 1025.  The autocephalous Bulgarian Patriarchate was subordinated to the Ecumenical Patriarch in Constantinople and downgraded to an archbishopric centred in Ohrid, while retaining its autonomy and dioceses.

As the Byzantine Empire declined under Basil's successors, invasions of Pechenegs and rising taxes contributed to increasing discontent, which resulted in several major uprisings in 1040-41, the 1070s, and 1080s.

The Second Bulgarian Empire (1185–1396) was a successor state to the first empire, it reached the peak of its power under Tsars Kaloyan and Ivan Asen II before gradually being conquered by the Ottomans in the late 14th and early 15th centuries.

Great Moravia, Duchy of Bohemia-Moravia 830-1198

Great Moravia was the first major state that was predominantly Slavonic to emerge in the area of Central Europe.  Its core territories were located on the Morava River.

In the 6th century, the territory was settled by West Slavs who filled the central European void left by the the Hunnic rules.  These Slavs appear to have moved in as new ruling elite, governing previous populations of Celts and Germans and creating an ethnic mixture that can still be seen today in Czechia.  For a time the Slavs were governed by the Avars, until they were cleared by a short-lived kingdom under Samo which covered parts of Carinthia, Hungary and Moravia.

The Moravian state was probably founded in the early 830s under Prince Mojmír I, (r. 820s/830s–846), who is the first known Moravian ruler.  Mojmír and his successor, Rastislav (r. 846-870), initially acknowledged the suzerainty of the Carolingian monarchs, but their fight for independence caused a series of armed conflicts with East Francia beginning in the 840s.

Bohemia came under the rule of the Dukes of Bohemia (the Přemyslid dynasty), after the former was broken up in 907 having ultimately succumbed, weakened by years of internal conflict and the continual incursions of the invading nomadic Magyars.  Later, Bohemia was granted the March of Moravia by Otto the Great to Boleslaus I for his aid in the defeat of the Magyars at the Battle of Lechfeld in 955.

With Bohemia's conversion to Christianity in the 9th century, close relations were forged with the East Frankish kingdom, then the Holy Roman Empire of which the Kingdom of Bohemia had been an autonomous part.

Principality and Grand Principality of Serbia 822-1371

The Principality of Serbia was ruled by the Vlastimirović dynasty (822-969) in Southeastern Europe.  In 822, the Serbs were said to rule the "greater part of Dalmatia", and at the same time the Bulgars had taken the lands to the east, preparing to conquer Serbia.  Its first ruler Vlastimir defeated the Bulgar army in 839-842, and the two powers lived in peace for some decades.

Switching loyalties between Bulgaria and the Byzantines, the Serb rulers successfully resisted Bulgarian invasions until 924.  The Bulgarian rule over Serbia lasted only three years and Časlav Klonimirović (927-960s) led Serb refugees back to Serbia.  The Serbian principality was centred in Raška until 960, when it was left in obscurity in sources after the Byzantine–Bulgarian wars.

When the Byzantines finally defeated the Bulgarians in 1018, they regained control over most of the Balkans for the first time in four centuries.  Serbian lands were governed by the Theme of Sirmium.  However, local Serbian princes continued to reign as suzerains to the Byzantines, maintaining total autonomy over their lands.

Grand Principality of Serbia (1091-1217) was formed in 1091 out of a vassal principality of Duklja, which had itself emerged from the Serbian principality centered in Raška.

Principality and Kingdom of Hungary 895-1091

Initially, the rising Principality of Hungary was a state consisting of a semi-nomadic people.  It accomplished an enormous transformation into a Christian realm during the 10th century.  The year 972 marked the date when the ruling prince Géza of the Árpád dynasty officially started to integrate Hungary into the Christian Western Europe.

His first-born son, Saint Stephen I became the first King of Hungary.  Ladislaus I extended Hungary's frontier in Transylvania and invaded Croatia in 1091.

In 1241, Hungary was invaded by the Mongols.  The Mongols finally destroyed the combined Hungarian and Cuman armies at the Battle of Muhi.

After the end of the Mongol invasion In 1242, numerous fortresses to defend against future invasion were erected by Béla IV of Hungary.  In gratitude, the Hungarians acclaimed him as the "Second Founder of the Homeland", and the Hungarian Kingdom again became a considerable force in Europe.

Kingdom of Croatia and in the union with Hungary 925-1102

The Kingdom of Croatia wascomprising most of what is today Croatia (without most of Istria and some Dalmatian coastal cities), as well as parts of modern-day Bosnia and Herzegovina.  Its existence was characterized by various conflicts and periods of peace or alliance with the Bulgarians, Byzantines, Hungarians, and competition with Venice for control over the eastern Adriatic coast.

The goal of promoting the Slavic language in the religious service was initially brought and introduced by the 10th century bishop Gregory of Nin, which resulted in a conflict with the Pope.

In the second half of the 11th century Croatia managed to secure most coastal cities of Dalmatia with the collapse of Byzantine control over them.  During this time the kingdom reached its peak under the rule of kings Peter Krešimir IV (1058-1074) and Demetrius Zvonimir (1075-1089).

The Kingdom entered a union with the Kingdom of Hungary in 1102, after a period of rule of kings from the Trpimirović and Svetoslavić dynasties and a succession crisis following the death of king Demetrius Zvonimir.

With the coronation of King Coloman of Hungary as "King of Croatia and Dalmatia" in 1102 in Biograd, the realm passed to the Árpád dynasty until 1301, when the (male) line of the dynasty died out.

Kngdom of Poland and Teutonic Order 966-1226

The basis for the development of a Polish state was laid by the Piast dynasty, which had been preeminent since the 10th century.  Duke Mieszko I chose to be baptized in the Western Latin Rite in 966, which established a major cultural boundary in Europe.  He completed the unification of the West Slavic tribal lands fundamental to the existence of Kingdom of Poland.

In 1000, during the Congress of Gniezno, Poland was recognized as a state by the Holy Roman Empire and the Pope.  In 1025, Duke Boleslaus I the Brave was crowned King of Poland, marking the starting date for a Polish Kingdom, though for long years the Poles were ruled by Dukes.

Upon Bolesław III's death (the last duke of the early period) in 1138, Poland was divided among his sons.  The resulting internal fragmentation eroded the initial Piast monarchy structure in the 12th and 13th centuries.

In 1226, Konrad I of Masovia (r.1229-1243) invited the Teutonic Knights to help him fight the Baltic Prussian pagans, which led to centuries of Poland's warfare with the Knights and the German Prussian states.

The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem, commonly known as the Teutonic Order, is a Catholic religious order founded as a military order c. 1190 in Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem.

It was initially formed from a German hospital established in Jerusalem to aid Christians on their pilgrimages to the Holy Land.  Its members have commonly been known as the Teutonic Knights, having a small voluntary and mercenary military membership, for the protection of Christians in the Holy Land.

After Christian forces were defeated in the Middle East, in 1211, the order was invited by King Andrew II of Hungary to move to Transylvania to help defend the southeastern borders of the Kingdom of Hungary against the Cumans.  The Knights were expelled by Andrew II in 1225, after attempting to build their own state within Transylvania.

Principalities of Wallachia and Moldovia 1200-1330

Vlach is a blanket term covering several modern Latin peoples descending from the Latinized population in the present-day territory of Romania and Moldova.  They were identified during the 11th century.

According to some linguists and scholars, the existence of the present Eastern Romance languages proves the survival of the Thraco-Romans in the Lower Danube basin during the Age of Migrations, while populations from the western Balkans historically referred to as "Vlachs" could have also had Romanized Illyrian origins.

During the late ninth century the Hungarians invaded the Pannonian basin, where the province of Pannonia was inhabited (according to the Gesta Hungarorum written around 1200 by a chancellor of King Bela III) by the "Slavs, Bulgarians, Vlachs and the shepherds of the Romans".

In 1213, an army of Romans (Vlachs), Saxons and Pechenegs attacked the Bulgars and Cumans from Vidin.  The Germanic Saxons were settled in Transylvania from the 12th century onwards.

Kievan Rus' 887-1240

Kievan Rus' was a loose federation of East Slavic tribes in Europe from the late 9th to the mid-13th century, under the reign of the Rurik dynasty.  The modern peoples of Belarus, Ukraine, and Russia all claim Kievan Rus' as their cultural inheritance.

They begins with the rule (882-912) of Prince Oleg, who extended his control from Novgorod south along the Dnieper river valley in order to protect trade from Khazar incursions from the east and moved his capital to the more strategic Kiev.  Sviatoslav I achieved the first major expansion of Kievan Rus' territorial control, fighting a war of conquest against the Khazars.

Vladimir the Great (980-1015) introduced Christianity with his own baptism and, by decree, that of all the inhabitants of Kiev and beyond.  The conversion of the Bulgarians, Serbs and Rus to Orthodox Christianity permanently changed the religious map of Europe and still resonates today.  Cyril and Methodius, two Byzantine Greek brothers contributed significantly to the Christianization of the Slavs.

The state declined during the 12th century, disintegrating into various rival regional powers.  It was further weakened by economic factors such as the collapse of Rus' commercial ties to Byzantium (due to the decline of Constantinople and the trade routes through its territory).  They finally fell to the Mongol invasion of the 1240s.