The History Book

132

THE ARAB ADVANCE IS

HALTED AT TOURS

(732)

By the 8th century, the Islamic

people of the Arabian peninsula

had conquered much of North

Africa and crossed into Europe,

occupying Spain and moving into

southern France. Their northward

expansion seemed unstoppable—

until 732, when they met combined

Frankish and Burgundian troops at

Tours. The Franks and Burgundians

won the battle, and the Arab leader,

Abdul Rahman Al Ghafiqi, was

killed. Although there was another

invasion in 735–39, the Arabs

never got further than Tours.

The Franks kept their power in

Western Europe, Christianity was

preserved as the continent’s

dominant faith, and only Spain

remained under Muslim rule.

ALFRED RULES WESSEX

(871–99)

Alfred was an able ruler and

military leader who successfully

defended his kingdom from Danish

invaders. He expanded his territory

from his base in Wessex (central

southern England), uniting a large

part of southern England under him.

He built fortifications, founded a

navy, encouraged education, and

promoted Old English as a literary

language via translations of Latin

books. Alfred became known as

“King of the English” and, although

the Danes still held the northeast,

is seen as the monarch who first

his rule into northern Italy, creating

what became the Holy Roman

Empire. This major political

power—whose emperors claimed to

be the secular leaders of Christian

Europe, vying with the Popes for

power—dominated much of Europe

for more than 900 years.

THE GREAT SCHISM

(1054)

During the late centuries of the

1st millennium ce, the Eastern

and Western parts of the Christian

church had several disagreements

about authority (with the pope

claiming seniority over the Eastern

patriarchs, but the latter disputing

this), the wording of the Creed,

and liturgical matters. These

disputes came to a head in 1054,

when Pope Leo IX and Patriarch

Michael I excommunicated one

another, creating a split called

the Great Schism. This division

between what are now the

Catholic and Orthodox churches

has never been healed.

THE NORMAN CONQUEST

OF ENGLAND

(1066)

In 1066, the English king Edward

the Confessor died childless, and

a dispute arose over who should

succeed him. One of the claimants

to the throne was Duke William of

Normandy, who invaded England,

defeated the English at the Battle

of Hastings, and was crowned king.

This event forged a long-standing

FURTHER EVENTS

embraced the idea of a united

England with a distinctive culture

based on Christianity and the

English language.

THE SPREAD OF THE

MISSISSIPPI CULTURE

(c.900)

There was a long tradition, lasting

several millennia, of native North

American groups based around

large earth mounds that had been

built for use in rituals or to house

the dwellings of the ruling class.

These communities were mostly

confined to local areas, from Ohio

to Mississippi, but the Mississippi

culture spread widely through

eastern North America. They

grew maize intensively, worked

copper, and developed hierarchical

societies. Recognition of this

complex culture has been a key

element in debunking the idea that

American Indian peoples were

primitive and in forming a clearer

understanding of their civilization.

OTTO I BECOMES

HOLY ROMAN EMPEROR

(962)

German ruler Otto I suppressed

revolts, united the Germanic tribes,

and defeated outside aggressors

such as the Magyars. In addition,

he changed the relationship

between the ruler and the Catholic

church by exercising tight control

over the clergy and using his close

links to the church to increase

royal power. He also extended

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THE MEDIEVAL WORLD 133

link between England and mainland

Europe, in which England’s rulers

held French lands and spoke French.

The Normans introduced a new

ruling class, built castles and

cathedrals, and transformed the

English language with many new

French-based words, all of which

are legacies that still endure.

THE HUNDRED YEARS’ WAR

(1337–1453)

The Hundred Years’ War was a

series of conflicts fought between

England and France that began

when Edward III asserted his

right to the French throne, a claim

that the French Valois dynasty

disputed. By the end of the war,

English possessions in France

had been reduced to the coastal

town of Calais and its immediate

environs. This result transformed

England from a power that aspired

to be part of a larger European

empire to an island nation separate

from Europe. France, inspired

especially by the leadership of

Joan of Arc, gained a stronger

sense of national identity.

THE BATTLE OF GRUNWALD

(1410)

At the Battle of Grunwald, a

combined Polish and Lithuanian

force crushed the army of the

Teutonic Knights. This military

order, set up to assist crusaders

and pilgrims, controlled large

territories in Eastern Europe,

including Prussia and Estonia,

and campaigned against Slavs

and pagans in the Baltic. This

decisive battle put an end to the

Knights’ military power, arrested

German eastward expansion,

and left the Polish–Lithuanian

alliance as the strongest power

in Eastern Europe.

THE MONGOL INVASIONS

OF JAPAN ARE REPULSED

(1274, 1281)

In the late 13th century, the

Mongols were at the height of their

power under their leader Kublai

Khan. From their base in central

Asia, they had moved east to take

control of China. In 1271, they sent

troops by sea to conquer Japan.

The attack was unsuccessful, in

part because the Mongol ships

were caught in a typhoon, referred

to by the Japanese as a kamikaze

(divine wind). The Mongol defeat

was decisive in checking their

advance and shaping the idea

of a strong, independent Japan,

free from outside intervention or

influence. This concept of Japanese

nationhood lasted for centuries.

SCOTLAND UPHOLDS

INDEPENDENCE AT

BANNOCKBURN

(1314)

The Battle of Bannockburn,

Scotland, was a major clash in an

ongoing war between England and

Scotland. Despite being vastly

outnumbered, the Scots, under

King Robert Bruce, inflicted a

heavy defeat on the English and

their ruler Edward II. This left

Bruce in full control of Scotland,

from where he continued to lead

raids on northern England. The war

went on for decades, and Scotland

remained independent until 1707.

The battle was such a sweeping

victory that it is still remembered

as a key event in Scottish history,

symbolizing the independence

from the rest of Britain to which

many Scots still aspire.

THE CONQUESTS OF

TAMERLANE

(1370–1405)

Timur, also known as Tamerlane,

was the last of the great nomadic

Mongol conquerors. In an attempt

to revive the great empire of Kublai

Khan, he roamed widely across

Europe and Asia, from northern

India to Anatolia and Russia. By

the end of the 14th century, he

had conquered Persia, Iraq, Syria,

Afghanistan, and eastern Russia,

destroying Delhi in 1398, and

pushing on toward China in 1405

but dying en route. His empire did

not endure, and Mongol horse-based

fighting techniques were no match

for the firearms that increasingly

drove warfare in the 15th century.

THE HUSSITE REVOLT

(1415–34)

The Hussites, followers of the

religious reformer Jan Hus, were

precursors of the Protestants who

lived in Bohemia (modern Czech

Republic, then part of the Austrian

Habsburg empire) and fought their

Catholic rulers for the freedom to

worship in their own way. Hus

was executed for heresy in 1415,

sparking a series of wars that

eventually led to the defeat of the

Hussites. The area remained under

Catholic Hapsburg rule, but most

of the people of Bohemia stayed

true to their Protestant beliefs.

Their revolt against their Catholic

rulers in 1618 triggered the Thirty

Years’ War, when the Bohemian

Protestants were again defeated.

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