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St. Benedict established the first monastery at Monte Cassino, Italy. He drew up a set of rules for the monks, which included vows of obedience, poverty and manual labour.
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Arab forces conquer most of the Byzantine territories, formerly occupied by the Persians.
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The Arabs attempt to conquer Constantinople but fail.
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Charlemagne was crowned ruler of the Holy Roman Empire. This act symbolized a union of church and state.
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Charlemagne dies without leaving competent successors to continue the glory of the Carolingian dynasty. The Carolingian Empire falls apart
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William the Conqueror invades England and asserts his right to the English throne at the Battle of Hastings. The Norman Conquest fuses French and English cultures because William is both the King of England and the Duke of Normandy. William brought feudalism and culture from France to England William achieves political stability in England with the introduction of the feudal system. The system progresses over the next two centuries into a national monarchy.
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First Crusade began. The Crusaders were armies of Christians from all over Europe who marched to the Holy Land to regain lands captured by the Turks.
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Second Crusade was launched. This Crusade is generally considered to have been a failure
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Third Crusade was one of the more successful. In it King Richard the Lion-Hearted obtained certain privileges for Christians from the Turkish ruler, Saladin.
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Fourth Crusade launched. In this Crusade the original purpose of the Crusades was abandoned, and the Crusaders burned and sacked many cities and villages on their route. They never reached the Holy Land.
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King John of England was forced to sign the Magna Carta. The Magna Carta gave some basic rights to the people and also said that the king was not above the law.
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Fall of Acre marked the end of the Crusades. Acre, the last Christian city in the Near East, was lost to the Turks.
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It was estimated that one out of every five people in England died. Spread by fleas which infested a huge rat population, the disease is characterized by the victim turning dark purple in the last hours of life due to respiratory failure, hence the name, black plague.
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Joan of Arc, a peasant girl in France, seeks out the French leader and relates her divinely-inspired mission to drive the English out of France. She takes control of the French troops and liberates most of central France.
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Joan of Arc is captured and taken to England. The English accuse her of being a witch and condemn her for heresy. Joan is publicly burned in the city of Rouen.
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Italy is divided into five major regions: Venice, Milan, Florence, the Papal States and the southern kingdom of Naples.
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Henry VI of England (1422-1461) wages the Wars of the Roses. The two sides of the war are the red rose (Henry's family at Lancaster) and the white rose (the house of York). Yorkist Richard III gains the kingship for a short time.
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Ferdinand of Aragon marries Isabella of Castile, and the two Spanish kingdoms end their conflicts but remain separate powers.
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The end of the Wars of the Roses in England, the Tudor dynasty replaces Richard III. Henry VII, the first Tudor king, rules for twenty-four years and revives the English throne. He reestablishes royal power over the aristocracy, ends funding of foreign wars and reforms finances. Parliament also becomes a stable part of the governmental system.
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Ferdinand and Isabella annex Granada, expel all Jews from Spain and seek overseas expansion (for example, as patrons of Christopher Columbus). The flow of American gold and silver through Spain, the conquest of Mexico and Peru and superiority on the battlefield make Spain the most powerful state in Europe.
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