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Roger II, after having unified Sicily and the South in the New Kingdom of Sicily, also conquered the Tunisian coast and Tripoli in Libya.

Documented transit of the comet that would later be named Halley’s Comet centuries later. Its passage is immortalized in the Eadwine Psalter manuscript, preserved at Trinity College, Cambridge.

Municipality of Rome. The newly formed civic assembly, called the Senate in honor of the classical era, appointed Giordano Pierleoni as city rector.

The new Pope, Lucius II, assembles a large army from his holdings in the Lazio countryside and calls upon it to attack the Capitoline Hill to regain control. The Commune of Rome, however, has fortified it and repel the attack.

Rome. Pope Innocent II dies. He is succeeded by Lucius II. He is always supported by the Frangipane family, and always opposed by the Pierleoni family.

The citizens of the Municipality of Rome occupy the Capitoline Hill, where Pope Innocent II resides. The Municipality is supported by the Pierleoni family, while the Pope is supported by the Frangipane family. This is the birth certificate of the Municipality of Rome. The city,

War between Tivoli and Rome: the Romans return in force and defeat their rivals in open battle. Tivoli requests the intervention of Pope Innocent II to negotiate terms of surrender. The pontiff grants Tivoli favorable terms, provoking Roman resentment.

War between Tivoli and Rome: a first siege of Tivoli by the Romans fails due to a victorious sortie by the defenders.

Great Lakes Region, North America. Gradual emergence of the League of Five Iroquois Nations. Corn was cultivated in Ontario as early as 1100 AD, in what would become the Attiwandaronk territory. In the centuries immediately following, the three sisters (corn, beans, and squash) would assume

War breaks out between Tivoli and Rome for control of Lazio.

Transoxiana, Central Asia. Battle of Qatvan: A coalition led by the last notable Seljuk ruler, Sanjar, is soundly defeated by an equally powerful army of Qida, Turks, and Mongols led by Yelu Dashi. The Qidans will occupy the entire area.

Indian king Parakkramabahu revives Buddhist worship and re-establishes the rule of Southern Buddhism or Theravada

Stephen of Blois, king of England

friar named John of Worcester, while studying the Sun, drew a diagram of the solar surface with two large black spots on it. Two days later, 14,000 km away in Korea, an astronomer described the sky as covered with deep red vapor. They had actually

The Crusaders and Venetians conquer Tyre, securing all the ports north of Egypt for the Christians.

Setting of the book “The Pillars of the Earth” by Ken Follet

Jaffa, now Israel. The Venetian fleet under the command of Doge Dominico Michiel arrives in Jaffa, attacked by the Egyptians from land and sea. The Doge’s galley rams the ship carrying the Egyptian admiral, capsizing it. The Venetian victory is resounding, and the victorious fleet

The White Ship sank with illustrious personalities on board, including the son and heir of King Henry of England.

The German monk Theophilus wrote De Diversis Artibus, rightly considered the first technological treatise of the Middle Ages.

Modena Cathedral: the sarcophagus of Saint Geminiano is opened in the presence of Pope Paschal II and Countess Matilda of Canossa. This is the first time since the saint’s death in 398, a full seven centuries earlier!

Consecration of Modena Cathedral in the presence of Pope Paschal II and Countess Matilda of Canossa

The body of San Geminiano is brought to the Cathedral of Modena, just completed

Venice. The walled Arsenal is built, a gigantic shipyard and weapons factory. It will quickly become the largest manufacturing facility in all of Christendom and will remain so for several centuries. Venetian naval power will dominate the Mediterranean for another seven centuries.

The communal movement takes hold in Northern France and the Netherlands.

In Christianity (still Catholicism), there is a promotion of women. The cult of the Virgin is recognized as a turning point in Christian spirituality, emphasizing the redemption of sinful women through Mary, the new Eve. This shift can be seen even in the cult of

Northern Italy. Italian cities have a reputation for being rebellious and resistant to imperial rule (the Holy Roman Empire). The situation is most acute in Lombardy, and the heart of the problem for Frederick Barbarossa lies in Milan, one of the largest cities in the

Universities are flourishing in Europe

Netherlands. The Oude Delft Canal is dug, which will give the city of Delft its name.

Venice receives concessions and commercial privileges in all the Crusader domains in the Eastern Mediterranean, granted by Godfrey of Bouillon, in exchange for the support of the Venetian fleet in the Crusader attack on Jaffa (or Jaffa, today Tel Aviv).

Jaffa, now Israel. The Venetian fleet supports Godfrey of Bouillon’s crusaders in their attack on Jaffa (now Tel Aviv).

Mississippi Plain and the eastern coast of North America, now the Eastern United States. Bean cultivation arrives from Mexico, much later than in Mexico due to the barrier of North America’s deserts. And even later than in Eurasia. Thus, the Mexican trinity of corn, beans,

At the court of the Norman king Roger II, al-Idrisi used the Arabic translation of Ptolemy’s Geography to make some improvements to the calculations.

The seabird, the auk, is present in millions of individuals from Iceland to Newfoundland, from Norway to Italy, and even Florida. In Scandinavia, it is regularly eaten for dinner, being an easy prey for the local inhabitants. In the 17th century, its numbers were in

The Crusaders take Jerusalem

Pope Urban II uses a request for help from the Byzantine Empire as an excuse to launch the Crusades. Jerusalem falls that same year, and the Crusaders dominate for a century.

Construction of the new Modena Cathedral begins on the site of the existing cathedral. Architect: Lanfranco, Sculptor: Wiligelmo. The construction of the Cathedral and Modena begins.

The University of Bologna is founded

William the Red king of England

Venice receives the Golden Bull from the Byzantine Emperor Alexius, granting it commercial privileges and exemption from duties.

Alexius Comnenus revives the fortunes of the Byzantine Empire, which regains a leading role in European and Mediterranean politics, after having suffered the heavy blow of the loss of southern Italy (to the Normans) and Anatolia (to the Seljuk Turks).

The Norman prince Robert, known as Guiscard (the Cunning), master of Bari, Amalfi, Salerno, and all of Sicily, also coveted Greece and the Byzantine Empire itself. In Albania, he besieged Durazzo. The Venetian war fleet, commanded by the Doge himself, arrived to aid the city.

The dispute between Matilda of Canossa and Henry IV dragged on until, on 2 July 1084, the coalition favouring the papacy, swelled by the Bolognese militia, managed to defeat the imperials at Sorbara near Modena.

Strengthened by his renewed credibility, Henry IV undertook a new expedition to Italy in 1081 to reassert his rule. One of his first acts was the decree deposing Matilda, who was banished from the empire. However, the Grand Countess did not give up, and while

Imperial retaliation for Matilda’s outrage was not long in coming: Henry IV convened a council in Bressanone, obtaining the Pope’s deposition.

Now completely at odds with imperial policy, Matilda donated her lands to the Pope. A dangerous outrage, given the sovereign’s rights to them, both as a feudal lord and as a close relative.

In the winter of 1076-1077, Henry and his mother-in-law, Countess Adelaide of Susa, began their penitential procession to Canossa to obtain the revocation of their excommunication by Pope Gregory VII. They were accompanied by their brother-in-law Amadeus II of Savoy and the Marquis Azzorre d’Este.

Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor, disguised as a pilgrim, obtains the pardon of Pope Gregory VII beneath the walls of Canossa Castle. Indeed, at the Diet of Worms, Pope Gregory VII was deposed and slandered; subsequently, the German princes, seeking to reduce the emperor’s power,

Muslims are expelled from Sicily

Poland. Bolesław the Bold is crowned king of Poland in Gniezno. He will be the last.

The Norman prince Robert, known as Guiscard (the Cunning), after Bari and Amalfi, also conquers Salerno, while his brother seizes Sicily. He covets Greece and the Byzantine Empire, but is stopped by the rising power of Venice.

The Investiture Controversy with the Papacy breaks out. Many cities side with the latter, rejecting the authority of the Holy Roman Empire. The Empire gradually loses control over Italy’s cities, and the authority of the communes increasingly asserts itself. The commune experience is based on

The monk Hildebrand is acclaimed pope with the name of Gregory VII

Manzikert, Eastern Anatolia, near Lake Van. European historian Michael Attaleiates documents, as an eyewitness, the Crusaders’ defeat against the Seljuk Turks. They went so far as to conquer Jerusalem, which prompted Pope Urban II’s call for the Crusade of 1096.

The Norman prince Robert, known as Guiscard (the Cunning), conquers Bari and Amalfi. In 1076, he conquers Salerno while his brother seizes Sicily. He covets Greece and the Byzantine Empire, but is stopped by the rising power of Venice.

Le Mans, France. The inhabitants rebel against William the Bastard (or William the Conqueror), who is busy conquering England across the Channel.

England. The House of Normandy reigns, with 5 sovereigns: William I the Bastard or the Conquerer, William II Rufus, Henry I Beauclerc, Stephen of Blois, Empress Matilda

William the Conquerer (also called the Bastard) crowned King in England and the Scottish clans ally (Scoti) England thus moves from the Scandinavian orbit to that of chaotic Western Europe

The Normans conquer England. Claiming his right to the English throne, William, Duke of Normandy, begins his invasion of England at Pevensey. William was the cousin of Edward the Confessor, the English king who died childless in 1066. Fifteen years earlier, Edward had supposedly nominated

King Edward the Confessor of England (who succeeded Harencut, son of Cnut, son of King Svein Forkbeard of Denmark) dies without an heir; he is succeeded by Harold Godwinson who has to face the invasion of the Norwegians and the Normans; he first defeats King

Documented transit of the comet that would later be named Halley’s Comet centuries later. Its passage is immortalized in the Bayeux Tapestry, which depicts the Battle of Hastings, which occurred a few months later.

England is part of the great Northern Community which includes Norway, Sweden, Novgorod, Kiev, Russia, Denmark, Iceland, Scotland, Orkney, Greenland, Vinland

William the Conquerer rules in Normandy

Spain, progressive Christian Reconquest over the Arabs

The Normans conquer Arab Sicily.

The Seljuk Turks take over Baghdad, leaving the Abbasid caliphs with only nominal power.

Schism between the Catholic Church of Rome and the Byzantine Greek Orthodox Church.

North America. In present-day East St. Louis, the city of Cahokia flourishes, the capital of a sort of Native American grain-growing state. It reaches a peak population of 15,000 before suddenly fading into oblivion in 1350. To the south, still along the Mississippi, other similar

Persia, the Persian poet Omar Khayyam sings an ode to the joys of wine. The early Persian Renaissance coincides with the obscurantism of medieval Europe, where witches and heretics were burned at the stake.

Modena (then Modona) became a free municipality, with ten thousand inhabitants. The city was governed by the feudal lords, and trade flourished, even with distant destinations, thanks to the Naviglio-Panaro-Po canal.

Poland. Popular uprising in favor of paganism.

Canute the Great, king of Denmark, invades all of England and reigns for twenty years, until then Norwegian kings had ruled York

Basil II, Byzantine Emperor, defeats the Bulgarians again, captures 20,000 of them, all are blinded except one in 100 who is left with one good eye so he can bring the others home.

England. Reign of Sweyn Forkbeard of the House of Denmark.

England. Four sovereigns of the House of Denmark reign, alternating with five sovereigns of the House of Wessex, the penultimate of whom is Harold, killed in battle at Hastings, and the last, Edgar the Aetherling, who reigned for only two months.

Lower Adriatic. The Doge of Venice, Pietro II Orseolo, saves Bari, the capital of Puglia, from Ottoman conquest.

Abdul Ibn Sina (Aviconna for the Latins) began writing the 5 books of the Qanun which for 7 centuries remained the most authoritative treatise on medicine.

The Indian technique of Wootz steel reached the Middle East, where it was refined and used to make the swords used to fight the Crusaders; the result was Damascus steel, in which the carbon was absorbed especially at the edges of the sword, leaving the

There are 320 million people in the world

First Crusades

Christianity extends northward with Tryggvason’s Norway and Olaf Skotkonung’s Sweden.