The Early Middle Ages (c. 500 – 1000 CE)

476 CE: Fall of the Western Roman Empire throws Europe into political fragmentation.
481 CE: Clovis becomes King of the Franks, uniting Frankish tribes into a central power.
732 CE: Battle of Tours halts the expansion of Islamic forces into Western Europe.
800 CE: Charlemagne is crowned Holy Roman Emperor, consolidating Western Europe.
835 CE: Viking raids and invasions peak across Northern Europe.

The High Middle Ages (c. 1000 – 1300 CE)

1066 CE: William the Conqueror wins the Battle of Hastings, instituting Norman rule in England.
1096 CE: Pope Urban II launches the First Crusade to reclaim Jerusalem.
1150 CE: Elite centers of learning emerge with the founding of the University of Paris and Oxford University.
1215 CE: King John of England signs the Magna Carta, establishing that the monarchy is not above the law.

The Late Middle Ages (c. 1300 – 1500 CE)

1337 CE: The Hundred Years' War begins between England and France.
1347 CE: The Black Death (bubonic plague) enters Europe, decimating nearly half the population.
1453 CE: The Fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Empire ends the Byzantine Empire.
1492 CE: Christopher Columbus reaches the Americas; Spain expels Moorish control, signaling the dawn of the Early Modern era.