High Middle Ages

As a means of recording the passage of time, the 12th century is the period from 1101 to 1200 in accordance with the Julian calendar in the Common... Era. In the history of European culture, this period is considered part of the High Middle Ages and is sometimes called the Age of the Cistercians. In Song Dynasty China an invasion by Jurchens causes a political schism of north and south. The first ever known use and implementation of gunpowder weapons such as bombs, rockets, and cannons were first recorded in the Song Dynasty. The Khmer Empire of Cambodia flourished during this century, while the Fatimids of Egypt were overtaken by the Ayyubid dynasty. Christian humanism becomes a self-conscious philosophical tendency in Europe. Christianity is introduced to Estonia, Finland, and Karelia. The first European universities are founded. Pierre Abelard teaches. Middle English begins to develop, and literacy begins to spread outside the Church. In addition, churchmen are increasingly willing to take on secular roles- by the end of the century, at least a third of England's bishops also act as royal judges in secular matters.
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As a means of recording the passage of time, the 13th century was that century which lasted from 1201 through 1300 in accordance with the Julian... calendar in the Common Era. In the history of European culture, this period is considered part of the High Middle Ages, and after its conquests in Asia the Mongol Empire stretched from Eastern Asia to Eastern Europe.
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The Battle of Hastings occurred on 14 October 1066 during the Norman conquest of England, between the Norman-French army of Duke William II of... Normandy and the English army under King Harold II. It took place at Senlac Hill, approximately 10 km  northwest of Hastings, close to the present-day town of Battle, East Sussex, and was a decisive Norman victory. Harold II was killed in the battle—legend has it that he was shot through the eye with an arrow. He was the last English king to die in battle on English soil until Richard III was killed at the Battle of Bosworth Field. The battle marked the last successful foreign invasion of the British Isles. Although there was further English resistance, this battle is seen as the point at which William gained control of England, becoming its first Norman ruler as King William I. The battle also established the superiority of the combined arms attack over an army predominately composed of infantry, demonstrating the effectiveness of archers, cavalry and infantry working cooperatively together.
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