| | | | Aethelstan
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| | 933 | | Edwin is drowned
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| | | | Accused of conspiring against his own family Edwin, Aethelstan's own brother, is put on a ship without sail or rudder to drift. Edwin throws himself into the sea to avoid the horrors of starvation. Edwin's accuser it later found to invented the crime and is put to death. The whole story could be a fabrication and comes from the works by William of Malmesbury. |
Edmund
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Edgar
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| | 962 | | St. Paul's burns down
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| | | | The church of St. Paul's built by Ethelbert burnt down this year. |
Aethelred
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Knut
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| | 1041 | | A year of storms and disease
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| | | | Stormy weather destroyed crops and diseases killed many cattle during the year. |
Edward the Confessor
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| | 1046 | | Severe winter
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| | | | Extremely cold weather caused many deaths amongst animals and people. |
| | 1048 | | Earthquake
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| | | | A large earthquake is supposed to have been felt across England. |
| | 1049 | May 1 | Earthquake in Midlands
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| | | | A large earthquake was felt in Worcester and Derby and many people were reportedly killed. |
| | 1053 | Dec 21 | Strong winds
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| | | | Extremely strong winds destroyed churches and buildings. |
William the Conqueror
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| | 1086 | | Stormy weather and disease
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| | | | Violent storms killed many people while cattle died from disease. |
| | 1087 | | St. Paul's Cathedral Burns down
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| | | | Work on rebuilding St. Paul's Cathedral started after the Old St. Paul's burnt down and a good deal of London as well. The person in charge of the rebuilding work was Mauritius, chaplain to William the Conqueror and Bishop of London. The new Cathedral was reportedly extremely large. |
William Rufus
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| | 1089 | Aug 11 | Earthquake
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| | | | An earthquake was felt across England. |
| | 1091 | | Violent storm hits London
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| | | | London was hit by a terrible storm, possibly a tornado. Damage was done to the Tower of London, the old wooden London Bridge and many churches and buildings. |
| | 1100 | Aug | William buried at Winchester
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| | | | William Rufus was buried under the tower of Winchester Cathedral. The tower fell down (either in 1101 or 1107 ?). The cause was blamed on the wickedness of the King's bones but was probably due to poor construction or uncertain foundations. |
Henry I
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| | 1103 | | Strong winds damage crops
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| | | | On the morning of mass day of St. Lawrence, strong winds did more damage that anyone could remember. |
| | 1106 | Jan | Venice hit by a series of disasters
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| | | | In January Venice was hit by severe floods. Shortly afterwards a fire broke out destroying several districts of the city. Several months later another more deadly fire started. As many of the buildings were constructed of wood the fire spread out of control. The disasters led to future buildings being constructed of stone and brick. |
| | 1111 | | Severe winter
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| | | | An extreme winter prevented the growing of crops and cattle died of disease. |
| | 1113 | Jun | Worcester Cathedral damaged by fire
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| | | | The city of Worcester, its cathedral and castle were damaged by an accidental fire. |
| | 1114 | | Chichester Cathedral fire
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| | | | Chichester Cathedral suffered a disastrous fire in this year. |
| | 1116 | | Fire destroys Peterborough Abbey
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| | | | An accidental fire destroys the abbey at Peterborough. |
| | 1120 | Nov | William Adelin is drowned
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| | | | The son of Henry I was drowned attempting a crossing from Normandy to England. It should have been a straight forward sea crossing from Normandy to England and the weather was good, but the young prince and his young friends had delayed the sailing with their merrymaking in Normandy. The crew of the White Ship were supplied with beer were in no state to handle the ship safely. The ship his rocks and began to sink. Prince William was initially saved and placed in a small boat but on his orders he tried to rescue his sister and the boat was overwhelmed by others hoping to be saved. The small boat tipped over and the prince was drowned. |
| | 1130 | | Fire at Rochester
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| | | | On the same day that Henry I attended the consecration of Rochester Cathedral, a fire took hold in the city and damaged the newly finished building. |
| | 1133 | Aug 4 | Earthquake
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| | | | An eye-witness account (William of Malmesbury) tells of an earthquake affecting many parts of England. (Symeon of Durham’s Historia Regum, by John of Hexham.) This is interesting as it occurred just after an eclipse. See year 1185 when another eclipse and earthquake occurred. |
Stephen
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| | 1136 | | London Bridge damaged by fire
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| | | | The old wooden London Bridge across the Thames was destroyed by fire this year or in 1135. Note that St. Paul's was also damaged so the fire must have affected a large area of the city. |
| | | Jan | A fire at St. Paul's
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| | | | Reconstruction work on the Cathedral at St. Paul's had been going on since the last major fire of 1087, and this fire again did much damage to the building. |
| | 1137 | | Bath Abbey fire
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| | | | A fire badly damages the church at Bath Abbey. |
| | | | York Minster damaged by fire
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| | | | York Minster was partially damaged by fire in this year. The near-by church of St. Mary's and some other 37 churches were also damaged. (Need to find out what was happening here.) |
| | 1141 | | Lincoln Cathedral damaged by fire
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| | | | The roof of the Cathedral burnt down. Bishop Alexander the Magnificent started rebuilding work. |
Henry II
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| | 1174 | | Canterbury Cathedral fire
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| | | | Canterbury Cathedral suffered another disastrous fire and was damaged so badly that it needed almost completely rebuilding. William of Sens was given the task of constructing a new Cathedral. William was injured by a fall from scaffolding and the work was continued by William the Englishman. |
| | 1179 | | Rochester fire
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| | | | In 1177 or 1179 another fire took hold in the city of Rochester damaging the Cathedral. |
| | 1185 | | Earthquake in Sicily
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| | | | Reports of an earthquake in the Plantagenet Chronicles occurring in Sicily. Need to confirm. |
| | | | Lincoln Cathedral damaged
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| | | | Earth tremors damaged the Cathedral at Lincoln beyond repair. The earthquake must have been very powerful as it was said that it was felt throughout the country. Only the West front survived in good shape and rest of the building had to be demolished. |
| | 1187 | | Another fire at Chichester Cathedral
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| | | | Chichester Cathedral suffered another disastrous fire. |
Richard the Lionheart
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| | 1192 | | Rebuilding of Lincoln Cathedral
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| | | | After the damaging earth tremors of 1185 Bishop Hugh of Lincoln started rebuilding work on the Cathedral at Lincoln. His new scheme was followed even after his death apart from minor alterations up to the completion of the Angel Choir in 1280. |
John
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| | 1200 | | Fire destroys the cathedral at Rouen
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| | | | The early cathedral at Rouen in France was badly damaged by a fire that destroyed other churches and parts of the city as well. |
| | 1201 | Jun | Storms do much damage
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| | | | Severe thunderstorms and floods during the summer affected England. |
| | 1211 | | Rheims Cathedral destroyed by fire
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| | | | The French cathedral was left beyond repair after a fire. |
| | 1212 | | A Great fire of London
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| | | | Fire broke out on the southen shore of the River Thames and crossed the river starting more fires on the northen shore. Many people were killed. Boats tried to rescue people trapped on London Bridge but the boats became overloaded and many drowned. This appears to be a big a disaster as the fire of 1666. |
| | 1216 | May 18 | A storm hits John's fleet
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| | | | John's fleet of ships was badly damaged by storms as they prepare to defend against an invasion from France. This left the way open for Prince Louis to sail to England a few days later. |
Henry III
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| | 1237 | | Lincoln tower collapses
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| | | | During a sermon by one of the canons of the cathedral, the newly finished central tower collapsed burying some of the congregation. |
Edward I
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| | 1292 | | Carlisle Cathedral damaged by fire
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| | | | The Cathedral is extensively damaged by fire. |
Edward II
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| | 1323 | | Sections of St. Alban collapses
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| | | | Parts of the ceiling of the church collapsed when several columns in the nave fell down. |
Edward III
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| | 1347 | | The Black Death
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| | | | Kipchak Mongols besieging a Genoese trading centre on the Crimean coast catapulted their own dead into the city. The cause of death was a mysterious disease. The Genoese escaped by sea taking the 'Black Death' with them. They landed at Messina in Sicily. Bubonic plague, which the Black Death was, was spread by the rat flea. The name Black Death came from the colour of the swelling in the groin, armpit or neck. The person suffering went into a coma and dies soon after. In Europe an estimated 25 million people died. The plague reached Britain in 1348 and again in 1360 and the population may have been reduced by a half. |
Richard II
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| | 1382 | May 21 | Earthquake
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| | | | An earthquake occurred somewhere in the Straits of Dover and was felt in southern England and in the Low Countries across the North Sea. The event happened during a meeting to condem the works of John Wycliffe. |
Henry IV
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Henry V
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Henry VI
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Edward IV
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| | 1481 | Jul | Rheims Cathedral damaged by fire
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| | | | The roof and tower of Rheims Cathedral were badly damaged by fire after workmen left a lit brasier unattended overnight in the roof space. |
Edward V
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Richard III
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Henry VII
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| | 1497 | Dec | Sheen Palace burns down
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| | | | Henry VII had plans to spend Christmas at his royal palace of Sheen but it was destroyed by fire. Alternative date of 1498. Henry had the palace rebuilt and renamed the building Richmond Palace in honour of the Earl of Richmond title that he held. |
| | 1508 | Sep 19 | Earthquake
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| | | | This earthquake was felt throughout Scotland and England. |
Henry VIII
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| | 1512 | | Fire damages Westminster Palace
|
| | | | Westminster Palace was damaged by a fire in the year. The Palace had been used as a royal residence up until this point. |
Edward VI
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Mary
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Elizabeth I
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Other Monarchs
|
| | 1625 | Aug | Plague
|
| | | | Britain was affected by another outbreak of the plague. |
