istoryworld
Events relating to literature
The Venerable Bede, in his monastery at Jarrow, completes his history of the English church and people
The professional bards of the Germanic tribes give lasting life to Norse legend
An attack on Charlemagne's army, traditionally at the pass of Roncesvalles in the Pyrenees, is later the basis for the Chanson de Roland
Beowulf, the first great work of Germanic literature, mingles the legends of Scandinavia with the experience in England of Angles and Saxons
Saadiah Gaon writes a seminal work of Jewish philosophy in his Book of Beliefs and Opinions
The material of the Eddas, taking shape in Iceland, derives from earlier sources in Norway, Britain and Burgundy
Japanese author Murasaki Shibubi produces, in The Tale of Genji, a book which can be considered the world's first novel
Firdausi completes his great chronicle of Persian history, the Shah-nama, which becomes established as Iran's national epic
The Persian scholar Avicenna, author of encyclopedic works on philosophy and medicine, spends the last part of his life in Isfahan
Anselm includes in his Proslogion his famous 'ontological proof' of the existence of God
Omar Khayyám, mathematician and astronomer, writes four-line verses, or quatrains, in his spare time
The chansons de geste, performed by professional minstrels in castles and manors, celebrate the exploits of Charlemagne and his paladins
The troubadours of Provence develop a new form of love poetry in French, introducing courtly love
A popular French poem, the Chanson de Roland, turns a minor disaster in one of Charlemagne's campaigns into a tale of epic heroism
Chrétien de Troyes and other French authors turn the stories of Arthur and his knights into a romance of courtly love
The shared memories and legends of Nordic peoples are brought together in a great German epic, the Nibelungenlied
In Cordoba the Muslim philosopher Averroës writes commentaries on Aristotle that are influential throughout medieval Europe
In Cairo the Jewish philosoper Moses Maimonides writes, in Arabic, a much translated text with the endearing title Guide to the Perplexed
The story of Parsifal and the Holy Grail becomes the subject of a courtly epic by Wolfram von Eschenbach
Tannhäuser is one of the Minnesinger, the German equivalents of the French troubadours
The Persian poet Sa'di publishes his Bustan ('Orchard'), a collection of moral tales in verse
A new form of poetry is written in northern Italy, described later by Dante as a sweet new style - the dolce stil nuovo
Thomas Aquinas begins the outstanding work of medieval scholasticism, his Summa Theologiae
Duns Scotus, known as the Subtle Doctor in medieval times, later provides humanists with the name Dunsman or dunce
Dante, in exile from Florence, begins work on The Divine Comedy - completing it just before his death, 14 years later
