Benedictine monks, wishing to return to the early ideals of the order, form a community at Cîteaux which becomes the Cistercian order

On the death of his brother, William II, Henry I becomes king of England

Many of the towns of northern Italy acquire virtual independence as self-governing communes

The chansons de geste, performed by professional minstrels in castles and manors, celebrate the exploits of Charlemagne and his paladins

Peter Abelard teaches philosophy at Notre Dame until an affair with one of his pupils, Héloïse, brings his career to a dramatic end

St Bernard establishes a new monastery at Clairvaux, from which he presides over the rapid expansion of the Cistercian order

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

The full flowering of the Romanesque style is seen in the nave of the abbey church at Vézelay, in France

Work begins on the exquisite palace chapel in Palermo, built for the Norman kings of Sicily

On the death of Henry I, his nephew Stephen moves quickly to keep Henry's daughter Matilda off the English throne

Walter FitzAlan takes a post as steward with the Scottish king, thus establishing the Stewart family and later dynasty

Conrad III, of the Hohenstaufen family, is elected German king - a title which remains in the family for more than a century, bringing with it that of Holy Roman emperor

Pope Innocent III and the second Lateran council outlaw the crossbow as a weapon causing unacceptable devastation

Victory over the Muslims at Ourique is seen as the moment of Portugal's independence from the kingdom of Leon

The new abbey church of St Denis is consecrated near Paris, introducing the style of architecture later known as Gothic

The fall of Edessa prompts the pope, Eugenius III, to call for a second crusade to defend the Latin kingdom

A new form of pious devotion is seen in Chartres, with people painfully dragging wagons of stone to enlarge the cathedral

Alfonso I takes Lisbon from the Muslims, with the unexpected help of some passing English crusaders

Gilbert of Hastings, an English priest, becomes bishop of the recovered see of Lisbon - the first of many such links between England and Portugal

The second crusade is led east by two kings, Louis VII of France and Conrad III of Germany

Seville falls to the Almohads, from north Africa, who make it their Spanish capital

In feudal France and Germany Charlemagne is by now venerated as a saint

The Medici move into Florence from their country home in the Mugello valley

The biblical kings and queens in the west porch of Chartres cathedral are a striking early example of Gothic sculpture