With a victory at Tertry, Pepin II wins effective control over all three Frankish kingdoms

The death of the Frankish 'mayor of the palace' Pepin II is followed by civil war between members of his family

The civil war among the Franks ends with complete victory for Charles Martel, an illegitimate grandson of Pepin II

The Frankish ruler Charles Martel, granting tracts of land to his nobles, lays the foundation for European feudalism

The Muslim advance into France is halted when Charles Martel defeats the Arabs between Poitiers and Tours

Charles Martel dies and leaves the Frankish kingdoms to his two sons, Carloman and Pepin III

The elder son of Charles Martel retires to a monastery, leaving Pepin III in control of the entire Frankish empire

With papal support Pepin III is elected king of the Franks, beginning the Carolingian dynasty (named from his father, Charles Martel)

Pope Stephen II anoints Pepin III and his two sons (one of them Charlemagne) in the abbey church of St Denis

On the death of Pepin III, the empire of the Franks is divided between his two sons - Charlemagne and his younger brother, Carloman

On the death of his brother, Charlemagne inherits the entire kingdom of the Franks

Alcuin leaves the palace school at Aachen to become abbot of the monastery of Tours

The script known as Carolingian minuscule (basis of the modern roman typeface) is developed by Alcuin and his scribes at the monastery of Tours

Work begins in Rheims on the Utrecht Psalter, an outstanding example of the Carolingian illuminated manuscript

The central Frankish kingdom, Francia Media, becomes one of the great fault lines of European history

The three-field system, introduced by the Franks, increases agricultural yield by 33%.

Monastic reform, begun at Cluny, is so successful that more than 1000 Benedictine houses eventually follow the Cluniac example

The Vikings settle in France, as Normans, when Rollo the Ganger is granted feudal rights over the region round Rouen

The material of the Eddas, taking shape in Iceland, derives from earlier sources in Norway, Britain and Burgundy

Hugh Capet, a Frankish noble elected king of west Francia, establishes the royal dynasty of France.

Hugh Capet is the first in an unbroken line of twelve generations on the throne of France

Halley's comet, appearing in the Normans' annus mirabilis, is later depicted in the Bayeux tapestry

The Normans, as seen in the Bayeux tapestry, invade England in Viking longships with fortified platforms for archers

Anselm includes in his Proslogion his famous 'ontological proof' of the existence of God

Work begins on the story of the Norman conquest, narrated in embroidery in the Bayeux tapestry