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History

The twelfth century has often been seen as a period of important change across Europe; the Normans cemented their grip across France and England, expanding gradually to increase their influence in Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
Knights began to socially morph from professional soldiers into members of a developing aristocracy, with an increasingly important stake in their country's politics, as well as introducing more of the concepts now viewed as 'chivalry', and developing the atmosphere across Europe of knightly idealism and courtly love.
Those returning from armed pilgrimage in Jerusalem brought new concepts and materials back with them, and Europe enjoyed a new period sometimes dubbed by historians as 'the little renaissance'.
It is also a period which has captured the public's imagination, the real events of the period serving as a backdrop to the Robin Hood legend, during the absentee reign of Richard Couer-de-Leon, more commonly known as the Lionheart.
The Angevin Empire was at its height and its nadir, rising to encompass most of France, England, Ireland and Wales before losing its hold on France for the better part of a century.

Timeline:

 
1106- Henry I defeats his brother Robert at the battle of Tinchebrai, and asserts his claim as the Duke of Normandy alongside his title of King of England, uniting the two titles and effectively creating a Norman empire.
1135- Henry I dies, leaving no legitimate male heir. His barons revoke their oaths to make his daughter, Matilda, queen, and instead support his nephew, Stephen in his claim. Henry I's illegitimate son, Robert of Gloucester, David King of Scotland and Matilda 'the Empress' contest his succession in arms.  
1138- King David of Scotland's army invades northern England, but are stopped by an Anglo-Norman army at Northallerton, sometimes called 'The Battle of the Standard'.
1141- Stephen is captured by Matilda's forces at the battle of Lincoln.
1141- Matilda's foremost supporter, Robert of Gloucester is captured by Stephen's forces, and the prisoners are exchanged.
1152- Henry fitz Empress marries Eleanor of Aquitaine, once the wife of Louis of France. Henry gains the Aquitaine in dowry.
1153- Henry fitz Empress lands in southern England with an army of roughly 3,000 men. He is recognised as Stephen's heir in the Treaty of Wallingford, after the death of Stephen's son, Eustace.
1154- Stephen dies, and Henry is crowned Henry II.
1170- Henry II's son, Henry the Younger, is crowned king within his father's lifetime, and is known as Henry the young king.
1173/4- Henry the Young King rebels against his father's rule.
1183- Henry the Young King dies.
1187- Jerusalem falls to the armies of Saladin.
1189- After a lengthy rebellion against his reign led by Richard, Eleanor and his youngest son, John, Henry II dies and names Richard his heir.
1189- Richard I 'Couer-de-Leon' crowned.
1190- Richard I seeks to fulfill his father's oath and leaves on crusade. He represents a third of a large crusade made up of the Holy Roman Empire, under Frederick Barbarossa, and Philip Augustus of France, sometimes known as the 'King's Crusade' or the 'Third Crusade'.
1192- Richard I, Frederick Barbarossa having died, and Philip Augustus having returned home, brokers a peace with Saladin. Worried for the state of his kingdom, he returns home. Richard is captured en route back home by Duke Leopold of Austria, who suspects his complicity in the murder of Conrad of Montferrat.
1193- John seeks to bribe Duke Leopold of Austria into holding Richard prisoner on a permanent basis, to allow him to take the throne.
1194- Richard is released after an enormous ransom is paid. The ransom is raised from across the Angevin empire. Philip sends word to John that ''The Devil is loose''. Richard returns, secures England, and turns his military attentions to Philip Augustus.
1198- Richard defeats Philip Augustus at the Battle of Gisors.
1199- Richard I is killed by infection from a crossbow wound to the shoulder whilst trying to suppress a rebellion by Aimar of Limoges. His younger brother John is crowned king.
1202- Philip Augustus declares war against John, 'dispossessing' him of his French possessions.
1204- Rouen falls, effectively ending Angevin control of Normandy.
1215- John signs Magna Carta at Runnymede to quell the dissent of his barons.
1216- Philip Augustus' son, Louis 'The Lion', invades southern England at the invitation of the southern barons, and is crowned in London.
1216- John I dies.
1217- After a series of defections and defeats, Louis 'The Lion' signs the treaty of Lambeth, renouncing all claim to the English throne.
1219- The last great figure of 12th century England, William the Marshall, dies.