A master timeline of the post-classical and medieval period from 500 to 1450 CE — Islam, Byzantium, feudal Europe, the Mongols, Song China, Africa, and the Americas.
The most ambitious Byzantine emperor begins his reign, producing the Hagia Sophia, the Corpus Juris Civilis, and military reconquests.
The Prophet of Islam is born in Mecca, setting the stage for one of history's most transformative religious and political movements.
China enters its golden age under the Tang, with Chang'an becoming the world's largest and most cosmopolitan city.
Muhammad's emigration from Mecca to Medina marks Year 1 of the Islamic calendar and the founding of the Muslim community.
Islamic forces cross into Spain, establishing Al-Andalus and beginning nearly eight centuries of Muslim presence in Europe.
The Abbasids build their new capital at the crossroads of the world, inaugurating the Islamic Golden Age.
The Frankish king is crowned Emperor of the Romans, reviving the concept of Western empire.
China enters its most technologically innovative era — movable type, gunpowder weapons, paper money, and the magnetic compass.
Prince Vladimir I adopts Orthodox Christianity, aligning Eastern Europe with the Byzantine cultural sphere.
Christianity permanently splits into Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox branches.
Pope Urban II calls for the reconquest of Jerusalem, beginning nearly two centuries of religious warfare.
The samurai class seizes real political power, establishing military government that will define Japan for 700 years.
Temüjin is proclaimed Universal Ruler, launching the most rapid and extensive military conquest in world history.
Sundiata Keita's victory at Kirina establishes the Mali Empire, which will control the trans-Saharan gold trade.
The destruction of Baghdad ends the Abbasid Caliphate and devastates the Islamic world's greatest center of learning.
The Mali emperor's legendary hajj crashes gold markets across the Mediterranean and puts West Africa on European maps.
The Aztecs establish their island capital on Lake Texcoco — it will become one of the world's largest cities.
Bubonic plague arrives in Sicily, beginning a pandemic that will kill a third of Europe's population and reshape the medieval world.
Chinese rebels expel the Mongols, founding the Ming Dynasty and ending foreign rule over China.
Under Pachacuti, the Inca begin building the largest state in pre-Columbian America, stretching 4,000 km along the Andes.
Italian city-states lead a cultural revolution drawing on classical and Islamic learning — the medieval world gives way to the modern.