Events Timeline

Orlando includes short event entries, freestanding and embedded in author profiles, about moments and processes relevant to literary history and organized into four categories: Women writers, Writing Climate, Political Climate, and Social Climate. Explore the timelines by searching for date(s) and/or words or phrases associated with them.

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1101: Maud, first wife of Henry I of England, founded...

Building item

1101

Maud , first wife of Henry I of England, founded St Giles' Hospital at St-Giles-in-the-Fields, near London, to care for forty lepers.

Hildegarde of Bingen: 1106

Writing climate item
Author event in Hildegarde of Bingen

1106

At the age of eight, Hildegarde was pledged by her parents, as a tithe, to lead a religious life.
Newman, Barbara. “’Sibyl of the Rhine’: Hildegard’s Life and Times”. Voice of the Living Light: Hildegard of Bingen and Her World, edited by Barbara Newman, University of California Press, pp. 1-29.
4

Hildegarde of Bingen: 1 November 1112

Writing climate item
Author event in Hildegarde of Bingen

1 November 1112

Hildegarde , along with Jutta of Spanheim , took monastic vows and entered a women's hermitage attached to the Benedictine monastery at Disibodenberg.
Newman, Barbara. “’Sibyl of the Rhine’: Hildegard’s Life and Times”. Voice of the Living Light: Hildegard of Bingen and Her World, edited by Barbara Newman, University of California Press, pp. 1-29.
5

Héloïse: Around 1117

Writing climate item
Author event in Héloïse

Around 1117

Héloïse became the lover of Pierre or Peter Abelard , who was the greatest living philosopher, and her private tutor.
Waithe, Mary Ellen. “Heloise”. Medieval, Renaissance and Enlightenment Women Philosophers, A. D. 500-1600, edited by Mary Ellen Waithe, Kluwer, pp. 67-83.
67-8
Kamuf, Peggy. Fictions of Feminine Desire. University of Nebraska Press.
1-6
Radice, Betty. “The French Scholar-Lover: Héloïse”. Medieval Women Writers, edited by Katharina M. Wilson, University of Georgia Press, pp. 90-108.
91-2

Héloïse: Around 1119

Writing climate item
Author event in Héloïse

Around 1119

Héloïse , urged to do so by Abelard , took her vows as a nun at the convent of Sainte Marie of Argenteuil.
Waithe, Mary Ellen. “Heloise”. Medieval, Renaissance and Enlightenment Women Philosophers, A. D. 500-1600, edited by Mary Ellen Waithe, Kluwer, pp. 67-83.
68
Kamuf, Peggy. Fictions of Feminine Desire. University of Nebraska Press.
6
Radice, Betty. “The French Scholar-Lover: Héloïse”. Medieval Women Writers, edited by Katharina M. Wilson, University of Georgia Press, pp. 90-108.
93-4

Héloïse: 1121

Building item
Author event in Héloïse

1121

Peter Abelard , theologian and former lover and husband of Héloïse , was for the first time tried for the heresy of rationalism.
Clanchy, M. T. Abelard: A Medieval Life. Blackwell.
204

1123: St Bartholomew's Hospital was founded in...

Building item

1123

St Bartholomew's Hospital was founded in London by Rahere , a courtier of Henry I and canon of St Paul's Cathedral.

Héloïse: 1129

Writing climate item
Author event in Héloïse

1129

Abelard arranged for Héloïse to become abbess of the Paraclete Convent near Troyes, founded by himself.
Kamuf, Peggy. Fictions of Feminine Desire. University of Nebraska Press.
7
Radice, Betty. “The French Scholar-Lover: Héloïse”. Medieval Women Writers, edited by Katharina M. Wilson, University of Georgia Press, pp. 90-108.
93-4

1130: The Gilbertian Order of Sempringham was founded;...

Building item

1130

The Gilbertian Order of Sempringham was founded; it educated girls in Latin and other subjects.

Héloïse: 1132

Writing climate item
Author event in Héloïse

1132

Héloïse , having read Abelard 's autobiographical Historia calamitatum, began a correspondence with him in the same language, Latin.
Radice, Betty. “The French Scholar-Lover: Héloïse”. Medieval Women Writers, edited by Katharina M. Wilson, University of Georgia Press, pp. 90-108.
94-5

1135-1142: Supporters of Matilda (sometimes called Maud)...

National or international item

1135-1142

Supporters of Matilda (sometimes called Maud) and Stephen , rival claimants for the English throne, waged a civil war.

December 1135: King Henry I died and Stephen of Blois assumed...

National or international item

December 1135

King Henry I died and Stephen of Blois assumed the throne of England.

Hildegarde of Bingen: 1136

Writing climate item
Author event in Hildegarde of Bingen

1136

When Jutta of Spanheim died, Hildegarde was unanimously chosen as the new leader of the women's religious community attached to the Benedictine monastery at Disibodenberg.
Kraft, Kent. “The German Visionary: Hildegard of Bingen”. Medieval Women Writers, edited by Katharina M. Wilson, University of Georgia Press, pp. 109-30.
110
Hildegarde of Bingen,. The Letters of Hildegard of Bingen. Translators Baird, Joseph L. and Radd K. Ehrman, Vol.
volume i
, Oxford University Press.
5

Very early 1136: The Welsh Princess Gwenllian, likely author...

Women writers item

Very early 1136

The Welsh Princess Gwenllian , likely author of Four Branches of the Mabinogi, died.

About 1136: The obscure figure known as Geoffrey of Monmouth,...

Writing climate item

About 1136

The obscure figure known as Geoffrey of Monmouth , who was probably Bishop of St Asaph (though many other roles have been assigned him), finished writing his History of the Kings of Britain, or...

Hildegarde of Bingen: 1141

Writing climate item
Author event in Hildegarde of Bingen

1141

Hildegarde of Bingen experienced the divine revelations that urged her to write her visions.
Kraft, Kent. “The German Visionary: Hildegard of Bingen”. Medieval Women Writers, edited by Katharina M. Wilson, University of Georgia Press, pp. 109-30.
110

Hildegarde of Bingen: 1141-1151

Writing climate item
Author event in Hildegarde of Bingen

1141-1151

Hildegarde of Bingen wrote the first work of her visionary trilogy, the Liber Scivias (Know the Ways).
Flanagan, Sabina. Hildegard of Bingen, 1098-1179: A Visionary Life. Routledge.
225

8 April 1141: Matilda, claimant to the English throne,...

National or international item

8 April 1141

Matilda , claimant to the English throne, assumed the title domina Anglorum, or mistress of the English; she was meanwhile holding her rival, Stephen , in captivity.

14 September 1141: Matilda (sometimes called Maud) escaped the...

National or international item

14 September 1141

Matilda (sometimes called Maud) escaped the forces of Stephen (her rival claimant to the throne of England) by travelling on a bier disguised as a corpse.

1146-87: The Second Crusade was fought, the crusaders...

National or international item

1146-87

The Second Crusade was fought, the crusaders defeated, and Jerusalem lost.

Hildegarde of Bingen: 1148

Writing climate item
Author event in Hildegarde of Bingen

1148

Hildegarde experienced a divine revelation that commanded her to establish a new convent on Mt St Rupert.
Newman, Barbara. “’Sibyl of the Rhine’: Hildegard’s Life and Times”. Voice of the Living Light: Hildegard of Bingen and Her World, edited by Barbara Newman, University of California Press, pp. 1-29.
12

By 1148: Anna Comnena finished the fifteen books of...

Writing climate item

By 1148

Anna Comnena finished the fifteen books of her Alexias, a history of the career and reign of her father, Alexius Comnenus , Emperor of Constantinople.

Hildegarde of Bingen: 1150

Writing climate item
Author event in Hildegarde of Bingen

1150

Hildegarde of Bingen and eighteen nuns moved into the convent (or monastery: the words are interchangeable) of Rupertsberg, near Bingen.
Kraft, Kent. “The German Visionary: Hildegard of Bingen”. Medieval Women Writers, edited by Katharina M. Wilson, University of Georgia Press, pp. 109-30.
111

Hildegarde of Bingen: 1151-1158

Writing climate item
Author event in Hildegarde of Bingen

1151-1158

Hildegarde of Bingen wrote two medical texts: Physica (Physical Things) and Causae et curae (Causes and Cures).
Flanagan, Sabina. Hildegard of Bingen, 1098-1179: A Visionary Life. Routledge.
225

25 October 1154: King Stephen died; Henry II assumed the throne...

National or international item

25 October 1154

King Stephen died; Henry II assumed the throne of England on 19 December 1154.