Aethelred paid the Vikings a sum of £24,000 to try and stop further invasions. In an attempt to strengthen his position against the Vikings he married Emma, the daughter of Richard Duke of Normandy. Aethelred also ordered the murder of all Danes in England but some escaped to report back. Not surprisingly the Viking attacks started again.

Edward the Confessor is thought to have been born sometime between 1003 and 1005 at Islip in Oxfordshire. His father was Aethelred II, the Unready, and his mother was Emma of Normandy, daughter of Robert I, Earl of Normandy.

Aelfheah becomes Archbishop of Canterbury.

The unstable sixth Caliph of Egypt, Al-Hakim, ordered the destruction of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.

The Vikings captured Canterbury and obtained a payment of £48,000. In a drunken rage the Vikings murdered Aelfheah, the Archbishop of Canterbury. Aelfheah was the man that had baptised Olaf Trygvasson in the Winter of 994. Outraged by the actions of his fellow men Thorkell the Tall defected to the side of Aethelred along with 45 Viking ships to help defend England from further Viking attacks.

Lyfing becomes Archbishop of Canterbury.

Canute married Emma, the widow of Aethelred the Unready. This helped Canute secure ties with Normandy as Emma was the daughter of Count of Normandy.

Aethelnoth became Archbishop of Canterbury.

King Canute visited Glastonbury Abbey to grant the abbey gifts and privileges. He also knelt at the altar and prayed.

Archbishop Aelfric canonised John of York, responsible for founding the monastery at Beverley, as St. John of Beverley.

Eadsige became Archbishop of Canterbury after the death of Aethelnoth.

Earl Leofric builds a new Minster on the site of older religious buildings at Much Wenlock.

Lanfranc, who had trained as a law student in northen Italy had crossed the Alps several years earlier. In this year he arrived at the religious community at Bec situated a few milles to the south west of Rouen in Normandy. The name Bec being derived from the name of the stream that ran through the complex of buildings.

Shortly after Edward the Confessor became King, Stigand was promoted to the position of bishop.

The abbey was refounded by Orc, a steward of Canute who expelled the canons and installed Benedictine monks in their place.

Robert Champart was consecrated bishop of London. He was highly respected by King Edward and Robert's influence over the king was a source of tension between the Normans and Anglo-Saxons in the country.

Lanfranc became prior of the Abbey of Bec where he taught law,

Edward the Confessor married Edith, the daughter of Earl Godwin. Godwin was then in an extremely powerful position being related to the King of England.

Stigand was promoted to the position of Bishop at Winchester.

Aldred, bishop of Worcester refounded a monastery at Gloucester. A monastery had already been founded at Gloucester in 681 by Ostric.

Reigned for less than a month.

The See of Devon and Cornwall had been located at Crediton in Devon but in 1050 Edward the Confessor moved the See to Exeter. This moved the cathedral from an obscure location to a more important one. Edward gave the new Bishopric to Leofric.

Macbeth took time to travel to Rome on a pilgrimage. Reports of his visit tell of him distributing large amounts of money.

Late in 1050, Eadsige, the archbishop of Canterbury died. The monks of Canterbury favoured Aelric, one of their fellow monks to become the next archbishop and Earl Godwin was approached to help push his appointment through. But King Edward appointed his favourite councellor Robert of Jumieges to the post instead.

Queen Emma died at Winchester.

Stigand, the Bishop of Winchester, mediated in the conflicts between the Godwins and Edward the Confessor. The Norman Archbishop of Canterbury, Robert of Jumieges, fled the country with other bishops who had been appointed by Edward. Stigand assumed the title of Archbishop of Canterbury. Robert of Jumieges appealed to Pope Leo IX and Stigand was excommunicated.

In spite of objections from Pope Leo, William married Matilda hs cousin, the daughter of Baldwin V, Earl of Flanders and Adela of France.

Although the split between the East and West Churches can not easily be put down to one event, the conflict caused in 1054 between Pope Loe IX and the patriarch of Constantinople is often thought, rightly or wrongly, as the key moment. Pope Leo IX sent a delegation to Constantinople to discuss differences which resulted in the excommunication of the patriarch by the delegation and in return the excommunication of the delegation by the patriarch.

A force of Welsh and Irish men led by Gruffydd ap Llywelyn, a Welsh prince attacked and burnt the building.

Under the direction of Wulfstan, the future Bishop of Worcester, construction work began at Gloucester Cathedral. The new building was burnt down and rebuilt later by Abbot Serlo.

Gerard, the bishop of Florence was elected to the position of Pope early in 1059. The previous Pope Benedict X, now regarded as an antipope, was forced to flee Rome.

Pope Nicholas II was able to limit the electors of future popes to the College of Cardinals. Previously popes may have been elected by their predecessors or by political rulers who chose men to support their military ambitions. The new process was put in place to remove the chaos caused by such corrupt elections.

Wulfstan, a monk at Worcester Cathedral from 1040, was recommended for the position of bishop by visiting papal legates.

With the support of William of Normandy, Lanfranc was put forward as a candidate for the abbacy of the William's Abbey of St. Etienne. He was appointed to the position. At Bec, Anselm was appointed to the position of prior,

Edward the Confessor took lands from Pershore Abbey and allocated them to his new Abbey church at Westminster.

Work on the Abbey at Westminster was either complete or very nearly so at its dedication. Edward the Confessor who had devoted himself to creation was to die less than two weeks later.

William the Conqueror and Matilda attended the dedication of Matilda's church, the Holy Trinity at Caen. To show their devotion they gave their daughter Cecilia to the church to be raised as a nun.

Odo,the Bishop or Bayeux, became William the Conqueror's deputy in England and was assisted by William Fitz Osbern until Osbern's death in 1071. Odo also became the Earl of Kent and his wealth and land became considerable.

Edgar the Aetheling took refuge with Malcolm III in Scotland along with his sister Margaret. Malcolm and Margaret were married in the same year.

William the Conqueror placed Lanfranc in the position of Archbishop of Canterbury a move designed to strengthen his hold on the English throne. Thomas of Bayeux, a pupil of William's brother Odo, was put in the position of Archbishop of York after the death of Ealred who died on September 11th, 1069. Archbishop Stigand was imprisoned in Winchester.

Malcolm, the Scottish king attacked towns in the north of England.

The Abbey of Dunfermline was founded by Malcolm III, King of the Scots and his wife Margaret.

As part of a revolt against the new Norman invaders, Hereward the Wake sacked the abbey at Peterborough.

Canterbury Cathedral was rebuilt at this time by Archbishop Lanfranc. The Cathedral was based on the design of his abbey in Caen.

Serlo, William the Conqueror's chaplain, revived the floundering monastery at Gloucester and started major rebuilding work. Serlo died in 1104.

The first cathedral at Old Sarum was built between 1075 and 1092. Its builder was Bishop Osmund, who was supposed to be William the Conqueror's nephew. From 1072 until 1078, Osmund was William's Chancellor and in 1078 Osmund was given the title of Bishop of Salisbury.

Lanfranc held a Church council at Winchester where the reorganisation of Bishops and Bishoprics was confirmed. Canterbury was also confirmed as the head of the English Church rather than York.

Remigius the Norman monk and almoner from Fecamp Abbey began work on the first Cathedral church at Lincoln. The bishop's see had been moved from Dorchester-on-Thames.

Chichester was made a bishopric in this year when the bishop moved there from Selsey.

At the Council of London Archbishop Lanfranc instigated the movement of many English Bishoprics to more important locations. Amongst these were the Bishopric of Sherborne and Wilton which moved to Old Sarum and Selsey which moved to Chichester.

Even though incomplete, Battle Abbey is consecrated.

Gundulf, the Norman monk responsible for the design and construction of the Tower of London, was given the see of Rochester. He started the construction of a tower at Rochester that formed part of the church and is its oldest above-ground part,

Work began on St. Albans Cathedral. (More Information to follow)

Gundulf became Bishop of Rochester, remaining there for thirty years and where he is buried.

The Bayeux Tapestry is first shown at the dedication of Odo's cathedral.

The two bishoprics of East Anglia and Dunwich (Suffolk) were merged into one and moved to Thetford which was an important town at the time and was in a central location.

Osmond was a Norman who came to England with William the Conqueror. He exchanged his noble title for that of a religious one and became Bishop at Old Sarum after Herbert. Osmond continued the construction work of a new cathedral at Old Sarum.

Construction work began on the crypt and transepts of Winchester Cathedral. This continued until 1093.

Ripon monastery destroyed by Normans.

Robert de Losinga, a Norman Bishop started work on a new Cathedral at Hereford.

William the Conqueror visited South Wales and St. David's. He met Rhys ap Tewdwr, the ruler of the area and allowed him to remain in control of the region for a yearly sum of money.

Work began on Ely Cathedral

William imprisoned his half-brother Odo, Bishop of Bayeux.

Building work starts on Worcester Cathedral. Orchestrated by Bishop Wulfstan. (More Information to follow)

The abbot of Monte Cassinio was reluctantly elected Pope.

The abbot of Monte Cassino, a man called Desiderius, was elected Pope a year after the death of the previous pope Gregory VII. His reign was not to last long as he retired to his abbey at Monte Cassino with ill health and died in September of 1087.

Work on rebuilding St. Paul's Cathedral started after the Old St. Paul's burnt down and a good deal of London as well. The person in charge of the rebuilding work was Mauritius, chaplain to William the Conqueror and Bishop of London. The new Cathedral was reportedly extremely large.

William Rufus gave the Manor of Tewkesbury to his cousin, Robert FitzHamon. Together with the patronage of the Priory of Tewkesbury.

The Priory was founded by William de Warrene a Norman follower of William the Conqueror.

Bath Abbey was refounded by John de Villula and populated by Benedictine monks.

Urban II was elected Pope in 1088. His real name was Odo of Lagery and chose the name Urban when he became Pope. He had at first been a monk at the abbey at Cluny from 1070 and had become a prior there.

Some seventeen years after taking his position at Gloucester, Serlo built the crypt.

After the death of Archbishop Lanfranc William Rufus held open the post of Archbishop of Canterbury for four years taking the revenues for his own purposes.

A collegiate church was founded at this time at Carlisle and a Norman church was built.

Secular canons founded a collegiate church at Carlisle.

Work began on the nave and the southern transept.

The cathedral at Old Sarum was completed and dedicated to Blessed Virgin. The cathedral was damaged by a storm only five days after the dedication service and the roof destroyed. The location of the cathedral meant it exposed to the wind and the sermons were sometimes drowned out by the sound.

Durham Cathedral was the first building in Western Europe with ribbed vaulting in the ceiling.

Anselm became Archbishop of Canterbury in 1093 succeeding Lanfranc. The post of Archbishop of Canterbury had been held open by William Rufus so that he could collect for himself the church's income, but when William became ill and thought he was going to die he nominated Anselm as archbishop. Anselm died in 1109.

Chester was a strategic site after the Norman Conquest and the Saxon church there was taken over in 1093 by Benedictine monks.

William fell ill early in this year and the illness was so serious that reports went out saying that he had died. William granted land to many religious houses in preparation for his death but when he recovered he claimed the land back.

Margaret of Scotland died only days after her son and husband had been killed at Alnwick.

Building work at Battle Abbey was completed and the abbey reconsecrated by William Rufus.

Herbert de Losinga purchased the see (seat of the bishop) for the area around Norwich. The bishops seat was at Thetford but Herbert moved it to Norwich itself before starting the construction of a new cathedral.

Wulfstan was bishop of Worcester. The location of his grave is not known.

Hugh 'Lupus' d'Avaranches, the first Earl of Chester, founded a monastery at Chester. Later to become Chester Cathedral.

At the Council of Piacenza a delegation visited Pope Urban II led by the Byzantine Emperor Alexius Comnenus to raise the problems he was having fighting the Muslims in the East. Pope Urban removed the excommunication that had been placed on the Emperor by Pope Gregory and promised to help.

On the last day of the Council or Clemont Pope Urban II preached about the oppression being inflicted on the Christians in the Middle East by the Muslim Seljuks. Christian churches were being destroyed and Christians attacked. The Pope called for the Christians in the West to help.

Work starts on Norwich Cathedral.

Canterbury Cathedral choir, east transepts and crypt building work. The works were undertaken by Ernulf, prior of the cathedral. Ernulf would later become Abbot of Peterborough.

Following Pope Urban's speech at Clermont Peter the Hermit, a simple man with a powerful ability to move people by his words, started preaching for Christians to help their fellow Christians in the East. He started to gain a large number of followers eager to go to Jerusalem with promises of absolution and freedom from a life of hunger and depravation. His followers were poor, not prepared for the journey and not armed.

At Constantinople the Emperor Alexius welcomed Peter's army but there were too many people and no provision had been made for them. There was a general lack of discipline that resulted in repeated attacks and thefts from surrounding villages. Alexius warned Peter to wait for better trained troops to arrive before moving on but the pressure of the army was so great on Constantinople that they were forced to move before help could arrive.

While the People's Crusade led by Peter the Hermit was being crushed in the Holy Land, preparations for the First Crusade carried on in Europe. Those leaders involved were Raymond of Toulouse, Hughes Count of Vermandois, Robert Count of Flanders, Robert Duke of Normandy and Etienne Count of Blois. The leaders arranged to meet at Constantinople and set off taking different routes. Some followed the path across Europe taken by Peter the Hermit, while others took a more southerly routes via the Alps and the Adriatic.

When the crusaders arrived at Constantinople they were greeted by Emperor Alexius. The Emperor was happy for the crusaders to capture areas of the Holy Land but he wanted the land to be under his control. Alexius persuaded the Leaders of the crusaders to swear an oath of allegiance to him and to hand over the land they captured. They could however be allowed to live on and rule that land but not own it.

Conflicts between Archbishop Anselm and William Rufus resulted in the Archbishop leaving England and heading for Rome. William confiscated Anselm's land.

The abbey of Citeaux in Burgundy was founded by Robert of Mosleme. The abbey did not prosper until around 1113 when Stephen Harding became abbot and a couple of years later St. Bernard became the abbot of Clairvaux its daughter house. The abbey of Citeaux was the start of the massively important Cistercian Order.

Construction of the nave at Durham Cathedral began in 1099 and lasted until 1128.

Ranulf Flambard is made the Bishop of Durham by William Rufus.

Paschal was elected as Pope following the death of Urban II. He may have been a monk at the Abbey of Cluny before becoming a cardinal.