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Timeline of Earthquakes

The monks of the medieval ages documented the natural world and the events that they experienced. This included earthquakes. Listed below are the earthquakes that were felt in medieval times. Many are reported to have been large and felt over a large area. This is something we do not experience in England today so were the reports exagerated or could larger earthquakes occur?

1048

A large earthquake is supposed to have been felt across England.

1049

A large earthquake was felt in Worcester and Derby and many people were reportedly killed.

1076

A large earthquake hit England in this year.

1089

An earthquake was felt across England.

1110

An earthquake is recorded to have struck Shropshire in this year.

1114

A large earthquake damaged the areas of the Frankish control in the East. Antioch and Edessa were hit by the shocks.

1117

The series of large earthqukes began in January and may have lasted for several months. Many churches and cathedrals in and around northern Italy were damaged in the quakes.

1118

An earthquake damages Crowland Abbey.

1133

An eye-witness account from William of Malmesbury tells of an earthquake affecting many parts of England. (Symeon of Durham's Historia Regum, by John of Hexham.) This is interesting as it occurred just after an eclipse. See year 1185 when another eclipse and earthquake occurred.

1165

A large earthquake was felt across Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire. People were unable to stay on their feet.

1170

A large earthquake hit the eastern Mediterranean along the fault line that runs along that region. A huge amount of damage was done causing a major loss of life. The earthquake was so powerful that the massive castle Krak des Chevaliers was damaged and needed repairing.

1185

Earth tremors damaged the Cathedral at Lincoln beyond repair. The earthquake must have been very powerful as it was said that it was felt throughout the country. Only the West front survived in good shape and rest of the building had to be demolished.
Reports of an earthquake in the Plantagenet Chronicles occurring in Sicily. Need to confirm.
May 1
Eclipse
There was an eclipse of the Sun over the north of Europe. Interestingly, there was an earthquake that damaged Lincoln Cathedral in 1185. Did the earthquake happen before or after the eclipse? Are the two events related?

1247

A very large earthquake is reported to have occurred in Wales and the west of England. St. David's on the west coast of Wales was badly affected. At Wells Cathedral the spire or vaulting collapsed but this is reported to have happened in an earthquake in 1248.

1250

Matthew Paris, the medieval historian, reported that an earthquake shook and damaged the church at St. Albans. Earthquakes are unusual in this area.

1275

The church at the top of Glastonbury Tor was badly damaged by an earthquake.

1303

A large earthquake hits the city of Constantinople (now Istanbul, Turkey).
Possible earthquake in Crete.

1344

A large earthquake hit the city of Lisbon on the west coast of Portugal damaging the cathedral and palaces. The area suffers an earthquake on a regular basis, the biggest being in 1755 when thousands died.

1348

A large earthquake struck the north of Italy destroying many buildings. The event was felt across Europe.

1349

From the Chronicles of Meaux Abbey came the report saying 'during Lent, six days before Easter Sunday, there occurred an earthquake throughout the whole of England so great that the monks of Melsa were thrown so violently from their stalls that they all lay prostrate on the ground.'

1382

An earthquake occurred somewhere in the Straits of Dover and was felt in southern England and in the Low Countries across the North Sea. The event happened during a meeting to condem the works of John Wycliffe.

1456

In Naples, a large earthquake struck near the town of Pontelandolfo in the present-day Province of Benevento of southern Italy. With an estimated magnitude of between 7.1 and 7.4 this earthquake is possibly the largest to occur on the Italian Peninsula. The reported death toll varied from a few thousand up to 70,000. Several large aftershocks occurred in the following days causing even more destruction.

1498

A large earthquake possibly 8.6 in strength that caused a large tsunami occurred off the southern coast of Honshu. The disaster resulted in the estimated loss of over 30,000 people.

1508

This earthquake was felt throughout Scotland and England.

1531

A very large earthquake occurred in Portugal that triggered a tsunami and killed many thiousands of people.

1580

A large earthquake struck southern England and northern France. It caused damage on both side of the Channel and caused the bells of the London churches to ring. Waves generated by the quake sank boats on the shores. The epicentre could have been somewhere between England and France.

1581

Reports of a large earthquake near York. This could be the same event that occurred in April of 1580.

A Medieval Mystery

There appear to be some strange connections between the fourteenth century Old Wardour Castle and ancient stone circle Stonehenge.

1: Location

Old Wardour Castle appears to be aligned to ancient sites in the Stonehenge landscape.

2: Alignment

Stonehenge is aligned to the Summer Solstice. Old Wardour has a very similar alignment.

3: Size

Could the builders of Old Wardour used mesaurements from Stonehenge to layout the geometrical keep?

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