Leaders of the Dark Ages

The consolidation of the Catholic Church under the Greek emperors:

Papacy	Greek	Other
Simplicius 468-83AD		Ireland: St Patrick introduced monasteries into Ireland in 432AD France/Germany: Merovingian German Frankish dynasty (465-751): Clovis I 465-511
Felix II 483-92		Spain: Germanic visigoths 400-711
Gelasius I 492-6		Italy: feudal states 476-1553 Gothic dynasty of Italy (488AD-553AD) 488AD, Theodoric, king of the Ostrogoths, invaded Italy, & after slaying Odoacer, became ruler of Italy until his death in 526AD. The Goths espoused the heretical creed of Arianism.
Anastasius II 496-8		England: without leadership of Rome, the Britons fell prey to barbarians from Scotland & pirates from Ireland
Symmacus 498-514
Hormisdas 514-523
John I 523-526
Felix III 526-30
Boniface II 530-2
John II 533-5
Agapitis 535-6
Silverius 536-7		Legendary King Arthur of the Britons killed c537
Vigilius 537-55		Britain: Teutonics (Angles, Saxons & Jutes) invade England (early 5thC) and push the Britons west to survive only in the mountains of Wales & Cornwall. Britain became known as Angle-land (England) and the language changed to Anglo-Saxon & the religion to the pagan worship of Odin & Thor. Italy: 535AD, Justinian I of the Eastern Roman Empire, started a war to expel the Germanic invaders which ended in 553AD at the death of Teias, the last of the Gothic kings
Pelagius I 556-61		England: The Jutes held the Isle of Wight & land to the north The Saxons established themselves in Wessex on the south coast The Angles ruled: Mercia in the Midlands East Anglia on the east coast Northumbria in the northeast
John III 561-74		Italy: Lombard dynasty of Italy (590AD-774) 568AD, brief Byzantine rule ends with Italy being invaded by the Lombards, another Germanic tribe. Alboin, their king, made Pavia the capital of his realm & deprived the Byzantines of power in Italy except for the southern regions & Ravenna in the north. like the Goths before them, the Lombards espoused the heretical creed of Arianism, creating conflict with the Christian church as its powers increased. when Alboin died in 572AD, the Lombards for a time had no king
Benedict I 575-9
Pelagius II 579-90
Gregory I the Great 590-604		England: 597AD, Augustine an Italian monk, landed with 40 followers on the coast of Kent, sent by Gregory I to win the angles over to the Christian faith baptised Ethelbert, king of Kent repaired the old Roman church at Canterbury & founded a Benedictine abbey there. Italy: the Lombard king Agiluf (r. 590-615) was converted to Christianity, but although for a time there was peace, conflicts between the Lombards & the Church recurred.
Sabinian 604-6
Boniface III 607 Boniface IV 608-15
Deusdedit 615-8
Boniface V 619-25
Honorius 625-38
Severinus 640 John IV 640-2 Theodore I 642-9
Martin I 649-55
Eugene I 654-7
Vitalian 657-72		England: King Oswy of Northumbria adopts Roman Church 664
Deusdedit II 672-6
Donus I 676-8
Agatho 678-81
Leo II 682-3		St Boniface, the English Benedictine missionary (c675-754)
Benedict II 683-4
John V 685-6
Conon 686-7
Sergius I 687-701
John VI 701-5
John VII 705-7
Sissinius 708 Constantine 708-15		Islamic rule of Spain
Gregory II 715-31
Gregory III 731-41
Zachary 741-52
	Lombards defeat Greece 751AD

The Carolingians & the formation of the Holy Roman Empire:

Papacy	Italy	France	England	Scotland	Other
Stephen II 752-7 Paul I 757-67		Carolingians: Pepin the Short 751-68 est. papal power 756AD by donating land
Stephen III 768-72 Adrian I 772-95 Leo III 795-816	Papal states	Charlemagne 768-814 defeated Lombards in Italy in 774AD converted Saxons by vigorous persecution crowned emperor of Holy Roman Empire establishes knighthoods Carloman 768-771	The Venerable Bede - a monk Ecgbert - 1st archbishop of York 780 Alcuin (735-804), the English scholar
Stephen IV 816-7 Pascal I 817-24 Eugene II 824-7 Valentine 827 Gregory IV 827-44		Louis I the Pious 814-40	Saxons & Danes: Egbert of Wessex 802-39
Sergius II 844-7 Leo IV 847-55 Benedict III 855-8	Lothair 843- Saracens take Sicily & threaten Rome	Charles II the Bald 840-77	Ethelwulf 839-58 Danes invade England 850AD onwards
Nicholas I the Great 858-67			Ethelbald 858-60 Ethelbert 860-6
Adrian II 867-72			Ethelred 866-71
John VIII 872-882 Martin II 882-4 Adrian III 884-5 Stephen V 885-91 Formosus 891-6 Boniface VI 896 Stephen VI 896-7 Romanus, Theo II 897	Petty kings of Italy and anarchy (-962) Guido of Spoleto 888-94 Berengar of Friuli 894-924 HRE 905-24 Hugh of Provence (-947)	Louis II the Stammerer 877-9 checked the Saracen invasion of Italy Louis III + Carloman 879-882 Carloman 882-4 Charles the Fat 884-7 Eudes (Capetian) 888-898	Alfred the Great 871-99 drove out the Vikings (Danes) began English prose by translating Latin books into Anglo-Saxon built schools ordered the 'Anglo-Saxon Chronicle', the 1st historical record of England to begin
John IX 898-900 Benedict IV 900-3 Leo V 903 Sergius III 903-11 Anastasius III 911-3 Lando 913-4 John X 914-28		Charles III the Simple 893-922 Normans converted in 911AD in return for land - Normandy	Edward the Elder 899-924		Bohemia: Good King Wenceslaus 922-9 tried to unite the warring factions murdered by his brother on his way to mass
Leo VI 928 Stephen VII 928-31 John XI 931-5		Robert I (Capetian) 922-3 Raoul of Burgundy 923-36	Athelstan 924-39
Leo VII 936-9 Stephen VIII 939-42 Martin III 942-6 Agapetus II 946-55		Louis IV d'Outremer 936-54	Edmund I 939-46 Edred 946-55 954 England unified
John XII (Octavian) 955-64 Leo VIII 963-5 Benedict V 964 John XIII 965-72 Benedict VI 973-4 Benedict VII 974-83	HRE 962-1806 Ottononian dynasty: Otto I 962-73 Germanic leader who after obtaining Nth Italy was crowned emperor by pope John XII thus formally establishing the HRE & the German nation Otto II 973-80	Lothaire 954-86	Edwy 955-9 Edgar 959-75 Edward the Martyr 975-8 son of King Edgar murdered
John XIV 983-4 John XV 985-96 Gregory V 996-9	Otto III 980-1002	Louis V 986-7 Capetians: Hugh Capet 987-996	Ethelred II the Unready 978-1016 son of King Edgar & Elfryth enthroned aged 10yr after half-brother was murdered continuously staved off Viking raids often by paying them tributes married Emma, daughter of Richard I of Normandy in 1002 fled to Normandy when invaded by Svein Haraldsson of Denmark returned 1004 but died in 1016
Sylvester II 999-1003 John XVII 1003 John XVIII 1003-09 Sergius IV 1009-12 Benedict VIII 1012-24 John XIX 1024-32	Otto 1002-24 Salien / Franconia dynasty (911-1137): Conrad II (990)-1039	Robert II 996-1031	Edmund Ironside 1016 son of Ethelred II & Emma 1015, defied his father by marrying the widow of a Danish earl in Mercia raised an army in Mercia against Canute & was crowned king but reigned for few months only until he died Canute the Dane 1016-35 Svein Haraldsson's son when his father died, went back to Denmark where his eldewr brother had inherited the throne returned to England in 1015 with his army & defeated Edmund at battle of Ashington in Essex & although failed to capture London, controlled rest of England as its undisputed king & made 4 earldoms, appointing the AngloSaxon Godwin as earl of Wessex. summoned Ethelred II's wife Emma to marry in 1017 inherited throne of Denmark 1018 & by 1030 also became king of Norway Emma died in 1052
Benedict IX 1032-44 Sylvester III 1045 Gregory VI 1045-6 Clement II 1046-7 Benedict IX 1047-8 Damascus II 1048 Leo IX 1048-54 Victor II 1055-57 Stephen IX 1057-8 Nicholas II 1058-61	Henry IV 1039-1125	Henry I 1031-60	Harold I 1035-40 Hardicanute 1040-2 son of Canute & Emma Edward the Confessor 1042-66 son of Ethelred II & Emma, reared by French monks banished Godwin, a powerful Saxon earl who revolted against him & as he was childless, named William of Normandy his successor, but the Witan elected Godwin's rich and powerful son Harold to become king when Edward died, despite Harold having been coerced by William of Normandy earlier to swear that William would be the successor.
Alexander II 1061-73 Gregory VII 1073-85 Victor III 1086-7		Philip I 1060-1108	Harold II (Godwin's son) 1066 Norman invasion lucky to defeat Harold II at the Battle of Hastings after Harold II had defeated the Norwegians in northern England just 3 days earlier. Another half an hour and nightfall would have allowed Harold to get reinforcements the following day but Harold was struck in the eye by an archer's arrow which soon ended the battle. The story is depicted in the Bayeaux Tapestry.		Spain: El Cid aka Roderigo aka Ruy Diaz de Bivar aka El Campeador (c. 1040-99) national hero of Spain & champion of Christianity against the Moors

see next: Leaders of the Middle Ages