The span

What was medieval Britain?

On the same list, Early Medieval runs from AD 410 to 1066.⁠¹ Historic England lists Medieval as 1066 to 1540 when it dates monuments, buildings and other historic places in England.⁠¹ Historic England also lists a Tudor period of 1485 to 1603, which overlaps the later part of its Medieval span.⁠¹ After Medieval, its Post Medieval period runs from 1540 to 1901.⁠¹

English Heritage's Story of England treats Medieval as 1066–1485.⁠² It then starts the Tudors in 1485, running to 1603.⁠² English Heritage's teaching guide also marks the Middle Ages as 1066–1485.⁠³

This site covers Medieval Britain from 1066 to 1509, the span already published on ages.im: from the Norman Conquest to the death of Henry VII and the accession of Henry VIII. That is a teaching cut, not a claim that every authority ends the period on the same day.

Henry VII, born 28 January 1457, died 21 April 1509 at Richmond, Surrey, and was king of England from 1485 to 1509. Britannica says he succeeded in ending the Wars of the Roses and founded the Tudor dynasty.⁠⁴ When he died, his only surviving son, Henry VIII, succeeded him without a breath of opposition.⁠⁴

A period of upheaval

Duke William of Normandy's resounding triumph over King Harold at the Battle of Hastings in 1066, English Heritage says, marked the dawn of a new era.⁠² William and his knights, and the castles they built, transformed England and helped impose Norman rule.⁠⁵ The Norman Conquest, the same guide says, was achieved largely thanks to two instruments of war previously unknown in England: the mounted, armoured knight, and the castle.⁠³

English began to replace Norman French as the dominant language.⁠⁵ Commerce developed, helped by better coinage and the growth of the wool trade.⁠⁵ During this period, it says, the Church dominated everyday life. In the 14th century one in every 15 Englishmen was clergy of some kind.⁠³

It is a history of government, law, belief, work and disease — not a dressing-up page. Castles and armour matter because they were instruments of rule, not because they make a costume.