European history is the most complicated of the divisions covered in the Young Readers collection because it is so varied. The European is a patchwork of national histories, legends, and hero stories. The Young Readers collection includes dozens of books that cover important incidents and characters in European history, but few that give a broad view of the period.

SIR WALTER AND QUEEN ELIZABETH

Since European history is such a large topic the Heritage Classical Curriculum breaks the History of Europe into several different divisions, focusing on Britain, continental Europe, and Spain. All of these divisions are grouped together in the Young Readers collection for the sake of simplicity, so only a few famous characters and events from each nation are introduced. A comprehensive review of European history is postponed until students are more advanced.

The European history section of Young Readers is composed mostly of short biographies and historical fiction. Even those books, such as Old Time Tales and Stories from French History, that cover a range of stories from European history only touch on a few incidents of special interest. Most of the stories the European section focus on the Middle Ages, rather than modern times, since knights and chivalry, kings and queens, monks and crusaders, and medieval heroes are easy to romanticize in a way that interests young students. Some modern topics, such as the French Revolution, are covered briefly, but most topics regarding Modern European history are left for later years.

The Young Readers European selections help students become familiar with famous European characters, folklore, literature and nationalities without undertaking anything too ambitious. Most of the European history Study Questions are based on Evan's Old Time Tales, and selections from Baldwin's Famous Stories series.

Character/Date	Short Biography
Fall of Rome
Genseric 390–477	Leader of Vandals. Conquered Northern Africa and Sicily. Invaded and ransacked Rome.
Attila the Hun 406–453	Barbarian chieftain who overran and terrorized much of Europe. Defeated at the Battle of Chalons.
Clovis 466–511	Founder of the Frankish Kingdom. Converted to Christianity by his wife Clotilda.
Mohammed 570–632	Founder of Islam, author of the Koran.
Middle Ages
Charlemagne 742–814	First Holy Roman Emperor. Unified most of Western Europe into a Frankish Empire.
Alfred the Great 849–899	Noblest of Saxon kings. Fought the Danes and made peace. Built churches and schools.
Rollo the Viking d. 931	Viking Leader who was granted the Dukedom of Normandy if he became Christian.
William the Conqueror 1028–1087	Claimed the crown of England and won it at the Battle of Hastings. Ruled forcefully but justly.
Peter the Hermit 1050–1115	Monk who helped instigate the First Crusade, by preaching against the Moslems of Jerusalem.
Richard I 1157–1199	Son of Henry II. Spent almost his entire reign crusading and fighting in France.
Marco Polo 1254–1324	Traveller from Venice who spent 30 years at the court of Kublai Khan in China.
The Black Prince 1330–1376	Excellent general and leader who ruled alongside his father, Edward III. Victor at the Battle of Poitiers.
Joan of Arc 1412–1431	Led the French Army to Victory at the Siege of New Orleans. Burned at the stake by English.
John Gutenberg 1400–1468	Invented printing press. Made improvements over many years on types, inks and methods.
Reformation
Henry VIII 1491–1547	King of England famous for marrying and dispensing with six wives.
Elizabeth I 1533–1603	Led England through tumultuous age of reformation and discovery. Reigned 45 years.
Walter Raleigh 1552–1618	Courtier of Queen Elizabeth. Explorer, mastermind of the Jamestown colony in Virginia.
Francis Drake 1540–1596	Greatest sea adventurer. Sailed around the world, harassed Spanish ships. Fought in Armada.
Martin Luther 1483–1546	Leader of the Protestant Reformation. Excommunicated by Catholic Church.
Galileo Galilei 1564–1642	Promoted Heliocentric theory against pressure from the Pope. Invented the telescope.
Oliver Cromwell 1599–1658	Military leader of Parliament who headed the Commonwealth government after death of Charles I.
Isaac Newton 1642–1727	Outstanding scientist. Made important breakthroughs in physics, optics, and mathematics.
Peter the Great 1672–1725	Modernized Russia in spite of great resistance. Improved the army. Won coastal territory.
Early Modern
Robert Clive 1725–1774	British soldier, who rose to be a hero in the Carnatic Wars and delivered Bengal to Britain at the Battle of Plassey.
Captain Cook 1728–1779	Discovered Australia and New Zealand. Helped establish colonies there.
Horatio Nelson 1758–1805	Great Naval hero of his age; victor at the Battle of the Nile, Copenhagen, and Trafalgar.
Robespierre 1758–1794	Key figure of the French Revolution. Leader of the Reign of Terror.
Maria Antoinette 1755–1793	Extravagant Queen of France. Beheaded during French Revolution.
Frederick the Great 1712–1786	Great Prussian military leader in the War of the Austrian Succession and Seven Years War.
Napoleon 1769–1821	Victorious general who rose to power during the French Revolution. Crowned himself Emperor and restored France to greatness.

AD Year	Event
451	Attila the Hun is defeated at the Battle of Chalons.
476	Collapse of the western Roman Empire.
598	Augustine of Kent converts the Saxons, becomes first Archbishop of Canterbury.
600	Frankish King Clovis converts to Christianity, France becomes Catholic.
732	Moslem invaders from Spain are driven out of France at the Battle of Tours.
800	Charlemagne is crowned first Holy Roman Emperor.
880	Alfred the Great saves Britain from the Danes (Vikings).
1066	Norman Conquest of Britain at Battle of Hastings.
1096	Heroes of the First Crusade capture Jerusalem.
1190	Richard I leads the Third Crusade.
1350	Black Plague
1431	Death of Joan of Arc, end of Hundred Years War.
1453	Fall of Constantinople, capital of the Byzantine Empire.
1492	Christopher Columbus discovers America.
1517	Martin Luther initiates the Protestant Reformation.
1534	Henry VIII marries Anne Boleyn, breaks with Rome.
1650	Peace of Westphalia—end of the Thirty Years War.
1783	Britain loses her colonies in the American Revolutionary War Revolutionary War
1789	Beginning of the French Revolution. King of France is overthrown.
1815	Napoleon is defeated at the Battle of Waterloo

Book Title	Selected Chapters (# chapters)
Evans - Old Time Tales	entire book
Lang - Story of Joan of Arc	entire book
Dalkeith - Stories from French History	entire book
Marshall - Story of Napoleon	entire book
Stein - Our Little Crusader Cousin of Long Ago	entire book
Perkins - Belgian Twins	entire book
Perkins - Dutch Twins	entire book
Perkins - French Twins	entire book
Perkins - Swiss Twins	entire book
British History
Skae - Stories from English History	entire book
Lang - Story of Robert Bruce	entire book
Elton - Story of Sir Francis Drake	entire book
Duncan - Story of Sir Walter Raleigh	entire book
Lang - Story of Lord Clive	entire book
Lang - Story of Captain Cook	entire book
Sellar - Story of Nelson	entire book
Lang - Stories of Gulliver's Travels Told to the Children	entire book
Baldwin - Robinson Crusoe Written Anew for Children	entire book
Stein - Our Little Celtic Cousin of Long Ago	entire book
Cowles - Our Little Saxon Cousin of Long Ago	entire book
Perkins - Scotch Twins	entire book
Norse History
Johnson - Our Little Viking Cousin of Long Ago	entire book
Stein - Our Little Norman Cousin of Long Ago	entire book
Hall - Viking Tales	entire book
Macgregor - Stories of the Vikings	entire book