Historical range
The Braided Crowns of Europe
A time-aligned view of the kingdoms, empires, dynasties and personal unions that shaped Europe. Follow a realm across the centuries, trace one house across several crowns, or stop at a single year to see who ruled at the same moment.
Interactive overview
Two thousand years on one axis
Bars show political phases; inset bands show ruling houses; dots mark selected reigns. Connectors distinguish unions, partitions, conquests, restorations and dissolutions without using width to imply power.
Story dates
Connector lines
Personal, dynastic or composite monarchy
State union or continuity
Partition, conquest or dissolution
Relationship markers
◇Union
+State union
→Continuity
↗Partition
×Conquest or dissolution
↺Restoration
Reigns
Selected monarch
Read the argument
A chart is also an editorial decision
The dates, names and lines in this project are interpretations—not claims that medieval Europe behaved like a modern map. The methodology explains how the scope was chosen, why the chart is not a Sankey, and how disputed transitions are recorded.