Introduction :: Background :: Timeline

A Timeline of Important Events in the History of The Empire
ll dates are given according to the standard Imperial reckoning. The present year is 2201.


-50   Artur, chief of the Teutogen tribe, founds the city of Middenheim.

-30   The Birth of Sigmar, to the Unberogen tribe of the Reikland, heralds the beginning of what will later be known as The Empire.

-20   Marius the Fen Wolf, chief of the Juton tribe, is defeated in battle by the Teutogen tribe.  He leads his people from their ancestral home, in what is now Nordland, into the Reik Marshes; there he begins a lengthy campaign to rid the area of Mist Demons (also called the 'Fimur').

-10   Marius discovers ancient elven ruins at the mouth of the River Reik, and founds his new city of Marienburg at that site. The foundations of the Rijker's Isle fortress are laid.

-8   Sigmar becomes chief of the Unberogens, and immediately begins to unite the tribes through a combination of conquest and diplomacy.

-1   Victory at the Battle of Blackfire Pass ends the threat of Greenskin invasion for generations.

1   Sigmar is crowned first Emperor by the Ar-Ulric.

40   The city of Talabheim is founded in a vast crater.

50   Sigmar abdicates and vanishes into the east. The rulers of the twelve Imperial states (Averland, Drakwald, Hochland, Middenland, Ostermark, Ostland, Reikland, Solland, Stirland, Talabecland, Westerland and Wissenland) select a new Emperor from amongst themselves.

73   A new cult, proclaiming Sigmar to be a god, rapidly spreads throughout The Empire. The Cult's leader assumes the title of Grand Theogonist. The Ar-Ulric is furious and refuse to recognise the divinity of Sigmar.

100   Dwarf runesmith Alaric the Mad at last completes the twelve Runefangs, ordered one hundred years earlier for the chieftains of the twelve tribes. Each of the state rulers, now called Elector Counts, receives one of the swords.

500   The king of the Jutons is defeated by Emperor Sigismund the Conqueror, and the city of Marienburg becomes part of the province of Westerland.

632   Norse tribes begin to raid the coastland around Marienburg, and the city itself is sacked and burned.

765   The treaty at the Althing of Traktatsey brings the Norse raids to an end.

936   The van Daalen family, the ruling house of Westerland, form an alliance by marriage with the Beumanoirs of Moussillon, in opposition to the Duchy of L'Anguille.

1010   The halfling province of the Moot is formed by Imperial charter.

1053   The reign of the notorious Emperor Boris the Incompetent begins.

1102   Manann is declared to be the patron deity of Marienburg.

1106-1110   Beastmen gather in the Drakwald. The Elector Count of Drakwald is killed, and his province left without an heir.

1109   Marienburg is captured by the Norse chieftan Snorri Half-hand. The Baron of Westland flees to the fortress on Rijker's Isle.

1111   The Black Plague sweeps across The Empire. Middenheim adopts a policy of strict isolation, saving the lives of its citizens. The Norse abandon Marienburg.

1115-1124   A period of total anarchy ends with the ascension of Emperor Mandred Skavenslayer.

1152   Mandred's assassination leads to open war between the rival states of Stirland and Talabecland.

1359   The Count of Stirland is elected Emperor.

1360   The Ar-Ulric backs Countess Otillia of Talabecland in her seccession from The Empire. The two declare the Cult of Sigmar to be founded on a lie, and begin the persecution of all worshipers of Sigmar, in what is later called the Sigmarite Heresy. Civil war consumes The Empire again. The Norse raid Marienburg.

1366   Tilean mercenaries arrive to serve in Imperial armies for the first time.

1414   Middenland and Nordland sign an agreement to divide the former province of Drakwald equally. The Count of Nordland claims the Drakwald Rundfang for his own.

1450   The Crusades against Araby begin. Many Imperial Knightly Orders are founded during this period.

1547   The Ar- Ulric returns the headquarters of the Cult of Ulric to Middenheim. The Elector Count of Middenland declares the latest Imperial election a sham, and proclaims himself Emperor. This marks the start of the Age of Three Emperors.

1550   End of the Crusades.

1597   The Duke of L'Anguille invades Marienburg and begins a brutal five-year occupation.

1602   The Middenland Emperor sends an army to Marienburg, forcing the Bretonnians to withdraw.

1604   Baron van Buik, Elector of Westerland, forms a city council composed of the heads of important mercantile families. Marienburg begins a period of rapid growth, fuelled  by a massive expansion in overseas trade.

1707   The orc warlord Gorbad Ironclaw sacks the southern Empire and destroys the province of Solland. The Elected Emperor is killed at the siege of Altdorf, but the orcs are ultimately defeated.

1850   Marienburg is sacked by the Norse for the final time.

1993   Marienburg wizards are given legal protection, under the pretext of civil defence.

1979   Marienburg bribes a majority of the Elector Counts, resulting in the election of Baroness Magritta of Westerland to the Imperial throne. The Grand Theogonist refuses to crown the Empress, stating that the electoral system has become irredeemably corrupt. Magritta is to be the last Elected Emperor. All three Emperors now pass on their crowns by dynastic succession, and Sigmar's Glorious Empire stands in ruins.

1999   Mordheim, the capital of Ostermark, is destroyed by the impact of a comet said to have been sent by Sigmar. The Elector, Count Steinhardt, is killed along with his entire family. A strange new mineral is discovered in the ruins of the city, and Marienburg is among those sending expeditions to acquire it.

2000   The League of Ostermark is formed.

2010   Vlad von Carstein, the ruler of Sylvania, reveals himself to be a vampire. His armies ravage Ostermark and Stirland. Vlad is apparently slain several times, but always returns.

2051   Vlad is slain while besieging Altdorf, after the theft of his magic ring makes him vulnerable. His wife Isabella kills herself, and Vlad's vampiric underlings fall to squabbling amongst themselves.

2094   Konrad von Carstein defeats the other vampires and leads his armies against The Empire.

2100   The Battle of Four Armies. The three Emperors unite to defeat Konrad, but are unable to put aside their differences. The Emperors of Midenland and Talabecland arrange each other's assassination during the battle, and Helmut of Marienburg is killed by Konrad. All four armies withdraw from the field. Emperor Helmut is raised from the dead as a zombie under Konrad's control. His son Helmar swears vengeance.

2121   The Battle of Grim Moor. A combined force of humans and dwarfs defeats Konrad's army. Konrad himself is slain by Emperor Helmar and the dwarf hero Grufbad.

2132   Mannfred von Carstein, the last of the Vampire Counts, attacks the Empire by surprise in the so-called Winter War. He lays siege to Altdorf, but is driven back by the necromantic magic of Vlad's Liber Mortis, wielded by the Grand Theogonist Kurt III.

2145   Mannfred is brought to battle at Hel Fenn by a vast allied army. Graf Martin Volker of Stirland slays the vampire, and is declared a hero.

2146   Graf Martin, backed by the Sigmarite Church, invades the League of Ostermark under the pretext of restoring the heir of the Steinhardt family to the throne. The Otillian Empire of Talabecland also invades, as does an alliance of the Empire of Middenland and the Kislev town of Rahkov. Graf Martin is killed, the Stirland army is driven back, and the aged Grand Theogonist dies of disappointment.

2147   The Otillians and Middenlanders continue to fight over Ostermark. The Bechafen Purge, a mass-execution of suspected followers of Sigmar, leads to a popular rebellion against both Otillian and Middenlander rule.

2148   Emperor Severin I of Middenland dies of old age, and the Middenland nobles return home to determine his successor. Talabecland reaches an agreement with the Kislevites and the Ostermark rebels at the Diet of Bechafen. Ostermark becomes an independant state under the control of the restored Steinhardt dynasty, but retains strong links to the Otillian Empire. A key part of the agreement is the toleration of the Cult of Sigmar. The Tzarina of Kislev arranges for her son, Kniaz Makari of Rahkov, to marry the young Gräfin Helena of Ostermark, thus ending the border skirmishes between Ostermark and Kislev. Ar-Ulric Waldemar resigns his office and disappears.

2150   The Western Elves return to the Old World, founding a trading post in Marienburg. The elves sign an exclusive trading contract with the city, increasing its wealth enormously.

2151   Graf Erik of Stirland attempts another invasion of Ostermark, but fails spectacularly. Herzog Adalbert Richter, formerly the commander of the Middenland forces in Ostermark, seizes the throne of Middenland.

2152   The Ottilian Empire attacks Middenland, making substantial territorial gains.

2153   Stirland, in a state of total economic collapse, withdraws its troops from Ostermark forever. Nordland, incensed by the vast tax increases instituted by the tyrannous Emperor Adalbert IV, end their alliance with the Empire of Middenland. Middenland respond by invading the province.

2156   Nordland is on the brink of collapse due to the continuing war with Middenland. The Elector Count is killed at the siege of Salzenmund, and his Runefang (orignally that of Drakwald) is send to Middenheim.

2157   Assassination of Emperor Adalbert IV. Civil war in the Empire of Middenland causes a withdrawal from Nordland.

2158   The civil war in Middenland ends with the ascension of a new Emperor. The Nordland conquest is renewed, and Salzenmund falls.

2160   The Otillian Empire and their Kislevite allies send a large army to support the beleagered Nordland forces. Salzenmund is retaken.

2163   Gräfin Helena and Kniaz Makari finally produce an heir to the throne of Ostermark.

2165   Middenland drives back the border with Talabecland. The Cult of Sigmar is banned throughout the Empire of Middenland as fanatical Ulricanism becomes more and more common.

2169   Hochland, previously an ally, is annexed by the Empire of Middenland.

2172   Middenland invades Ostland.

2175   Ostland becomes formally a part of the Empire of Middenland.

2190   The Otillian Emperor declares an end to the persecution of Sigmarites throughout his empire. The move is met by widespread rebellion among the Ulrican clergy and the more devout nobles.   

2197   The Volkers of Stirland are deposed. The Electorship passes to the von Huttens. The Grand Theogonist presents the Imperial crown to the Grand Prince of Reikland (even though he technically lacks the authority to do so). This new ‘Sigmarite Empire’ includes Reikland, Altdorf, Nuln, Wissenland and Stirland.

2198   The Empire of Middenland defeats the army of the Norse Chieftain Thialfi Swiftaxe. The Norse agree to accept the Emperor as overlord. Across The Empire, harvests fail. The Sigmarite Empire overruns the western part of Talabecland.

2199   Poor harvests lead to widespread starvation across The Empire. Marienburg forges a trade pact with Averland, Estalia and the major Tilean city-states, allowing it to control the importation of supplies to The Empire. The ships of the Marienburg Alliance, aided by those of the Western Elves, blockade the Nordland and Kislevite coast. Nordland and Kislev, backed by the Otillian Empire, form the League of Free Traders. Their aim is to break the blockade and provide food for their starving populations.

2200   Once again, the harvests fail. Heavy snowfall blocks the mountain passes, and the situation is now critical. Marienburg continues to increase the price of all imported food. The dwarfs of Barak Varr join the League of Free Traders, dispatching their iron-clad warships to the Sea of Claws. The Emperor of Middenland issues an ultimatum to Marienburg, as does the Sigmarite Emperor.

2201   The King of Bretonnia declares an errantry war to rid the land of orcs and goblins. The call is answered by almost every knight, although the Duke of L‘Anguille remains behind, sending only a small part of his army to join the cause. The Sigmarite Emperor strikes a deal with the Duke: L’Anguille is offered lucrative trading rights in return for the aid of its fleet in the conquest of Marienburg. The Empire of Middenland, the Sigmarite Empire and the League of Free Traders all declare war on Marienburg.