A constant complaint about these web-pages seems to be that they provide insufficient historical background material, that is, people want some idea of what's going on. This is an initial attempt, be it ever so humble, to address this...

1000-1100:

1100-1200:

1200-1300:

1300-1400:

1400-1500:

1500-1600:

1600-1700:

1700-1800:

1800-1900:

Bruce

brucem@mail.got.net