This time line traces the development of the flying broomstick and of the game of Quidditch over the past thousand years. Most of this information is from Quidditch Through The Ages. Any other references are noted.

900s

• annual broom race begins in Sweden between Kopparberg to Arjeplog (now an international event).

c. 962

• German illuminated manuscript shows warlocks dismounting broomsticks with looks of great discomfort

1000s

• Gaelic poem from this century tells of a game of Creaothceann in Scotland.

• Gertie Keddle lives at the edge of Queerditch Marsh; in her diary she writes of watching an early form of Quidditch; she tells of "(t)hat lot from across the marsh...(p)laying a stupid game on their broomsticks." (for more complete transcription of Keddle's diary, see QA3)

1100s

• early 1100s: Snidget-hunting is popular

• tapestry shows a Snidget hunt

• bartering economy results in the development of broom-making as a craft

• a century after Gertie Keddle, Goodwin Kneen of Yorkshire writes his cousin Olaf in Norway about playing a "spirited game of Kwidditch last Sunday night." He speaks of a player in the position of Catcher and a ball called a Blooder.

1105

• famous painting Gunter der Gewalttage ist der Gewinner (Gunter the Violent is the Winner) shows the game of Stichstock

1107

• Guthrie Lochrin of Scotland writes of "splinter-filled buttocks and bulging piles" from riding a broomstick

Medieval Era

• crude broomstick with very simple enchantments (example on display in Museum of Quidditch in London)

1262

• Barberus Bragge, Chief of the Wizards' Coucil, attends a Quidditch match and offers 150 galleons to whomever catches a Golden Snidget his releases onto the pitch; Madam Modesty Rabnott of Kent takes to the field in protest and catches the Snidget with a Summoning Charm; she is fined 10 galleons

1300s

• Stichstock dies out in Germany

• mid-1300s: Golden Snidget population is getting very low due to hunting and Quidditch, since the bird is killed when it is captured to end a match

• Elfrida Clagg becomes Chief of the Wizard's Coucil; she makes the Golden Snidget a protected species, sets up the Modesty Rabnott Snidget Reservation in Somerset, and bans hunting it or using it in Quidditch

• Bowman Wright, a metal-charmer from Godric's Hollow, invents the Golden Snitch as a substitute for the banned Golden Snidget in Quidditch; many see this as the beginning of modern Quidditch

1357

• Norfolk referee Cyprian Youdle is killed during a Quidditch match; the curse was apparently cast on him by a member of the crowd who was never caught

1362

• Wizards' Council bans all Quidditch playing within fifty miles of a town

1368

• Wizards' Council bans all Quidditch playing within 100 miles of a town

1398

• Zacharias Mumps describes Quidditch as it is now played, including warnings about anti-Muggle security; he suggests that the best places for Quidditch to be played is on a deserted moor

1400s

• magically-reinforced Beaters' bats can crack stone Bludgers, with the result that players find themselves chased by flying gravel during the match

1402

• Caerphilly Catapults team formed

1419

• Wizards' Council issues the famously worded decree that Quidditch should not be played "anywhere near any place where there is the slightest chance that a Muggle might be watching or we'll see how well you can play whilst chained to a dungeon wall."

1473

• the first ever World Quidditch Cup

• all 700 known fouls occur in the final match of the World Cup, Flanders and Transylvania (quite a few were invented in that game)

1500s

• early 1500s: first metal Bludgers begin to appear

1538

• ban is established on using wands against the opposing team, which drastically cuts down on the number and variety of fouls

1612

• Appleby Arrows team is founded.

1620

• Quintius Umfraville writes The Noble Sport of Warlocks which includes a diagram of a 17th century pitch and descriptions of the game as it is then played

1674

• professional Quidditch League established in Britain

1692

• International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy is passed; it makes every nation's Ministry of Magic responsible for keeping Quidditch games secret from the Muggles in their country

1711

• Quaffle first colored scarlet to stand out against the mud of the pitch

mid-1700s

• Daisy Pennifold invents the "Pennifold Quaffle," which is bewitched to fall slowly through the air so the Chasers can keep it in play more easily

• Department of Magical Games and Sports is formed as the Ministry of Magic's response to the requirements of the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy

• Creaothceann banned by the Ministry of Magic

• Banchory Bangers forced to disband after a match against the Appleby Arrows when they not only allowed the Bludgers to fly off into the night but also attempted to capture a dragon to become their team mascot

• Gripping Charms are discovered, which changes the game of Quidditch considerably, since the Quaffle can be handled with far more ease

• goalposts replace baskets for scoring

• 12 Feb: article published in the Daily Prophet reporting on the change from baskets to standard-sized hoops on goalposts

• a Golden Snitch is said to have escaped capture for six months during a game on Bodmin Moor; the game was called and the Snitch is now said to be living wild on the moor

• "stooging" is disallowed (which often resulted in the intentional ganging-up of all three Chasers on a Keeper to score a goal); now only one Chaser is allowed in the scoring area at a time

• 22 June: article published in the Daily Prophet announcing the new Chaser rule

• last time the Chudley Cannons won the league

1894

• the fans of the Appleby Arrows are no longer allowed to fire arrows out of their wands when the Arrows score a goal, as a result of an unfortunate accident involving a stray arrow and the nose of referee Nugent Potts.

1932

• Vrasta Vultures are European champions but Appleby upsets them in a famous 16-day match in fog and rain

1953

• the Harpies' defeat of the Heidelberg Harriers is widely believed to be one of the finest games of Quidditch ever played.

1960s

• Magnus "Dent-Head" Macdonald spearheads a campaign to reintroduce Creaothceann, which was banned in 1762, but the effort fails

1972

• the club motto of the Chudley Cannons changed from "We shall conquer" to "Let's all just keep our fingers crossed and hope for the best"

1994 [Y14]

• July: England goes down in defeat to Luxembourg in the lead up to the World Cup

• August: Ireland defeats Bulgaria in the Quidditch World Cup