The concept of history for most is a luxury, particularly anything other than local history. The simple fact is that most people who live in this world won't be effected by anything occurring a couple towns over, much less in another nation. To discuss the rise and fall of the Aerdy Empire has no bearing or value to a peasant eking out an existence in the foothills of the Sheldomar Valley. Merchants and traders generally have a wider yet less comprehensive regional knowledge of events as usually they are interested in knowing one thing: how will events effect their income? And who could blame anyone their confined lives given the vastness of the land and the speed of travel over it. Surely many diplomatic misunderstandings occur purely from cultural disparity for the effort it takes for two national leaders to meet.

Even when nations clash and warfare roils over the open lands, for many caught in its path it seems as eventful or historic as a particularly bad storm. Often the victims can relate to their attackers as well as they could strong winds or blowing snow. To them history of such an occurrence is simply shrugging their shoulders and rebuilding. Despite the extensive diplomatic interplay that surely preceded the war, they neither see it nor care for those invisible particulars because they have been marginalized and can do nothing about it. They choose not to participate in such history.

Thus if I truly spoke of history that had a value to nineteen twentieths of the people at large I would point to local and more folkloric history. Approaching the past as most scholars do, we see events in broad strokes and definitive, simple terms. Examining history from the particulars to the overall, from bottom-up instead of top-down, we can see the complexity of the world and the importance of seemingly insignificant and more local factors that tilted the great over-arching canopy just so. Thus, even though constructing a complete history from the small to the great is an exhaustive and probably impossible endeavor, the resulting panorama is more fantastic, realistic and is inclusive of a greater variety of worldly elements. Something we forget: History happens in the world, not in books.

That being said, though I would prefer to tip my hat to local history, I will spend the barest slot of my attention to relay the historical canon of Greyhawk here now.

Some who walk upon this earth still cleave to an ancient measure, the oldest record of time, in fact. The likely source of any venerable lore upon Greyhawk is the Suel peoples. Their empire preceded all others upon the continent and many believe their knowledge of some disciplines then surpasses our knowledge even today. An economy based on slavery and having their upper classes steeped in magical knowledge, they dominated the southwest corner of the continent completely for millenia. In their powerful somnolence, the scattered tribes of Oeridian peoples passed to the north of the Suel Empire without much notice, pushed forward by another growing empire of the Baklunish peoples. When the two nations encountered each other, the Baklunish advance was stopped and the sleepy Suel were suddenly woken to engage in hundreds of years of conflict and warfare. Perfectly matched in strength, the war between godless Suel and the barbaric Baklunish, set the stage for the time, being the focus for commerce and politics. The war took a particularly nasty turn when a wasting plague, known as the Invoked Devastation, began to decimate the Baklunish hordes. Baklunish priests responded to this perceived attack with prayers for divine retribution which took the form of "The Rain of Colorless Fire" which completely destroyed the entirety of the Suel Imperium in a matter of hours. Together these events are called the Twin Cataclysms. It is the destruction of the Suel Empire and the following diaspora of its people across the continent that marks the Suel calendar. For the most part it is a dead reference, but there are a few scholars and zealots who still use this marker to divide the historical continuum. It is 6078 in Sueloise Dating or SD

The second oldest timeline is kept by the elves, called the Olven Calendar. I have heard it began after the last elven city in the mountains was reduced to rubble and the refugees relocated to the lowlands. It was at this point keeping track of relevant history became important for some reason. It is 5025 in the Olven Calendar or OC

After this we have the Baklunish Hegira and the Flan Tracking. It is currently 3222 BH and 2713 FT.

One of the more recent dating systems is the Oeridian Record began as a marker when the Oerid tribes united to push back Baklunish aggressors, claim land in the continent proper and then establish a foothold. This would seem to be a very significant event in the history of a people, but the Oeridian Record is not often used because there is little cultural value to it. When the Oerid tribes settled they adapted to the native conditions and became disparate from each other in many ways. There isn't really much of an Oerid identity. For consistency sake, it is currently 1270 OR.

The most established Calendar places the zero year at the crowning of the Emperor of the Malachite Throne in Rauxes, which was a much more significant happening for the Oerid peoples. It was the height of the Aerdian Empire when the nation reached across the continent and clutched even Perrenland in its ways. The time was marked by growing excess and indulgence among those near the seat of power and today that gluttony has withered its heart. It is 563 in this Common Year.

The continental history can mostly be described in terms of migrations of peoples. This concurrently sets the foundations for the national composition of the land and cultural regions which I discuss here. As I put earlier, history doesn't own a broad brush. You can find more detailed texts in my library.