This document tracks the history of the Avalon project. Avalon was originally started with a realisation that Java is a great platform for developing server products and a call to vote. There was a lot of work formalizing what exactly a server consists of and why this project was needed. These discussions led to the initial development of the Java Apache Server Framework.

Over time the Java Apache Server Framework project was renamed Avalon. This was in recognition that the original ideas had evolved over time. Avalon became a repository of general utility code, a design and testing ground for component based solutions, a micro kernel and set of generalized server oriented services. This, combined with a move from the Java Apache project to the Jakarta project prompted the revision. At this time the kernel code was repackaged under the name Phoenix, core services under the name Cornerstone and the general utilities were spun-off under the Excalibur project.