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1440
The Invention of the Printing Press
Around 1440, the printing press was invented by Johannes Gutenburg. It was impactful because it improved literacy rates, lowered the price of literature, and allowed information to be more widespread. The printing press was especially important for the spread of Martin Luther's 95 Theses. Due to the printing press and the benefits that had come with it, the 95 Theses spread very quickly and more people were able to understand it. -
Period: 1469 to 1492
Lorenzo de Medici In Charge of Florence
The Medici family was an extremely wealthy and powerful family during the Renaissance. Lorenzo de Medici, the grandson of Cosimo de Medici, took over Florence in 1469. During his time with control over the city-state, he made Florence prettier by spending money on making the city-state better than other city-states. The impact of this was that lots of new artwork and beautiful architecture was created. -
1488
Bartolomeu Dias Reaches Cape of Good Hope
Bartolomeu Dias was a Portuguese explorer. He was the first person to reach the tip of Africa, and named it the "Cape of Terrible Storms" due to its bad weather. However, the king of Portugal called it the Cape of Good Hope to make it sound more promising. The discovery of the tip of Africa basically fueled global colonization and started to make other countries explore as well, as they feared they were falling behind Portugal in this aspect. -
1492
Columbus Starts Exploring
When Portugal's success in exploring started to throw off the balance of power, Spain felt threatened. In reaction to the voyage of Bartolomeu Dias, they sent out the voyage of Columbus. Columbus thought that it would be a better idea to travel West as it would be too dangerous to travel East along Portuguese ports. When Columbus reached land, he believed that he had reached India, and called the area the "Indies". He had actually led Spain to the area where they would later lead huge conquests. -
1494
Treaty of Tortesillas
The Treaty of Tortesillas was passed to prevent Spain and Portugal from fighting, as the Pope did not want two Catholic countries to be fighting. Part of the Treaty of Tortesillas was the Line of Demarcation. This line basically divided the globe into half, with Spain taking the West and Portugal taking the East. This was impactful because for some time, both countries followed this treaty and it prevented fighting. Later, however, Ferdinand Magellan proved the Line of Demarcation to be wrong. -
1498
Vasco de Gama Reaches India
Vasco de Gama was a Portuguese explorer. After a two year voyage, he was the first person to discover India after reaching Calicut. He died on his third trip to India after getting malaria. Finding India was extremely impactful. As the spices had not traveled as far, spices were cheaper further away from Europe. This was impactful because when Portugal found India first and set up ports there, it was extremely profitable for them and fueled the other countries' desires to continue exploring. -
Period: 1503 to
Use of the Encomienda System
The encomienda system was basically a system of slavery involving people such as the Aztecs and Incas that was used by Spain. The way that the system worked was by letting workers take indigenous people to work for them. However, indigenous people had to work without any wages and it was only beneficial for the people who were using them to work. This system was impactful as it was the start of the use of slavery, which became a huge issue later on in many different places. -
Oct 31, 1517
95 Theses Posted
Martin Luther was a German monk who disagreed with the Catholic Church. To spread his ideas and to gain followers, he posted his 95 Theses on Hallows Eve at the church in the center of Wittenburg. This was impactful because it spread Luther's ideas and led to the Diet of Worms, which was an impactful religious court. -
1519
Ferdinand Magellan Starts Voyage
Ferdinand Magellan was originally from Portugal and loyal to them. However, he went to sail for Spain after feeling betrayed by them. He stole Portugal's maps and told the Spanish that they could ignore the Line of Demarcation. The Spanish funded a voyage for him to try to circumvent the globe. The voyage ended up succeeding, but Ferdinand Magellan died while still sailing. This not only proved the Line of Demarcation wrong, but also gave Spain valuable information that Portugal had kept. -
1521
Aztecs Conquered
The Aztecs had an extremely powerful empire in the area that is now Mexico. They had an abundant amount of gold and were willing to trade it for things from the Spanish. Montezuma, the Aztec ruler, greeted the Spanish with hospitality but was later kidnapped and killed. In 1521, the Spanish conquered the Aztecs. Hernan Cortes was in charge of this conquest. The impact of this conquest was that it gave the Spanish a very important territory that provided them with riches. -
May 25, 1521
Diet of Worms Concluded
The Diet of Worms started on January 28, 1521 and ended on May 25, 1521. The Diet of Worms was a religious court held to decide how to react to Martin Luther's ideas and actions. In attendance of the meeting was the Pope and Charles V. The impact of this was that while Martin Luther ended up going into hiding to not get assassinated, he did so after publicly criticizing the Church and embarrassing Charles V. The meeting therefore spread Lutheranism further and denounced the Catholic Church. -
1532
Atahualpa is Kidnapped
Francisco Pizarro was a ruthless conquistador from Spain who was sent to conquer the area that the Incas lived in. The Incas contained lots of precious metals, which the Spanish wanted. In 1532, Atahualpa, the leader of the Incas, was kidnapped and killed. After this, it only went downhill for the Incas and the Spanish ended up conquering the area that they lived in. This was impactful as it gave the Spanish more territory and gold, while also ending the extremely powerful Incan Empire. -
1534
Henry VIII Breaks Away from the Catholic Church
Henry VIII wanted an annulment from his first wife, but this was not allowed under Catholicism. Therefore, he broke away from the Catholic Church. He made himself in charge of the Church of England and created a new religion called Anglicanism, a less intense form of Catholicism. This was impactful because Anglicanism became a more widespread religion that was used by monarchs in the future. After Henry VIII, England mostly stayed away from Catholicism, with the exception of Mary I's reign. -
1534
Jacques Cartier Reaches Canada
Jacques Cartier was an explorer for France. He was pretty much the first person to discover Canada and is credited by some for naming it. The impact of him reaching Canada and charting the area is that he laid the foundation for France to later possess that area when colonization started. -
1541
Geneva Becomes a Theocracy
In 1541, the city-state Geneva in Switzerland was made a theocracy by John Calvin, who had different views religiously. This was basically the start of Calvinism and it spreading, which means that this was very impactful. In the future, many countries had conflicts over religion, one of those conflicting religions being Calvinism. In France, there were civil wars between Huguenots, who were Calvinist, and Catholics. -
1549
Book of Common Prayer Created
The Book of Common Prayer was created when Edward VI was in charge of England, and included Anglicanism only. The impact of this book is that people in England had more access to being able to practice Anglicanism, which helped to spread its influence. -
1556
Charles V Abdicates the Throne
Charles V was one of the most powerful people in the world when ruling the Spanish Empire. However, he faced lots of stress and responsibility with his power. He also faced religious problems within the Holy Roman Empire, such as when the Diet of Worms occurred. Therefore, he decided to abdicate the throne and split his empire in half. This was impactful because it showed that too much power for one person can be harmful, and also left the empire with different rulers which impacted the area. -
Mar 21, 1556
Thomas Cranmer Executed
Thomas Cranmer was an Anglican priest who was loathed by Mary I because of the fact that he was basically responsible for the annulment of her parents. She was also already killing Anglican priests. On March 21, 1556, Thomas Cranmer was executed. This execution was impactful as Thomas Cranmer died believing in Anglicanism, being viewed as both a heretic and a martyr. He is famous for burning his right hand first, as he signed a document saying Catholicism is correct with this hand. -
Period: 1558 to
Reign of Elizabeth I
Elizabeth I was an Anglican queen. She helped to accomplish many things for England during her reign. Some of these accomplishments included the Elizabethan Compromise and the defeat of the Spanish Armada. Elizabeth I also made Parliament happy by calling on them for meetings and approval for new laws. After the reign of Elizabeth I, England was a stronger country that had less religious intolerance. -
1559
Elizabethan Compromise Passed
The Elizabethan Compromise was passed by Elizabeth I to legalize Catholicism and Anglicanism. People had the choice to decide what religion they wanted to practice in England, and this was uncommon as religious tolerance was not popular at this time due to a fear of heresy. However, when converting, you could only convert to Anglicanism, not to Catholicism. This was impactful because over time, England would go back to being more Anglican as more people converted from Catholicism to Anglicanism. -
1572
Francis Drake Hired as a Privateer
Francis Drake was an English pirate and was considered by many as the best pirate in the world. In 1572, he was hired by Queen Elizabeth I to be a privateer for England. His impact included stealing gold from Spanish ships and finding out about the Spanish Triangle Trade, which largely benefitted England. He also led the English to victory against the Spanish Armada, which was a huge victory. -
Aug 23, 1572
Bartholomew's Day Massacres
The Bartholomew's Day Massacres were when policemen from France started killing generals that were possibly threats. Calvinist generals were specifically targeted. The massacres spread to civilians and civilians started killing Calvinist neighbors. Over the course of a few weeks, many people were killed throughout France. When Henry of Navarre became king of France, he decided to convert to Catholicism as to not anger France and Paris, which was was probably influenced by this event. -
Spanish Armada
Phillip I was unhappy with England for several reasons, one of which being England helping the Dutch Rebellion. Therefore, he came up with the plan of the Spanish Armada. The Spanish Armada's purpose was to safely escort troops from the Netherlands into England. This did not end up working, as the English defeated the armada. This was impactful because not only was it a huge win for England, but people also started questioning Catholicism as Spain, the losing country, was Catholic. -
Edict of Nantes
The Edict of Nantes was a treaty that put an end to the religious warfare in France. It was passed by Henry IV, who was a Catholic who had converted from Calvinism. The Edict of Nantes gave more privileges to the Catholics, but still gave the Huguenots more rights than the had received before. The impact of the Edict of Nantes was that religious warfare in France stopped while it also made absolutism safer. -
Period: to
Thirty Years War
The Thirty Years War was a very destructive religious war in Europe, mainly in the Holy Roman Empire. The war was fought between Catholics and Protestants. The war ended with the Peace of Westphalia. This treaty brought peace to a war that had brought death to millions of people, and also reinforced and built upon the Peace of Augsburg, which was extremely impactful. This made it to where the princes of areas that they controlled were able to choose the religion of that area. -
Petition of Right Signed
Parliament was unhappy with the way that Charles I was running England, and the fact that he was ignoring them. Therefore, when he asked them for money to fight a war, they made him agree to the Petition of Right in order to achieve that money. However, Charles I ended up not upholding the Petition of Right. The impact of this was that the disagreement over the Petition of Right eventually led to war between Parliament and Charles I. -
Period: to
Reign of Louis XIV
Louis XIV was a king who ruled with a perfect example of absolutism. He was known as the "Sun King" and made France extremely wealthy. He spent a long time building Versailles, an extremely intricate palace that inspired the rest of Europe. While Louis XIV was successful and made France the inspiration of culture throughout Europe, he also left some extremely negative impacts on France. For example, some nobles and their families were exempt from paying taxes and Louis XIV spent lots of money. -
Period: to
English Commonwealth
The English Commonwealth was a time period after Parliament defeated Charles I. In charge of the Commonwealth was Oliver Cromwell, a military genius who led the Roundheads to victory against the Cavaliers. During the Commonwealth, England was Calvinist and the House of Lords was removed. Once Oliver Cromwell died, Parliament called Charles II back to England to have a monarchy again. The Commonwealth was impactful because Parliament was not ignored as often and the House of Lords did not return. -
Execution of Charles I
Charles I believed strongly in divine right and believed that Parliament could only interfere with God's will. Therefore, he ignored some agreements that he made with Parliament, which angered them. After a war was fought between Parliament and Charles I, Parliament won. They then decided to execute Charles I as his punishment, which was a risky move. On January 30, 1649, Charles I was executed. This was impactful because it led to the start of the Commonwealth and Parliament now had more power. -
Glorious Revolution
Parliament wanted to find someone Calvinist to be in charge of England alongside them, as they were Calvinist. They asked William and Mary from the Netherlands to come to England and take them over, as they were Calvinist like Parliament. William and Mary agreed, and peacefully James II was overthrown. This was impactful as it was a bloodless revolution, and it allowed Parliament to maintain their position into the future.