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Period: Jan 1, 1500 to
Davis Melin
Absolutism, Global Exploration -
Jan 1, 1516
Erasmus publbishes Greek New Testament
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Period: Jan 1, 1533 to
Tsar Ivan IV reign (Ivan the Terrible)
Stopped at nothing in his endeavors to make Muscovy the senter of a mighty Russian Empire. He recieved the name Ivan the Terrible from his ferocious rage; he killed priests, nobles and murdered his own son. -
Period: Jan 1, 1533 to
Michel de Montaigne
A French magistrate who resigned his office to write about the need for tolerance and open midnesses. Much of modern literary non-fiction has found inspiration in Montaigne and writers of all kinds continue to read him for his masterful balance of intellectual knowledge and personal story-telling. -
Jan 1, 1543
On the Revolution of the Celestial Spheres
Nicholaus Copernicus wrote the book arguing that the sun is at the center of the universe. -
Period: Jan 1, 1550 to Dec 31, 1559
Peak of Spanish Gold
Gold from the Americas, transported by Spainards, peaked in the 1550's. -
Period: Jan 1, 1558 to
Elizabeth I (r. 1558-1603)
English queen who oversaw the return of the Protestant Anglican church and, in 1588, the successful defense of the realm aginast the Spanish Armada. -
Period: Jan 1, 1562 to
Lope de Vega
Spanish playwright Lope de Vega wrote 150 plays during his 73 year life. -
Jan 1, 1563
39 Articles of Religion
Queen Elizabeth I issues the Church of England's Thrity-Nine Articles of Religion. It incorporated elements of Catholic ritual and Calvinist Doctrines. -
Period: Jan 1, 1564 to
William Shakespeare
Shakespeare wrote three-dozen plays about tragedy and comedy. His plays reflected the concerns of his age. -
Period: Jan 1, 1567 to
Claudio Montevedi
An innovative composer of opera, Monteverdi's work, often regarded as revolutionary, marked the transition from the Renaissance style of music to that of the Baroque period.He developed two individual styles of composition – the heritage of Renaissance polyphony and the new basso continuo technique of the Baroque. -
Jan 1, 1569
Poland-Lithuania Commonwealth
Poland and the grand duchy of Lithuania write in a single commonwealth. -
Jan 1, 1571
Ottomans defeated at Lepanto
A site off the Greek coast where the allied Catholic forces of Spain's King Philip II, Venice and the Papacy defeated the Ottoman Turks in a great sea battle; the victory gave the Christian powers control of the Mediterranean. -
Aug 24, 1572
St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre
Catholic mobs murdered 3,000 Huguenots in Paris, in a span of three days. 10,000 died in the provinces over the next six weeks. -
Jan 1, 1573
Ottomans seize Cyprus
After their defeat at Lapanto in 1571, the Ottomans continued to attack, seizing Venetian-held Cyprus -
Jan 1, 1576
Antwerp Sacked
In 1576, King Philip II of Spain and his army, sacked the city of Antwerp, then Euorpe's wealthiest commerical city. Spanish soliders killed 7,000 people in what is known as the "Spanish Fury". -
Jan 1, 1576
The Six Books of the Republic
French, Catholic lawyer Jean Bodin sough systematic secular answers to the problem of disorder in his book "The Six Books of the Republic". He concluded that there were three basic types of government/soverignty: 1. Monarchy 2. Aristocracy 3. Democracy -
Sep 5, 1576
Spainards driven out
The Spainsh are driven out of Antwerp, Netherlands by William the Orange who led seven protestant northern proveinces allied with ten southern Catholic provinces. -
Period: to
Albrecht von Wallenstein
He was a Bohemian military leader and politican who offered 100,000 men during the Thirty Year's War to the Holy Roman Emperor Fernidad II. He became a supreme commander of the Habsburg Monarchy. -
William the Orange Assasinated
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Mary Tudor beheaded
Mary Tudor (Elizabeth I's Catholic cousin who was the queen of the Scots) was beheaded at the order of Elizabeth becasuse Elizabeth had found a letter offering her succession rights to Philip II of Spain. -
Period: to
Thomas Hobbes
A royalist who sat out of the English Civil War of the 1640's in France, where he tutored the future king Charles II. Returning to England in 1651 he published his masterpiece, Leviathan in 1651 in which he argued for unlimited authority in a ruler. -
Period: to
Spanish Silver Peak
Silver from the Americas, transported by Spainards, peaked in the 1590's. Precious metal imports and population growth led to inflation of food prices in Western Europe. -
Period: to
King Christian IV Reign
Luthern King of Denmark (Christian IV) responded to Albrecht von Wallentein's takeover of Protestant Germany by invading Northern Germany to portect the Protestants and to extend his own influence. -
French Wars of Religion
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Edict of Nantes
Decree issued by French King Henry IV that granted the Hugoenots a large measure of religious toleration. -
Philip II of Spain dies
Philip II dies in El Escorial, Spain. Before his death the Spanish Empire was in the process of declining. The costs of fighting the Dutch, English, and French had mounted and an overpopulated peasant class could no longer pay the taxes required to meet the rising expenses. -
Hamlet by Shakespeare
A tragedy by William Shakespeare. -
Period: to
King James I of Scotland and England
Under James, the "Golden Age" of Elizabethan literature and drama continued, with writers such as William Shakespeare, John Donne, Ben Jonson, and Sir Francis Bacon contributing to a flourishing literary culture. James himself was a talented scholar, the author of works such as Daemonologie (1597), True Law of Free Monarchies (1598), and Basilikon Doron (1599). He sponsored the translation of the Bible that was named after him: the Authorised King James Version. -
King James Bible authorized
Authorized at the urging of the Puritans; named after Elizabeth's succesor King James I. -
King Leer by Shakespeare
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Don Quixonte
Spanish writer Miguel e Ceruantes captured the disappointment of Spain's imperial ambition. -
The Advancement of Learning
English man Sir Francis Bacon optimistically predicted that the scientific method would lead to social progress. His book "The Advancement of Learning" fully explained his reasoning. -
Macbeth by Shakespeare
A tragedy written by William Shakspeare. -
L'Orfreo
One of the earliest Operas (written by Claudio Montevedi) is based on Greek Mythology. -
France Claims Quebec
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Galileo Builds a Telescope
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Period: to
King Louis XIII Reign
King Louis XIII of France, hoped to profit from the 30 years' war. -
Henry IV assasinated
French King Henry IV assasinated after 19 failed attempts. -
University Established
Spanish Catholic Missionaries establish a University in the Phillipines. It was called the Colegio de Nuestra Señora del Santísimo Rosario. -
Period: to
Gustavus Adolphis Reign
With the Protestants interests in Germany jeporadized, Gustavus Adolphis of Sweden marched in to Germany in 1630. Not only wanting to protect Protestant interests, Adolphis also wanted to gain control of northern Europe. -
Moriscos relocated
By 1614, some 300,000 Moriscos had been forced out of Spain and relocated to North Aftrica. -
Galileo forbidden
The Pope Urban VIII forbades Italian scientist Galileo to teach that the earth moves around the sun. Church doctrine states that everything revolves around the earth. -
Period: to
Michael I of Russia
He was the first Russian Tsar of the house of Romanov. His reign marked the end of the Times of Troubles. He was put on the throne by an Army of nobles, townspeople and peasants who expelled the intruders during the Time of Troubles. -
Period: to
Thirty Years' War
Beginning with conflicts between the Catholics, Protestants and the Holy Roman Empire, the Thirty Years' War originated from religious, ethnic and political weakness. It would end with the Peace of Westphailia. Countries involved included: Spain, Germany, Bohemians, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, France, Portuguese and the Swiss Confederation. -
First African Slaves in New World
African Slaves first transported to the new Virginia colony in 1619. -
Period: to
King Fernidad II Reign
Once Crowned Holy Roman Emperor, Fernidad began to reduce the religious freedom perviously granted to Protestants as a resut of the Peace of Augsburg. Fernidad died leaving his country, Spain, entangled in war. -
The Mayflower lands
The Mayflower ship, landed in Massachusetts where the Puritan occupants founded the New Plymouth Colony. -
Period: to
Exploring the Caribbean
England and France turned to the Caribbean in the 1620's and 1630's. The nations forced the native population off the profitable islands in order to start a plantation economy of tobacco and sugarcane. -
Laws of Wars and Peace
Hugo Grotius, during the Dutch revolt against Spain, furthered secular thinking by attempting to systematize the notion of "Natural Law". His book "Laws of Wars and Peace" said that humans had the natural right to life, body, freedom, and honor. -
Edict of Resitution
Fernidad, the king of Spain, allows Calvinism in the Empire and reclaims Catholic Church property from the Protestants. -
Sweden Army Marches into Germany
Gustavus Adolphis, the King of Sweden, marched into Germany with the intention of protecting Protestant interests, that were in jeporady during the 30 Years' War, and to gain control of northern Euorpe. -
Period: to
John Locke
Rejecting Thomas Hobbes and the more traditional royalist defenses of absolute authority , he used the notion of a social contract to provide a foundation for constitutionalsim. Locke experienced political life first hand as a physician, secretary, and intellectual companion to the earl of Shftesbury. His fomous work Two Treatises of Governement was published in 1690 and justified the Glorious Revolution. -
Period: to
Benedict Spinoza
A Jewisth philosopher and biblical scholar who was expelled by his synagogue for alleged atheism but left alone by the Dutch authorities. Spinoza strove to reconcile religion with science and mathematics but his work scandalized many Christians and Jews because he seemed to equate God and nature. -
Population in the New World
In 1640 the British Colonies had 50,000 people in the New World and French, up in Canada, had a population of 3,000. The French rapidly moved into the Great Lakes Region; fur traders sought beaver pelts to make hats that had taken Paris fashion by storm. -
Portuguese revolt
Portuguese overthrew the Spanish King of Portugal Philip III and proclaimed independence. -
Period: to
King Louis XIV
An absolutist ruler of France, Louis XIV liked to share his power with absolutely nobody. -
Peace of Westphalia
The settlement of the Thrity year's war; it established enduring religious decisions in the Holy Roman Empire by which Lutheranism would dominate in the North, Calvinism in the area near the Rhine river and Catholicism in the South. -
Period: to
The Fronde
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Rump Parliament
Independents in the army purged the Presbyterians from Parliament leaving a "rump" of about 70 members. This Rump Parliament then created a high court to try Chalres I. -
Code of Laws
This new Russian legal code assigned all to hereditary class. -
Cromwell takes Ireland
When his position was secured in 1649, Oliver Cromwell went to Ireland with a large force and easilty defeated the rebels, massacring whole garrisons and their preists. -
Charles I Beheaded
The Rump Parliment establish by Independents led by Oliver Cromwell, tried Charles the I of being a tyrannt and attempting to obataining absoulte power. He was found guilty and behaed before an enormous crowd who few wanted to see him killed. -
First Navigation Act
Allowed imports only if they were carried on English ships or came directly from the producers of goods. The navigation act was aimed at the Dutch who dominated world trade. This would lead to war against the Dutch from 1652-1654 -
Leviathan
Thomas Hobbes publishes his book Leviathan. The work concerns the structure of society and legitimate government, and is regarded as one of the earliest and most influential examples of social contract theory. -
Cromwell's Growing Resistence
Cromwell faced growing resistance as his wars required a budget twice the size of Charles I's and his increases in property taxes and customs duties alienated landowners and merchants. The Conlfict reached a crisis in 1653: Parliament considered disbanding the army whereupon Cromwell abolished the Rump Parliament in a military coup and made himself Lord Protector. He silenced his critics by banning newspapers and using networks of spies to read mail. -
Charles II resturns from exile
A newly elected Anglican Parliament invited Charles II, the son of the executed king, to reutrn from exile. -
The Death of Cardinal Mazarin
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Barbados institutes Slave Code
African slaves stripped of alll their rights under English law, slavery became codified as an inherited status that applied only to blacks. The result was a society of extremes: the very wealthy whites and the enslaved, powerless black majority. -
Jean-Baptiste Colbert takes control of the trading company that had founded New France
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Period: to
The War of Devolution
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Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle
A treaty where France gained control of a few towns on the border of the Spanish Netherlands -
Charles II and Louis XIV Secret Agreement
Charles II made a secret agreement with Louis XIV in which he promised to announce his conversion to Catholicism in echange for money for a war against the Dutch. Charles never proclaimed himself a Catholic. -
Louis Jolliet and Jacques Marquette travel to Arkansas via the Mississippi
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France Opened Hostilities Against the Dutch
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Decleration of Indulgence
Charles II suspends all laws against Catholics and Protestant dissenters. Parliament refused to continue funding the Dutch war unless Charles rescinded his Declaration of Indulgence. -
Louis XIV decrees that the Parliaments could not vote against him
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France Declared War on Spain
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Tax Increases Spur Revolts in France
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The Princess of Cléves
La Princesse de Clèves is a French novel which was published anonymously in March 1678. It is regarded by many as the beginning of the modern tradition of the psychological novel, and as a great classic work. Its author is generally held to be Madame de La Fayette.The action takes place between October 1558 and November 1559 at the royal court of Henry II of France. The novel recreates that era with remarkable precision. Nearly every character – except the heroine – is a historical figure. -
Period: to
Treaty of Nijmegen
A treaty which ceded several Flemish towns and the Fench-Comté region to King Louis XIV -
Louis XIV Moves to Versailles
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Austrian Habsburgs break the Turkish siege of Vienna
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Sieur de La Salle travels all the way down to the Gulf of Mexico via the Mississippi
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France Invaded the Province of Lorraine
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Black Code
Louis XIV promulgated a black code in 1685 to regulate the legal status of slaves in the French colonies and to prevent non-Catholics from owning slaves. -
Principia Mathematica
Issac Newton, an English physicist and mathmatician, developed his law of universal gravitation, which explained both movement on earth and the motion of the planets. He fully explains his reasoning in his famous book "Principia Mathematica". -
France Establishes a Militia Draft
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Louis XIV Attacked Cities of the Holy Roman Empire
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Period: to
Glorious Revolution
The Glorious Revolution,also called the Whig Revolution, or the Revolution of 1688, was the overthrow of King James II of England (James VII of Scotland and James II of Ireland) by a union of English Parliamentarians with the Dutch stadtholder William III of Orange-Nassau (William of Orange). William's successful invasion of England with a Dutch fleet and army led to his ascending of the English throne as William III of England jointly with his wife Mary II of England. -
Toleration Act
Granted all Protestants freedom of worship, though non-Anglicans were still excluded from the universities; Catholics got no rights but were more often left alone to worship privately. -
Bill of Rights
William of Orange and Mary agreed not to raise a standijng army or to levy taxes without Parliament's consent. They also agreed to call meetings of Parliament every three years. -
Period: to
The League of Augsburg Fight Louis XIV to a Stalemate
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Peace of Rijswijk
Louis XIV returns many of his conquests made since 1678 with the exception of Strasbourg