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1492
Isabella & Ferdinand unify Spain
King Ferdinand II of Aragon and Queen Isabella I of Castille conquered the Nasrid Kingdom of Granada, finally freeing Spain from Muslim rule after almost 800 years. -
Period: 1509 to 1547
Henry VIII resigns in England
Henry VIII ruled as King of England from 1509 to 1547. The second Tudor king after his father Henry VII of England, Henry inherited a kingdom which enjoyed both unity and sound finances. -
Period: 1558 to
Elizabeth I reigns England
Elizabeth I succeeded to the throne on her half-sister’s death from November 1558 to 1603 -
Edict of Nantes
The Edict of Nantes was signed by King Henry IV and granted the Calvinist Protestants of France. In the edict, Henry aimed primarily to promote civil unity. -
Don Quixote is published
The plot of Don Quixote revolves around the adventures of a member of the lowest nobility, and hidalg from La Mancha named Alonso Quijano. -
Period: to
Thirty Years War
The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history. -
Petition of Right signed
The English Parliament sent this statement of civil liberties to King Charles I. The next recorded milestone in the development of human rights was the Petition of Right, produced in 1628 by the English Parliament and sent to Charles I as a statement of civil liberties. -
Period: to
Louis XIV reigns as king of France
The reign of Louis XIV is often referred to as “Le Grand Siècle” (the Great Century), forever associated with the image of an absolute monarch and a strong, centralised state. Coming to the throne at a tender age, tutored by Cardinal Mazarin, the Sun King embodied the principles of absolutism. -
The Long Parliament
When the Long Parliament met in November of 1640, the members in both houses were almost unanimous in their condemnation of the non-parliamentary policies of the Personal Rule. -
Peace of Westphalia is signed
The Treaty of Westphalia was signed, marking the end of the Thirty Years' War -
Thomas Hobbes publishes “Leviathan”
Hobbes wrote many books and contributed to many academic fields, but his book Leviathan or the matter, form and power of a commonwealth ecclesiastical and civil is the one he is best remembered for. -
Period: to
Charles II regions England
The eldest surviving son of Charles I, Charles II took the throne on his 30th birthday in 1660. -
Period: to
Peter the Great reigns as czar of Russia
Peter the Great reigned with his half-brother Ivan V from 1682 to 1696. Then he reigned by himself from 1696-1725 -
English Bill of Rights signed
An Act declaring the Rights and Liberties of the Subject, and settling the Succession of the Crown. -
John Locke publishes “Two Treaties of Government”
Two Treaties of Government, major statement of the political philosophy of the English philosopher John Locke published in 1689 but substantially composed some years before then. -
Glorious Revolution
It summarizes events leading to the deposition of James II and VII of England, Ireland and Scotland in November and his replacement by his daughter Mary II and her husband and James's nephew William III of Orange, de facto ruler of the Dutch Republic. -
Daniel Dafoe publishes “Robinson Crusoe”
Robinson Crusoe is a novel by Daniel Defoe,. The first edition credited the work's protagonist Robinson Crusoe as its author, leading many readers to believe he was a real person and the book a travelogue of true incidents. -
Sabastian Bach height of his career
In 1721, Sebastian Bach created a series of orchestra concertos in tribute to the Duke of Brandenburg, which were some of his greatest works. In that same year, Bach completed the first book of ‘The Well-Tempered Clacier’. With students in mind, he put the collection of keyboard pieces together to help them learn certain techniques and methods. Bach had to turn his attention to finding work when the prince dissolved his orchestra in 1723. -
Jonathan Swift publishes “Gulliver’s Travels”
Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels was first published in 1726 under the title Travels into several Remote Nations of the World. The fantastical narrative was initially presented as a factual account written by 'Lemuel Gulliver, first a surgeon, and then a captain of several ships. -
Period: to
Frederick II reigns Prussia
He led his nation through multiple wars with Austria and its allies. His daring military tactics expanded and consolidated Prussian lands, while his domestic policies transformed his kingdom into a modern state and formidable European power. -
Baron de Montesquieu publishes “The Spirit of Laws”
It is a comparative study of three types of government: republic, monarchy, and despotism. -
Period: to
Denis Diderot publishes his “Encyclopedia”
It is a twenty-eight volume reference book publish by André Le Breton and edited by translator and philosopher Denis Diderot. -
Period: to
Seven Years War
The Seven Years' War was a global conflict that involved most of the European great powers, and was fought primarily in Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific. Other concurrent conflicts include the French and Indian War, the Carnatic Wars and the Anglo-Spanish War. -
Voltaire publishes “Candid”
The title-page of the edition published by Cramer in Geneva, which reads, "Candide, or Optimism, translated from the German of Dr. Ralph." -
Period: to
George III reigns England
George III became heir to the throne on the death of his father in 1751, succeeding his grandfather, George II, in 1760 -
Jean Jacque Rousseau publishes “Social Contract”
The Social Contract, originally published as On the Social Contract; or, Principles of Political Right French-language book by the Genevan philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau -
Period: to
Catherine Great reigns Russia
She led her country into full participation in the political and cultural life of Europe. She championed the arts and reorganized the Russian law code. She also significantly expanded Russian territory. -
Period: to
Joseph II reigns Austria
Joseph II co-ruled with his mother, Maria Theresa from 1765 to 1780 and then ruled by himself from 1780 to 1790 -
Boston Massacre
The Boston Massacre was a confrontation in Boston, it was a group of nine British soldiers shot five people of a crowd of three or four hundred who were harassing them verbally and throwing various projectiles -
Boston Tea Party
The Boston Tea Party was a political protest that occurred on December 16, 1773, at Griffin’s wharf in Boston, Massachusetts. -
Intolerable Acts
The four acts were the Boston Port Act, the Massachusetts Government Act, the Administration of Justice Act, and the Quartering Act. -
Battle of Lexington & Concord
The Battles of Lexington and Concord were the first military engagements of the American Revolutionary War. The battles were fought in Middlesex County, Province of Massachusetts Bay, within the towns of Lexington, Concord, Lincoln, Menotomy, and Cambridge -
Declaration of Independence signed
The Declatation summarized the colonists’ motivations for seeking independence. By declaring themselves an independent nation, the American colonists were able to confirm an official alliance with the Government of France and obtain French and obtain French assistance in the war against Great Britain. -
Adam Smith publishes “Wealth of Nations”
The Wealth of Nations was published March 9, 1776, during the Scottish Enlightenment and the Scottish Agricultural Revolution. The Wealth of Nations influenced a number of authors and economists, as well as governments and organizations. -
Battle of Yorktown
From September 28 to October 19 in the year 1781, the Battle of Yorktown proved to be the decisive engagement of the American Revolution. The British surrendered forecast the end of British rule in the colonies and the birth of the United States of America. -
Treaty of Paris
The Treaty of Paris was signed by U.S. and British Representatives on ending the War of the American Revolution. -
US Constitution ratified
The United States Constitution was written in 1787, ratified in 1788, and has been in operation since 1789. It is the world’s longest surviving written charter of government. -
Declaration of the Rights of Man
It is set by France's National Constituent Assembly and is a human civil rights document from the French Revolution. -
Tennis Court Oath
The members of the French Third Estate took the Tennis Court Oath in the tennis court which had been built in 1686 for the use of the Versailles palace. -
Storming of the Bastille
On July 14, 1789, the state prison known as Bastille, on the east side of Paris, was attacked by an aggressive mob. The prison became a symbol of the monarchy’s dictatorial rule, and the event became one of the defining moments in the Revolution that followed. -
Women’s march on Versailles
On the morning October 5, 1789, a large group of women in a Paris marketplace began to revolt. They began marching through Paris demanding bread at a fair price. As the march went on, more and more people joined the group and soon there were thousands of people marching through Paris. -
Declaration of the Rights of Woman
Stated that women, like their male counterparts, have natural, inalienable, and sacred rights. -
Mary Wollstonecraft publishes “A Vindication of the Rights of Woman”
A Vindication of the Rights of Woman was written in 1791 and published in 1792, along with another edition later that year. It was sold as volume 1 of the work, but there were never any subsequent volumes. -
Period: to
Radical Phase (French Revolution)
During the radical phase of the French Revolution, France was made a republic, abolishing the monarchy and executing the king. -
National Convention Formed
The Convention was formed when the Legislative Assembly decreed the provisional suspension of King Louis XVI and the convocation of a National Convention to draw up a new constitution with no monarchy. -
Committee of Public Safety created
Supplementing the Committee of General Defence, created early January 1793, the Committee of Public Safety was created in April 1793 by the National Convention. It was charged with protecting the new republic against its foreign and domestic enemies, fighting the First Coalition and the Vendée revolt. -
Period: to
Reign of Terror (French Revolution)
The Reign of Terror was a period of the French Revolution when, following the creation of the First Republic, a series of massacres and numerous public executions took place in response to revolutionary fervour, anticlerical sentiment, and accusations of treason by the Committee of Public Safety. -
Period: to
Five Man Directory created
Between 1795 and 1799, France was ruled by a five man executive committee called the Directory and a legislature of two chambers. The Council of Five Hundred and the Council of Ancients. This government was formed after passing the Constitution of Year III in mid 1795 -
Napoleon Bonaparte becomes Emperor
He became Emperor of the French under the name of Napoleon and was the architect of France's recovery following the Revolution before setting out to conquer Europe, which led to his downfall. -
Battle of Trafalgar
The Battle of Trafalgar was a naval engagement that took place between the British Royal Navy and the combined fleets of the French and Spanish Navies during the War of the Third Coalition of the Napoleonic Wars. -
Battle of Austerlitz
Battle of Austerlitz was the first engagement of the War of the Third Coalition and one of Napoleon’s most significant victories. -
Battle of Leipzig
Battle of Leipzig ended not only with the victory of the allied forces of Austria, Prussia. -
Congress of Vienna
The Congress of Vienna was an assembly in 1814 to 1815 that reorganized Europe after the Napoleonic Wars. Began in September 1814 five months after Napoleon I's first abdication and completed its ‘Final Act’ in June 1815 shortly before the Waterloo campaign and the final defeat of Napoleon. -
Napoleon exiled to Elba
Napoleon Bonaparte was emperor of France and one of the greatest military leaders in history, abdicated the throne and was banished to the Mediterranean island of Elba on April 11, 1814. -
Napoleon exiled to St. Helena
He escaped from the island the next year, only to be defeated at Waterloo. This time, his enemies wanted to incarcerate him in a place from which he could definitely not escape.