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1469
Isabella & Ferdinand unify Spain.
Isabella and Ferdinand unified Spain and began a cooperative reign that would unite all the dominions of Spain. -
1532
Henry VIII resigns in England.
Henry VIII resigned in England because his disagreement with Pope Clement VII about such an annulment led Henry to initiate the English Reformation, which separated the Church of England from papal authority. -
Period: 1558 to
Elizabeth I reigns England.
After Elizabeth’s sister's death she took reign and was considered the most glorious and educated in English. -
Edict of Nantes is signed.
The Edict of Nantes was signed to grant Calvinist Protestant partial rights to the nation of France. -
Don Quixote is published.
Don Quixote it is a Spanish novel by Miguel de Cervantes. It was published and considered by many to be the first modern and one of the greatest novels of all time. -
Period: to
Thirty Years War
A series of wars fought in many nations for a variety of reasons over the span of thirty years. -
Petition of Right is signed.
An English constitutional document setting out specific individual protections against the state, and said to be of equal value to the Magna Carta and the Bill of Rights (1689). -
The Long Parliament
The Long Parliament first met in November of 1640, and they were almost unanimous in their condemnation of the non-parliamentary policies of the Personal Rule. -
Period: to
Louis XIV reigns as king of France.
Louis XIV was the king of France for many years, and ruled his country principally from his great palace at Versailles. -
Peace of Westphalia is signed
This document was signed to end the Thirty Years War. -
Period: to
Charles II reigns England.
Charles II was King of Scotland from 1649 until 1651. He was King of England, Scotland and Ireland from the 1660 Restoration of the monarchy until his death in 1685. -
Thomas Hobbes publishes “Leviathan."
Hobbes' book helped shape Western political thinking. The main idea of his work is that "the natural basic state of humankind is one of anarchy, with the strong dominating the weak." Essentially he proposes that society should self-divide, and not be divided by man. -
Period: to
Peter the Great reigns as czar of Russia.
Peter the Great was Tsar and later the Emperor of Russia. He spent some time co-reigning with his half brother. -
Period: to
The Glorious Revolution
This took place to permanently establish Parliament as the ruling power of England and the United Kingdom representing a shift from an absolute monarchy to a constitutional monarchy. -
John Locke publishes “Two Treatises of Government."
The “Two Treatises of Government” proposed that the government emerges from the consent of the government to protect their natural rights. -
The English Bill of Rights is signed.
This document was established to keep the monarchy from declaring rules without consent. -
Sabastian Bach, (height of his career).
In 1704, Bach composed Toccata and Fugue in D minor, arguably his most famous piece. -
Daniel Dafoe publishes “Robinson Crusoe."
The first edition of the famous castaway tale, The Life and Strange Surprizing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe. It was written by Daniel Defoe, yet his name does not appear anywhere in this version. -
Jonathan Swift publishes “Gulliver’s Travels."
Swift published "The Gulliver’s Travels" to illustrate how the English government and society needed a reformation. -
Period: to
Frederick II reigns Prussia.
Frederick II's daring military tactics expanded and consolidated Prussian lands. -
Baron de Montesquieu publishes "The Spirit of Laws."
This work discusses the core of a good government. Essentially what makes a good government, and it compares the types of government, such as monarchy and democracy. -
Period: to
Denis Diderot publishes his “Encyclopedia."
A general encyclopedia published in France. -
Period: to
Seven Years War
The last major conflict before the French Revolution, which involved all the great powers of Europe. -
Voltaire publishes “Candide."
1759 Voltaire published the story Candide in 1759, which was considered an undisputed masterpiece. -
Period: to
George III reigns England.
Both the kingdoms of Ireland and Great Britain were in a personal union under George III until the Acts of Union 1800 merged them on January 1st, 1801. George then became King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. -
Jean Jacque Rousseau publishes “Social Contract."
Rousseau published Social Contract in 1762 to establish moral and political rules of behavior. -
Period: to
Catherine the Great reigns Russia.
Catherine came to power after she overthrew her husband, Peter III. -
Period: to
Joseph II reigns Austria.
Joseph II is most known for ordering the abolition of serfdom. -
The Boston Massacre
This battle began when a group of nine British soldiers shot five people in a crowd of three or four hundred, who were harassing them verbally and throwing various projectiles. -
The Boston Tea Party
A group of colonists destroyed a large British tea shipment by dumping it in the Boston Harbor. -
The Intolerable Acts were put into place.
These were a series of punitive laws passed by the British Parliament after the Boston Tea Party. -
Battle of Lexington & Concord
These battles were the first military engagements of the American Revolutionary War. -
Adam Smith publishes "Wealth of Nations."
"Wealth of Nations" is a work that discusses political economy and how nations gain their wealth. -
The US Declaration of Independence is signed.
The document was engrossed on parchment and on August 2, 1776, delegates began signing it. -
Battle of Yorktown
The Battle of Yorktown ended the Revolutionary War. The British government surrendered to the Americans for peace. -
The Treaty of Paris
The Treaty of Paris was signed in September of 1783, between the American colonies and Great Britain. This formally ended the American Revolution. -
US Constitution is ratified.
The US's new government was enacted when 9 out of the 13 new states ratified it. -
Tennis Court Oath
The Tennis Court Oath set off the French Revolution. Members of the French Third Estate took the Tennis Court Oath in Versailles. -
Storming of the Bastille
A crowd of people seized control of Bastille, a medieval armory, fortress, and political prison. -
Declaration of the Rights of man is written.
Marquis de La Fayette, the principal author of the Declaration, collaborated with Thomas Jefferson, who had been influenced in turn by Magna Carta, to write the Declaration of the Rights of Man.is a human civil rights document from the French Revolution. It is a human civil rights document from the French Revolution. -
Period: to
Women’s March on Versailles.
Crowds of Parisian market women marched on Versailles, demanding reform. -
Declaration of the Rights of Woman is written.
This document was written by French activist, feminist, and playwright Olympe de Gouges in response to the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen. -
Mary Wollstonecraft publishes “A Vindication of the Rights of Woman."
Mary Wollstonecraf was a British philosopher and women's rights advocate. She published "A Vindication of the Rights of Woman" in 1792 as a way to advocate women's rights. -
Period: to
Radical Phase (French Revolution)
The monarchy was abolished and a republic was established. Once the radicals gained control, people who were against the revolution could be arrested or executed. -
Period: to
The National Convention is formed.
A single-chamber assembly in France, which was elected to provide a new constitution for the country after they overthrew the monarchy. -
Reign of Terror (French Revolution)
A period of the French Revolution when a series of massacres and numerous public executions took place. -
The Committee of Public Safety is created.
A committee of the National Convention which formed the provisional government and war cabinet during the Reign of Terror in France. -
Period: to
The Five Man Directory is created.
France was ruled by a five-man executive committee called the Directory, and had a legislature of two chambers. -
Napoleon Bonaparte becomes Emperor.
Napoleon became Emperor of France under the name Napoleon I. -
Battle of Austerlitz
The battle of Austerliz is also known as the Battle of the Three Emperors. It was one of the most important and decisive engagements of the Napoleonic Wars. -
The Battle of Trafalgar
A naval engagement that was between the British Royal Navy and the combined fleets of the French and Spanish Navies. -
Battle of Leipzig
The Battle of Leipzig is also known as the Battle of the Nations. The armies of Austria, Prussia, Sweden, and Russia defeated the army of Napoleon. -
Napoleon is exiled to Elba.
Napoleon abdicated the throne, and, in the Treaty of Fontainebleau, was banished to the Mediterranean island of Elba. -
Period: to
The Congress of Vienna
A series of international meetings to discuss and agree upon a possible new layout of the European political and constitutional order after the downfall of Napoleon. -
Napoleon is exiled to St. Helena.
Napoleon was exiled for the second time to St. Helena, having escaped his previous exile from Elba. This occured after he was defeated by the British at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815.