-
1095
Crusades are fought
The Crusades were a series of religious wars sanctioned by the Latin Church lasting from 1095-1291. These were fought for a variety of reasons including suppressing paganism and heresy, the resolution of conflict among rival Roman Catholic groups, or for political and territorial advantage. Following the First Crusade there were six major Crusades and numerous less significant ones. During the People's Crusade, thousands of Jews were murdered in what is now called the Rhineland massacres. -
1300
Renaissance Begins
The Renaissance was a period in European history, from the 14th to the 17th century, known as the "cultural bridge" between the Middle Ages and modern history. It was the rebirth of art and advancement. The Renaissance began in Florence, in the 14th century. The intellectual basis of the Renaissance was its own invented version of humanism, based on Greeks and Romans. -
1337
The Hundred Year War
The Hundred Years' War was a series of conflicts waged from 1337 to 1453. It set the House of Plantagenet, rulers of the Kingdom of England, against the House of Valois, rulers of the Kingdom of France, over the succession to the French throne. Historians commonly divide the war into three phases separated by truces: the Edwardian War (1337–1360); the Caroline War (1369–1389); and the Lancastrian War (1415–1453). -
1347
Black Death Begins in Europe
The Black Death was one of the most devastating pandemics in human history. Scientists believe it was caused by yersinia pestis bacterium, resulting in several forms of plague, including the bubonic plague. It was spread by bodily fluid and rats with infected fleas living on them. The beginning of the plague hailed from early Mongolians and other Asians countries. Victims of the plague would often cough up blood or grow large blood boils leaving them to an infectious death. -
May 30, 1431
Joan of Arc Burned at the stake
Joan of Arc, nicknamed "The Maid of Orleans", is considered a heroine of France for her role during the Lancastrian phase of the Hundred Years' War and was canonized as a Roman Catholic saint. Joan convinced prince Charles of Valois to allow her to lead a French army to the besieged city of Orleans. Joan was captured by Anglo-Burgundian forces, tried for witchcraft and heresy and burned at the stake in 1431, at the age of 19. -
1436
Johannes Gutenberg invents printing press
Johannes Gutenberg was a German blacksmith, goldsmith, printer, and publisher who introduced printing to Europe. His introduction of mechanical movable type printing to Europe started the Printing Revolution. In 1455 Gutenberg completed his 42-line Bible, known as the Gutenberg Bible; about 180 copies were printed. -
May 29, 1453
Fall of Constantinople
The Fall of Constantinople was the capture of the capital of the Byzantine Empire by an invading army of the Ottoman Empire. The Ottoman conquest of Constantinople also dealt a massive blow to Christendom, as the Muslim Ottoman armies thereafter were left unchecked to advance into Europe without an adversary to their rear. After the conquest, Sultan Mehmed II transferred the capital of the Ottoman Empire from Edirne to Constantinople. -
Nov 3, 1478
Start of the Spanish Inquisition
The Tribunal of the Holy Office of the Inquisition, commonly known as the Spanish Inquisition, was established in 1478 by Catholic Monarchs Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile. It was intended to maintain Catholic orthodoxy in their kingdoms and to replace the Medieval Inquisition. The Inquisition was originally intended primarily to identify heretics among those who converted from Judaism and Islam to Catholicism. It is believed 3,000–5,000 people were executed during the time. -
Period: 1492 to
Columbian Exchange
The Columbian Exchange was the widespread transfer of plants, animals, culture, human populations, technology, and ideas between the Americas and Europe. Traders returned to Europe with maize, potatoes, and tomatoes, which became very important crops in Europe. The Americas acquired diseases and livestock such as cows and sheep. The most significant immediate impact of the Columbian Exchange was the Atlantic slave trade. -
Oct 12, 1492
Christopher Columbus Lands
Columbus was born in Genoa, Italy, in 1451. On August 3, 1492, Columbus set sail from Palos, Spain, with three small ships, the Santa Maria, the Pinta, and the Nina. On October 12, the expedition reached land, probably Watling Island in the Bahamas. Even though he didn't land in Asia as he intended, he had discovered for Europe the New World, whose riches over the next century would help make Spain the wealthiest and most powerful nation on earth. -
1506
Mona Lisa Completed
The Mona Lisa is a portrait painting by the Italian Renaissance artist Leonardo da Vinci. It has been described as the best known, the most visited, the most written about, the most sung about, and the most parodied work of art in the world. The painting is thought to be a portrait of Lisa Gherardini. Is now the property of the French Republic, on display at the Louvre Museum in Pairs since 1797. After multiple thefts and vandalisms, the painting was protected with bulletproof glass in 1910. -
1508
Michelangelo begins painting the Sistine Chapel
Michelangelo was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet. Considered to be the greatest living artist during his lifetime, he is the best-documented artist of the 16th century. He sculpted two of his best-known works, the Pietà and David, before the age of thirty. his most famous work of art is the scenes from Genesis on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Rome. -
Period: Apr 21, 1509 to Jan 28, 1547
The Reign of King Henry VIII
Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. King Henry is best known for his six marriages and, in particular, his efforts to have his first marriage, to Catherine of Aragon, annulled. This led him to initiate the English Reformation, separating the Church of England from papal authority and appointing himself the Supreme Head of the Church of England. Henry had 3 kids. Mary (bloody Mary), with Catherine, Elizabeth, with Anne, and Edward, with Jane. -
1517
Martin Luther posts 95 Theses
Martin Luther was a German professor of theology, composer, priest, monk and a seminal figure in the Protestant Reformation. -
Aug 13, 1521
Cortes Conquer Aztecs
Tlaxcalan warriors led by Hernán Cortés and Xicotencatl the Younger captured the emperor Cuauhtemoc and Tenochtitlan, the capital of the Aztec Empire. -
1532
"The Prince"
"The Prince" is a 16th-century political novel by the Italian diplomat Niccolò Machiavelli. The descriptions within The Prince have the general theme of accepting that the aims of princes can justify the use of immoral means to achieve those ends. It even contributed to the modern negative connotations of the words "politics" and "politician" in western countries. -
Period: 1545 to
Counter Reformation
The Counter-Reformation was the period of Catholic rebellion initiated in response to the Protestant Reformation. One primary emphasis of the Counter-Reformation was a mission to try to reconvert areas that were at one time Catholic, but had been Protestantized. Pope Paul III initiated the Council of Trent tasked with addressing corrupt bishops and priests, indulgences, and other financial abuses. -
Period: Jan 16, 1547 to
The Reign of Ivan the Terrible
Ivan the Terrible or Ivan the Fearsome, was the Grand Prince of Moscow from 1533 to 1547, then "Tsar of All the Russias" until his death in 1584. During his reign, Russia conquered the Khanates of Kazan, Astrakhan and Sibir, becoming a multiethnic and multicontinental state spanning approximately 1,560,000 sq miles. He exercised full control over Russia's hereditary nobility. He transformed Russia into an empire, though at immense cost to its people, and its broader, long-term economy. -
1555
Peace of Augsburg
Peace of Augsburg, 1555, temporary settlement within the Holy Roman Empire of the religious conflict arising from the Reformation. Each prince was to determine whether Lutheranism or Roman Catholicism was to prevail in his lands. Dissenters were allowed to emigrate, and the free cities were obligated to allow both Catholics and Lutherans to practice their religions. Calvinists and others were ignored. -
Period: Nov 17, 1558 to
Queen Elizabeth's Reign
Elizabeth I was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Elizabeth succeeded to the throne and set out to rule by good counsel. One of her first actions as queen was the establishment of an English Protestant church. It was expected that Elizabeth would marry and produce an heir, but she never did. Elizabeth's reign is known as the Elizabethan era, famous for English drama, led by playwrights such as William Shakespeare, and for the adventurers such as Francis Drake. -
Spanish Armada
The Spanish Armada was a Spanish fleet of 130 ships that sailed from La Coruña in August 1588, under the command of the Duke of Medina Sidonia with the purpose of escorting an army from Flanders to invade England. -
Edict of Nantes
The Edict of Nantes, signed in April 1598 by King Henry IV of France, granted the Calvinist Protestants of France (also known as Huguenots) substantial rights in the nation, which was still considered essentially Catholic at the time. In the edict, Henry aimed primarily to promote civil unity. The edict separated civil from religious unity, treated some Protestants for the first time as more than mere schismatics and heretics, and opened a path for tolerance. -
Period: to
The Era of Samurai
The samura were the warriors of Japan. They later made up the highest ranking social caste of the Edo Period. Samurai employed a range of weapons such as bows, spears, and guns,but their main weapon was the sword. Samurai were supposed to lead their lives according to the ethic code of bushido. Strongly Confucian in nature, bushido stressed concepts such as loyalty to one's master, self discipline and, ethical behavior. Many samurai were also drawn to the teachings and practices of Zen Buddhism. -
Shakespeare Dies
he dead -
Petition of Rights
The Petition of Right is a major English constitutional document that sets out specific liberties of the subject that the king is prohibited from infringing. The Petition contains restrictions on non-Parliamentary taxation, forced billeting of soldiers, imprisonment without cause, and the use of martial law. -
King Charles I Publicly Executed
Charles ascended to the English throne in 1625 following the death of his father, King James I. In the first year of his reign, Charles offended his Protestant subjects by marrying Henrietta Maria. He then went on to anger more by dissolving Parliament on several occasions and starting the English Civil War. Cromwell helped repel the Royalist invasion of Scotland, and in 1648, Charles was forced to appear before a high court where he was convicted of treason and beheaded. -
Period: to
Slave Trade
The Atlantic slave trade or transatlantic slave trade involved the transportation of enslaved African people, mainly from Africa to the Americas. The slave trade used mainly the triangular trade route and its Middle Passage, and existed from the 16th to the 19th centuries. The vast majority of those who were enslaved and transported in the transatlantic slave trade were Africans from central and western Africa, who had been sold by other West Africans to Western European slave traders. -
George Macartney goes to China
George Macartney was a British statesman, colonial administrator and diplomat. He is often remembered for his observation following Britain's success in the Seven Years War and subsequent territorial expansion at the Treaty of Paris. After being created Earl Macartney in the Irish peerage (1792), he led the Macartney Embassy to Beijing in 1792. The embassy was ultimately not successful in its primary aim to open trade with China, -
Period: to
Opium war
The Opium Wars were two wars in the mid-19th century involving Anglo-Chinese disputes over British trade in China and China's sovereignty. The wars and events between them weakened the Qing dynasty and forced China to trade with the other parts of the world. The First Opium War, during 1840–1842, was concluded by the Treaty of Nanking in 1842. The treaty ceded the Hong Kong island to the United Kingdom.
