-
1469
Isabella & Ferdinand unify Spain
The marriage of Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile created the unified state called Spain -
Period: 1491 to 1547
Henry VIII resigns in England
Second Tudor king of England -
Period: 1558 to
Elizabeth I reigns England
During this time, England became an important European power; she became Queen after the death of Queen Mary -
Edict of Nantes
Issued by King Henry IV to give more religious freedom to French Protestants -
Don Quixote is published
Written by Miguel de Cervantes and mocks traditions of Spain’s feudal past -
Period: to
Thirty Years War
Series of war that began in Bohemia, the present-day Czech Republic -
Petition of Right signed
English constitutional document setting out specific individual protections against the state -
Period: to
Charles II regions England
Welcomed back after the monarchy was restored; reopened theaters and taverns and presided over a lively court in the manner of Louis XIV -
Period: to
The Long Parliament
Followed the fiasco of the Short Parliament, which had convened for only three weeks during the spring of 1640 after an 11-year parliamentary absence -
Period: to
Louis XIV reigns as king of France
Failed to support his ministers, who tried to reform France’s finances and social institutions -
Peace of Westphalia is signed
Series of treaties that ended the Thirty Years’ War -
Thomas Hobbes publishes “Leviathan”
In it, he argued that people were naturally cruel, greedy, and selfish -
Period: to
Glorious Revolution
Bloodless overthrow of the king -
Period: to
Joseph II reigns Austria
Co‐regent of Austria with his mother Maria Theresa from 1765 and sole ruler from 1780 to 1790. -
English Bill of Rights signed
Several acts passed by Parliament; ensured the superiority of Parliament over the monarchy -
John Locke publishes “Two Treaties of Government”
Locke proposed that government emerges from the consent of the government to protect their natural rights, which is the thesis of what is now called social contract theory. -
John Locke publishes “Two Treaties of Government”
Locke proposed that government emerges from the consent of the government to protect their natural rights, which is the thesis of what is now called social contract theory. -
Period: to
Peter the Great reigns as czar of Russia
Peter had military victories over Russia's great rivals; the Ottoman Empire and the Kingdom of Sweden -
Daniel Dafoe publishes “Robinson Crusoe”
An exciting tale about a sailor shipwrecked on a tropical island -
Jonathan Swift publishes “Gulliver’s Travels”
Uses fantasy to satirize, or make of of, English political life -
Sabastian Bach height of his career
He was a member of a remarkable family of musicians who were proud of their achievements -
Period: to
Frederick II reigns Prussia
Served as king of Prussia after his father Fredrick William I -
Baron de Montesquieu publishes “The Spirit of Laws”
A book where he discussed governments throughout history. -
Denis Diderot publishes his “Encyclopedia”
The purpose of this writing was "to change the general way of thinking" by explaining ideas on topics such as government, philosophy, and religion. -
Period: to
Seven Years War
War fought on four continents -
Voltaire publishes “Candide”
Voltaire slyly uses the tale to expose the corruption and hypocrisy of European society -
Period: to
George III reigns England -
Fist true British monarch of the Hanoverian kings -
Jean Jacque Rousseau publishes “Social Contract”
Jacque wrote this due to feeling that society placed too many limitations on people's behaviors. -
Period: to
Catherine Great reigns Russia
Took over the rule of Russia after the assassination of her husband, Tsar Petter III -
Treaty of Paris
Treaty that ended the Seven Years’ War and resulted in British dominance of the Americas -
Boston Massacre
A street fight between a "patriot" mob, throwing snowballs, stones, and sticks, and a squad of British soldiers -
Boston Tea Party
A handful of colonists hurled a cargo of recently arrived British tea into the harbor to protest a tax on tea -
Intolerable Acts
A series of four laws passed by the British Parliament to punish the colony of Massachusetts Bay for the Boston Tea Party -
Battle of Lexington & Concord
Colonists clashed with British troops; the opening shots of the American Revolution -
Adam Smith publishes “Wealth of Nations”
The product of seventeen years of notes and earlier studies -
Declaration of Independence signed
Pledged “our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor” to the cause of the United States of America -
Period: to
Battle of Yorktown
Washington forced the surrender of the British Army -
US Constitution Ratified
World's longest surviving written charter of government. Its first three words – “We The People” -
Declaration of the Rights of Man
The Assembly issued it and the document was modeled in part on the American Declaration of Independence -
Tennis Court Oath
Famous oath made on a tennis court by the Third Estate in pre-revolutionary France -
Storming of the Bastille
When revolutionary insurgents attempted to storm and seize control of the medieval armory, fortress, and political prison known as the Bastille -
Women’s march on Versailles
Six thousand women marched 13 miles in the pouring ran from Paris to Versailles -
Declaration of the Rights of Woman
Olympe de Gouges demanded equal rights; women were disappointed that the Declaration of the Rights of Man did not grand equal citizenship to them -
Mary Wollstonecraft publishes “A Vindication of the Rights of Woman”
One of the earliest works of feminist philosophy; the main purpose was that women should be treated with equal dignity and respect to men, especially regarding education -
Period: to
Radical Phase (French Revolution)
The overthrow of the Legislative Assembly and suspension of King Louis XVI, turning France into a republic -
National Convention Formed
Voted to abolish the monarchy and establish a republic -
Period: to
Reign of Terror
People in France were arrested for not supporting the revolution and many were executed -
Committee of Public Safety created
Deals with the threats to France -
Period: to
Five Man Directory created
During the French Revolution, it moved this which the government was headed -
Napoleon Bonaparte becomes Emperor
Emporer of the French under the name, Napoleon I -
Battle of Trafalgar
British Navy defeated the French -
Battle of Austerlitz
Napoleon had won a crushing victory against an austro-Russian army of superior numbers -
Period: to
Battle of Leipzig
France defeated Napoleon -
Napoleon exiled to Elba
An island in the Mediterranean -
Period: to
Congress of Vienna
Assembly of the European leaders that met after the Napoleonic era to piece Europe back together -
Napoleon exiled to St. Helena
Lonely island in the South Atlantic however, this time he would not return