Medieval/Renaissance (476-1430-1600)

By Laynie Lenz
  • 476

    The fall of the Roman Empire.

  • 476

    Orestes is arrested and killed.

  • Period: 476 to 1430

    Medieval era

  • 477

    Liu Zhun becomes emperor of the Liu Song Dynasty at age 10

  • 477

    Earliest known painted depiction of a horse collar.

  • 477

    The Shaolin Monastery is founded.

  • 478

    The Liu Song Dynasty ends in China.

  • 479

    Soji becomes king of the Korean kingdom of Silla.

  • 480

    Julius Nepos, former emperor of the Western Roman Empire, dies in exile in Dalmatia (he is murdered by his own soldiers, in his villa, near Salona).

  • 481

    Baekje, Silla, and Daegaya form an alliance against Goguryeo (Korea).

  • 482

    Kyiv is founded.

  • 483

    Pope Simplicus dies

  • Period: 484 to 519

    Acacian schism

  • 485

    Period of Arthur's "twelve battles", during which he gains reputation for invincibility (approximate date).

  • 487

    The Lateran Council, convened by Pope Felix III, establishes conditions for readmitting to the Church those Christians who have been rebaptized by the Vandals.

  • Period: 500 to 1000

    Early Medieval

  • 525

    The Anno Domini calendar is invented

  • 563

    St. Columbus founds Iona.

  • Period: 590 to 604

    The Gregorian chant is developed around this time.

  • 691

    Buddhism becomes the state religion of China.

  • Period: 717 to 718

    Siege of Constantinople (now Istanbul)

  • 725

    The mechanical clock is invented

  • 789

    First viking attack in Britain.

  • 800

    Charlemagne becomes the Holy Roman Emperor.

  • 805

    The earliest general hospital is built.

  • Period: 850 to 1150

    The Romanesque era

  • 900

    The Dulcimer is invented

  • 927

    England is established.

  • 969

    Cairo is founded.

  • 1000

    Composers began to experiment with polyphony around this time.

    Polyphony is music based on several simultaneous sounds.
  • 1000

    The Taíno have become the dominant culture of modern day Puerto Rico

  • 1000

    Murasaki Shikibu starts to write The Tale of Genji.

  • 1000

    The staff is invented by Guido d'Arezzo

  • 1000

    The organum is first notated.

  • Period: 1000 to 1300

    High Medieval

  • 1021

    Ibn al-Haytham (Alhacen) pioneers the experimental scientific method and experimental physics in his Book of Optics, where he devises the first scientific experiments on optics.

  • 1040

    The movable type is invented.

  • 1066

    the first castle is built

  • Period: 1095 to 1291

    Holy Crusades

  • 1135

    Emergence of Gothic buildings

  • Period: 1150 to 1450

    The Gothic period

  • 1152

    The mortality play "Ordo virtutum" is completed.

  • 1170

    The "Magnus Liber Organi" is compiled.

  • Period: 1170 to 1310

    Ars antique

    Ars antiqua, also called ars veterum or ars vetus, is a term used by modern scholars to refer to the Medieval music of Europe during the High Middle Ages.
  • 1206

    Genghis Khan becomes ruler of Mongols.

  • 1215

    The Magna Carta is issued, stating that neither the king nor his government are above the law.

  • 1268

    The first mentioned use of the magnifying glass.

  • 1300

    The bass drum is invented

  • 1300

    the secular "round" Sumer is icumen in ("Summer is a-coming in") is written around this time.

  • Period: 1300 to 1400

    Late Medieval

  • Period: 1310 to 1377

    Ars Nova

    the period between the preparation of the Roman de Fauvel and the death of composer Guillaume de Machaut in 1377.
  • Period: 1315 to 1317

    The Great Famine

  • 1322

    "Ars Nova Notandi" is written

  • Period: 1337 to 1453

    The Hundred Years war

    England vs. France
  • 1345

    Notre Dame de Paris is completed

  • Period: 1346 to 1352

    The Black Death.

  • 1350

    Machaut's "Puis qu'en oubli" is written

  • Period: 1360 to 1420

    Ars subtilior

    a musical style characterized by rhythmic and notational complexity, centered on Paris, Avignon in southern France, and also in northern Spain at the end of the fourteenth century.
  • 1380

    The first documented snowman is built

  • 1400

    The crumhorn is introduced.

  • Period: 1430 to

    Renaissance era

  • 1440

    The printing press is invented.

  • 1455

    The Gutenberg bible is printed.

  • 1469

    Choirs start being used for polyphony.

  • 1473

    The first printed sheet music was made on a printing press.

  • 1475

    The first dictionary of musical terms is written.

  • Period: 1476 to 1500

    The Age of Exploration.

  • 1490

    The first recorded oven is built.

  • 1492

    Christopher Columbus reaches the Bahamas.

  • 1492

    The first globe is made.

  • Period: 1494 to 1559

    The Italian Wars

  • 1498

    Leonardo da Vinci's "The Last Supper" is completed.

  • 1500

    The trombone is invented around this time.

  • 1500

    The Harpsichord is invented

  • 1500

    The triangle (instrument) is invented

  • 1500

    Pervasive imitation

    A style in which composers write music in which the different voices or parts imitate the melodic and/or rhythmic motifs performed by other voices or parts.
  • 1500

    Ballet is invented around this year.

  • 1504

    Michelangelo finishes "David", his most famous sculpture.

  • 1510

    The Pange lingua Mass is written

  • 1511

    the Xylophone is first mentioned in Europe

  • 1530

    Origin of the Italian madrigal.

  • Period: 1530 to 1550

    The viola is invented in Italy

  • 1540

    The bassoon is first mentioned as an instrument.

  • 1562

    The Pope Marcellus Mass is written

  • 1564

    Michelangelo dies.

  • 1570

    The first modern atlas is invented.

  • The flushable toilet is invented

  • The first known opera, "Dafne", is completed.

  • Canzona septimi toni is written

  • "Fair Phyllis I saw" is published

  • The baroque era begins.

  • The first jump rope