Renaissance and Reformation

By Cnoll
  • Period: 1300 to

    Renaissance

    The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly from the 13th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. There were also major advancements in art and medicine during this period.
  • 1347

    Bubonic Plague

    The Black Death, or Bubonic Plague was a disease that wiped out about one-third of the total population of Europe during that time. The lack of medical knowledge during this period helped this illness to spread swiftly. If provided more jobs to the survivors, but made less income for the country as a whole.
  • 1420

    Brunelleschi Creates Linear Perspective

    Brunelleschi is famous for two panel paintings illustrating geometric optical linear perspectives made in the early 1400s. His biographer, Antonio Manetti, described this famous experiment in which Brunelleschi painted two panels: the first of the Florentine Baptistery as viewed frontally from the western portal of the unfinished cathedral, and second the Palazzo Vecchio as seen obliquely from its northwest corner.
  • Period: 1428 to 1429

    Joan of Arc and the Siege of Orleans

    The Siege of Orleans was a turning point in the Hundred Years' War between France and England. This was Joan of Arc's major military victory and the first major French success to follow the crushing defeat at Agincourt in 1415.
  • 1438

    Johann Gutenberg Invents the Printing Press

    Invented around 1439, Gutenberg's movable type printing press initiated nothing less than a revolution in print technology. His press allowed manuscripts to be mass-produced at relatively affordable costs. The Gutenberg Bible, printed around 1455, was Gutenberg's most well known printed item. His printing press provided a way for news to be passed swiftly and at little cost.
  • Aug 1, 1464

    Cosimo de Medici Dies

    Cosimo was the first of the Medici Political Dynasty, de facto rulers of Florence during much of the Italian Renaissance; also known as "Cosimo", "The Elder", and "Cosimo Pater Patriae." After his death the Signoria awarded him the title Pater Patriae, or "Father of his Country."
  • Period: 1478 to

    Spanish Inquisition

    The Spanish Inquisition was used for both political and religious reasons. Following the Crusades and the Reconquest of Spain by the Christian Spaniards the leaders of Spain needed a way to unify the country into a strong nation. Ferdinand and Isabella chose Catholicism to unite Spain and in 1478 asked permission of the pope to begin the Spanish Inquisition to purify the people of Spain. They began by driving out Jews, Protestants and other non-believers soon after.
  • Period: 1484 to 1486

    Sandro Botticelli Paints The Birth of Venus

    Botticelli's painting, The Birth of Venus depicts the goddess Venus arriving at the shore after her birth, when she had emerged from the sea fully-grown. This painting also represents the Italian Renaissance because of it's popularity and symbolism.
  • 1492

    Columbus Discovers the America's

    Columbus took three ships, the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria on a journey to sail west until he reached the Indies where the riches of gold, pearls and spice awaited.
  • Period: 1508 to 1512

    Michelangelo Paints the Sistine Chapel

    Michelangelo and several others were commissioned by the Pope to paint the Sistine Chapel ceiling. It took over 54 months and several artists to complete the piece. It is known to represent the Renaissance because of it's link to the time period.
  • Period: 1509 to 1511

    Raphael paints The School of Athens

    The School of Athens is one of a group of four main frescoes painted on the walls of the Stanza that depict distinct branches of knowledge. Each theme is identified above by a separate tondo containing a majestic female figure seated in the clouds, with putti bearing the phrases: "Seek Knowledge of Causes," "Divine Inspiration," "Knowledge of Things Divine," and "To Each What Is Due." Accordingly, the figures on the walls below exemplify Philosophy, Poetry, Theology, and Law.
  • 1517

    Martin Luther 95 Theses

    Martin wrote these These as a protest to the selling of indulgences. His three main points were, selling indulgences to finance the building of St. Peter's is wrong, the Pope has no power over Purgatory, and buying indulgences gives people a false sense of security and endangers their salvation.
  • Period: 1524 to

    European Wars of Religion

    The European wars of religion were a series of religious wars waged in Central, Western and Northern Europe from 1524 to 1648 following the onset of the Protestant Reformation in Europe.These wars were strongly influenced by the religious change of the period and the conflict and rivalry that it produced.
  • 1532

    Machiavelli writes The Prince

    The Prince is an extended analysis of how to acquire and maintain political power. It includes 26 chapters and an opening dedication to Lorenzo de Medici. The dedication declares Machiavelli's intention to discuss in plain language the conduct of great men and the principles of princely government. This piece helped to provide for his subjects peace and stability.
  • 1533

    Henry VIII of England Excommunicated

    King Henry had already upset the Pope in many ways such as annulling his marriage to Catherine of Aragon and marrying Anne Boleyn, declaring himself the Supreme Head of the Church of England, persecuting those who opposed the Acts of Supremacy and Succession, dissolving the monasteries, his handling of the Pilgrimage of Grace, but the final straw was when he began to attack religious shrines in England. The Pope had King Henry excommunicated after this string of events.
  • Jul 12, 1536

    Desiderius Erasmus Dies

    Erasmus was a classical scholar who wrote in a pure Latin style. He was an early proponent of religious toleration, and enjoyed the sobriquet "Prince of the Humanists." He has been called "The Crowning Glory of the Christian Humanists." By using humanist techniques for working on texts, he prepared important new Latin and Greek editions of the New Testament.
  • 1543

    Scientific Revolution / Copernicus

    The Scientific Revolution began in Europe towards the end of the Renaissance Era and continued through the late 18th century. The period was later known as The Enlightenment. It was sparked by the publication of two pieces of work that changed the course of science. They were Nicolaus Copernicus's De revolutionibus orbium coelestium (On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres) and Andreas Vesalius's De humani corporis fabrica (On the Fabric of the Human body).
  • 1557

    Spain Declares Bankruptcy for the First Time

    Philip II of Spain had to declare four state bankruptcies. They occurred in 1557, 1560, 1575, and 1596. Spain became the first sovereign nation in history to declare bankruptcy.
  • Jan 15, 1559

    Coronation of Queen Elizabeth I

    Queen Elizabeth the First became Queen on this day in history.
  • Aug 24, 1572

    Saint Bartholomew's Massacre

    The St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre was a targeted group of assassinations and a wave of Catholic mob violence, directed against the Huguenots during the French Wars of Religion.

  • Edict of Nantes

    The Edict of Nantes granted freedom of worship and legal equality for Huguenots within limits, and ended the Wars of Religion. The Edict was revoked by Louis XIV in 1685, causing many Huguenots to emigrate.
  • Period: to

    Da Vinci paints the Last Supper

    Da Vinci painting 'The Last Supper' is one of the most recognizable paintings today, and portrays a crowd of people eating. It was unique because it was supposed to be a fresco, but a fresco cannot be modified as the artist works, Leonardo instead chose to seal the stone wall with a double layer of dried plaster. It was a new development in the world of art.