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Period: Jan 1, 1280 to Jan 1, 1400
proto-renaissance period
During this time, artists and scholars in Italy alike started to go back to the classic culture of the Ancient Romans. They brought back the languages, values, traditions, and artistic styles. They also got some of their inspiration from Franciscan radicalism.
https://www.britannica.com/art/Renaissance-art
http://www.history.com/topics/renaissance-art -
Feb 5, 1296
Pope Boniface issued the bull Clericis Laicos
The rulers of France and England wanted to tax the clergy under the pretense of the upcoming war, but Pope Boniface viewed the attempt as an attack on the rights of the clergy. He issued the bull Clericis Laicos to excommunicate all the rulers involved in the taxation attempt, but of course the motion was not carried.
https://books.google.com/books-id=kf5B2IMgOR8C&pg=PT181&lpg=PT181&dq=the+king+tried+to+tax+the+French+clergy+1301&source=bl&ots=57WJSVhp8p&sig=yQTWTXrgFQlxT6KynQY9lKA- -
Jun 1, 1374
Death of Petrarch
Francesco Petrarca, also known as Petrarch, was often called the father of the Renaissance. He was a scholar, a poet, and a humanist. He was also known as the Father of Humanism which helped to start the renaissance. He wrote most of this well known peoms about Laura, his love.
https://www.thoughtco.com/renaissance-timeline-1221932
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Petrarch -
Jan 17, 1377
Pope Gregory moved the papacy back to Rome
Pope Gregory moved the papcy, the office of the pope, back to Rome on the recommendation of St. Catherine of Siena. Prior to this it had been located in Avignon which is in southern France although it was originally in Rome. The citizens of France and the cardinals were rather upset by this move because it meant they would loose power and home court advantage.
Martin Luther and Reformation Notes
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Gregory-XI -
Jan 1, 1401
Competition for the Bronze Doors
This was a competition held in Florence to find the artist who would be allowed the honor of creating the bronze doors that were going to go on the Baptistery of San Giovanni. The winner of this event ended up being Lorenzo Ghiberti. He titled his great work Gates of Paradise.
https://www.britannica.com/art/Renaissance-art -
Jan 1, 1427
Masaccio incorporates Brunelleschi's discovery into his art
Masaccio was the first painter in the Renaissance to use Brunelleschi's observation on viewpoints and diagonal lines in their artwork. His painting the Holy Trinity, has a low center viewpoint on the coffin with diagonal upward line going to the bottom of the arch.
This oberservation is known as the theory of linear perspecive and has been used by countless artists.
https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/renaissance-reformation/early-renaissance1/painting-in-florence/a/masaccio-holy-trinity -
Jan 1, 1438
the printing press was invented
The invention of the printing press was a monumental discovery for the life of people in the Renaissance. It allowed books, pamphlets, and flyers to be mass produced quickly and cheaply. Johannes Gutenberg is the man responsible for this great machine. He combined the technology used at the mint with the current method of printing and came up with the concept of movable letter stamps on a wooden press that could applied to paper.
https://www.britannica.com/technology/printing-press -
Apr 8, 1492
Lorenzo de' Medici died
Also known as Lorenzo the Magnificent, Lorenzo de' Medici was a well known artist, politician, diplomat, poet, magnate, and a patron of scholars. He entered politics at the young age of 16 and helped to create peace during his great rule. He also captured the beauty of his surroundings through his paintings and poems. He married Clarice Orsini.
https://www.florenceinferno.com/lorenzo-the-magnificent/
https://www.nga.gov/features/slideshows/patrons-and-artists-in-late-15th-century-florence.html -
Jan 1, 1499
French conquer Milan
The Second Italian War also known as the Italian War of Louis XII lasted from 1499 to 1503 and was started when the French beat Milan. This victory helped tremendously with making greater passage of Renaissance ideas into France possible. The war itself broke up former allies France and Italy, turned them against each other, and lead to a Spanish ruling in Naples.
https://www.thoughtco.com/renaissance-timeline-1221932
http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/wars_second_italian_war.html -
Jan 1, 1504
Michelangelo finished David
After four long years of work Michelangelo finally finished his sculpture of David in 1504. It was based on the character David in the biblical story of David and Goliath. It is a fourteen foot tall sculpture that weighs over 12,000 pounds, is made of white marble, and is located at the Accademia Gallery, in Florence, Italy. He was only twenty-six years old when he was commissioned to create this masterpiece.
http://www.accademia.org/explore-museum/artworks/michelangelos-david/ -
Jan 1, 1507
Leonardo da Vinci finished the Mona Lisa
Leonardo da Vinci is the painter of possibly the world's most famous piece of art. According to most sources it took him about four years to complete this great work. The reason behind the smile as well as the identity of the women in the painting are still unknown. Some sources speculate that it could be the wife of Florentine and that he was the one who commissioned him to create it.
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Mona-Lisa-painting -
Jan 1, 1513
The Prince by Niccolo' Machiavelli is written
The Prince is a book about ruling or how to rule, depending on who you ask. Although the ever changing times of the renaissance played a huge roll in this book, the purpose of it was to address Lorenzo de Medici. It is believed that he wanted to talk to him about his ruling techniques and get into his good graces in an attempt to earn himself an advisory position in his court.
https://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/p/the-prince/about-the-prince -
Mar 9, 1513
Leo X becomes Pope
Leo X, aslo known as Giovanni de’ Medici, was officially elected to the Papacy on March nineth of 1513 after the death of the former pope Julius II. He was elected because the College believed he would be a peaceful leader, but he ended up being the leading Pope of the Renaissance. He was the one who excommunicated Martin Luther in January of 1521 just eleven months before his death.
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Leo-X -
Oct 31, 1517
Nailing of the 95 theses
Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the door of the church in Wittenberg. This paper contained a list of 95 things that Luther thought about the issues with the Catholic Church. It included his thoughts on the distribution of indulgences, how he thought the church should be run, and how he believed Catholics should live their lives.
https://www.britannica.com/event/Ninety-five-Theses -
Jan 1, 1519
first parachute is designed
Although the invention of the parachute is credited to Sebastien Lenormand, it was Leonardo da Vinci who first had the idea for one. He started to think about and sketch the first designs in 1452 and by 1519 he had completed them. Although he never put his designs into practice many other people after him did. Croatian Faust Vrancic used Da Vinci's design when he made his jump from the Venice tower in 1617.
https://www.thoughtco.com/history-of-the-parachute-1992334 -
Jan 3, 1521
Martin Luther's excommunication
Pope Leo X issued the papul bull that excommunicated, or kicked out, Luther from the church. He did this because of the opinions Luther was spreading about the corruption and issues within the Catholic church. He was given 60 days to recant, or take back, the things he wrote, but he refused. His refusal gave the pope the reason he was looking for to get rid of him, so he did just that.
https://blog.oup.com/2012/01/luther/ -
Jan 1, 1532
Ludovico Ariosto's final Orlando Furioso is published
Orlando Furioso is often thought of as the best expression of the literary and spiritual themes of the Renaissance. His first published version contained 40 cantos or sections, his second was expanded to 43, and his final one was expanded again to contain 46. His book is a sequel to Orlando Innamorato which was written by Matteo Maria Boiardo. He combined a love story, a war, and another love story in this famous epic.
https://www.bookreports.info/orlando-furioso-summary/ -
Jan 1, 1534
Luther's German bible is published
Luther first started to translate parts of the bible such as the psalms into German in 1517. By 1522 he had finished and published the new testament and in 1534 he published the entire bible front to back in German. This was a huge event in the reformation because it meant that everyone, not just members of the church could read and understand the bible for themselves.
https://www.museeprotestant.org/en/notice/martin-luther-translator-of-the-bible/ -
Period: Jan 1, 1534 to
poly-choral style developed
Polyphonic music refers to lots of voices blending together to make one song. This is what it done in all modern choirs today, but in the renaissance it was a groundbreaking concept. The poly-choral style of the renaissance combined many different choirs and instruments in order to compose some of the best and most complex musical works of the time.
https://www.tampapix.com/renaissance.htm -
Jan 1, 1543
Nicolaus Copernicus proposed the Heliocentric solar system
Nicolaus Copernicus proposed that the planets revolved around the sun not the earth as was previously believed by the Greeks. His model of the universe was known as the heliocentric solar system because the word heliocentric means having the sun as a center. His work was extremely radical at the time, and his didn't publish until the year of his death.
https://www.space.com/15684-nicolaus-copernicus.html?_ga=2.85055069.553392284.1519780738-1866140209.1519669141 -
Dec 21, 1549
Marguerite de Navarre died
Marguerite was a member of French nobility as well as a famous author of poems, songs, plays, and prayers. She shared Luther's vision on how a person should earn their salvation and also managed to alienate many religious figures. Her death came after she had relinquished her all her duties to the king and moved to the castle of the Odes. She got sick at the beginning of December and died on the twenty-first.
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/marguerite-de-navarre -
Sep 1, 1561
Feast of fools
“Feast of Fools” portrays one of the most spectacular festivals held in Antwerp in August of 1561.
http://teachersinstitute.yale.edu/curriculum/units/1986/3/86.03.06.x.html#k -
the microscope is invented
Exactly who it is that first invented the microscope is still a bit of debate. Hans Lippershey was the one who filled out the patent for it, but some people believe that it was actually Hans and Zacharias Janssen, a father and son who were spectacle makers and lived in the same town that Lippershey did. The microscopes they invented were compound which use two lenses. The first lens creates the image and the second magnifies it.
https://www.livescience.com/39649-who-invented-the-microscope.html -
Galileo showed descent time is independent of mass
Galileo Galilei demonstrated that falling objects of similar material but different masses fall at about the same speed. The famous story behind this is that he dropped two balls of different sizes made of the same thing from the Leaning Tower of Pisa to see if they would hit the ground at the same time which they did. In short this proved that descent time is independent of mass.
https://blogs.umass.edu/p139ell/2012/11/19/the-renaissance-and-the-scientific-revolution/ -
Romeo and Juliet was published
The first publishing of this great play was unauthorized and shorter than the authorized version that came two years later. Since then it has become one of the most famous and heartbreaking love tragedies of all time. It has been recreated in countless different ways throughout the years, but the original still stands true. His inspiration for this great work came mainly from The Tragicall Historye of Romeus and Juliet.
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Romeo-and-Juliet -
Johannes Kepler announced his first two laws
Johannes Kepler announced his first two laws of planetary motion, or laws on how the planets move about the solar system, in 1609 and announced his third law in in 1618. His first law states that all the planets orbit the sun. His second law states that a radius vector joining any planet to the sun sweeps out equal areas in equal lengths of time. All three of these laws helped shape our modern day astrology.
https://www.britannica.com/science/Keplers-laws-of-planetary-motion -
the match was invented
While the invention of the match was a combination of many different scientists over the course of hundreds of years, it was Robert Boyle who first put the chemical mixture onto a stick, ran it across paper, and started a fire with it. He didn't do anything with this miraculous discovery, but in 1827 Samuel Jones did. Using John Walker's discovery Jones created Lucifers, the first purchasable matches.
https://www.thoughtco.com/history-of-chemical-matches-606805
