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Aug 14, 1457
Printing Press is Created and Prints First Book (Renaissance/Reformation)
The Gutenberg Printing Press was created and printed its first book, Psalter. It could print books, news, etc. all around Europe, and this had many effects, such as making books way cheaper and increasing literacy rates in Europe. The Printing Press is significant in history because Luther's teachings and beliefs would have not spread anywhere or been able to be read by most people if the Printing Press didn't exist. -
Oct 12, 1492
Christopher Columbus Finds Carribean Islands (Age of Exploration)
Christopher Columbus is an Italian sailor who was sponsored by Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain to find a water route to India by sailing west. Instead, Columbus found the Caribbean islands. This was important because Spain would eventually claim all the land Columbus found and would investigate near the islands, resulting in them claiming South and Central America and getting rich off gold there. -
Jun 7, 1494
Signing of Treaty of Tordesillas (Age of Exploration)
The Treaty of Tordesillas was a treaty that created the Line of Demarcation, which separated where Spain could colonize and where Portugal could colonize. This was important because it prevented Portugal and Spain from having a massive conflict that could have caused many long-lasting issues. -
May 20, 1498
Vasco de Gama Reaches India by Water (Age of Exploration)
Vasco de Gama helped Portugal get ahead of the other countries by finding tons of very valuable spices in India. This was important because other countries began to start exploring in order to catch up with Portugal, and this caused the Age of Exploration to really begin (although Spain had already begun). -
Apr 22, 1500
Pedro Cabral Finds Brazil (Age of Exploration)
Pedro Cabral got carried by the current and wind to Brazil and claimed it for the Portuguese. This is important because Brazil is still Portuguese today, and it was another way Portugal got ahead of the rest of Europe and drove them to explore as well to balance the power. -
1503
Leonardo Da Vinci Starts Painting Mona Lisa (Renaissance/Reformation)
Leonardo Da Vinci was one of the most famous High Renaissance masters. His paintings, especially the Mona Lisa, were extremely influential and helped begin a new era of art. -
Mar 1, 1516
Desiderius Erasmus Publishes His Latin and Greek Translation of the New Testament (Renaissance/Reformation)
Desiderius Erasmus wanted to encourage more people to read the Bible rather than follow the church's requested actions, so he translated the Bible into Latin and Greek to make it more accessible. This was important not only in making the Bible more accessible but also in inspiring Luther to adopt similar ideas to him and spread them, creating the Reformation. -
Oct 31, 1517
Luther Posts the 95 Theses to The Church Door (Renaissance/Reformation)
Luther wrote his ninety-five theses that outlined everything the church was doing wrong and needed to be reformed, such as selling indulgences. Then, he posted his theses on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg on St. Hallow's Eve. This was what started the Reformation and Protestantism, and this would impact the next hundreds of years in history because Protestantism would rival Catholicism in Europe and cause conflicts between many countries. -
Jan 28, 1521
Diet of Worms Begins (Renaissance/Reformation)
The Diet of Worms was an assembly created by Charles V that officially declared Luther an outlaw. Because of this, Luther fled to Germany and hid in a prince's manor. During the Diet of Worms, Luther explained his ideas, mainly that actions are not required for salvation, to the crowd and Charles V and his reasoning made sense. This helped Lutheranism gain attention and acquire more followers, and if Lutheranism didn't gain attention the Reformation wouldn't have occurred. -
Aug 13, 1521
Hernan Cortes Dominates the Aztecs (Age of Exploration)
Hernan Cortes officially captured the city of Tenochtitlán from the Aztecs after winning the Battle of Tenochtitlán. This was important because the Aztecs had tons of gold that made the Spanish rich, and this money would help fund the Spanish Armada. -
Sep 6, 1522
Ferdinand Magellan’s Crew Circumnavigates the Globe (Age of Exploration)
Ferdinand Magellan explored the land Spain had been given from the Line of Demarcation. He died near the Philippines but his crew ended up making it all the way back to Spain. This was important because it made Spain more eager to explore the massive area they had been given over Portugal, and eventually, the line was moved to make Spain have less land. -
May 23, 1533
Henry VIII Annuls From Catherine Of Aragon (Renaissance/Reformation)
Henry VIII wanted an annulment between him and his wife, Catherine of Aragon. He asked the pope for permission to annul his wife, and the pope declined the request. Henry decided to ask the archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Cranmer, instead and he accepted. After this, Henry decided to separate from the Catholic church and put Thomas Cranmer in charge of England's new religion, Anglicanism. This caused many European countries to dislike and oppose England because most of Europe was Catholic. -
Aug 29, 1533
Francisco Pizarro Conquers the Incas
Fransisco Pizarro's victory at Cajamarca officially marked the end of the Inca empire, and Pizarro would start to build a Spanish empire there. This was another way for Spain to get even richer and more powerful from all the gold/silver from the Incas. -
Apr 20, 1534
Jaques Cartier Claimed Northeast Canada for France (Age of Exploration)
Jaques Cartier sailed to northeast Canada for France and found valuable furs there. This was important because this helped keep France relevant in the Age of Exploration and made them a sizeable amount of money, which would help allow them to become a powerful presence in Europe. -
Sep 1, 1541
Calvin Returns to Geneva and Reforms It (Renaissance/Reformation)
Geneva is a city in Switzerland that was open to religious views and had a government controlled by religion. Calvin had previously been kicked out of Geneva, but after he was invited back to help with the government he had massive success spreading his new Protestant religion there, Calvinism. This was important because Geneva would become a major hub for Calvinism and establish it as a notable religion in Europe. -
Dec 13, 1545
Formation of Council of Trent (Renaissance/Reformation)
The Council of Trent was part of the Counter-Reformation. Its purpose was to reform parts of Catholicism to make it more attractive. This helped make sure Catholicism would still play a massive role in Europe despite the success of the Reformation. -
Sep 25, 1555
Peace of Augsburg is Signed (Renaissance/Reformation)
The Peace of Augsburg allowed German states to freely choose whether they wanted to follow Lutheranism or Catholicism. This was important because Lutheranism was finally being tolerated somewhere, and some German states became a great places for Lutheranism to thrive. -
Jan 15, 1556
Charles V Abdication (Age of Absolutism)
Charles V was struggling to keep his empire going due to him being sick and under attack from many nations, so he gave the crown to Phillip II. This was important because Phillip II may have not become the King of Spain, and if he didn't they wouldn't have spent all their money on a failing naval army. -
Mar 21, 1556
Mary Tudor Burns Thomas Cranmer At The Stake (Renaissance/Reformation)
After Mary ascends to the crown, she hates Thomas Cranmer for annulling her mom and dad. This hatred was so strong that she kept Thomas in a cell for years and tried to make him say that Anglicanism was made up. After he didn't admit it, she burned Thomas at the stake in front of everyone. Mary was not perceived well by England, and England tried to stay away from having another Catholic king/queen for many years, and the next Catholic king was intentionally invaded out of Europe. -
Period: Nov 17, 1558 to
Rule of Elizabeth I (Age of Absolutism)
Elizabeth I was the queen of England for 45 years, and she changed a lot about the country. First, Catholicism was tolerated but disliked because she made the main religion of England Anglicanism. Second, England became powerful under her rule because Spain had basically transferred their power to England after the Armada failed. Lastly, she had no heir to the throne, so after she died James I would take the throne. She was important because she helped make England a powerful Protestant country. -
1572
Queen Elizabeth Enlists Francis Drake as a Privateer (Age of Exploration)
Queen Elizabeth assigned Francis Drake as a privateer for England in order to plunder Spain's resources. This was important because Spain was starting to dominate the Age of Exploration and Europe needed to balance the power or else there would be massive issues. -
Period: to
Dutch East India Company (Age of Exploration)
The Dutch East India Company was a joint-stock company that dealt with spices. The Dutch got rich from the company, and the company had a massive amount of power; they could declare war to get more spices. This company was important because it led to the creation of many other joint-stock companies and changed the mindset of how to make money. -
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Thirty Years’ War (Age of Absolutism)
The Thirty Years' War was a massive war that resulted in the Holy Roman Empire being split into many smaller states. This was important because the Holy Roman Empire no longer was powerful and became unimportant in European conflicts. -
Signing of Root and Branch (Age of Absolutism)
The Root and Branch was an agreement between Charles I and Parliament that restricted some of the king's rights. After this was signed, Charles I was not happy with the new restrictions that he thought he could just ignore. This is important because this was one of the main causes of Charles attacking Parliament and causing a civil war, which would then lead to the Commonwealth and his own execution. -
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Rule of Louis XIV (Age of Absolutism)
Louis XIV was a very centralized leader who cost France a lot of money and expelled the Huguenots. He had a long reign, and during his reign, his mission was to obtain as much power as possible; he did this by distracting the nobles and taking away some of their armies (the Calvinist ones). His rule was detrimental to France because he caused them to enter a financial decline by making nobles' families no longer have to pay taxes if they paid him a lot of money, and his castle was expensive. -
Period: to
Commonwealth (Age of Absolutism)
Oliver Cromwell took over England after winning the civil war and turned it into a republic. He did this by removing the House of Lords and setting up a military dictatorship. This was important because everyone disliked him during his reign and he didn't achieve much, and this proved that a republic is not a good way to rule England, and thus it was never used again by anyone to rule England. -
William of Orange Becomes King of England After Glorious Revolution (Age of Absolutism)
The Glorious Revolution was when William and Mary were invited by Parliament to invade England. Since no one was there to defend it, no one was killed, and William of Orange became the king of England. This is significant because now Calvinism was prominent in England, and this would influence England as a country.