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1469
Isabella and Ferdinand unify Spain
Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella of Castile initiated a confederation of the two kingdoms that became the basis for the unification of Spain -
Jul 28, 1491
Henry VIII resigns in England
the King's six wives and his legendary appetite. -
Nov 17, 1553
Elizabeth I reigns England
She was very well-educated (fluent in five languages), and had inherited intelligence, determination and shrewdness from both parents. -
Edict of Nantes
granted religious tolerance and equality to the Huguenots (French Protestants) and ended the French Wars of Religion -
Don Quixote is published-
explores themes of honor, idealism, and the clash between reality and imagination -
Thirty Years War
a group of Bohemian Protestants led by Count Jindřich Matyáš Thurn-Valsassina threw two Catholic governors and their secretary out of a top-floor window of Prague Castle. -
Petition of Right signed
legal petition asserting a right against the English crown -
Louis XIV reigns as king of France
an absolute monarch and a strong, centralised state. -
The Long Parliament
an English Parliament which lasted from 1640 until 1660 -
Peace of Westphalia is signed- October 24, 1648
a series of peace treaties signed between May and October 1648 in the Westphalian cities of Osnabrück and Münster. -
Thomas Hobbes publishes “Leviathan”
an example of social contract theory, which states that people should give up their individual will and desires for the greater good. -
Charles II reign England
king of Great Britain and Ireland (1660–85), who was restored to the throne after years of exile during the Puritan Commonwealth -
Peter the Great reigns as czar of Russia-
He was determined that Russia become and remain a great European power and carried forward the Westernizing policies in a radical and uncompromising manner. -
Glorious Revolution
the series of events in 1688-89 which culminated in the exile of King James II and the accession to the throne of William and Mary -
John Locke publishes “Two Treatises of Government”
Locke proposed that government emerges from the consent of the government to protect their natural rights -
English Bill of Rights signed-
outlined specific constitutional and civil rights and ultimately gave Parliament power over the monarchy -
Frederick II reigns Prussia-
leading his nation through multiple wars with Austria and its allies -
Daniel Defoe published “Robinson Crusoe”
a shipwrecked sailor in Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe who lives for many years on a desert island -
Jonathan Swift publishes “Gulliver’s Travels"
satirising both human nature and the "travellers' tales" literary subgenre. -
Catherine Great reigns Russia
establishing educational reform, championing the arts, and extending Russia's borders in the largest territorial gain since Ivan the Terrible -
Joseph II reigns Austria
a series of reforms associated with Emperor Joseph II. -
Baron de Montesquieu publishes “The Spirit of Laws”
first published anonymously by Montesquieu in 1748. -
Sebastian Bach height of his career
He worked as a court musician, a composer for churches, and a music director -
Denis Diderot publishes his “Encyclopedia”
indicates its aims and then presents definitions and histories of science and the arts. -
Seven Years War
Fought between 1756 and 1763, this conflict can claim to be the original 'world war -
Voltaire publishes “Candide”
the story of a gentle man who, though pummeled and slapped in every direction by fate, clings desperately to the belief that he lives in "the best of all possible worlds -
George III reigns England
the first truly British monarch of the Hanoverian kings -
Jean Jacque Rousseau publishes “Social Contract
asserts that only the general will of the people has the right to legislate, for only under the general will can the people be said to obey only themselves and hence be free. -
Boston Massacre
British soldiers shot into a crowd, killing three people and mortally wounding two more, during a chaotic scene on King Street in Boston -
Boston Tea Party
a political protest that occurred on December 16, 1773, at Griffin's Wharf in Boston, Massachusetts. -
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
marked the start of the American War of Independence -
Period: to
American revolution
-
Adam Smith publishes “Wealth of Nations”
the industrialized capitalist system that was upending the mercantilist system. -
Declaration of Independence signed-
the Congress members affixed their signatures to this parchment inside the Pennsylvania State House, later renamed Independence Hall -
Battle of Yorktown
joint Franco-American land and sea campaign that entrapped a major British army on a peninsula at Yorktown, Virginia, and forced its surrender -
Treaty of Paris
recognized U.S. independence and granted the U.S. significant western territory. -
Seven Years War Storming of the Bastille
a symbol of the monarchy's abuse of power -
Tennis Court Oath
the deputies swore never to separate until they had given France a Constitution -
Declaration of the Rights of Man-
came into existence in the summer of 1789, -
Women’s march on Versailles
a riot that took place during this first stage of the French Revolution -
Mary Wollstonecraft publishes “A Vindication of the Rights of Woman”
argues for the empowerment of women in education, politics, society, and marriage -
US Constitution ratified-
Ratification by 9 of the 13 states enacted the new government -
Declaration of the Rights of Woman
women, just as men, are guaranteed natural, inalienable, sacred rights – and that political institutions are instituted with the purpose of protecting these natural rights. -
Radical Phase
France was made a republic, abolishing the monarchy and executing the king. -
National Convention Formed-
a single-chamber assembly in France from September 20, 1792, to October 26, 1795, during the French Revolution -
The Committee of Public Safety was created
with the intent to defend the nation against foreign and domestic enemies, as well as to oversee the new functions of the executive government -
Reign of Terror
a period of the French Revolution, from about March, 1793, to July, 1794, during which many persons were ruthlessly executed by the ruling faction. -
Five Man Directory created
a five-member committee that governed France from November 1795 to November 1799, -
Napoleon Bonaparte becomes Emperor
marked "the instantiation of [the] modern empire" and was a "transparently masterminded piece of modern propaganda" -
Battle of Trafalga
a pivotal moment in the Napoleonic wars that helped seal Napoleon's eventual downfall and established England as a dominant naval power -
Battle Austerlitz
the first engagement of the War of the Third Coalition and one of Napoleon's greatest victories -
Battle of Leipzig
fought from 16 to 19 October 1813 at Leipzig, Saxony. -
Congress of Vienna
a series of international diplomatic meetings to discuss and agree upon a possible new layout of the European political -
Napoleon exiled to Elba
After Napoleon Bonaparte's disastrous campaign in Russia ended in defeat, he was forced into exile on Elba. -
Napoleon exiled to St. Helena
He was denied newspapers, subjected to a curfew, watched all the time and heavily guarded, with 125 men stationed around Longwood in the day and 72 at night