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Jan 1, 1000
Feudalism
1000s
Feudalism is just beginning. Invasions from Vikings are starting to vanish, and the climate is warming, making it easier to farm. Although, new invasions and attacks are starting to take place, kings could not defend their lands, so they turned to local rulers to defend the lands. Those that could fight off the invaders gained political strength and power. A social system began to develop, too. There was a monarch, who ruled the land, a Lord who owned the land but needed to defend it, so t -
Jan 1, 1000
Feudalism (part 2)
they allowed knights to stay in return for food from the lowest level of people, the peasants and serfs. The Peasants and serfs made up a large fraction of the population. These people had no rights, had to pay taxes, could not own land or leave the land they were born in, had to work on their lord’s land, and gave most of their income to the lords. As Feudalism came to be, people began to make goods and people making the same or similar good soon started to create groups -
Period: Jan 1, 1000 to
European History
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Jan 1, 1100
Guilds
1100sGuilds began to develop. They are groups of craftsmen or artisans or workers that often worked together in a town. It was considered an honor and a person was considered to be highly skilled if they were part of a guild. The people made sure that each product produced was made properly and was sold for a fair price. They controlled the trade of their goods. If a person was banned from a guild, they could no longer sell their item in that village. People could have apprentices to teach them -
Jan 1, 1100
Guilds (part 2)
how to make the good, so the apprentice could possibly be a part of a guild when they are older. As people started to create more goods, new items were produced, which would influence later art breakthroughs. -
Jan 1, 1300
The Renaissance
1300s-1400s
The Renaissance was the time of art and learning. People started to get educations and were then able to think of new ideas and principles. People wished to bring back the culture of Greece and Rome. The Renaissance started in Italy because it had large cities, a strong merchant class, and it had Greek and Roman heritage. Since the plague wiped out one third of the population in the 1300s there were fewer workers to perform tasks around the city-states, so many people decided to -
Jan 1, 1300
The Renaissance (part 3)
different, because theirs did not start until the late 1450s. People were not always able to travel to the northern parts of Europe, and some countries still had similar characteristics to Feudalism. -
Jan 1, 1300
The Renaissance (part 2)
pick up an interest, such as art or literature. Many peopled looked down upon the art and literature created in the Middle Ages, so they turned to the Greeks and Romans. People also started to look at life differently, and Humanism was developed. It focused on the potential and achievements of humans. The Renaissance was also home to many artists that revolutionized the art world. New methods were introduced and improved, including forms of literature. The Renaissance in Northern Europe was much -
Jan 1, 1400
Exploration of the New World
1400-1500s
Exploration of the New World started as technology continued to advance. People discovered new ways of studying the world, and new ideas created a curiosity of learning about the world outside of the countries in Europe. People wanted to observe and see the lands. They also needed new trade routes and ways to spread new religions. Shipbuilders had also just designed the caravel, which made world traveling possible. It was able to withstand strong winds and rough surf. -
Jan 1, 1400
Exploration of the New World (part 2)
Also, the development of the compass and methods to use stars to track their movements allowed them to discover what direction they were traveling and what direction they needed to travel. Many countries competed for land, so people scrambled to get land from unexplored lands, and set up new trade routes -
Jan 1, 1500
The Reformation
1500s
Many rulers had begun to challenge the power of the church. Many of the church rulers had were uneducated, married, and some drank or even gambled. People had been reading religious works and were starting to make their own opinions and beliefs of the church. Martin Luther disagreed with the church and wrote 95 theses and placed them on the doors of the castle church in Wittenberg. After being excommunicated, he returned, and formed Lutherism. -
Jan 1, 1500
The Reformation (part 2)
In 1529, after many peasants revolted over not having the right to have religious freedom, a new branch of Christianity was formed, Protestantism. These people were Christian, but belonged to churches that weren’t Catholic. Eventually, Henry VIII, of England makes England Protestant, so he can have a male heir. John Calvin also had ideas about Christianity, and his ideas became the branch called Calvinism. Calvinism spread to many other European countries, even becoming the official religion of -
Jan 1, 1500
The Reformation (part 3)
some of them. Even Catholicism called for a reform in the 1530-1540s. The Reformation ended up dividing Christianity to many new denominations. -
Jan 1, 1550
Absolutism
1550s
Absolutism begins as Spain gains more and more power. France follows. Eventually France and Spain are the two most powerful countries in Europe. Eventually, this leads to wars between countries fighting to get more power and countries trying to prevent too much power. In the War of the Spanish Succession, countries in Europe joined together to keep the French and Spanish thrones from merging, which if they did, it would form the most powerful country in Europe, which would cause a lot of -
Jan 1, 1550
Absolutism (part 2)
trouble for the smaller, weaker countries. Monarchs in other European countries also start to have absolute power over their countries. They had large military forces, often had cruel, warlike personalities. Many absolute rulers included Louis XIV, Marie Theresa, Frederick the Great, Ivan the Terrible, and Peter the Great. -
The Enlightenment (part 2)
writing made him many enemies), Montesquieu (devoted most of his life to studying political sciences and believed that the British government was ideal, even though it did not separate powers in the way that he believed it did), Rousseau (believed in individual freedom, and believed that an ideal government had the consent of those who it governed), Beccaria (wanted to get rid of many of the tortures used on witnesses for cases, and wanted to preserve the social order, instead of avenging crimes -
The Enlightenment (part 3)
), many women (who believed in gender equality), etc. -
The Enlightenment
1600s
The Enlightenment was started by Thomas Hobbes and John Locke, who both had ideas about the government and had experienced political turmoil. Hobbes had views on the government, while Locke philosophized about human rights. The Enlightenment became more popular in the mid-1700s. They had five basic beliefs: Reason, Nature, Happiness, Progress and Liberty. There were other philosophers such as Voltaire (published books on political essays, philosophy and drama. His satirical method of -
The Scientific Revolution
describes his law explain how volume, temperature and pressures of gas affect each other). New technology helped the progress of these discoveries (the telescope, microscope, barometer, thermometer, medicines, etc.) -
The Scientific Revolution
1500s-1650s
The Scientific Revolution was the time of where people questioned the theory of the solar system and the knowledge of the human body. Many scientists proposed many new theories regarding the layout of the solar system (Heliocentric vs. Geocentric), and scientists observed information about the body (several paintings should doctors dissecting cadavers in order to study the structure of many organs and tissues in the body) and chemistry (Robert Boyle published a book in which he -
Louis XIV's Strengths
1661
Louis XIV strengthened the monarchy in France, strengthened the economy, and supported the arts. When he gained control of the French government in 1661, he became threatened by the power of the Nobles and became determined to weaken their power. -
Louis XIV's Weaknesses
1715
Louis XIV weakened the economy after putting the country through many costly wars in attempts to expand France to obtain more power. He called himself the ‘Sun King’ because he became so power-hungry. Several countries joined up in to stop the Spanish and French throne from joining, due to the fact that if they merged, they would be the most powerful country in Europe. His death in 1715 made several people happy, since he was the cause of their poverty. -
The French Revolution
1780
The start of the French Revolution. The French lived in the Old Regime, where people were broken up into estates, and the power was in the hands of the people with the most wealth. The peasants, who made over 90% of the population had no rights and had to pad heavy taxes, while nobles and some other had to pay little or no taxes to pay for Louis XVI’s heavy spending. Enlightenment ideas and economic problems lead to people wanting a change in France. Even with the heavy taxes, France was -
The French Revolution (part 2)
was still in a large amount of debt -
The National Assembly
1789
The Third Estate realized that it was advantageous due to its size compared to the other estates. In 1789, they joined together to call themselves the National Assembly. After the other Estates learned of the nation Assembly’s determination to form a new government system, the Nation Assembly found themselves locked out of their meeting room. They broke into a nearby indoor Tennis court and refused to leave until they came up with a new constitution. While this was happening -
The National Assembly
many people became fearful that Louis was going to use the military to dismiss the National Assembly, and on July 14th, 1789, a mob stormed the Bastille prison and killed many guards and prisoners and stole guns and gun powder. -
Reign of Terror
1793
As the Assembly reforms France, many new decisions were made and Louis and Marie Antoinette were executed. Other countries fearing that their citizens would be inspired to revolt, they declared war because Prussia and Austria wanted to get the monarchy back in France. Maximilien Robespierre gained more and more power, and eventually became like a dictator since he sentenced so many people to the guillotine. He wanted France to start with a clean slate, and his wishes and -
Reign of Terror
and orders are what caused him to be sentenced to the guillotine himself. He changed the calendar, divided the year differently, and eliminated Sundays. Over 40,000 people were executed during this time for stupid little acts. Once he was executed, the people sat down to create a new government of France, for the third time. -
Napoleon's Rise to Power (part 2)
set up a set of uniform laws. In 1804, he was crowned Emperor. As Napoleon ruled, he realized that he wanted to have control of the rest of Europe. He fought, won, and gained control of the Austrian Netherlands and parts of Italy. He signed many peace treaties with Austria, Prussia and Russia, after that he was left with France’s only large enemy, Britain. The only battle lost while trying to gain control of a European empire, was the Battle of Trafalgar. By the early 1800s he did not have -
Napoleon's Rise to Power
control of Britain, Portugal, Sweden, and the Ottoman Empire. Napoleon was only able to support the French Empire for five years. -
Napoleon's Rise to Power
After successfully winning many battles against Austria and the Kingdom of Sardinia, people voted for him to control and change government. He did not return to nation to how it was like when Louis XVI ruled, instead, he created and supported many laws that would strengthen and control the government while still achieving the Revolution’s goals. He started a national banking system and a method of tax collection. He also set up a school system, kept the Catholic church from national affairs, and -
Napoleon's Fall
Britain, Napoleon and 420,000 soldiers marched into Prussia, and when Prussian armies refused to fight, Napoleon and his soldiers burned crops and slaughtered livestock, to keep the enemy from obtaining food. They then proceeded onto Russia, where they met the Russian army and a cold, harsh winter. The soldiers, already tired form the previous war died, leaving only 10,000 left after both wars. By 1813, all of the major powers in Europe were at war with France. He managed to raise an army in a -
Napoleon's Fall
couple months, but these men were untrained and not prepared for battle. He was easily defeated. He wanted to continue to fight, but in 1814, he surrendered his throne and was exiled to a small island called Elba. He escaped and in 1815 was in control of France again. The Prussian and British armies attacked the French, and Napoleon was sent to a remote island in the South Atlantic. He died in 1821 -
Napoleon's Fall
1806-1821 Napoleon’s desire for power is what caused his downfall. He had attempted to create a blockade, although, it was ignored, it weakened the trade system. And then in 1808, he put his brother on the Spanish throne, which enraged many Spanish people. The Peninsular war began, and because the Spanish had guerrillas, Napoleon lost 300,000 men. After this war, countries that had welcomed France, now started to turn against it. After that, when Prussia refused to stop trading grain with -
CITATIONS
"Midieval Guilds." History Learning Site. HistoryLearningSite.co.uk, n.d. Web. 27 Feb. 2013. (it won't let me italicize or underline) This was the only citation other than the textbook. The images were gotten off of reliable website form google images. And sorry, I did not have time to draw and scan images in, and they would have looked pretty bad if I had tried to draw the images I included in this timeline.
