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Columbus's first voyage to America came in 1492.
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Vasco da Game rounded Africa, around the Cape of Good Hope which was located on the southern tip of Africa. He landed in an unknown world of Arab commerce.
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The Atlantic Ocean was always a barrier until about 1500, where it became a bridge.
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The Spanish and Portuguese divided the globe between them in order to determine which country gets which land. Spain claimed all the Americas while Portugal claimed all rights of trade in Africa, Asia, and the East Indies.
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Da Gama returned, this time bringing a fighting fleet of no less than 21 vessels. A war broke out between them and the Arab merchants and there were many atrocities for India.
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Columbus died in 1506.
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The Portuguese reaced into Malacca and eventually into China and the heart of the Spice Islands. This led to the creation of their trading empire and the first of Europe's commercial-colonial empires.
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Charles V became the Holy Roman Emperor. The money used to obtain this election came from the Medici family.
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Magellan found a southwestern passage in which he sailded from the Atlantic into the Pacific, crossed the Pacific, discovered the Philippine Islands, and crossed the Indian Ocean back to Spain. This marks the first time the globe was circumnavigated.
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The printing press was brought to Mexico.
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Silver deposits at Potosi in Peru were discovered. At the same time, methods of extracting silver improved. Production of precious metals shot up and these riches financed the European projects of the king of Spain.
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In 1551, the University of Lima was established and in 1553, the University of Mexico was established.
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While searching for a northeast passage to the Pacific, an English expedition discovered the White Sea. English merchants began taking the ocean route to Russia.
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Charles V abdicated his crowns and retired to a monastery. This came the year after the Peace of Augsburg had given the ruler of each German state the right to choose its own religion.
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Philip II came into rule in 1556 and lasted until 1598.
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Parliament enacted this in order to regulate the admission to apprenticeship and level of wages in various trades.
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The Spanish established a trade route between their colonies in Mexico and the Philippines. "Manila Galleons" carried large amounts of silver from Acapulco to Manila.
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The revolt against Philip II began in 1566 when about 200 nobles founded a league to check the "foreign" or Spanish influence in the Netherlands.
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Philip II sent a nw and firmer governor generla to the Netherlands (the Duke of Alva) with 20,000 Spanish soldiers in order to suppress religious and political dissidents by establishing a Council of Troubles.
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The Catholic leaders of France decided to end the Huguenots. Over 3000 were seized and put to death on the eve of St. Bartholomew's Day in Paris alone.
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Don Juan became the governor general of the Netherlands. He developed a plan to subdue the Netherlands and then use the country as a base for an invastion of England.
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This Union, consisting of the seven northern prvoinces, was formed. In 1581, they declared their independence from the king of Spain, calling themselves the United Provinces of the Netherlands.
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Philip II inherited Portugal which made the whole Iberian peninsula brought under his rule.
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After almost 20 years of imprisonment, Mary Stuart was executed.
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Many companies began to operate out of England, Holland, and France shortly after 1600. The most famous were the East India Companies, which was founded by the English in 1600, the Dutch in 1602, and the French in 1664.
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This law, in England, was designed both to force people to work and to relieve absolute destitution. This remained in effect until 1834.
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Cervantes wrote his Don Quixote and Lope de Vega.
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The East India Company was organized in 1602. The English settled in Virginia in 1607 while the Dutch settled in New York in 1612.
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This war in Germany began in 1618 because of a long period of civil troubles and ended in 1648.
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In 1640, Portugal reestablished its independence.