AER Timeline

  • Isabella & Ferdinand unify Spain
    1469

    Isabella & Ferdinand unify Spain

    After Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella of Castile got married in 1469, they initiated a confederation of the two kingdoms that became the basis for the unification of Spain.
  • Period: Apr 22, 1509 to Jan 28, 1547

    Henry VIII reigns in England

    He is also credited with establishing the Royal Navy, encouraging shipbuilding, and creating anchorages and dockyards.
  • Period: 1558 to

    Elizabeth I reigns England

    Elizabeth I reigned England during a period, called the Elizabethan Age when England asserted itself as a major European power in politics
  • Edict of Nantes

    Edict of Nantes

    The Edict of Nantes granted the Calvinist Protestants of France, also known as Huguenots, rights in the nation.
  • Don Quixote is published

    Don Quixote is published

    The Don Quixote was a Spanish epic novel by Miguel de Cervantes. Also known as El ingenioso hidalgo.
  • Period: to

    Thirty Years War

    The Thirty Years War started because of the actions of Emperor Ferdinand II forcing the protestants into Catholicism.
  • Petition of Right signed

    Petition of Right signed

    Petition of Right was sent by English Parliament to King Charles I complaining about a series of breaches of law he had made.
  • Period: to

    Charles II reigns England

    Charles II founded the Royal Society in 1660 and saw the rise of colonization and trade in India, the East Indies, and America. He also saw the rise of the Passage of Navigation Acts that secured Britain's future as a sea power.
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    Louis XIV reigns as king of France

    Louis oversaw the administrative and financial reorganization of his realm, and also set up manufactures and worked to boost trade. He also reformed the army and had a string of military victories.
  • Period: to

    The Long Parliament

    It was meant to abolish the courts which were seen as challenging the supremacy of the law.
  • Peace of Westphalia is signed

    Peace of Westphalia is signed

    The Peace of Westphalia ended the Thirty Years' War and brought peace to the Holy Roman Empire.
  • Thomas Hobbes publishes “Leviathan”

    Thomas Hobbes publishes “Leviathan”

    Hobbes wrote many books and contributed to many academic fields, but "Leviathan" is the one he is best remembered for.
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    Peter the Great reigns as czar of Russia

    One of Peter the Great's goals was to transform Russia into a maritime. He greatly increased the size of Russia's navy.
  • Sabastian Bach height of his career

    Sabastian Bach height of his career

    Bach is celebrated as the creator of many masterpieces of church and instrumental music.
  • John Locke publishes “Two Treaties of Government”

    John Locke publishes “Two Treaties of Government”

    A major statement of the political philosophy of the English philosopher John Locke, published in 1689 but substantially composed some years before then.
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    Glorious Revolution

    The Glorious Revolution is a term used in 1689 to describe events that lead to the deposition of James II and VII of England, Ireland, and Scotland in November of 1688.
  • Glorious Revolution

    Glorious Revolution

    The Glorious Revolution is a term used in 1689 to describe events the lead to the deposition of James II and VII of England, Ireland, and Scotland in November of 1688.
  • English Bill of Rights signed

    English Bill of Rights signed

    The English Bill of Rights was an Act declaring the Rights and Liberties of the Subject, and settling the Succession of the Crown.
  • Daniel Dafoe publishes “Robinson Crusoe”

    Daniel Dafoe publishes “Robinson Crusoe”

    Robinson Crusoe is a novel by Daniel Defoe, that credited the work's protagonist Robinson Crusoe as its author, leading many to believe he was a real person.
  • Jonathan Swift publishes “Gulliver’s Travels”

    Jonathan Swift publishes “Gulliver’s Travels”

    "Gulliver's Travels" is considered Swift's best known full-length work and a classic of English literature.
  • Period: to

    Frederick II reigns Prussia

    Frederick II lead his nation through many wars with Austria and Austria's allies. His tactics consolidated Prussian lands and transformed his kingdom.
  • Baron de Montesquieu publishes “The Spirit of Laws”

    Baron de Montesquieu publishes “The Spirit of Laws”

    "The Spirit of Laws" is a comparative study of three types of government: republic, monarchy, and despotism.
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    Denis Diderot publishes his “Encyclopedia”

    The point of Diderot's "Encyclopedia" is to gather all knowledge, examine it critically and rationally, and use it for social advancement.
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    Seven Years War

    The Seven Years War provided Great Britain with enormous territorial gains in North America, although it ultimately led to the American Revolution.
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    George III reigns England

    George III was the first truly British monarch of the Hanoverian kings and reigned for almost 60 years.
  • Voltaire publishes “Candid”

    Voltaire publishes “Candid”

    Many historical events inspired Voltaire to write Candide, like the publication of Leibniz's "Monadology", the Seven Years' War, and the 1755 Lisbon earthquake.
  • Jean Jacque Rousseau publishes “Social Contract”

    Jean Jacque Rousseau publishes “Social Contract”

    The Social Contract is a 1762 French-language book that was written by Jean-Jacques Rousseau.
  • Period: to

    Catherine the Great reigns Russia

    Catherine the Great reigned longer than any other female in Russian history. She westernized Russia and significantly expanded Russian territory.
  • Boston Massacre

    Boston Massacre

    The Boston Massacre was a conflict in which a group of nine British soldiers shot five people who were harassing them verbally and throwing various projectiles.
  • Boston Tea Party

    Boston Tea Party

    American political and mercantile protest by the Sons of Liberty in Boston, Massachusetts.
  • Intolerable Acts

    Intolerable Acts

    The Intolerable Acts were laws aimed to punish Massachusetts colonists for their defiance in the Tea Party protest of the Tea Act, a tax measure enacted by Parliament in May 1773.
  • Battle of Lexington & Concord

    Battle of Lexington & Concord

    The Battle of Lexington and Concord were the first military engagements of the American Revolutionary War. They were fought in Middlesex County, Province of Massachusetts Bay, in the towns of Lexington, Concord, Lincoln, Menotomy, and Cambridge.
  • Adam Smith publishes “Wealth of Nations”

    Adam Smith publishes “Wealth of Nations”

    The "Wealth of Nations" influenced several authors, economists, governments, and organizations. It also extolls the benefits of the division of labor, competition, and trade.
  • Declaration of Independence signed

    Declaration of Independence signed

    The Declaration of Independence was adopted by Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, but was officially signed a month later.
  • Joseph II reigns Austria

    Joseph II reigns Austria

    Joseph II ordered the abolition of serfdom. He established religious equality before the law, and he granted freedom of the press
  • Battle of Yorktown

    Battle of Yorktown

    The Battle of Yorktown, also known as the German battle because of the presence of Germans in all three armies, occurred in Yorktown, Virginia.
  • Treaty of Paris

    Treaty of Paris

    The Treaty of Paris officially ended the American Revolutionary War and the overall state of conflict between the two countries.
  • Mary Wollstonecraft publishes “A Vindication of the Rights of Woman”

    Mary Wollstonecraft publishes “A Vindication of the Rights of Woman”

    A "Vindication of the Rights of Woman" is one of the first works of feminist philosophy.
  • US Constitution ratified

    US Constitution ratified

    The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America.
  • Storming of Bastille

    Storming of Bastille

    A Paris mob that was hungry due to a lack of food from poor harvests and were upset at the conditions of their lives and annoyed with their King and Government stormed the Bastille fortress
  • Tennis Court Oath

    Tennis Court Oath

    The agreement they took was an oath that was to never separate until a written constitution had been established for France.
  • Declaration of the Rights of Man

    Declaration of the Rights of Man

    The Declaration of the Rights of Man is a human civil rights document set by France's National Constituent Assembly.
  • Women’s march on Versailles

    Women’s march on Versailles

    On October 5, 1789, crowds of Parisian market women marched on Versailles, demanding reforms.
  • Declaration of the Rights of Woman

    Declaration of the Rights of Woman

    The Declaration of the Rights of Women was written in response to the 1789 Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen.
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    Radical Phase (French Revolution)

    The monarchy was abolished and a republic was established.
  • National Convention Formed

    National Convention Formed

    The National Convention was the first French assembly elected by universal male suffrage
  • Committee of Public Safety created

    Committee of Public Safety created

    The Committee of Public Safety formed the provisional government and war cabinet during the Reign of Terror.
  • Period: to

    Reign of Terror (French Revolution)

    A period of the French Revolution when, following the creation of the First Republic, a series of massacres and numerous public executions took place.
  • Five Man Directory created

    Five Man Directory created

    The Five Man Directory was overthrown by Napoleon Bonaparte and was later replaced by the Consulate.
  • Napoleon Bonaparte becomes Emperor

    Napoleon Bonaparte becomes Emperor

    Napoleon was the architect of France's recovery following the Revolution before setting out to conquer Europe, which led to his downfall.
  • Battle of Trafalgar

    Battle of Trafalgar

    The Battle of Trafalgar was a naval engagement that took place between the British Royal Navy and the combined fleets of the French and Spanish Navies during the War of the Third Coalition of the Napoleonic Wars.
  • Battle of Austerlitz

    Battle of Austerlitz

    The Battle of Austerlitz is also known as the Battle of the Three Emperors. It occurred near the town of Austerlitz in the Austrian Empire.
  • Period: to

    Battle of Leipzig

    The Battle of Leipzig is also known as the Battle of the Nations, fought at Leipzig Saxony. The armies led by Tsar Alexander I and Karl von Schwarzenberg decisively defeated the Grande Armée of French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte.
  • Napoleon exiled to Elba

    Napoleon exiled to Elba

    The invasion of Russia ruined Napolean's stock and he went from the king of Europe to exile.
  • Period: to

    Congress of Vienna

    Congress of Vienna was a series of meetings to discuss a new layout of the European political and constitutional order after the downfall of the French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte.
  • Napoleon exiled to St. Helena

    Napoleon exiled to St. Helena

    Napoleon had been exiled to St. Helena after he was defeated by the British at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815.