AP Euro Timeline Part A

Dante's Inferno

Jan 1, 1317

Inferno is the first part of Dante Alighieri's 14th-century epic poem Divine Comedy. It is followed by Purgatorio and Paradiso. It is an allegory telling of the journey of Dante through Hell.

Petrarch Dies

Jul 19, 1374

Francesco Petrarca, commonly anglicized as Petrarch, was an Italian scholar and poet in Renaissance Italy, and one of the earliest humanists. Petrarch's rediscovery of Cicero's letters is often credited for initiating the 14th-century Renaissance.

Jan Huss Burned

Jul 6, 1415

Jan Hus, often referred to in English as John Hus or John Huss, was a Czech priest, philosopher, reformer and master at Charles University in Prague.

Jan Van Eyck Paints Wedding of Arnolfini

Jan 1, 1434

Jan van Eyck was an Early Netherlandish painter active in Bruges and one of the most significant Northern Renaissance artists of the 15th century.

Johannes Guttenburg Printing Press

Jan 1, 1450

A printing press is a device for evenly printing ink onto a print medium (substrate) such as paper or cloth. The device applies pressure to a print medium that rests on an inked surface made of movable type, thereby transferring the ink.

Constantinople Falls

May 29, 1453

the capture of the capital of the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire by an invading army of the Ottoman Empire on Tuesday, 29 May 1453. The Ottomans were commanded by 21-year-old Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II, who defeated an army commanded by Byzantine Emperor Constantine XI Palaiologos. The conquest of Constantinople followed a seven-week siege that had begun on Friday, 6 April 1453.

Botticellis Primavera

Period: Jan 1, 1477 to Jan 1, 1482

Primavera, also known as Allegory of Spring, is a tempera panel painting by Italian Renaissance artist Sandro Botticelli. Painted ca. 1482, the painting is described in Culture & Values as "[o]ne of the most popular paintings in Western art".

Spain Invades Grenada

Period: Jan 1, 1482 to Jan 1, 1492

was a series of military campaigns between 1482 and 1492, during the reign of the Catholic Monarchs (los Reyes Católicos) Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon, against the Nasrid dynasty's Emirate of Granada. It ended with the defeat of Granada and its annexation by Castile, ending all Islamic rule on the Iberian peninsula (al-Andalus).

Spenger and Kramers Witches Hammer

Jan 1, 1486

treatise on the prosecution of witches, written in 1486 by Heinrich Kramer, a German Catholic clergyman.

Inquisition arrives in Spain

Mar 30, 1492

an ecclesiastical tribunal established by Pope Gregory IX circa 1232 for the suppression of heresy. It was active chiefly in northern Italy and southern France, becoming notorious for the use of torture. In 1542 the papal Inquisition was re-established to combat Protestantism, eventually becoming an organ of papal government.

Da Vinci Paints The Last Supper

Period: Nov 29, 1495 to Nov 29, 1498

The Last Supper is a late 15th-century mural painting by Leonardo da Vinci in the refectory of the Convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie, Milan. It is one of the world's most famous paintings, and one of the most studied, scrutinized, and satirized.

Vasco De Gama Sails around Africa

Jan 1, 1497

Dom Vasco da Gama, 1st Count of Vidigueira, was a Portuguese explorer. He was the first European to reach India by sea, linking Europe and Asia for the first time by ocean route, as well as the Atlantic.

Michelangelo Sculpts the David

Period: Nov 1, 1501 to Nov 1, 1504

David is a masterpiece of Renaissance sculpture created between 1501 and 1504, by Italian sculptor, painter, architect, poet Michelangelo. It is a 4.34-metre, 5.17-metre with the base marble statue of a standing male nude.

Da Vinci Paints Mona Lisa

Period: Jan 1, 1503 to Jan 1, 1517

The Mona Lisa is a half-length portrait of a woman by Leonardo da Vinci, which has been acclaimed as "the best known, the most visited, the most written about, the most sung about, the most parodied work of art in the world".

St. Peter's Basilica Built

Period: Nov 29, 1506 to Nov 29, 1626

Designed principally by Donato Bramante, Michelangelo, Carlo Maderno and Gian Lorenzo Bernini, St. Peter's is the most renowned work of Renaissance architecture[1] and remains one of the largest churches in the world.[2] While it is neither the mother church of the Catholic Church nor the Catholic Roman Rite cathedral of the Diocese of Rome, St. Peter's is regarded as one of the holiest Catholic sites.

Michelangelo paints the Sistine Chapel

Period: Jan 1, 1508 to Jan 1, 1512

The Sistine Chapel is a large and renowned chapel in the Apostolic Palace, the official residence of the Pope in the Vatican City.

Raphael Paints the School of Athens

Jan 1, 1509

The School of Athens, or Scuola di Atene in Italian, is one of the most famous frescoes by the Italian Renaissance artist Raphael.

Henry VIII Becomes King

Apr 29, 1509

Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later assumed the Kingship, of Ireland, and continued the nominal claim by English monarchs to the Kingdom of France.

Pope Leo X Endorses Indulgences

Period: Mar 13, 1513 to Dec 1, 1521

In the teaching of the Catholic Church, an indulgence is "a remission before God of the temporal punishment due to sins whose guilt has already been forgiven, which the faithful Christian who is duly disposed gains under certain prescribed conditions through the action of the Church which, as the minister of redemption, dispenses and applies with authority the treasury of the satisfactions of Christ and the saints".

Father Bartolome De Las Casas writes Charles V

Jan 1, 1515

Bartolomé de las Casas, O.P. was a 16th-century Spanish historian, social reformer and Dominican friar. He became the first resident Bishop of Chiapas, and the first officially appointed "Protector of the Indians".

Thomas More prints Utopia

Jan 1, 1516

The book is a frame narrative primarily depicting a fictional island society and its religious, social and political customs.

Martin Luther’s 95 Theses

Oct 13, 1517

Are widely regarded as the initial catalyst for the Protestant Reformation. The disputation protests against clerical abuses, especially nepotism, simony, usury, pluralism, and the sale of indulgences.

Da Vinci dies

Jan 1, 1519

Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci was an Italian polymath, painter, sculptor, architect, musician, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, geologist, cartographer, botanist, and writer.

Magellan’s voyage around the world

Jan 1, 1519

Ferdinand Magellan was a Portuguese explorer who organised the Spanish expedition to the East Indies that resulted in the first circumnavigation of the Earth, completed by Juan Sebastián Elcano.

French Wars of Religion begin (approximately)

Jan 1, 1519

the name of a period of civil infighting and military operations, primarily fought between French Catholics and Protestants (Huguenots). The conflict involved the factional disputes between the aristocratic houses of France, such as the House of Bourbon and House of Guise (Lorraine), and both sides received assistance from foreign sources.

Charles V becomes HRE emperor

Period: Jan 1, 1519 to Jan 1, 1559

Charles V[a] (24 February 1500 – 21 September 1558) was ruler of the Holy Roman Empire from 1519 and, as Charles I, of the Spanish Empire from 1516 until his voluntary abdication in favor of his younger brother Ferdinand I as Holy Roman Emperor and his son Philip II as King of Spain in 1556.

Charles V becomes HRE emperor

Period: Nov 29, 1519 to Nov 29, 1559

Charles V[a] (24 February 1500 – 21 September 1558) was ruler of the Holy Roman Empire from 1519 and, as Charles I, of the Spanish Empire from 1516 until his voluntary abdication in favor of his younger brother Ferdinand I as Holy Roman Emperor and his son Philip II as King of Spain in 1556.

Cortes conquers Aztecs

Jan 1, 1521

Hernan Cortés invaded Mexico in 1519 and conquered the Aztec Empire. Credit: Public domain. Engraving by W. Holl, 1837. Hernán Cortés is one of the most well-known Spanish conquistadors.

Diet of Worms

May 25, 1521

was an imperial diet of the Holy Roman Empire held in Worms, Germany at the Heylshof Garden. A diet was a formal deliberative assembly. It is most memorable for the Edict of Worms (Wormser Edikt), which addressed Martin Luther and the effects of the Protestant Reformation.

Erasmus writes In Praise of Folly

Jan 1, 1523

In Praise of Folly is an essay written in Latin in 1509 by Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam and first printed in 1511. The essay was inspired by De Triumpho Stultitiae, written by the Italian.

Peasants Revolt

Jan 1, 1525

The Peasants' Revolt, also called Wat Tyler's Rebellion or the Great Rising, was a major uprising across large parts of England.

Medicis Flee Florence

Jan 1, 1527

Was the Gran maestro of Florence from 1492 until his exile in 1494.

Marbourg Colloquy

Jan 1, 1529

The Marburg Colloquy was a meeting at Marburg Castle, Marburg, Hesse, Germany which attempted to solve a disputation between Martin Luther and Ulrich Zwingli over the Real Presence of Christ in the Lord's Supper.

Machiavelli publishes the Prince

Jan 1, 1532

The Prince is a 16th-century political treatise by the Italian diplomat and political theorist Machiavelli.

Pizarro conquers Incas

Aug 29, 1533

Having just won one of the largest battles in Inca history, and with an army of 30,000 men at his disposal, Atahuallpa thought he had nothing to fear from the bearded white stranger and his 180 men. Pizarro, however, planned an ambush, setting up his artillery at the square of Cajamarca.

Thomas More executed

Jul 6, 1535

More opposed the King's separation from the Catholic Church and refused to accept him as Supreme Head of the Church of England because it denied papal authority and he also opposed Henry's [purportedly bigamous] marriage to Anne Boleyn. Tried for treason, More was convicted, likely due to perjured testimony, and beheaded.

John Calvin prints Institutes of the Christian Religion

Jan 1, 1541

John Calvin was an influential French theologian and pastor during the Protestant Reformation. He was a principal figure in the development of the system of Christian theology later called Calvinism.

El Greco born

Jan 1, 1541

El Greco, born Doménikos Theotokópoulos, was a painter, sculptor and architect of the Spanish Renaissance.

Ignatius of Loyola founds the Jesuits

Apr 19, 1541

Ignatius of Loyola was a Spanish knight from a local Basque noble family, hermit, priest since 1537, and theologian, who founded the Society of Jesus and, on 19 April 1541, became its first Superior General.

Council of Trent

Period: Nov 29, 1543 to Nov 29, 1563

The Council of Trent (Latin: Concilium Tridentinum), held between 1545 and 1563 in Trento (Trent) and Bologna, northern Italy, was one of the Roman Catholic Church's most important ecumenical councils. Prompted by the Protestant Reformation, it has been described as the embodiment of the Counter-Reformation.

Martin Luther dies

Feb 18, 1546

Luther taught that salvation and subsequently eternity in heaven is not earned by good deeds but is received only as a free gift of God's grace through faith in Jesus Christ as redeemer from sin and subsequently eternity in Hell. His theology challenged the authority of the Pope by teaching that the Bible is the only source of divinely revealed knowledge from God and opposed sacerdotalism by considering all baptized Christians to be a holy priesthood.

Henry VIII dies

Jan 15, 1547

Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later assumed the Kingship, of Ireland, and continued the nominal claim by English monarchs to the Kingdom of France.

Peace of Augsburg

Sep 25, 1555

The Peace of Augsburg, also called the Augsburg Settlement, was a treaty between Charles V and the forces of the Schmalkaldic League, an alliance of Lutheran princes, on September 25, 1555, at the imperial city of Augsburg, now in present-day Bavaria, Germany.

Phillip II becomes king of Spain

Period: Jan 1, 1556 to Jan 1, 1598

Philip II was King of Spain from 1556 and of Portugal from 1581. From 1554 he was King of Naples and Sicily as well as Duke of Milan. During his marriage to Queen Mary I, he was also King Consort of England and Ireland.

Elizabeth becomes queen

Jan 19, 1558

1. Elizabeth becomes Queen on the death of her half-sister, Mary. 1559. Elizabeth is crowned Queen of England at Westminster Abbey in January. 1559.

John Calvin dies

May 27, 1564

William Shakespeare was an English poet, playwright, and actor, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon".

Peter Brughal paints Wedding Feast

Jan 1, 1567

Pieter Bruegel the Elder was a Flemish Renaissance painter and printmaker known for his landscapes and peasant scenes. He is sometimes referred to as the "Peasant Bruegel".

Dutch Revolt begins

Period: Jan 1, 1568 to Jan 1, 1648

The Dutch Revolt (1566 or 1568–1648)[note 1] was the successful revolt of the northern, largely Protestant Seven Provinces of the Low Countries against the rule of the Roman Catholic King Philip II of Spain, who had inherited the region (Seventeen Provinces) from the defunct Duchy of Burgundy.

St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre

Aug 24, 1572

The St. Bartholomew's Day massacre (Massacre de la Saint-Barthélemy in French) in 1572 was a targeted group of assassinations, followed by a wave of Catholic mob violence, both directed against the Huguenots (French Calvinist Protestants), during the French Wars of Religion.

Spanish Armada

Aug 8, 1588

The Spanish Armada (Spanish: Grande y Felicísima Armada , literally "Great and Most Fortunate Navy") was a Spanish fleet of 130 ships that sailed from A Coruña in August 1588, under the command of the Duke of Medina Sidonia with the purpose of escorting an army from Flanders to invade England.

Henry of Navarre becomes king

Jan 1, 1589

Henry IV (13 December 1553 – 14 May 1610), Henri-Quatre (French pronunciation: ​[ɑ̃ʁiˈkatʁ]), also known by the epithet "Good King Henry", was King of Navarre (as Henry III) from 1572 to 1610 and King of France from 1589 to 1610. He was the first French monarch of the House of Bourbon.

Edict of Nantes

Apr 30, 1598

The Edict of Nantes (French: Édit de Nantes), issued probably on 30 April 1598, by Henry IV of France, granted the Calvinist Protestants of France (also known as Huguenots) substantial rights in a nation still considered essentially Catholic. In the Edict, Henry aimed primarily to promote civil unity.

Phillip II of Spain dies

Sep 13, 1598

Philip II was King of Spain from 1556 and of Portugal from 1581. From 1554 he was King of Naples and Sicily as well as Duke of Milan. During his marriage to Queen Mary I, he was also King Consort of England and Ireland.

Elizabeth dies

Mar 24, 1603

She died on 24 March 1603 at Richmond Palace, between two and three in the morning. A few hours later, Cecil and the council set their plans in motion and proclaimed James VI of Scotland as James I of England.[

Enclosure Acts

Jan 1, 1604

were a series of United Kingdom Acts of Parliament which enclosed open fields and common land in the country, creating legal property rights to land that was previously considered common

Cervantes Don Quixote

Jan 1, 1605

Don Quixote, fully titled The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha, is a Spanish novel by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra.

King James Bible printed

Jan 1, 1611

is an English translation of the Christian Bible for the Church of England begun in 1604 and completed in 1611. First printed by the King's Printer Robert Barker, this was the third translation into English to be approved by the English Church authorities.

30 Years War begins

Period: Jan 1, 1618 to Jan 1, 1648

The Thirty Years' War was a series of wars in Central Europe between 1618–1648.[14] It was one of the most destructive conflicts in European history, and one of the longest.

King Gustavus Adolphus killed

Nov 6, 1632

He is often regarded as one of the greatest military commanders of all time, with innovative use of combined arms.[2] His most notable military victory was the Battle of Breitenfeld. With a superb military machine with good weapons, excellent training, and effective field artillery, backed by an efficient government which could provide necessary funds, Gustavus Adolphus was poised to make himself a major European leader, but he was killed at the Battle of Lützen in 1632.

English Civil War Begins

Jan 1, 1642

The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians ("Roundheads") and Royalists ("Cavaliers") in the Kingdom of England over, principally, the manner of its government.

English Civil War

Period: Jan 1, 1642 to Jan 1, 1648

The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians ("Roundheads") and Royalists ("Cavaliers") in the Kingdom of England over, principally, the manner of its government.

Peace of Westphalia

Oct 28, 1648

The Peace of Westphalia was a series of peace treaties signed between May and October 1648 in Osnabrück and Münster. These treaties ended the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) in the Holy Roman Empire, and the Eighty Years' War (1568–1648) between Spain and the Dutch Republic, with Spain formally recognizing the independence of the Dutch Republic.

Rump Parliament

Jan 1, 1649

The Rump Parliament was the English Parliament after Colonel Pride purged the Long Parliament on 6 December 1648 of those members hostile to the Grandees' intention to try King Charles I for high treason.

Charles I executed

Jan 16, 1649

King Charles I was his own worst enemy. Self-righteous, arrogant, and unscrupulous; he had a penchant for making bad decisions. His troubles began the moment he ascended the throne in 1625 upon the death of his father James I. Charles simultaneously alienated both his subjects and his Parliament, prompting a series of events that ultimately lead to civil war, his own death and the abolition of the English monarchy.

Navigation Acts passed

Jan 1, 1651

Navigation Acts were a series of laws that restricted the use of foreign ships for trade between Britain and its colonies. They began in 1651 and ended 200 years later.

Oliver Cromwell becomes Lord Protector

Dec 25, 1653

Oliver Cromwell was an English military and political leader and later Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland. Born into the middle gentry, Cromwell was relatively obscure for the first 40 years of his life.

Oliver Cromwell dies

Sep 3, 1658

Oliver Cromwell was an English military and political leader and later Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland. Born into the middle gentry, Cromwell was relatively obscure for the first 40 years of his life.