English Renaissance

Fall Of Constantinople

May 29, 1453

Constantinople falls to the Ottoman Turks after a nearly 60 day seige. This marks the end of the Byzantine Empire and subsequently the middle ages. Scholars and philosphers that fled the city carried with them various Roman and Greek texts to Italy that would help throw the renaissance into MAXIMUM OVERDRIVE!

Era Of the Renaissance

Period: May 29, 1453 to Nov 5, 1605

Fall of Gasocony

Jul 17, 1453

Marks the end of the Hundred Years war with decisive French victory over the English. Stability returns to north-west Europe.

The Gutenberg Bible

Mar 1, 1455

The Gutenberg Bible comes to print-it was the first major printed novel in the West. Books after this point are no longer just for the wealthy.

War of the Roses begins

Apr 10, 1455

A series of wars across Great Britian begin between the House of York and the house of Lancaster over the British throne.

Lancaster Forces take London

Jul 19, 1460

Lancastrain forces from the Tower of London lay siege to Yorksist held London from within the city-York forces surrender after less than two weeks.

Vlad the Impailer's Night Attack

Jun 17, 1462

Good ole' Dracula tries to assassinate Sultan Mehmed II while he slept. by stabbing him. Enraged by this attaack the Sultan marches on the Wallachian capital only to find that Vlad had impaled 20,000 Turks outside the city as a warning.

NOBODY EXPECTS THE SPANISH INQUISITION!

Nov 1, 1478

Under Isabella I of Castile Jew and Muslims flee the Iberian peninsula in droves due to the new "Convert or Die" policy the Crown of Castile and Aragón establishes.

Praise be to William Caxton

Mar 26, 1484

Caxton creates the first English printed book with his translation of the Aesop's Tales.

End of the War of the Roses

Dec 8, 1487

The house of Lancaster defeats the house of York after 30 years of constant warfare and ends with the installation of the Tudor dyanasty.

Sailing of the Cape of Good Hope

Oct 11, 1488

In late 1488 Portuguese explorers round Africa's southern caost disproving the idea that had existed since Ptolemy that the Atlantic and Indian Oceans were separate.

The Americas are "discovered"

Aug 3, 1492

Christopher Columbus sails the ocean blue in 1492 to find a route to India only to find Native Americans and do all sorts of horrif things to them.

Brazil is "discovered"

Apr 22, 1500

Disovered and later colonized by Pedro Alvares of Portugual. Rule is noted to have significantly less genocide than that of the Spanish in other reagions of the Americas.

Inca Empire at its height

Sep 10, 1500

Dominant power of South America reaches it's maxiumum extent.

Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragón wed

Jun 11, 1509

Rumor has it that she was shuch a bad wife her lovers created scheisms to get away from her.

Sistine Chaple is completed

May 8, 1512

Michelangelo finishes paining the roof of the largest Christian house of worship since the Hagia Sophia nearly 1000 years before.

Cortes lands in Mexico

Apr 12, 1519

Sent on an expedition by the Kingdom of Castille and Aragon the conquestador lands in what is now Vera Cruz.

Last Crusader bastion falls

Dec 20, 1522

The Ottomans under Suleiman the Magnificent lay seige to and capture the Greek Island of Rhodes which was under the rule of the Knights of St. John for 300 years.

Fall of Tenochtitlan-Spanish conquest of the Aztec people

Aug 13, 1523

Cortes' army and several hundred thousand of their Native American allies lay seige to the Aztec capital for 4 months before it's conquest and annexation by Spain.

The New Testment is trasnlated to English

Apr 7, 1526

The new testament is transated into English on a massive scare by Willaim Tyndale but no good work goes unpunished as the bisophs of London attempted to have all copies burned.

Conquest of Dehli

Apr 21, 1526

The last major Indian and thus Hindu stronghold is conquered by muslim Mughal Emirate which would last until the British take over India in 1857.

Sack of Rome

May 6, 1527

Spanish and German forces led by the Duke of Bourbon sack the city of Rome and the Papcy-marking the end of the High Renaissance.

Henry VIII breaks away from Rome to divorce Catherine of Aragon

Mar 24, 1529

The second most famous monarch of the Tudor dynasty breaks away from the Roman Catholic church to divorce his wife Catherine Aragon.

Henry VIII weds Anne Boleyn

Jan 25, 1533

Anne becomes Henry's second wife the first since he split away from Rome. Despite resistance from the Papacy the English government declares her Queen Consort.

The Inca Empire is extingushed

Dec 9, 1533

Nobody expects a Spanish inquisition!Yep, Spain's actions completely wipe out yet another Native civilization but this time with 100% more sneak attack.

Church of England is established

Feb 27, 1534

The new church, refromed under Prodtestantism becomes amoung the first nations in Europe since the Great Scheism between the Catholic and Orthodox Churches to split away from Rome.

Henry VIII weds Jane Seymour

Jul 30, 1536

Henry weds his 3rd wife 11 DAYS after sentencing his sed wife Anne Boleyn to death on fabricated claims.

Henry VIII marries Anne of Cleves

Jan 6, 1540

4th time's the charm right?

Thomas Cromwell is executed

Jul 9, 1540

Cromwell is executed by order of Henry VIII under the accusation of high treason. He then marries his widow, Catherine Howard-all this 2 weeks after divorcing Anne of Cleves.

Henry VIII becomes king of Ireland

Jun 18, 1541

And so begins the half millenia long enslavement and attempted extermnations of the Irish people.

Henry VIII senteces Catherine Howard to death

Feb 13, 1542

Accusing his 5th wife of adultry the Quuen reigned little more than a year.

Henry VIII marries Catherine Parr

Jul 12, 1543

His 6th and final wife at the same time parliment passes the Third Sucession Act allowing Henry's dawghters Mary and Elizabeth claim to the throne.

Russia forms

Jan 16, 1547

Ivan IV becomes the first Tsar of Russia, replacing the 264 year old Grand Duchy of Moskva.

Edward VI becomes king of England

Jan 28, 1547

The sickly only son of Henry VIII takes the throne afer his crazy dad dies.

The English conquer Edinburgh

Sep 10, 1547

After the battle of Pinkie Cleugh English forces march into the Scottish capital driving many of the clans into the highlands.

Book of Common Prayer is introduced

Jun 9, 1549

For the first time the common English people have a prayer book that they can read.

Edmund Spencer is born

Dec 8, 1552

Say hello to Queen Elizabeth's biggest fanboy!

"Bloody" Mary I begins her reign as Queen of England

Jan 4, 1553

After the death of her half brother and abdication of Lady Jane Grey Mary I assumes the English throne rverting the Protestant reformation.

Virgil's Aeneid is translated

Dec 31, 1553

The first work from the classical period is translated and printed in London sometime in 1553 under the name The xiii Bukes of Eneados of the famose Poete Virgill.

Princess Elizabeth is imrpisoned in the Tower of London

Jan 4, 1554

You may think your family is horrible but at least they don't lock you away in a terrible tower of torture.

Elizabeth I become Queen of England

Jan 15, 1559

After the death of the murderous Bloody Mary Elizabeth Tudor takes the throne and goes to become one of the most renowned monarchs in European history.

Publication of Beware the Cat

Dec 31, 1561

While not an epic read William Baldwin's Beware the Cat (published anonymously in London sometime during 1561) is the first example of extended fiction to be written in English. No known copies from the peroid have survived but it has been pieced together and war abriged in 2010 as Tales of Lovecraftian Cats.

First performace of Gorboduc

Jan 18, 1562

The first performace of Thomas Norton's and Thomas Sackville's play was quite a milestone-it was performed before Queen Elizabeth, it was the first known English tragety and the first English play to employ the blan verse.

England kickstarts the transatlantic slave trade

Oct 31, 1562

Under the merchant John Hawkins countless African tribesmen, women and children are purchased from Sierra Lerone to work in Hispanola.

Shakespear is baptized

Apr 26, 1564

The man of means. The legend is born.

Rising of the North

Nov 4, 1569

Several northern Earls rise in rebellion against the Crown and attempt to place Mary, Queen of Scots on the English throne but are quickly defeated by Elizabethan forces.

Battle of Lepanto

Oct 7, 1571

European Holy League of Cathlic maritime states defeat the Ottoman navy stopping their advance into Europe.

Sir Francis Drake lands in California

Jun 17, 1579

During his circumnavigation of the globe Drake lands in California and with the English claim in Newfoundland and now California creates the basis for colonial charters.

Shakespeare weds Anne Hathaway

Nov 29, 1582

Queen Elizabeth establishes a protectorate over the Netherlands

Aug 14, 1585

Marry, Queen of Scots is executed

Feb 1, 1587

Beheaded by order of Queen Elizabeth I, she was accused of conspiring to murder Elizabeth.

English defeat of the Spanish armada

Dec 9, 1588

A failed attempt by the Cathlic forces of Castile, Portugual and Naples to kill Queen Elizabeth

The Roanoke Colony is found to have vanished

Aug 18, 1590

The Faerie Queene is published

Dec 8, 1590

Written by Spencer is an epic poem supposedly dedicated to Queen Elizabeth I.

Shakespeare's Richard II is perfromed for the first time

Dec 9, 1595

Romeo and Juleit and a Midnight Summer's Dream are performed

Dec 31, 1595

Sometime during 1595 two of Shakespeare's most critically aclaimed plays are performed for the first time.

First performace of Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor

Apr 23, 1597

Shakespeare's Julius Caeser is performed for the first time.

Sep 21, 1599

Merchant of Venice is published

Dec 31, 1600

Sometime during 1600 Shakespeare;s play Merchant of Venice is published.

Queen Elizabeth dies

Mar 24, 1603

Queen Elizabeth dies and is succeeded by her cousin, King James VI of Scotland uniting the crown of the two nations.

Shakespeare's Hamlet is published

Jul 26, 1603

One Shakepeare's most critically acclaimed plays comes to light.

The Gunpowder plot

Nov 5, 1605

An attempt by Guy Fawks to plow up the English Parliment is foiled by an anonymous tip.