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Period: Jan 1, 1500 to
European Expansion
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Jan 1, 1516
Charles V Becomes King of Spain
The Grandson of Ferdinand and Isabella, Charles inherited the Spanish throne and the title Holy Roman Emperor. -
Jan 1, 1543
Copernicus
Copernicus writes On the Revolution of the Celestial Spheres, a book which advocates heliocentrism. An Italian monk who taught Copernicus’s theory was burned at the stake for heresy. -
Jan 1, 1558
Elizabeth I becomes Queen of England
Elizabeth I rejects Phillip II’s marriage proposal, becomes queen of England and restores Protestantism to England. -
Jan 1, 1559
Phillip II becomes king of Spain
Phillip II ruled over Spain, the Americas, parts of Italy and the Netherlands -
Jan 1, 1559
Henry II dies
King Henry II of France was killed in a jousting tournament and his son Francis dies within a year (at ten years old). -
Jan 1, 1560
Charles IX becomes king of France
His mother rule for Catherine de Medicis ruled for him because he was ten years old. The Bourbon family was next in line for the throne if he failed, and this contributed to the French religious wars. -
Jan 1, 1562
French Wars of Religion
Huguenot and Catholic armies began fighting eachother. one-third of French noblemen had become Huguenots and could fund their own armies. The French kings could not stop the fighting. The Bourbon family Huguenots fought the Catholic Guise family over the throne as teh Bourbons were next in line if Charles IX failed and the Guise supported Charles (Catholic). -
Jan 1, 1563
39 Articles of Religion
Elizabeth issues the 39 Articles of Religion which uses both Catholic tradition and Calvinist ideas into the Anglican Church. Puritans found many objections to the document and tried to make changes. -
Jan 1, 1566
Calvinist Revolt Against Spain
Calvinists in the Netherlands revolt damaging churches. Phillip sent troops to stop the revolt but it continues. -
Jan 1, 1568
Moriscos Revolt
Moriscos (Muslim converts to Catholicism) revolt in Spain – killing priests and Christians, Phillip II responds by relocating them to other regions. This lasted until 1570. -
Jan 1, 1571
Battle of Lepanto
Phillip II of Spain joined forces with the papacy and Venice to defeat the Ottoman Empire in a naval battle on the Greek coast. This gave Spain control of the western Meditteranean. -
Aug 24, 1572
St. Bartholomew's Dy Massacre
A marriage was arranged between Henry of Navarre (a Bourbon Huguenot) nad Maguerite de Valois (Catholic). Assasins tried to kill one of the nobles who supported Henry. catherine ordered the killing of Huguenot nobles who had come to the weddings and violence followed - 10,000 Huguenots were killed in a month and a half. -
Jan 1, 1574
Henry III becomes King of France.
Henry III succeed his brother Charles. He failed to produce an heir however and was followed by Henry of Navarre in 1589 after Henry III was killed by a monk for his failure to get rid of protestants in France. -
Jan 1, 1576
The Spanish Fury
Phillip’s armies loot Antwerp for eleven days, killing seven thousand people. William of Orange leads the Protestant and Catholic provinces in getting rid of the Spanish troops. The Catholic provinces rejoin with Spain in 1579 -
Jan 1, 1580
Phillip II takes over Portugal
The king of Portugal died without an heir and Phillip II took over, gaining territory in Africa, India, and America. -
Dispute over Russian Throne
Ivan IV of Russia dies and the King of Poland-Lithuania tried to put his son on the throne of Russia. -
Mary is Beheaded
Mary, Queen of Scots is beheaded after Elizabeth I finds a letter in which Mary offers her rights to the English throne to Phillip II. -
Spanish Armada
Phillip sends the Spanish Armada to England but is defeated by the English who destroyed half of his ships by hurling fire into their midst. -
Jews Recieve Some Religious Tolerance
Jews are allowed to publicly worship in synagogues in the Dutch Republic -
Edict of Nantes
Henry IV (of Navarre) ends the ultra-Catholic movement by getting Spain out of Frances and passes the Edict of Nantes which gave Huguenots some religious tolerance to worship and have their own troops and courts. This decree ended the France wars of Religion -
Shakespeare's Works
Shakespeare writes his play Hamlet, followed by King Lear (1605) and Macbeth (1606). These plays may be related to the rise of James I to the throne in 1603. -
Anglican Churche Uses the King James Bible
James I adopts the King James Bible for the Anglican Church at the urging of the Puritans. -
Moriscos Exiled
Phillip III orders Moriscos out of Spain. 300,000 move to North Africa within 5 years. -
Russians Get Rid of The Polis-Lithuanians
An army of Russians (peasants and nobles) drive of the Polish-Lithuanians and put Michael Romanov on the throne. He ruled until 1645 and began the line that would last until WWI. -
Archduke Ferdinand becomes king of Bohemia
Archduke Ferdinand (a Catholic Hapsburg) is made king of Bohemia. The Hapsburgs now rule over the HRE and multiple other kingdoms. Ferdinand soon begins to limit the religious freedoms enjoyed by Protestants in Bohemia. -
Religious Wars
The Religious wars begin between Catholics and Protestants in the HRE and soon involve most of Western Europe in the conflict. -
Defenestration in Prague
An angry crowd of Bohemian protestants defenestrate Catholic deputies in Prague in protest of the HRE's efforts to limit religious freedoms. -
Battle of White Mountain
Ferdinand’s armies defeat the rebelling Czechs at the battle of White Mountain. -
Hugo Grotius
Hugo Grotius writes The Laws of War and Peace describing how the laws of nature should influence how the government is created not scripture. The church did not take kindly to this work and arrested Grotius. -
Petition of Right
Charles I of England was forced by Parliament to agree to the Petition of Right (to not raise taxes without Paliament’s agreement.) Charles resented this and decided to stop calling Parliament to session. -
Edict of Restitution
Ferdinand’s Edict of Restitution bans Calvinism in the HRE and takes back Catholic Church property that was taken by Lutherans. -
Gustavus Adolphus
Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden enters Germany in support of the Protestants (and to gain power over Northern European trade). The French send monetary support to Adolphus who then defeated the HRE’s army . -
Galileo's Trial
Galileo is put on trial for his observation that the earth moves and is forced to recant his theory to protect himself from death and torture. -
France Joins the Thirty Years War
France joins the Thirty Years’s war by declaring war on Spain. They ally themselves with the Dutch Calvinists who are struggling for independence from Spain. -
Absolutism Spreads
Great Elector of Bradenburg-Prussia, Frederick Wm. Of Hohensollern gathers his territories (Bradenburg and East Prussia) into an absolutist state. -
Scottish Revolt
Scottish Presbyterians revolted against the impostion of the Anglican Book of Common Prayer. Charles call parliament to session for the first time in over 10 years to raise money to quell the rebellion. -
Civil War in England
Charles enters Parliament with troops to arrest those trying to limit his power and inadvertently starts a civil war. -
Louis XIV becomes King of France
Louis XIV was an absolute ruler, his reign gave rise to absolutism to FRance and in Europe and chose middle class men to work for him that owed everyhting to him. He ruled untill 1715. -
End of English Civil War
The English civil war ends, Charles surrenders and Parliament takes power -
Levellers
the Levellers rebel calling for no more social difference and paid parliament with common people as members and the right to vote for all male heads of household. -
Fronde Revolts
France: 1648-1653
The French revolt against Mazarin's new taxes and his refusalto give the parlements more power. City councils created their own armies to fight other cities or to fight against the royals. Urban poor also revolted. -
The Deluge
Ukranian Cossacks rebel against the Polish-Lithuanian king, who wanted control over the Ukraine -
The Peace of Westphalia
The Peace of Westphalia was signed in Germany. France gained parts of Alsace and became the largest power in Europe. Sweden received Northern parts of the HRE. The Dutch became independent of Spain. The Germans and Swiss no longer were under the authority of the Hapsburg rulers of the HRE. Lutheranism dominated the North, Calvinism the Rhine and Catholicism the south. -
Creation of A New Russian Legal Code
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New Russians Legal Code
A new code of law was adopted in Russia. The code restricted Russians to a hereditary class, based on their job. The slaves and peasant became a class of serfs who fared little better than slaves – bound to the land and able to be sold by their nobles. -
Charles I beheaded
What is left of Parliament found Charles guilt of trying to establish a tyranny and beheaded him. -
Cromwell defeats the revolts in Ireland.
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Hobbes, Leviathan
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Leviathan
Thomas Hobbes writes Leviathan describing the pitfalls of a society without central authority. He does not mention whether a monarchy or assembly rule is better but insists upon a ruler with absolute authority. -
Parliament institutes the Navigation Act in the American Colonies
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England vs. Dutch Republic
Cromwell fight with the Dutch Republic to increase the mercantilist policies in the Navigation Act of 1651. -
Parliament gets annoyed with Crowell's expensive taste
Parliament considers stopping Cromwell’s wars by splitting up his army but Cromwell gets rid of Parliament instead. -
Dispute over Rule of the Ukraine
The Cossacks ask Russia to rule the Ukraine and the Russo-Polish war begins over the territory. -
Louis XIV declares himself the State
King Louis XIV tells the Paris High Court that he was the state -
Parliament asks the Monarchs back
A new Anglican Parliament asks Charles II (son of Charles I) to come back from exile and take the throne -
Barbados' Slave Code
Barbados introduces a slave code that denies African all rights afforded under English law. Slavery became a hereditary class that only applied to Africans. -
Mercantilism
Colbert takes over a trading company that found the French colonies in oder to regulate the colonial economy. -
Louis XIV's Week of Entertainment
Louis XIV puts on “The Delights of the enchanted Island” to promote his image after the religious wars. -
Change in the Russian Orthodox Church
A Russian Orthodox church council restates the tsar’s role as God’s representative to the anger of Old Believers who starved or burned themselves rather than live to become part of a Byzantine Russian Orthodoxy. -
Royal Academy of Sciences
Colbert begins the French Royal Academy of Sciences, where fifteen scientist received government stipend to experiment. -
Revolt in Russia
Stenka Razin leads the serfs in rebellion but four years later is captured, had his limbs torn off and his body parts were fed to dogs. -
Dispute over the Ukraine
Other countries try to take over the Ukraine (including Transylvania, Sweden, and Bradenburg-Prussia). -
War of Devolution
Louis XIV fight the war of Devolution to gain the Spanish Netherlands (because the king failed to pay the dowry of Louis’ wife). He was forced to end the fighting when England, the Dutch, and Sweden jioined the war but he gained Flanders. It ends in 1668 -
Dutch War
Louis fights the Dutch War because they were in his way of gaining more of the Spanish Netherlands. He also sent soldiers into the HRE, allying Germany, Spain and the HRE against Louis. Louis gained some Flemish towns in this war. It ends in 1678. -
Louis XIV's absolutism
Louis XIV declares that parliament cannot veto his laws or even voice their disagreement. -
Declaration of Indulgence
Charles II’s Declaration of Indulgence nullifies all laws against Protestan dissenters and Catholic. -
Louis XIV's Hospitals
Louis XIV decrees that every French city must build a hospital which will be funded by the government. -
Exclusion Crisis
Parliament’s Exclusion Crisis denies the English throne to any Catholic -
the Princess of Cleves
Mdme de Lafayette publishes a novel The Princess of Cleves but denies writing it because it was socially unacceptable for women to be authors. -
Louis takes Strasbourg.
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Ottomans Vs. Austria
War again ensues between Austrian and the Turks over Hungary -
Siege of Vienna
The Turks besiege Vienna. The Austrians ended the siege with assistance from the Polish. -
The French claim territpry in the new world
Sieur de La Salle claims the Louisiana for Louis XIV -
Louis takes the province of Lorraine.
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Revocation of the Edict of Nantes
Louis XIV revoked the Edict of Nantes.This closed Huguenots schools, stopped their activities, and banished those who did not embrace Catholicism. -
"black code"
Louis XIV follow Barbados in introducing a “black code” limiting the legal status of slaves and barring non-Catholics from owning slaves. -
Newton's Law of Gravity
Newton publishes a book explaining his law of gravity -
Hapsburg dynasty begins in Hungary
The Hungarian diet accepts the rule of the Hapsburgs, who would rule until 1918. -
New Rulers in England
The Whigs ask Mary (d. of James II) and Wm. Of Orange to invade England against James and his Italian Catholic wife and son. James and his family fled and parliament gave the throne to Mary and William. -
War of the League of Augsburg
France fights the War of the League of Augsburg. It began when Louis invade some German HRE towns and destroyed them. The League of Augsburg (Spain, England, Dutch Republic, Sweden, Austria, and German princes) fought to a stalemate in 1697. Louis returned the provinces he had taken since the last war except for Stasbourg. -
Bill of Rights
The Bill of Rights is passed in which Mary and Wm. Agree not to raise a tax or an army with the agreement of Parliament. This gave England a constitutional government -
Locke
Locke publishes his Two Treatises of Government which were anti-absolutist government. -
The beginning og the end of the Ottoman empire
The Turks yield control of most of Hungary to Austria. This is the start of the end of Ottoman power. -
King of Prussia
Frederick Wm. Of Hohensollern’s son convinces the HRE to make him King of Prussia.
