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The Renaissance was a period of rapid advancement focusing on ancient Greek and Roman work. Technology, culture, art, and more advanced at a rapid pace during this period. If the Renaissance hadn’t happened, people may still be living like the Middle Ages.
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Johannes Gutenberg invented the first printing press, an inefficient machine yet still revolutionary. Figures like Martin Luther used it to spread their message far and wide, and it also caused more people to be literate, which greatly aided the spread of Protestantism.
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The Age of Exploration was a period when European countries began exploring the planet. Rapid development, advancements in technologies, and cultural destruction were caused by this period, and it has shaped the course of history.
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The mariner’s astrolabe was a device that allowed sailors to determine where they were on the planet with no land in sight by determining the ship's latitude with the sun. It was revolutionary because it allowed the explorers to venture farther and arrive in new places. -
This was the first major milestone of Portugal’s exploration. It was when they first made it around the first curve of Africa and realized there was more land there.
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Bartolomeu Dias reached the tip of Africa, also known as the Cape of Good Hope. It was a huge advancement because it gave explorers new hope of finding the Spice Islands. It also allowed Portugal to map out the area and get to the Spice Islands before any other country. -
The Treaty of Tordesillas was passed by the Pope to keep Portugal and Spain, the largest Catholic powers, from fighting over places to explore. It created the Line of Demarcation that divided the planet between Spain and Portugal. It led to circumnavigations and conflict but held for a long time. -
Vasco Da Gama was the first European to sail to India. He reached Calicut and made a fortune. This gave hope to the other sailors and showed that their attempts had worked after decades of exploration.
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Pedro Cabral landed in Brazil by accident and created the only Portuguese colony in the Americas. It ended up being quite large and powerful but paled in comparison to the empire the Spanish had there.
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Landing in the Pacific showed the explorers that there was still more ocean to explore. What they didn’t know, however, was the true vastness of the Pacific Ocean. It did give hope to explorers that there may be a west passage, even if it wasn’t north.
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The Reformation began when Martin Luther posted his 95 Theses on the door of the Caste Church at Wittenberg. Many people interpreted religion differently than the Catholic Church did, and they started their Protestant religions. This caused many wars but also allowed for religious tolerance to become more widespread. It ended with the Treaty of Westphalia, which ended the Thirty Years' War.
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Martin Luther posted his 95 complaints about the Catholic Church on the door of the Caste Church at Wittenberg, effectively starting the Protestant reformation. -
The Diet of Worms was held because Charles V didn’t like where the reformation was going. He called Luther in and intended to arrest him, but instead was humiliated. This gave more hope to the protestants. -
The Edict of Worms was passed after the Diet of Worms and said that Martin Luther should be captured and punished as a heretic. It also made sheltering him illegal and his works illegal as well. -
Hernán Cortés conquered the Aztecs and spread so much disease that the once great civilization ceased to exist. This shows the dangers of exploration. Damage to civilizations is a recurring theme throughout the exploration era. -
King Afonso of the Congo wrote a letter to the king of Portugal asking him to end the Slave Trade. It was destroying his country and he couldn’t keep it together for much longer. Unfortunately, the letter was ignored and not much came of it, but it was a very important document that showed the dark side of exploration. -
Henry VIII broke England from the Catholic Church and turned it Anglican. This allowed England to operate more independently and become more powerful and caused it to enter some bad conflicts. Eventually, England emerged victorious as a formidable and powerful country.
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John Calvin fled to Geneva and set up his headquarters there, giving more power to his religion. This allowed Calvinism to spread across Europe. -
The Peace of Augsburg was passed which ended the religious conflicts in the Holy Roman Empire. It allowed Protestantism to take a strong step in the politics of religion, and lead to peace, if only for a while. -
King Charles V gave up the throne of Spain because of the immense pressure that came from the size and power of his country. He split the country into Spain and the Holy Roman Empire, dividing the power into two. -
The Archbishop of Canterbury and the leader of the Anglican religion Thomas Cranmer was burned at the stake by Mary I. This caused outrage among Anglicans and resentment for all Catholic leaders in the future, causing some conflicts. -
The Spanish Armada was sent to escort troops from the Netherlands to England. The English Navy got lucky and was able to drive it into storms, where most of the ships sank. This had big ramifications for Spain, as the armada was expensive and it made it look like God was on the side of the Protestants. -
The Edict of Nantes was passed by Henry IV and created official tolerance of protestant religions. This ended the civil wars in France, bringing a period of peace.
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The 30 year’s war was fought mostly in Bohemia. It was fought between the Protestant and Catholic states in the Holy Roman Empire. It was ended by the Peace of Westphalia, which gave more autonomy to the states or the Holy Roman Empire. By the end of the war, Spain was so weak that it lost control of the Netherlands and its power over Portugal.
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The Root and Branch petition was passed because King Charles I needed money from Parliament for a war. They forced him to sign it. It first made the Petition of Right mandatory, and it also made some other laws to ensure that Parliament could uphold it. This only made the divisions between Parliament and the crown bigger and eventually led to civil war.
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The civil war ended with the Roundheads winning. Oliver Cromwell set up the Commonwealth, and he ruled for 11 years until his death.
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The Commonwealth, led by Oliver Cromwell, ended when Cromwell died. It was a system of ruling that was outwardly a republic but actually was a dictatorship. It made many of the inhabitants unhappy, and as soon as the leader died they brought back the monarchy. -
King Louis XIV repealed the Edict of Nantes to increase his power as a ruler. It made it so he would have fewer dissenters and he was able to get rid of a lot of the Protestants.
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William and Mary of the Netherlands were called into England by Parliament because both parties were Calvinists. They were summoned to take control of the country from James II. They ruled well and peacefully alongside Parliament.
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King Louis XIV ruled for 72 years, and in the process made France one of the most powerful countries in the world. He spent a lot of money and got involved in a lot of wars, so when he died France went bankrupt.