The Middle Ages - Classical Era By megpark Period: 500 to Jan 1, 1500 Middle Ages (5th - 15th cent) 540 Pope Gregory I (540 – 604), Italian Jan 1, 800 Charlemagne crowned first Holy Roman Emperor in Rome. Jan 1, 991 Guido D’Arezzo (991 – 1033), Italian Jan 1, 1096 Oxford University is founded Jan 1, 1098 Hildegard Von Bingen (1098 -1179), German Jan 1, 1135 Leonin (1135/1150 – 1202) precise years unknown; French Jan 1, 1200 Perotin (12th century) exact years unknown; French Jan 1, 1265 Thomas Aquinas begins work on the Summa Theologica, his best- known work. It remains unfinished. Jan 1, 1268 Approximately when eyeglasses were invented in Italy; the inventor is unknown. Jan 1, 1300 Guillaume de Machaut (1300 – 1377), French Period: Jan 1, 1300 to Jan 1, 1700 Renaissance (14th -17th cent) Jan 1, 1428 Joan of Arc is burned at the stake as a witch after ecclesiastical trial. Jan 1, 1439 Johannes Gutenburg invents the movable type printing press. Jan 1, 1450 Josquin Desprez (1450 – 1521), French Jan 1, 1492 Christopher Columbus encounters the Americas on his transatlantic maritime expedition. Jan 1, 1503 Leonardo Da Vinci paints Mona Lisa. Jan 1, 1504 Michaelangelo completes his 5 meter marble statue of David. Jan 1, 1505 Jacques Arcadelt (1505 – 1568), France Jan 1, 1525 Giovanni Pierluigi Da Palestrina (1525 – 1594), Italian Jan 1, 1567 Claudio Monteverdi (1567 – 1643), Italian Period: Jan 1, 1600 to Jan 1, 1750 Baroque Era (1600 - 1750) Jan 1, 1605 Italian, Baroque art master Caravaggio begins painting David with the Head of Goliath. Jan 1, 1610 Gallileo sees the moons of Jupiter through his telescope. Apr 23, 1616 William Shakespeare dies on April 23rd, his 52nd birthday. Jan 1, 1655 Johannes Vermeer creates his infamous oil painting, Girl with a Pearl Earring. Jan 1, 1659 Henry Purcell (1659 – 1695), English Jan 1, 1678 Antonio Vivaldi (1678 – 1741), Italian Mar 4, 1681 The Province of Pennsylvania is founded by William Penn on March 4th. Jan 1, 1685 Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 – 1750), German Jan 1, 1685 Guiseppe Domenico Scarlatti (1685 - 1757), Italian Jan 2, 1685 George Frideric Handel (1685 – 1759), German Jan 1, 1732 Franz Joseph Haydn (1732 – 1809), Austrian Period: Jan 1, 1750 to Jan 1, 1825 Classical Era (1750 - 1825) Jan 1, 1756 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756 – 1791), Austrian Jan 1, 1770 Ludwig Van Beethoven (1770 – 1827), German Mar 5, 1770 The Boston Massacre occurs on March 5th. Sep 17, 1787 Members of the Constitutional Convention sign the United States Constitution on September 17th. Jan 1, 1789 The French Revolution begins with the fall of Bastille in Paris. Jan 1, 1800 The United States capital is moved from Philadelphia, PA to Washington D.C. Jan 1, 1808 Franz Gall writes about phrenology, (the idea that a person’s skull shape and placement of bumps on the head can reveal personality traits. Jan 1, 1839 Beginning of the first Opium War between Britain and China.
