West and The World

Bubonic Plague Begins

Jan 1, 1347

The black color of the necrotized tissue (the premature death of cells in a specific area) is the origin of the term "Black Death", the bubonic plague pandemic that swept Europe in the mid-fourteenth century.

Renaissance Begins

Jan 1, 1350

The Renaissance was a major movement that swept across parts of Europe during the Middle Ages. It changed the way people thought by introducing new concepts, and it revolutionized the art world such as: architecture, art, drama, poetry and literature.

Brunelleschi creates Linear Perspective

Jan 1, 1420

Filippo Brunelleschi demonstrated the geometrical method of perspective, used today by artists, by painting the outlines of various Florentine buildings onto a mirror. When the building's outline was continued, he noticed that all of the lines converged on the horizon line.

Joan of Arc and the Siege of Orleans

Jan 1, 1429

This was Joan of Arc's first major military victory and the first major French success to follow the crushing defeat at Agincourt.

Johann Gutenberg Invents the Printing Press

Jan 1, 1450

Johann Gutenberg created a hand press, in which ink was rolled over the raised surfaces of moveable hand-set block letters held within a wooden form and the form was then pressed against a sheet of paper.

Cosimo de Medici Dies

Jan 1, 1464

Cosimo was the first of the Medici political dynasty. He was also known as "Cosimo Pater Patriae" which means "Father of the Nation" in Latin.

Spanish Inquisition

Jan 1, 1478

The Spanish Inquisition was a religious tribunal or court. It was responsible for the jailing, trial, torture, and execution of "heretics," mostly Jews accused of not completely converting to Catholicism. During its activities many thousands of Jews had to flee the country.

Sandro Botticelli Paints the Birth of Venus

Jan 1, 1486

The Birth of Venus depicts the goddess Venus, having emerged from the sea as a fully grown woman, arriving at the sea-shore. The painting is held in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence.

Columbus Discovers the Americas

Jan 1, 1492

Though Columbus was not the first European explorer to reach the Americas, Columbus' voyages led to the first lasting European contact with America, creating a period of European exploration and colonization of foreign lands that lasted for several centuries.

Leonardo da Vinci Paints The Last Supper

Jan 1, 1495

The Last Supper is a mural painting in Milan created by Leonardo da Vinci for his patron Duke Ludovico Sforza and his duchess Beatrice d'Este. It represents the scene of The Last Supper from the final days of Jesus as it is told in the Gospel of John 13:21

Raphael Paints The School of Athens

Jan 1, 1510

The School of Athens, or Scuola di Atene in Italian, is one of the most famous frescoes (mural type paintings) by the Italian Renaissance artist Raphael. It was painted as a part of Raphael's commission to decorate with frescoes the rooms now known as the Stanze di Raffaello, in the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican.

Michelangelo Paints the Sistine Chapel

Jan 1, 1512

The complex design of the ceiling includes several sets of individual figures, both clothed and naked, which allowed Michelangelo to fully demonstrate his skill in creating a huge variety of poses for the human figure, and have provided an enormously influential pattern book of models for other artists ever since.

Machiavelli Writes the Prince

Jan 1, 1514

The Prince is a political treatise by the Italian diplomat, historian and political theorist Machiavelli.

Thomas More Utopia

Jan 1, 1514

Utopia is a work of fiction and political philosophy by Thomas More.The book, written in Latin, is a frame narrative primarily depicting a fictional island society and its religious, social and political customs.

Martin Luther 95 Theses

Jan 1, 1517

This centers on practices within the Catholic Church regarding baptism and absolution.

Start of European Wars of Religion

Jan 1, 1524

The European wars of religion were a series of wars waged in Europe from 1524 to 1648, following the onset of the Protestant Reformation in Western and Northern Europe. Although sometimes unconnected, all of these wars were strongly influenced by the religious change of the period, and the conflict and rivalry that it produced.

Ivan the Terrible is Born

Jan 1, 1533

Ivan was Grand Prince of Moscow who managed countless changes in the progression from a medieval state to an empire and emerging regional power, and became the first ruler to be crowned as Tsar of All Russia. Ivan had a complex personality: he was described as intelligent and devout, yet given to rages and prone to episodic outbreaks of mental illness.

Henry VIII of England Excommunicated

Jan 1, 1533

Henry VIII is known for his role in the separation of the Church of England from the Roman Catholic Church. Henry's struggles with Rome led to the separation of the Church of England from papal authority, the Dissolution of the Monasteries, and establishing himself as the Supreme Head of the Church of England. Yet he remained a believer in core Catholic theological teachings, even after his excommunication from the Catholic Church.

Jesuit Order Founded by Ignatius Loyola

Jan 1, 1534

It is better known as the Society of Jesus. It is also known as the enforcement arm of the catholic church.

Desiderius Erasmus Dies

Jan 1, 1536

Desiderius Erasmus, also known as Erasmus of Rotterdam, was a Dutch Renaissance humanist, Catholic priest, social critic, teacher, and theologian.

Scientific Revolution/Copernicus

Jan 1, 1543

Copernicus' book, De revolutionibus orbium coelestium (On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres), published just before his death in 1543, is often regarded as the starting point of modern astronomy and the defining epiphany that began the scientific revolution.

Spain Declares Bankruptcy for the 1st Time

Jan 1, 1557

Spain became the first sovereign nation in history to declare bankruptcy.

Coronation of Queen Elizabeth I

Jan 1, 1559

Elizabeth's reign is known as the Elizabethan era, famous above all for the flourishing of English drama, led by playwrights such as William Shakespeare and Christopher Marlowe, and for the seafaring prowess of English adventurers such as Sir Francis Drake.

Saint Bartholomew's Massacre

Jan 1, 1572

The Massacre was a targeted group of assassinations, followed by a wave of Roman Catholic mob violence, both directed against the Huguenots.

Edict of Nantes

Jan 1, 1598

In the Edict, Henry IV of France aimed primarily to promote civil unity by ending the long-running French Wars of Religion.