West and the World Timeline

By RaquelW
  • Bubonic Plague Begins
    Jan 1, 1347

    Bubonic Plague Begins

    Starting in China, the plague was spread by infected fleas travelling on rats who travelled on merchant ships. The rats then infected the goods on the ships which travelled all over. After 5 years, one third of Europes population had died.
  • Renaissance Begins
    Jan 1, 1350

    Renaissance Begins

    Beginning in the year 1350, Renaissance means 'rebirth'. It was a intellectual and artistic movement.
  • Brunelleschi creates Linear Perspective
    Jan 1, 1413

    Brunelleschi creates Linear Perspective

    Brunelleschi recieved his training in a goldsmith workshop. Then between 1402 and 1404, he and Donatello went to Rome to study the antient ruins. In 1413 when Brunelleschi created linear perspective, Florentine painters and sculptors became obsessed with it.
  • Joan of Arc and the Siege of Orleans
    Oct 12, 1428

    Joan of Arc and the Siege of Orleans

    Joan was born in 1412 in a little village. Always hearing stories from her father about the poor condition of France, Joan began recieving visions and hearing strange voices from angels telling her that she could deliver the land. In 1482, the Siege of Orleans began. During this time, she lead the soldiers well, leading them to a victory. She was then called the 'Maid of Orleans'.
  • Johann Gutenburg invents the Printing Press
    Jan 1, 1440

    Johann Gutenburg invents the Printing Press

    Gutenburg started work on the printing press in 1436, and was completed in 1440. He used replaceable/moveable wooden letters to make it. This invention lowered the price of printed materials.
  • Cosimo de Medici dies
    Aug 1, 1464

    Cosimo de Medici dies

    Belonging to one of the richest families in Italy, Cosimo was the first of the Medici political dynasty. Cosimo controlled the government in Florence.
    He died at the age of 74, the cause unknown.
  • Spanish Inquisition
    Jan 1, 1478

    Spanish Inquisition

    Spain struggled between many different belief systems including Catholisism, Protestantism, Islam and Judaism. After the Crusades and the Reconquest of Spain, the leaders of Spain needed a way to reunify the country, so in 1478 permission was given by the pope to begin the Spanish Inquisition. This meant the removal of all Jews, Protestants and other non-believers.
  • Sandro Botticelli paints the Birth of Venus
    Jan 1, 1486

    Sandro Botticelli paints the Birth of Venus

    Painted by Botticelli in 1486, the painting has Venus coming out of the water as a fully grown woman.
  • Columbus discovers the America's
    Jan 1, 1492

    Columbus discovers the America's

    After getting permission from the monarchs of Spain, Christopher Columbus set sail to discover the new world, or North America.
  • Da Vinci paints the Last Supper
    Jan 1, 1495

    Da Vinci paints the Last Supper

    The painting portrays Jesus with the apostles during the last supper.
  • Raphael paints the School of Athens
    Jan 1, 1510

    Raphael paints the School of Athens

    Part of Raphael's commission to decorate one of the rooms in the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican. One of the most famous paintings done by Raphael. Contains many different famous figures, Plato and Aristotle being the focal point of the painting.
  • Michelangelo paints the Sistine Chapel
    Jan 1, 1512

    Michelangelo paints the Sistine Chapel

    The best known chapel in Vatican City, the Sistine Chapel is famous for its architecture and the painting inside. Michelangelo painted the ceiling between 1508 and 1512.
  • Michiavelli writes the Prince
    Jan 1, 1514

    Michiavelli writes the Prince

    Sometimes called one of the first work of modern philosophy, the Prince is a political treatise. The printed version was not published until 5 years after Michiavelli's death.
  • Thomas More Utopia
    Jan 1, 1514

    Thomas More Utopia

    Utopia is one of More's best known pieces of work. In the book, Raphael, a traveller, describes the political arrangements of the imaginary island of Utopia.
  • Martin Luther 95 Theses
    Jan 1, 1517

    Martin Luther 95 Theses

    Regarded as the catalyst for the Protestant Reformation. The work speaks against clerical abuse, especially the sale of indulgences.
  • Start of the European Wars of Religion
    Jan 1, 1524

    Start of the European Wars of Religion

    This was a series of wars from 1524 to 1648. They were started due to the religious change of the period. A few of these wars were the German Peasants' War, the Battle of Kappel and the Eighty Years' War.
  • Ivan the Terrible is born
    Aug 25, 1530

    Ivan the Terrible is born

    Ivan the Terrible was born in 1530. He took the throne in 1547 at the age of seventeen and immediately proclaimed himself Csar. He is known for his brutal ruling, centralized administration of Russia and expanding the boundries of the Russian Empire.
  • Henry VIII of England Excommunicated
    Jan 1, 1533

    Henry VIII of England Excommunicated

    Henry VIII upset the Pope of the Catholic church in many differnt ways such as persecuting those who opposed the Acts of Supremacy and Succession, dissolving the monasteries and his last act, attacking religious shrines in England that contained religious relics. This caused his excommunication.
  • Jesuit Order founded by Ignatius Loyola
    Jan 1, 1534

    Jesuit Order founded by Ignatius Loyola

    Loyola was born in 1491 to a wealthy, noble family. He was educated as a knight and joined the army. Loyola was injured during the Battle of Pamplona, and during his recovery he underwent a spiritual transformation. Then in 1534, he founded the Jesuit Order.
  • Desidarius Erasmus dies
    Jul 12, 1536

    Desidarius Erasmus dies

    Also known as Erasmus of Rotterdam, Desidarius Erasmus was a Dutch Renaissance humanist, Catholic priest, social critic, teacher and theologian.
  • Scientific Revolution
    Jan 1, 1543

    Scientific Revolution

    Beginning in Europe near the end of the Renaissance and through the 18th century. This time was later known as The Enlightenment, and sparked in 1543 by the publication of Copernicus's 'De revolutionibus orbium coelestium'.
  • Spain declares Bankruptcy
    Jan 1, 1557

    Spain declares Bankruptcy

    During this time, money being collected from taxes was being used to pay off debts from wars and sponsor current wars. This lead to bankruptcy.
  • Coronation of Queen Elizabeth I
    Nov 17, 1559

    Coronation of Queen Elizabeth I

    Queen of England from 1558 until her death in 1603. She was the last monarch of the Tudor dynasty.
  • Saint Bartholomew's Massacre
    Aug 23, 1572

    Saint Bartholomew's Massacre

    It began as the assassination of Huguenot Leaders in Paris, but ended up turning into a killing spree of tens of thousands Huguenots all across France.
  • Edict of Nantes

    Edict of Nantes

    Marks the end of France's Wars of Religion. It granted the Huguenots rights in France, which was mostly Catholic.