Renaissance/Reformation Timeline
1450 Francesco Sforza enters Milan and assumes title of duke
Vatican Library founded
Florence, under the Medici, becomes center of Renaissance
Hieronymus Bosch, Dutch painter, is born
1451 Christopher Columbus and Amerigo Vespucci born
Glasgow University founded
1452 Frederick III crowned emperor
Girolamo Savanarola born
Ghilberti completes Gates of Paradise at Florence baptistery
Leonardo da Vinci born
metal plates used for printing
1453 Turks capture Constantinople
John Dunstable (English composer) born
Gutenberg prints 42-line Bible
1455 Duke of York defeats royal forces at St. Albans, beginning Wars
of the Roses
Ghilberti dies
Fra Angelica born
1456 trial of joan of Arc annulled
Turks conquer Athens
1457 Frederick III inherits Upper and Lower Austria
1458 Hussite leader, George of Podebrad, becomes King of Bohemia
Aeneas Sylvius Piccolomini becomes Pope Pius II
Turks sack the Acropolis
1459 renewal of civil war in England
1460 Richard of York defeats Henry VI at Northampton but is
defeated and killed by Queen Margaret at Wakefield
James II of Scotland killed at Roxburgh, succeeded by James III
Winchester Cathedral completed
Pitti Palace begun in Florence
1461 Edward, son of Richard of York, crowned Edward IV, King of
England
Charles VII of France succeeded by Louis IX
Leonardo da Vinci becomes a pupil of Verrocchio
1463 Frederick III recognizes Matthias Corvinus of Hungary, who
recognizes Hapsburg claims to succession
Turks conquer Bosnia
Francois Villon saved from gallows, disappears
Pico de Mirandola born
money loaned at low interest to poor people
1464 peace between England and Scotland
Cosimo de Medici dies
Nicholas of Cusa dies
Pope Paul II takes office
Louis XI establishes French royal mail service
1465 Erasmus of Rotterdam born
Hans Holein the Elder born
first printed music
Edward IV passes edict forbidding bowlinglike sports
1466 Donatello dies
Johann Mentel prints first German Bible
1467 Philip II of Burgundy succeeded by Charles the Bold
Turks conquer Herzegovina
first ballad about Swiss hero William Tell
Scotish Parliament decrees that fute-ball and golfe not be
used
1468 Johann Gutenberg dies
1469 Ferdinand of Aragon marries Isabella of Castile
Lorenzo de Medici becomes ruler of Florence
Niccolo Machiavelli born
Fra Filippo Lippi born
Vasco da Gama born
1470 Portuguese navigators discover Gold Coast, W. Africa
first French printing press set up
1471 Edward IV kills Richard, defeats Queen margaret, kills Prince
Edward, enters London
Henry VI murdered in the Tower
Pope Sixtus IV (-1484)
Albrecht Durer born
1472 Dante's Divine Comedy first printed
Danish navigator Deitrich Pining claims to have discovered
Newfoundland
1473 Cyprus comes under Venetian rule
Duke Albrecht Achilles declares indivisibility of Brandenburg
Nicholas Copernicus born
the Fuggers of Augsburg begin business dealings with the
Hapsburgs
1474 William Caxton prints first book in English
1475 Caesar Borgia born
Francisco Pizarro born
Michelangelo Buonarotti born
1477 Maximilian marries Mary of Burgundy, Hapsburgs acquire the
Netherlands
Caxton prints Chaucer's Canterbury Tales
Botticelli paints Primavera
Titian born
1478 Thomas More born
1479 union of Aragon and Castile under Ferdinand and Isabella
Brussels becomes center of European tapestry industry
1480 Ludovico Sfroza, Regent of Milan
Ferdinand and Isabella begin inquisition among converted Jews
Ferdinand Magellan born
Leonardo da Vinci invents parachute
1481 Beginning of the Spanish Inquisition
Botticelli, Ghirlandajo, Perugino, Pinturicchio and Signoerlli
paint frescoes in the Sistine Chapel
Verrocchio - statue of Bartholomeo Colleoni in Venice
1482 Peace of Arras between Louis XI and Hapsburgs
Hugo van der Goes dies
1483 Edward IV, of England, dies - and is succeeded by Edward V
Edward V disappears and is succeeded by Richard III
Louis XI, of France, dies - and is succeeded by Charles VIII
Russians begin to explore Siberia
Martin Luther is born
Raphael born
King John II of Portugal refuses to finance Columbus' voyage
1484 Papal bull "Summis desiderantes" against witchcraft and
sorcery
ulrich Zwingli born
Botticelli "Birth of Venus"
Durer "Self-portrait"
Protuguese explorer Diego Cam discovers mouth of the Congo
River
Richard III reforms law, trade, and tax collection
1485 Henry Tudor defeats and kills Richard III at Bosworth, becomes
Henry VII
Matthias Corvinus captures Vienna
1486 Maximilian I elected German king
Jacapo Sansovino (architect) born
Portuguese discover Angola
1487 Spaniards conquer Malaga from Arabs
1488 James III of Scotland is murdered, succeeded by James IV
1489 Thomas Cranmer born (English reformer)
the symbols + and - come into use
1490 Matthias Corvinus of hungary dies, Vladislav II of Bohemia
succeeds him
first beginnings of ballet at Italian courts
Leonardo da Vinci observes capillary action of liquids in
small-bore tubes
first orphanages in Italy and Holland
1491 Treaty of Pressburg between Vladislav II of Hungary and
Bohemia acknowledges the Hapsburg right of succession
the future King Henry VIII of England is born
Ignatius Loyola is born
Copernicus studies at Cracow Univ.
1492 Spanish conquer Granada
Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castille unite their
kingdoms
Piero de Medici succeeds his father, Lorenzo
Henry VII invades France
Bajazet II of Turkey invades Hungary
Pietro Aretino is born
Carlo Crivelli, "The Immaculate Conception"
Leonardo da Vinci draws a flying machine
Piero della Francesca dies
Ferdinand and Isabella finance the voyage of Chrispopher
Columbus
the profession of book publisher emerges
1493 Pope Alexander VI publishes bull "Inter cetera divina" dividing
the New World between Spain and Portugal
Frederick III of HRE dies, succeeded by Maximilian I
first bundschuh (peasant revolt) in Alsace and Ger.
Turks invade Calmatia and Croatia
Pope Alexander VI appoints his son, Caesar borgia, cardinal
Paracelsus born
1494 Treaty of Tordesillas divides new world between Spain and
Portugal
Charles VIII invades Italy and Florence and deposes Piero de
Medici
Sulieman the magnificent born
Francois Rabelais born
Giovanni Pico della Mirandola dies
Correggio born
1495 Jews expelled from Portugal
Hieronoymus Bosch, "The Garden of Worldly Delights"
1496 Michelangelo's first stay in Rome
Henry VII commissions John Cabot and his son, Sebastian to
discover a new trade route to Asia
1497 Philipp Melanchthon is born
Savanarol excommunicated for attempting to depose Pope
Alexander VI
Filippino Lippi "Meeting of Joachim and Anne at the Golden
Gate"
Michelangelo's "Bacchus Sculpture"
Vasco da Gama rounds Cape of Good Hope
1498 Erasmus teaches at Oxford
Savanarola burned at the stake
Torquemada, Inquisitor General, dies
Da Vinci - numerous scientific drawings
Albrecht Durer - Self-Portrait, Apocalypse, Knight, Death and
Devil
Micheleangelo - Pieta, St. Peters in Rome
Vasco da Gama discovers sea route to India
1499 War between Swabian league and Swiss cantons ends with
Swiss independence
defeat of Venetian fleet by Turks
1500 future emperor Charles V born
Benvenuto Cellini is born
first black lead pencils used in England
first recorded Caesarean performed on a living woman
1501 Martin Luther is at Erfurt
card games become wildly popular throughout Europe
1502 Peasants revolt in the bishopric of Speyer, Ger
University of Wittenberg founded by Frederick, Elector
of Saxony
Columbus sails his last voyage to Honduras and Panama
Peter henlein of nurnberg constructs his Nuremberg Egg, the
first watch
1503 Venice abandons Lepanto and signs peace treaty with Turks
War of Succession between Bavaria and Palatinate
James IV marries Margaret Tudor
Canterbury Cathedral finished
Nostradamus born
pocket handkerchief comes into use
1504 Durer - Nativity
Raphael - Marriage of the Virgin
Venice proposes building Suez Canal with Turks
Henry VII places guilds and trade companies under supervision
of the Crown
1505 John Knox is born
Martin Luther enters Augustinian monastery at Erfurt
Durer travels to Venice again
Pope Julius II calls Michelangelo to Rome
1506 Johann Tetzel begins to sell indulgences in Ger
St. Francis Xavier born
Donato Bramante begins to rebuild St. Peter's Cathedral
Chritopher Columbus dies
Jakob Fugger imports spices from E. Indies to Europe by sea
Niccolo Machiavelli creates Florentine militia
1507 Martin Luther ordained
Martin Waldseemuller proposes the New World be called
America
1508 Pope Julius II confirms that the German king becomes
emperor automatically
Luther is a student at the University of Wittenberg
Andrea Palladio (architect) is born
1509 beginnings of slave trade
Earthquake destroys Constantinople
Henry VII dies and is succeeded by Henry VIII
John Calvin is born
persecution of Jews in Germany
1510 Portuguese acquire Goa
Sandro Botticelli dies
Leonardo da Vinci dseigns the horizontal water wheel
1511 Pope Julius II forms Holy League with Venice and Aragon to
drive the French out of Italy
Erasmus made professor of Greek at Cambridge
1512 Martin Luther made Doctor of Divinity
Copernicus states the earth and other planets turn around
the sun
1513 Pope Julius II dies/Leo X elected
Balboa discovers the Pacific Ocean
Juan Ponce de Leon discovers Florida
1514 Thomas Wolsey made Archbishop of York
Hieronymus Bosch: "The Garden of Worldly Desires"
House of Fugger secures right to sell Papal Indulgences in
Germany
1515 Louis XII of France dies/succeeded by Francis I
Thomas Wolsey appointed Cardinal and Lord Chancellor of
England
1516 Archduke Charles (later Charles V) becomes king of Spain
Erasmus publishes New Testament with Greek & Latin text
Giovanni Bellini dies
Hieronymus Bosch dies
1517 Turks take Cairo and Arabia
Martin Luther posts his 95 theses
coffee in Europe for the first time
1518 Peace of London between England, France,
Emperor Maximilian I, the pope and Spain
Martin Luther refuses to recant at the Diet of Augsburg
Melanchthon appointed professor of Greek at Wittenberg
License to import 4,000 African slaves to Spanish America
granted
Spectacles for the shortsighted
1519 Charles I of Spain becomes Charles V
Lucrezia Borgia dies
Ulrich Zwingli begins Swiss Reformation
Leonardo da Vinci dies
Mannerism appears as an art style
Cortes enters Tenochtitlan
Magellan leaves Europe to sail around the world
Cortes brings Arabian horses to North America
1520 Sulieman the magnificent assumes the Turkish throne
Anabaptist movement begun by Thomas Munzer
Pope Leo X excommunicates Luther
Pieter Breughel born
Chocolate brought from Mexico to Spain
1521 Sulieman conquers Belgrade
Cortes assumes control of Mexico
Pope Leo confers the title "Defender of the Faith" on
Henry VIII
Luther begins his German translation of the Bible
Melanchthon "Loci Communes" on the Lutheran dogma
1522 Sulieman takes Rhodes
Spain conquers Guatemala
Luther returns to Wittenberg; finishes new Testament
Durer designs flying machine for use in war
1523 Sir Thomas more elected Speaker of the House of Commons
Portuguese expelled from China
Pope Clement VII elected
first marine insurance policies issued at Florence
1524 James V becomes king of Scotland
Peasants' revolt in Germany under leadership of Thomas
Munzer
Zwingli abolishes the Catholic Mass in Zurich
Giovanni da Verrazano discovers New York Bay and Hudson
River
Turkeys taken from S. American eaten for first time at the
English court
1525 Grand Master Albert of the Teutonic Knights transforms
Prussia into the secular Duchy of Brandenburg
German Peasants' Revolt suppressed; T. Munzer executed
Peace between England and France
Durer compiles first German manual on geometry
Jakob Fugger dies
1526 Battle of Mohacs - Turks defeat Hungarians
Anabaptists settle down as Moravian Brothers
1527 Imperial troops sack Rome
Baldassare Castiglione writes "The Courtier"
Niccolo Machiavelli dies
Reformation in Sweden
Paracelsus lectures on medicine at U. of Basel
1528 weavers of Kent riot against Wolsey's policies
Melanchthon suggests educational reforms in Germany
Paracelsus publishes first manual on surgery
severe plague outbreak in England
1529 Turks lay siege to Vienna, but fail to take it
Treaty of Cambrai between Charles V and Francis I
1530 Charles V crowned Holy Roman Emperor by the Pope
Ivan IV (Terrible) of Russia born
Cardinal Wolsey dies after being arrested as a traitor
Charles V retakes Malta from Turks
Confession of Augsberg signed by Lutheran Princes
League of Schmalkald formed
Georg Agricola writes first treatise on mineralogy
Portuguese colonize Brazil
Antwerp exchange founded
general use of spinning wheels in Europe
1531 Henry VIII recognized as Supreme Head of the Church in England
Zwingli killed in war between Swiss cantons
Erasmus publishes Aristotle's works
1532 Suleiman's attack on Carinthia and Croatia repelled
Francisco Pizarro leads expedition from Panama to Peru
Reformation in France
Sugar cane first cultivated in Brazil
1533 Henry VIII secretly marries Anne Boleyn
Thomas Cranmer becomes Archbishop of Canterbury; declares
Henry's marriage to Catherine void, and to Anne Boleyn lawful
Henry VIII excommunicated
first lunatic asylums
1534 Anabaptists create a communist state at Munster under the
leadership of John of Leiden
Jesuits founded by Ignatius Loyola
Correggio dies
Jacques Cartier sights Labrador
English farmers not allowed to own more than 2000 sheep
1535 Sir Thomas More executed for refusing the oath of supremacy
Hans Holbein paints portrait of henry VIII
beginning of the London Exchange
1536 Anne Boleyn executed
Henry VIII marries Jane Seymour
John Calvin publishes his "Institutes"
Desiderius Erasmus dies
Reformation in Denmark and Norway
Michelangelo paints "Last Judgment" in Sistine Chapel
first mention on India rubber
1537 Paracelsus publishes a manual of astronomy
1538 Calvin expelled from Geneva
Mercator uses the name America for the first time
1539 Hernando de Soto explores Florida
first Christmas tree at Strasbourg Cathedral
1540 Henry VIII marries Anne of Cleves/marriage annulled
Henry VIII marries Catherine Howard
Jesuit order confirmed by Pope Paul III
Michael Servetus discovers pulmonary circulation of blood
Antwerp becomes an important commercial city
1541 Henry VIII becomes King of Ireland and head of Irish Church
Sulieman takes Hungary
Calvin returns to Geneva
John Knox leads Calvinist Reformation in Scotland
de Soto discovers the Mississippi River
Paraceslus dies
1542 Henry VIII has Catherine Howard executed
Pope Paul III establishes the Inquisition in Rome
Andreas Vesalius writes a modern anatomy
St. Francis Xavier arrives at Goa as a missionary
1543 Henry VIII marries Catherine Parr
Index of prohibited books issues by Paul III
first Protestants burned at the stake in the Sp. Inquisition
Copernicus and Holbein die
1544 Pope Paul III calls for a general council at Trent
Agricola begins the study of physical geology
Silver mines of Potosi discovered in Peru
1545 Truce of Adrianople between Charles V and Suleiman
Council of Trent meets
1546 war between Charles V and League of Schmalkald
Martin Luther dies
Michelangelo designs dome of St. Peters
1547 Ivan IV crowned Czar
Henry VIII dies/succeeded by Edward VI
Francis I dies/succeeded by Henry II
Bohemian crown claimed by House of Hapsburg
French declared the official language of France
1548 Mary, Queen of Scots betrothed to the French Dauphin
Loyola publishes "Spiritual Exercises"
Francis Xavier establishes a Jesuit mission in Japan
1549 Court jesters appear in Europe
1550 Spain reaches its economic and political zenith
Georgio Vasari writes "Lives of the Artists"
1551 Turks take Tripoli/fail to take Malta
Jews persecuted in Bavaria
first licensing of alehouses and taverns in England
1552 St. Andrews golf course founded in Scotland
1553 Edward VI of England dies/Lady Jane Grey proclaimed queen -
deposed nine days later
Mary I becomes queen of England
violin in its present form
English visit Russia via Archangel
1554 Lady Jane Grey executed
Princess Elizabeth (I) sent to the Tower suspected of treason
1555 Peace of Augsburg
Charles I turns over the Netherlands to his son, Philip
Pope Julius III dies/succeeded by Paul IV
Michelangelo sculpts the Pieta
tobacco brought to Spain