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Indo-European, Aryan and Slavic Timelines

1300-1327 Period of Master Eckhart's activity
1300-1450 European economic depression
1300-1500 Mali empire in middle Niger region
1300-1500 Rise of the daimyo in Japan
1300 1500s The Renaissance in literature, art, and architecture. Humanism, led by Catholic priest Erasmus, revives knowledge of and interest in classical Greek and Roman literature and their focus on nature.
1300 A frontal for the altar of the church at Nes in Norway is painted with pigments suspended in oil. The piece is an early example of oil painting, which is remarkable for the glistening sheen of its surface. The technique does not become widespread until it is developed in the southern Netherlands a century later.<RU>
1300 Boniface VIII announces the first Jubilee Year, during which special indulgences are granted
1300 Marco Polo travels in China
1300 The last Muslims in Sicily are forcibly converted to Christianity. Although Sicily had been reconquered by the Normans in 1098, Muslims had been allowed to continue to practice their faith and even formed important elements of various Sicilian military forces.
1300 The Late Middle Ages begins here and ends around 1500 CE. The beginning of the Late Middle Ages witnesses the invention of the magnetic compass, greatly aiding overseas expansion and enhancing trade between places such as Italy and the North. Boniface VIII calls the first papal "jubilee," thereby recognizing pilgrimages to Rome instead of Jerusalem, which is no longer accessible to the West.
1301 Khanate of Eastern Turkestan absorbed into Khanate of Western Turkestan
1302 Mamluk Turks destroy the garrison of the Order of the Temple on the island of Ruad (off the Syrian coast).
1303-1305 Pope Benedict XI
1303-4 Benedict XI
1303 Boniface VIII is captured in Anagni by local citizens and is abused beyond his capabilities to sustain the mistreatment. He dies in his seventies a month after his release. After his death, the Church witnesses many institutional crises.
1303 Mongols are defeated near Damascus, thus ending the Mongol threat on Europe and the Middle East.
1303 the French king Philippe IV kidnaps pope Boniface VIII over the right to tax the French clergy
1303 The Mamlukes stop the last Mongol invasion of Syria
1305-1316 Pope Clement V
1305-1337 Paintings of Giotto
1305-1378 Babylonian captivity of papacy
1305-14 Clement V
1305 First reported act of displaying a head on the London Bridge occurs Sir William Wallace, Scottish patriot.
1305 the French archbishop of Bordeaux becomes pope Clement V and moves the papacy to Avignon in France, the peak of France's influence over the papacy
1305 The papacy is moved from Rome to Avignon, beginning the Church's "Babylonian Captivity." For most of the fourteenth century, the papacy is subordinate to French authority with the majority of cardinals and popes being French.
1306 King Philip IV expels Jews from France
1306 Robert Bruce crowned King of the Scots
1306 the Jews are expelled from France
1307 Il-khan Oljaitu orders Georgian king to convert to Islam & Monte Corvino appointed Catholic archbishop of Khanbalik
1309 the Hospitallers conquer the island of Rhodes and move their capital there, establishing an ecclesiastical principality under the eastern Roman empire
1309 the Teutonic Knights move their capital from Venice to Prussia and establishes a theocratic state
1309 The Teutonic Order moves its headquarters to Marienburg, Prussia.
1310 Dante's Divine Comedy
1310 First reported use of official torture in England occurs against the Templars.
1310 Hospitallers move their headquarters to Rhodes.
1310 May 12, On charges of heresy, fifty-four Knights Templar are burned at the stake in France.
1310 Muslim massacre of Christians in Arbela
1312 March 22, The Order of the Knights Templar is officially suppressed
1312 Pope Clement V abolishes the order of the Knights Templar, after drumming up false accusations for the purpose of seizing their wealthy assetts with the help of French king Philippe IV
1312 the Hospitallers are awarded the Templars' possessions in western Europe, Cyprus, and Greece
1313-41/42 The rule of the Golden Horde by Khan Uzbek, under whom the Horde converts to Islam
1314 Battle at Bannockburn Robert Bruce defeats the armies of Edward I and gains Scottish independence. Edward I dies in 1307 during a march north to defeat Bruce.
1314 Jacques de Molay, the grand master of the Templars, is burned at the stake in Paris
1314 March 18, Thirty-Nine French Knights Templar are burned at the stake.
1314 Scots led by Robert the Bruce defeat the English at the battle of Bannockburn
1315 Bad weather and crop failure result in famine across northwestern Europe. Unsanitary conditions and malnutrition increase the death rate. Even after the revival of agricultural conditions, weather disasters reappear. A mixture of war, famine and plague in the Late Middle Ages reduces the population by one-half.
1315 Bad weather and crop failures result in famines across northwestern Europe. Unsanitary conditions and malnutrition increase the death rate. Even after the revival of agricultural conditions, weather disasters reappear. A mixture of war, famine and plague in the Late Middle Ages reduce the population by half.
1315 Floods throughout western Europe
1316-1334 Pope John XXII
1316-34 John XXII
1317 Death of Yaballaha III
1317 Osman I, founder of the Ottoman Empire, lays siege to the Christian city of Bursa. It would not finally surrender until 1326, the year of Othman's death.
1318 Last recorded Synod of the Nestorian Church in Persia elects Timothy II as patriarch & Pope John XXII divides Asia into missionary districts, giving China to the Franciscans and Persia to the Dominicans
1319 Birth of Murad I, grandson of Osman I. Murad would be the terror of Christian Europe, sending large military forces against the Balkans and tripling the size of the Ottoman Empire.
1320-1500 height of nominalism
1320-1500 Height of nominalism
1320 Catholic bishopric established in Almaliq (Kulja) & Catholic vicarate of Cathay (China) established
1321-22 Civil War
1321 Franciscan monk Marsilio da Padova is excommunicated for preaching democracy in the Church (the council should be elected by the people)
1321 Franciscan monk William of Occam is excommunicated for preaching that the Church should not own properties
1321 Jordanus, a Dominican monk, arrives in India as the first resident Catholic missionary
1321 Jordanus, a Dominican monk, is the first Christian missionary in India
1321 The Divine Comedy, by Dante Alighieri
1321 The Inquisition burns its last Cathar.
1322 Odoric of Pordenone, a Franciscan monk, arrives in China
1323 the Church condemns Paschal II's apostolic poverty as heresy
1324 Franciscan monk Marsilio da Padova publishes "Defender Of Peace", in which he argues that the Church has not authority over secular affairs and that the purpose of a state is to guarantee peace
1324 Odoric of Pordenone visits the tomb of St. Thomas in India but finds only Nestorians there (not Catholics)
1325 Aztecs found Tenochtitlan (now Mexico City).
1325 Ibn Battuta, famous North African traveler, begins 29-year, 75,000 mile world tour
1325 Tenochtitlán (Mexico City) founded by Aztecs
1326 Chaghatayid Khan Ilchigedai grants permission for Catholics to build a church dedicated to John the Baptist in Samarkand & Conversion of the Chaghatayid Khan Tarmashirin to Islam
1326 Death of Osman I, founder of the Ottoman Empire. His son, Orkhan I, makes Bursa his capital and it is from here that the growth of the Ottoman Empire is generally marked. In addition to leading the first Muslim Turks into Europe, Orkhan creates the Janissaries (Yani Sharis, Turkish for "New Soldiers), teenaged boys captured from Christian villages and forcibly converted to Islam. A thousand would be "recruited" every year and sent to Constantinople for training. They are considered at the time to be the finest and fiercest fighting force available.
1327 Born in 1260, German Dominican Master Eckhart defines the individual soul as a "spark" of the divine at its most basic element. By renouncing all knowledge of the self, one is able to retreat into that "spark" and reach God. Most of his teachings are condemned by the papacy. Two bands of mysticism arise from Eckhart's theories heterodox, the belief in the unification of God and man on earth without the aid of priests as intermediaries, and orthodox, the belief in the possibility of joining the soul with God and the awareness of divine presence in everyday life.
1327 German emperor Ludwig IV invades Italy and appoints pope John XXII
1327 With the disintegration of the Seljuk Empire, the Arab and Persian regions are fragmented into several military kingdoms until 1500. The Ottoman Turkish Empire establishes its capital at Bursa.
1328-30 Nicholas V
1328 Anti-Pope Nicholas V
1328 England recognizes Scottish independence, with Robert Bruce as King.
1328 While in Italy, Jordanus is consecrated as the Catholic bishop of Columbum (Quilon, India) with a mission of converting the Muslims and bringing the Nestorians into the Catholic Church (but he never returns to India)
1328The last heir of the Capetian dynasty dies and is replaced by the first ruler of the Valois dynasty. Because the English kings are also descended from the Capetian line, England attempts to claim the French crown.
1329 Ottoman Turks capture Nicaea. The weakened Empire is unable to hold on to its provinces in Asia Minor. Osman, a Turkish Emir with his power base in northwestern Asia Minor, enhances his power at the expense both of his Turkish neighbours and the Byzantines. His emerging state, named after him, is known as the Ottoman Emirate. The Ottomans take Nicaea after an unsuccessful Byzantine relief expedition. Little of Asia Minor is left in Byzantine hands.
1330-1384 John Wyclif
1330 1523 Although not officially supported by the church hierarchy, the Hospitallers.htm">Hospitallers continue intermittent Crusading from their base in Rhodes.
1330 Oxford theologian John Wyclif is born. He later becomes the leader of a heretical movement finding the Church extravagant, he condemns most Church officials and begins a reform movement. He receives aristocratic support by advocating the replacement of officials with men willing to lead apostolic lives modeled on the New Testament. He dies in 1384, before the death penalty for heresy emerges in England. The use of heavy cannons in warfare begins.
1330 University of Tmbuktu
1331 The Ottoman Turks capture Nicaea and rename it Iznik.
1334-1342 Pope Benedict XII
1334-42 Benedict XII
1334 Chaghatayid Khan Buzun allows Nestorians and Jews to rebuild churches and synagogues and permits Franciscans to establish a missionary episcopate in Almaliq
1334 Crusader ships defeat a group of Turkish pirates operating in the Gulf of Edremit.
1335 Abu Said, last Il-khan, dies and the dynasty ends
1336 Birth of Timur
1336 Jews are expelled in Germany
1336 Meteora is established as a monastic Greek Orthodox community
1336 The Hundred Years' War between France and England begins.
1337-1453 Hundred Years War
1337 Birth of Timur-i Lang (Tamerlane, Timur the Lame), brutal ruler of Samarkand who cuts a wide swath of destruction across Persia and the Middle East. Timur founds the Timurid Dynasty and becomes infamous for building pyramids out of the skulls of his slain enemies.
1337 1453 Hundred Years' War with France
1337 King Edward claims the Throne of France
1337 The French retaliate against the English and initiate the Hundred Years' War, a series of battles lasting until 1453 CE. The three greatest battles of the war are fought at Crecy (1346), Poitiers (1356) and Agincourt (1415). Due to the military superiority of the English, the French are defeated in most of the battles.
1339 Christians in Almaliq (including Catholic bishop and priests) expelled by Muslims
1340 Battle of Rio Saldo Alfonso XI of Castile and Alfonso IV of Portugal defeat a much larger force of Muslims from Morocco.
1340 Geoffrey Chaucer is born. He later begins the literary tradition with his Canterbury Tales.
1340 Nestorian college for "Tatars" still operating in Merv
1341 Death of Oz Beg, Mongol leader who converted his people to Islam.
1341 to 1391 Civil War, Plague, political and military collapse. Byzantium's position is exacerbated by a protracted civil war, fought out between aristocratic factions and partisans of the Palaiologos family. Superimposed upon civil war is the Black Death, which hits Constantinople in the spring of 1347. Shorn of virtually all of its territory Byzantium is a virtual dependency of the Ottoman Turks, who now surround Constantinople from Europe and Asia.
1342-1352 Pope Clement VI
1342-52 Clement VI
1342 John of Marignolli, last resident Catholic bishop of Peking, arrives in China
1342 The reign of Avignonese Pope Clement VI exemplifies the French takeover of the Church. Clement offers spiritual benefits for money, appoints Church leaders for economic gains and commits sexual acts on "doctors' orders." The French Church based in Avignon rises in power, centralizes the Church government and establishes a system of papal finance.
1345 Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, France, is completed.
1345 The Ottoman Turks are asked for help by John Cantacuzene against a rival for the Byzantine throne. John would become John VI and gives his sixteen-year-old daughter Theodora to Orkhan I as a wife. This is the first time Muslim Turks crossed the Dardanelles into Europe.
1346 Chaghatayid khanate again splits into western and eastern Turkestan, both effectively ruled by Turkic governors
1347-1350 Black Death
1347 the "black death" (the plague) causes the decline of monasticism
1347 The Black Death (bubonic plague) reaches Cyprus from eastern Asia.
1347 The Black Death appears during a time of economic depression in Western Europe and reoccurs frequently until the fifteenth century. The Black Death is a combination of bubonic and pneumonic plagues and has a major impact on social and economic conditions. Religious flagellation appears among lay groups in order to appease the divine wrath. English Franciscan William of Ockham dies. He teaches that God is free to do good and bad on earth as He wishes and developes the philosophical position known as "nominalism." His quest for certainty in human knowledge is one of the foundations of the scientific method.
1348-1349 Many Jews expelled across Europe, blamed for Black Death
1348 49 The Black Death (bubonic plague) arrived in England and killed nearly half of the population
1348 Catholics leave Persia
1348 Italian Giovanni Boccaccio (1313-1375 CE) begins writing the Decameron, a collection of stories about love, sex, adventure and trickery told by seven ladies and three men on a journey into the country to escape the Black Death. Boccaccio's work is the first literature written in narrative prose. His prose is realistic of the men and women in the stories, rather than blatantly moral or immoral as in the earlier romances.
1350-1450 Height of Hanseatic League
1350-1450 Political chaos in Germany
1350 Boccaccio's Decameron
1350 English begins to emerge as the national language of England
1350 Renaissance begins in Italy
1350 Sergius of Radonezh founds the Monastery of the Holy Trinity (at Sergiev Posad), the new center of Russian christianity
1350 The plague, or Black Death, arrives in the ports of Scandinavia and eastern Europe, killing thousands and drastically changing the fabric of daily life.<RU>
1350 The Renaissance begins in Italy.
1352-1362 Pope Innocent VI
1352-62 Innocent VI
1354 Earliest extant documentation stating the existance of the Shroud of Turin
1354 The Turks capture Gallipoli, creating the first permanent Turkish settlement in Europe.
1356 A war begins between the English and the French directly following an occurrence of the Black Death in France. French peasants suffer the most economically, as is usual in medieval times during war, and physically -- their homes are pillaged and burned. The English defeat the French king, John II, at the Battle of Poitiers, and the peasants again are asked to bear the weight of the upper class.
1358 Economic hardship in France results in an uprising of the lower-class, called the "Jacquerie" (taken from the French peasant "Jacques Bonhomme"). The peasants burn castles, murder and rape their lords and lords' wives and take advantage of the political confusion in France by attempting to reform the governmental system. The revolt occurs during the king's captivity in England. Also, during this time, an aristocratic group plans the takeover of power. A brief revolt is put to an end when this group restores order by the massacre of the rebels.
1360 With the introduction of oil painting into western Europe, the earliest naturalistic painting is created. Its subject is the French king, John the Good. After this, naturalistic portraitures become prominent in European art.
1362-1370 Pope Urban V
1362-70 Urban V
1363 Timur expels Chaghatayid Khan Tughlug Timur and sets up a puppet khan under his control
1365 Led by Peter I of Cyprus, Crusaders secure the Egyptian city of Alexandria.
1366 Adrianople (Edirne) becomes the Turkish capital.
1367 Urban V is successful in returning the pope to Rome. However, Pope Gregory XI dies in 1368. Because the papacy is now in Rome, an Italian pope, Urban VI, is elected and begins quarreling with the French cardinals. The French cardinals cancel the previous election and elect a French pope, Clement VII.
1368 Mongol Yüan dynasty falls to Ming dynasty in China
1368 The Ming Dynasty is established in China by a peasant's son who had become a monk but later led a 13-year long rebellion against corrupt and ineffectual Mongol rulers. Ming means "brightness."
1369/70 Timur becomes the sole ruler of Transoxiana
1370-1378 Pope Gregory XI
1370-78 Gregory XI
1370 Persian poetry of Hafiz
1371 09, Battle of Maritsa A force consisting of Serbs and Hungarians is sent to counter the encroaching Ottoman Turks in the Balkans. They march on Adrianople but they only get as far as Cenomen, on the Maritsa River. During the night they are surprised by an Ottoman attack led by Murad I personally. Thousands are slain and more drown when they try to flee. This was the first major action take by the Janissaries against Christians.
1373 The Ottoman Turks force the Byzantine Empire, now under John V Palaeologus, into vassalage.
1374 Date of a Nestorian lectionary written in Samarkand
1375 The Mamluks capture Sis, ending Armenian independence.
1377 pope Gregory XI moves back the papacy to Rome from Avignon
1378-1389 Pope Urban VI
1378-1417 The Great Schism of the papacy
1378-89 Urban VI
1378-94 Clement VII
1378 Anti-Pope Clement VII
1378 pope Gregory XI dies and the Roman nobles elect Bartolomeo Prignano as pope Urban VI
1378 the Oxford theologian John Wycliffe preaches that the Church has fallen into sin, that it ought to give up all its property, and that the clergy should live in complete poverty
1378 The second phase of the Church's institutional crisis is the Great Schism. The French papacy leaves Rome due to the uprising of Urban VI and his group of newly founded cardinals. The split of the two groups causes confusion in Europe. French territories recognize Clement VII as pope, and the rest of Europe recognizes Urban VI as pope. The schism survives the death of both popes. The Florentine Ciompi, wool-combers, witnessing a depressed industry, rise against the governmental system and gain power for six weeks, in which time they institute tax relief, provide a proletarian representation in government and expand employment. All reforms are revoked with the new oligarchic power.
1379 pope Urban VI's fight against corruption causes the cardinals to move back to Avignon and elect another pope, Robert de Geneve as Clement VII ("Western Schism"), who is recognized by France's allies (e.g., Scotland) but not by France's enemies (e.g., England)
1380-1382 John Wycliffe, eminant theologian at Oxford, makes NT (1380) and OT (with help of Nicholas of Hereford) (1382) translations in English, 1st complete translation to English, included deutercanonical books, preached against abuses, expressed unorthodox views of the sacraments (Penance and Eucharist), the use of relics, and against celibacy of the clergy
1380-1517 Period between the 1st complete English translation of the Bible and Martin Luther's 95 Theses
1380-87 Timur conquers Iran
1380 Battle of Kulikovo Field Dmitri Donskoy, Grand Prince of Moscow, defeats the Muslim Tartars and is able to stop paying tribute.
1380 The last holdings of the Byzantine Empire in Asia Minor are captured by the Turks.
1381 English peasant's revolt
1381 The presence of the Black Death in England works to the advantage of English peasants, causing a shortage of labor, a freeing of serfs, a rise in salary and a decrease in rent. The aristocratic class, however, passes legislation that lowers wages to the amount before the plague and that requires lower wages for laborers without land. The peasants rise against this oppression in what is called the English Peasants' Revolt when a national tax is levied for every individual in England. The peasants march into London, murder the lord chancellor and treasurer and are met by Richard II. Richard promises the abolition of serfdom and a lower of rent. After the peasants leave, Richard has the peasant groups followed and murdered.
1382-1414 John Huss, Inspired by Wycliffe, Taught All of the Doctrines of the Protestant Reformation 100 Years Before Luther. John Hus (1369-1414 A.D.), a Roman Catholic Priest from Bohemia, while translating some sermons of John Wycliffe, became convinced of the universal priesthood of all believers; that Christ, not Peter, was the foundation of the Church, and that only Christ is the head of the Church. He became one of the influences for the Protestant Reformation. He was granted a safe conduct to defend his views, but was instead imprisoned and burned at the stake. He was a "Protestant" 100 years before Luther. His witness influenced the later founding of the Moravian Brethren (Bohemian Brethren, Unitas Fratrum) in 1457.
1382 John Wycliffe Translates Bible Into English / Founds Lollard Monastic Order of Preachers They Taught All of the Doctrines of the Protestant Reformation 150 Years Before Martin Luther. John Wycliffe (1330-1384), 150 years before the Protestant Reformation, came to the same conclusions from reading the Bible that Luther would arrive at later. Wycliffe translated the Bible into English (1382). It was the first European translation done in over 1,000 years. He had to hide in France to do it, and the English Bible had to be smuggled in a barrel back into England. He criticized abuses and scriptural error in the teaching of the (Roman Catholic) Church. He sent itinerant preachers (called the Lollards) throughout England. Some of his students were from Bohemia, and took his teachings back to Bohemia and Moravia (later Czechoslovakia). Wycliffe's writings later converted John Huss and the Moravian Brethren.
1382 The Tartars ride north, capture Moscow, and reimpose the tribute on the Russians.
1382 The Turks capture Sofia.
1383 June 13, Death of John VI Cantacuzene, Byzantine emperor who allowed Turkish military forces to first cross into Europe because he needed their aid against a rival for the Byzantine throne.
1384 John Purvey, follower of John Wycliffe, revises Wycliffe's translation
1385 Lithuania converts to christianity as is unified with Poland
1385 The first German university is opened in Heidelberg.
1386 The queen of Poland, Jadwiga, marries grand duke of Lithuania, Jagiello. The marriage creates a state double the size of Poland's previous size.
1387 Birth of John Hunyadi, Hungarian national hero whose efforts against the Ottoman Turks would do much to prevent Turkish rule from being extended into Europe.
1387 Geoffrey Chaucer starts writing the Canterbury Tales
1387 Poet Geoffrey Chaucer begins work on his masterpiece The Canterbury Tales.
1389-1404 Boniface IX
1389-1404 Pope Boniface IX
1389 Death of Orhan I, son of Osman I. Orhan's son, Murad I, takes over the Ottoman Empire. Murad becomes the terror of Christian Europe, sending large military forces against the Balkans and tripling the size of the Ottoman Empire.
1389 June 15, Battle of Kosovo Polje Murad I demands that Lazar Hrebeljanovic, prince of Serbia, step down and surrender or be killed when his lands are invaded. Hrebeljanovic chooses to fight and raises an army that consists of soldiers from all over the Balkans but is still only half the size of the Turkish force. The actual battle takes place on the "Field of Blackbirds" or Kosovo Polje, and Murad I is killed when Milosh Obilich, posing as a traitor, stabs Murad with a poisoned knife. The Christians are utterly defeated and even Hrebeljanovic is captured and killed. Thousands of Christian prisoners are executed and Serbia became a vassal state of the Ottomans, but this also represents their farthest reach into Europe. With Murad's death his son, Bajazet, has his own brother Yakub killed and becomes the Ottoman sultan. Killing brothers upon becoming sultan would become an Ottoman tradition for the next couple of centuries.
1389 the Serbs are defeated by Ottoman Turks of Sultan Murad I
1390 Chaucer's Canterbury Tales
1390 Final conversion of the Uighurs in Turfan to Islam
1390 Wycliffe's teachings condemned repeatedly in England
1391 February 16, Death of John V Palaeologus, Byzantine emperor. He is succeeded by his son, Manuel II Palaeologus, who is at this time is a hostage at the court of the Ottoman emperor Beyazid I at Bursa. Manuel is able to escape and return to Constantinople.
1391 the Jews of Iberia are forced to convert
1394-1423 Benedict XIII
1394 Anti-Pope Benedict XIII
1395 King Sigismund of Hungary sends emissaries to various European powers to request help to defend his borders against the Ottoman Turks. Bajazet, Ottoman sultan, had boasted that he would drive through Hungary, into Italy, and turn St. Peter's Cathedral into a stable for his horses.
1395 Timur defeats Khan Tokhtamysh, destroys the Golden Horde capital of Sarai Berke, and briefly occupies Moscow
1396 April 30, Thousands of French knights and soldiers set out from the Burgundian capital Dijon to aid the Hungarians against the Ottoman Turks.
1396 Ottoman Turks conquer Bulgaria.
1396 September 12, A combined force of French and Hungarian soldiers arrive at Nicopolis, Ottoman Turk city in Europe, and begin to lay siege.
1396 September 25, Battle of Nicopolis A Crusader army of around 60,000 men and made up of from the Hungarian army of Sigismund of Luxembourg along with French, German, Polish, Italian, and English forces enter Ottoman Turkish territory and lay siege to Nicopolis in Bulgaria. The Ottoman sultan, Bajazet, gathers together a massive army of his own (made up mostly of soldiers who had been besieging Constantinople) and relieves the besieged city, defeating the Crusaders. The Turkish victory is due largely to French inexperience and pride although a French cavalry charge is successful at first, they are forced into a trap which leads to their own slaughter. Bulgaria becomes a vassal state and, like Serbia, would remain one until 1878.
1396 the English translation of the Bible, begun by John Wycliffe, is completed (the "Wycliffe" Bible) but is declared heretic by the Church (the "Vulgate" being the only authorized version)
1397-1494 Medici Bank
1397 Margaret, queen of Denmark, convenes a council at Kalmar. The only heir to the Danish throne, Margaret was married to the king of Norway, and it was agreed that their son, Olaf, should become king of both countries. This happened in 1380, but since Olaf was still a child, Margaret reigned as regent. In 1386, Margaret persuaded the Swedes to renounce their king in favor of her rule, and when Olaf died in 1387, Margaret herself became sole ruler of all three countries, and they agreed to accept whomever she proposed as her successor. At Kalmar, Margaret advances her choice as well as measures meant to formalize the union. As a result of the Kalmar Union, Copenhagen becomes the capital not only of Denmark but all of Scandinavia. Noblemen from throughout the region build houses there, and the city becomes a center of princely patronage while local styles and smaller commissions continue elsewhere.<RU>
1397 to 1402 First Turkish siege of Constantinople. The siege is finally lifted as an incidental effect of the Battle of Ankara - a terrible Ottoman defeat at the hands of Timur-Lenk (Tamburlane) and his army of Mongols and Tartars. Manuel II Palaiologos undertakes a tour of western Europe (as far afield as Britain) in the hope of stirring up support for what remains of his empire. Western Europe is becoming more aware of its Greek heritage and Manuel encounters much sympathy and expressions of goodwill - unfortunately these do not extend to much in the way of concrete assistance.
1398 Dehli is conquered by Timur the Lame (Tamerlame), king of Samarkand. Timur's Turkish army devastates the sultanate of Dehli, exterminates the local Hindu population, and then leaves.
1398 secure of Delhi by Timur the Lame (Tamerlane)
1398 Timur secures Delhi
1399 In England, the death penalty becomes the punishment for heresy, and many Lollards, Wyclif's lay followers, convert.
1400-1441 Paintings of Jan van Eyck
1400 Czech students of John Wyclif bring Wyclifism to the Bohemian capital of Prague. Preacher John Hus (1373-1415 CE) adopts Wyclif's theories to support his own claims against ecclesiastical extravagance. The Northern provinces of Italy devise their own systems of government. The government of Venice becomes a merchant oligarchy; Milan is ruled by dynastic despotism; and Florence becomes a republic, ruled by the rich. The three cities expand and conquer most of Northern Italy.
1400 The Northern provinces of Italy devise their own systems of government. The government of Venice becomes a merchant oligarchy; Milan is ruled by dynastic despotism; and Florence becomes a republic, ruled by the rich. The three cities expand and conquer most of Northern Italy.
1400 The tradition of the Icelandic scriptoria, which produced manuscripts prized throughout Scandinavia in the Middle Ages, has died out. Subject to Danish control, volcanic eruptions, a worsening climate, famine, and disease, Iceland enters an age of artistic decline from which it will not emerge until the nineteenth century.<RU>
1400 Timur defeats the Mamlukes in Syria
1401 Baghdad and Damascus are conquered by Timur.
1401 Timur secures Baghdad, killing thousands of Muslims and Christians
1402 July 20, Battle of Ankara The Ottoman sultan Bajazet, great-grandson of Osman I, is defeated and taken prisoner by Mongol warlord Timur at Ankara.
1402 Timur defeats the Ottoman sultan Bayezid I at the Battle of Ankara
1403-1406 Clavijo, Spanish ambassador from Castile, at the court of Timur
1403 With the death of Bajazet, his son Suleiman I becomes the Ottoman Sultan.
1404-1406 Pope Innocent VII
1404-6 Innocent VII
1405 Death of Timur-i Lang (Tamerlane, Timur the Lame), brutal ruler of Samarkand who had cut a wide swath of destruction across Persia and the Middle East. Timur founded the Timurid Dynasty and had become renowned for building pyramids out of the skulls of his slain enemies.
1405 Death of Timur en route to his planned invasion of China
1406-1417 Pope Gregory XII
1406-15 Gregory XII
1408-1415 Jon Hus preaches in Bohemia
1408 Council of Oxford forbids translations of the Scriptures into the vernacular unless and until they were fully approved by Church authority, sparked by Wycliffite Bible, Sir Thomas More said "It neither forbiddith the translations to be read that were already well done of old before Wycliffe's days, nor damneth his because it was new but because it was naught; nor prohibiteth new to be made but provideth that they shall not be read if they be made amiss till they be by good examination amended." ("A Dialogue against Heresies")
1409-10 Alexander V
1409 Anti-Pope Alexander V
1409A council of prelates from both sides of the Great Schism meet at Pisa and decide to rename a new pope in place of the two. However, both popes enjoy great political power and refuse the deposition, causing three rivals to the papacy instead of two.
1410-15 John XXIII
1410 Anti-Pope John XXIII
1410 July 25, Battle of Tannenberg Forces from Poland and Lithuania defeated the Teutonic Knights.
1410 Polish-Lithuanian forces defeat the German Teutonic Knights and extend rule eastward, almost into Russia. Eastern Orthodox Moscow begins a campaign of resistance to Roman Catholic Poland-Lithuania.
1410 the Teutonic Knights are defeated by Jagiello's Polish-Lithuanian army at the battle of Tannenberg
1412-1431 St. Joan of Arc, French national heroine
1413 Mahomet, son of Bajazet, becomes Ottoman sultan Mahomet I after defeating his three brothers in a civil war that had lasted over 10 years.
1414-1417 Council of Constance
1414A Lollard uprising in England fails. Some Lollards retreat underground and aid the Protestant Reformation in the sixteenth century.
1415 Council of Florence condemns all of Wycliffe's works, but the actual Bibles continued to be used after having the heretical prologue removed, and were possessed by both religious houses and those of the nobility and tacitly accepted by Catholics
1415 English defeat the French at the battle of Agincourt
1415 John Hus travels to the Council of Constance to propose his reforms for the Church. Upon his arrival at the Council, Hus is tried for heresy and burned. His death encourages futher revolt by his followers.
1415 July 06, Jan Hus was burned for heresy in Constance, Switzerland.
1415 the heretic Jan Hus is burned at the stake at Constance for opposing the sale of indulgences and claiming that the Church is a human invention
1415 The Portuguese capture the city of Ceuta on the north coast of Morocco, the first time that the Crusade against the Muslims was taken to the northwestern region of Africa.
1417-1431 Pope Martin V
1417-31 Martin V
1417 The Council of Constance, the largest Church meeting in medieval history, ends the Great Schism. The council gains secular support and elects Martin V as pope. It replaces papal monarchy with a conciliar government, which recognizes a council of prelates as the pope's authority, and mandates the frequent meeting of the council. This new period is known as the Italian territorial papacy, which lasts until 1517 CE.
1417 the Western Schism ends at the council of Constance with the election of Martin V
1418 Three painters of Ukrainian or Belorussian extraction complete a fresco cycle in the Chapel of the Holy Trinity in Lublin Castle, residence of Wladislaw II Jagiello of Poland-Lithuania (r. 1386-1434). The chapel has ribbed vaulting in the Gothic manner, but the artists decorate it, evidently at Wladislaw's request, with symbols of the Evangelists and an image of Christ Pantocrator, Byzantine iconography devised to adorn domed ceilings. Such hybrids of Eastern and Western artistic traditions are common in Wladislaw's vast dominion, which stretches from Prussia to Muscovy.<RU>
1419 The province of Burgundy breaks from France and allies with the English during the Hundred Years' War.
1420-1434 Hussite Revolt
1420 Hus' supporters defeat German "crusaders." The lower-class Hussites are led by general John Zizka.
1420 March 01, Pope Martin V called for crusade against followers of John Hus.
1420 Supporters of John Hus defeat German "crusaders." The lower-class Hussites are led by General John Zizka.
1421 Ottoman sultan Mahomet I dies and is succeeded by his son, Murad II.
1423-29 Clement VIII
1424 Benedict XIV
1425 Andrey Rublev (Rublyov; 1360/70-ca. 1430), a painter of many icons and fresco cycles, portrays the Old Testament Trinity in an icon (Tretiakov Gallery, Moscow). Rublev is a monk at the Andronikov Monastery, an early fifteenth-century foundation that remains the oldest stone building in Moscow. Few of Rublev's works are preserved today, but the Tretiakov example demonstrates the grace of his figural style and the subtlety of his religious insight. The panel depicts three haloed angels, the same who visited Abraham in Genesis, seated around a table with a chalice in the center. Like the Trinity itself, they are three variations on a single theme, each distinguished by placement, gesture, and the color of his garment but alike in body type, size, and facial features.<RU>
1425 July 21, Death of Manuel II Palaeologus, Byzantine emperor. Shortly before dying Manuel is forced by the Ottoman Turks to begin paying them a yearly tribute.
1426 Egyptian forces take control of Cyprus.
1427 Imitation of Christ
1427 Thomas á Kempis Writes "The Imitation of Christ". Thomas à Kempis (1379 or 1380-1471), writes The Imitation of Christ (ca. 1427). It is the most popular and printed Christian Book after the Bible. He was a German Monk, a member of the Brethren of the Common Life (also called The Brothers and Sisters of the Common Life). They took no vows, but lived a life of poverty, chastity, and obedience, as far as was compatible with their state. Some lived in their own homes. Others, especially clergy, lived in community. All were expected to earn their living by the labor of their hands. All earnings were held in common. The ambition of all was to emulate the life and virtues of the first Christians; their love for God and neighbor, simplicity, humility, and devotion.
1427 Thomas a Kempis writes The Imitation of Christ, a manual directing the individual through Orthodox mysticism. Originally in Latin, it is translated into European languages for the lay audience. Its major themes concern the path of Christian piety for those active in everyday life, communion with Christ, biblical meditation and a moral life. The only sacrament suggested to its reader is the Eucharist.
1428 The expansionist ambitions of Lithuania and Muscovy create constant friction between the two powers. Aiming for advantage against the Muscovites at the eastern fortress of Porkhov, the Lithuanian prince Vitovt engages German military engineers to build an invincible cannon and set it in position. Forty horses are required to pull the tremendous gun, and when it is fired, it destroys its target but also self-destructs and obliterates the corps that constructed it.<RU>
1429-1431 Appearance of Joan of Arc
1429 April 29, Joan of Arc led French forces to victory over the English army by raising the siege at Orleans.
1429 Joan of Arc, a peasant girl in France, seeks out the French leader and relates her divinely-inspired mission to drive the English out of France. She takes control of the French troops and liberates most of central France.
1430 Joan of Arc is captured and taken to England. The English accuse her of being a witch and condemn her for heresy. Joan is publicly burned in the city of Rouen.
1430 The Church of Saint Bridget, a Swedish saint canonized in 1391, is dedicated at Vadstena. The brick building was constructed at Bridget's monastery to her specifications, of simple design without sculptural ornament or stained glass. Increasing nationalism in Sweden causes the embrace of local saints, including Bridget and Erik, and artists devise new ways to represent them, in both narrative cycles and devotional imagery.<RU>
1431-1447 Pope Eugene IV
1431-1449 Council of Basel, defeat of conciliarism
1431-47 Eugene IV
1432 March 30, Birth of Mehmed II, the Ottoman sultan who would succeed in capturing Constantinople.
1434 Aristocratic Hussites end the revolt of Hus' supporters and their attempts of social and religious reform. Bohemia does not return to Catholic Orthodoxy until the Catholic Reformation of the seventeenth century.
1434 The Medici banking family dominates the government of Florence.
1437 Hungarians under the leadership of John Hunyadi drive the Turks from Semendria.
1438 Johann Gutenberg invents the printing press and pioneers the technology of movable type, creating the first Bible printed with movable type in Mainz, Germany.
1439-49 Felix V
1439 Anti-Pope Felix V
1439 Treaty between Roman Catholic Church and Eastern Orthodox Church.
1440 Nicolo Conti reports meeting Nestorians in "Cathay" (China)
1442 John Hunyadi leads a Hungarian army to relieve the Turkish siege of Hermansdat.
1442 July Hungarian national hero John Hunyadi defeats a large Turkish army, thus ensuring the liberation of Wallachia and Moldavia.
1442 Second Turkish siege of Constantinople. The second Turkish attack upon Constantinople, this time led by the Ottoman Sultan Murad II, is a shorter and much fiercer affair than its predecessor. Nevertheless, the Byzantines put up a determined resistance and the Turks eventually lift the siege - partially, also, as a result of clandestine Byzantine interference in Ottoman politics.
1443 Ladislaus III of Poland signs a ten-year peace treaty with the Ottoman empire. The truce would not last, however, because many Christian leaders see an opportunity to finally defeat a broken Turkish army. Had Ladislaus not made peace with the Turks at this time, Murad II might have been utterly defeated and Constantinople would not have fallen 10 years later.
1444 November 10, Battle of Varna An army of at least 100,000 Turks under sultan Murad II defeats Polish and Hungarian Crusaders numbering around 30,000 under Ladislaus III of Poland and John Hunyadi.
1444 The sultan of Egypt launches an invasion of Rhodes, but he is unable to take the island from the Knights Hospitallers (now known as the Knights of Rhodes).
1446 June 05, John Hunyadi is elected governor of Hungary in the name of Ladislaus V
1447-1455 Pope Nicholas V
1447-55 Nicholas V
1448 Constantine XI Palaeologus, the last Byzantine Emperor, takes the throne.
1448 October 07, Battle of Kosovo John Hunyadi leads Hungarian forces but is defeated by the more numerous Turks.
1450-1500 Rise of princes in Germany
1450 Printing with movable type
1451 February 03, Ottoman sultan Murad II dies and is succeeded by Mehmed II.
1452 April Ottoman sultan Mehmed II has a fortress built in Ottoman territory just north of Constantinople. Finished in six months, it threatens to cut off the city's communications with Black Sea ports and becomes the launching point of the siege of Constantinople a year later.
1453-1513 Reassertion of royal power in France
1453 April 02, Ottoman sultan Mehmed II arrives at Constantinople. Mahomet will be successful in his siege of the city largely because of the acquisition of over sixty artillery pieces, making the siege one of the first successful uses of gunpowder in this fashion. Use of this artillery is improved with the help of gunnery experts sent by Hungarian national hero John Hunyadi who is eager to end the heresy of Eastern Orthodox Christianity, even if it means helping the hated Turks.
1453 April 04, Seige of Constantinople begins. By this time the authority of the Byzantine Empire had shrunk to little more than the city of Constantinople itself. Sultan Mehmed II breaches the walls after only 50 days. The walls protecting Constantinople had stood for more than a thousand years; when they fall, the Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantium) also ended. After the Ottomans defeat the Byzantine Empire they continued expanding into the Balkans. The Ottoman Turkish Empire will move its capital from Bursa to Istanbul (Constantinople). After 1500, the Moguls (1526-1857 CE) and the Safavids (1520-1736 CE) follow the military example set by the Ottomans and created two new empires.
1453 April 11, Ottoman guns cause the collapse of a tower at the gate of St. Romanus during the siege of Constantinople. This breach in the walls would become a central focus of the fighting.
1453 Bordeaux falls to French forces and the Hundred Years' War ends without a treaty.
1453 Byzantium succeeded by the Ottoman Empire
1453 Constantinople falls to the Ottoman, that change its name to Istanbul
1453 Heavy artillery (cannons) helps Turks capture Constantinople and end Hundred Years War
1453 May 29, Ottoman Turks under the command of Mehmed II break into Constantinople and capture the city. With this, the last remnant of the Roman Empire is destroyed. Constantine XI Palaeologus, the last Byzantine emperor, dies. By this point there isn't much to the empire just the city of Constantinople and some land around it in the Greek province of Thrace. Both the culture and the language had long since become Greek rather than Roman. The Ottomans, however, consider themselves to be the legitimate successors of the Byzantine emperors and commonly use the title Sultan-i Rum, Sultan of Rome.
1453 Ottoman Turks take Constantinople and end Byzantine civilization. The French king Charles VII captures Bordeaux in the southwest and ends the Hundred Years' War, during the reign of English King Henry VI and after the withdrawal of Burgandy from English alliance. The French monarchy reestablishes rule and returns to collecting national taxes and maintaining a standing army in times of peace. The monarchy becomes even stronger during the reigns of Louis XI (1461-1483) and Louis XII (1498-1515).
1453 The fall of Constantinople. The young Ottoman Sultan, Mehmet II, decides upon the final elimination of the Byzantine "Empire" - which is now effectively reduced to Constantinople itself and the Despotate (Province) of Morea in the Peloponnese. Constantine XI Dragases Palaiologos is the last Byzantine Emperor, strictly speaking the last Roman Emperor, in an unbroken political tradition stretching back to Augustus, almost 1,500 years earlier. Constantine had been proclaimed Emperor at Mistra (capital of the Despotate of Morea) in 1449 and had precious little time to prepare for the Turkish assault. For the defence of Constantinople he has a small army of just over 8,000 men - 3,000 of them foreigners, including, ironically enough, contingents from Genoa and Venice, the two great Italian maritime cities who had done a considerable amount of damage to the Empire over the previous three centuries. The defenders, outnumbered at least 10 to 1 by Mehmet's army, put up an extraordinarily brave and effective defence - differences between Latin and Greek are forgotten in the last few desperate days of the Empire. Finally, in the early hours of Tuesday, 29 May 1453, the Turks launch wave after wave of attackers against Constantinople's land walls. Turkish soldiers force their way in through a small gate and organised Byzantine resistance finally collapses. Constantine and most of his Byzantine soldiers die fighting along and around the walls. The aftermath of the City's fall is rivalled only by that of the Fourth Crusade. Mehmet, who is later to make Constantinople the capital of his own great empire, is a dynamic and ruthless 21-year-old. After touring the City's ruined Great Palace, he is moved to speak a few lines by a Persian poet: "The spider weaves the curtains in the palace of the Caesars; The owl calls the watches in the towers of Afrasiab ...".
1453 The Hundred Years War against France ends
1453 The Ottoman Turks capture Constantinople, thus bringing to an end the Byzantine Empire
1454-1485 Peace among Northern Italian states
1454 Italy is divided into five major regions Venice, Milan, Florence, the Papal States and the southern kingdom of Naples.
1455-1458 Pope Callistus III
1455-1485 War of the Roses in England
1455-58 Calixtus III
1455 Civil War The War of the Roses starts
1455 Henry VI of England (1422-1461) wages the Wars of the Roses. The two sides of the war are the red rose (Henry's family at Lancaster) and the white rose (the house of York). Yorkist Richard III gains the kingship for a short time.
1455 May 15, Pope Callistus III proclaims a crusade against the Turks in order to recapture the city of Constantinople. Despite pleas for help, few European leaders had sent any assistance to Constantinople when the siege began and even the papacy sent a mere 200 knights. Thus, this new call for a Crusade was too little, too late.
1456 Athens is captured by the Turks.
1456 August 11, Death of John Hunyadi, Hungarian national hero whose efforts against the Ottoman Turks had done much to prevent Turkish rule from being extended into Europe.
1456 July 21, Ottoman Turks attack Belgrade but are beaten back by Hungarians and Serbs under the command of John Hunyadi. Christians capture several hundred canon and massive amounts of military equipment, sending the Turks into full retreat.
1457 Moravian Brethren Church Officially Founded. Moravian Brethren (Bohemian Brethren, Unitas Fratrum) founded in 1457, and still active today (the movement was renewed by Count Zinzendorf in 1727, becoming a force for World Missions). Influenced by the writings of John Wycliffe (some of his students had been from Bohemia), they stressed the love of Christ and the need for a personal relationship through regeneration (being born-again), justification by faith alone being the means. They stressed grace, and prayer, seeing Baptism and the Lord's Supper as the only two sacraments. They had a great influence throughout the world on many other Christian groups which were inspired to deeper prayer lives and missionary outreach.
1458-1464 Pope Pius II
1458-64 Pius II
1458 August 18, Pius II is elected pope. Pius is an enthusiastic supporter of Crusades against the Turks.
1458 Turkish soldiers secure the Acropolis in Athens, Greece.
1462-1505 Ivan III lays foundation for Russian Empire
1462 Ivan III of Moscow annexes all Russian principalities between Moscow and Poland-Lithuania over a period of twenty-three years.
1462 Vlad IV of Walachia is defeated by Ottoman Sultan Muhammad II
1463 Bosnia is conquered by the Turks.
1464-1471 Pope Paul II
1464-71 Paul II
1464 August 15, Pope Pius II dies. Pius had been an enthusiastic supporter of Crusades against the Turks
1464 June 18, Pope Pius II launches a short crusade against the Turks in Italy, but he falls ill and dies before much can happen. This would mark the death of the "crusading mentality" which had been so important in Europe over the previous three centuries.
1465 Birth of Selim I, Ottoman sultan. Selim would become the first Ottoman caliph and would double the size of the Ottoman empire, mostly in Asia and Africa.
1466-1536 Desiderius Erasmus, Dutch scholar, Greek NT used in many 16th century translations
1466 Kazimierz IV's Polish army defeats the Teutonic Knights and annexes western Prussia to Poland
1467 Herzegovina is conquered by the Turks.
1467 Last khan of the line of Chingiz Khan dies in Mongolia, leaving the area in a state of anarchy
1469 Marriage of Ferdinand and Isabella
1469 November 19, Guru Nanak Dev Ji was born. On this date Sikhs commemorate the birth of the founder of the Sikh faith and the first of the Ten Gurus.
1469Ferdinand of Aragon marries Isabella of Castile, and the two Spanish kingdoms end their conflicts but remain separate powers.
1471-1484 Pope Sixtus IV
1471-84 Sixtus IV
1472 Sophia Palaeologus, niece of Constantine XI Palaeologus, the last Byzantine Emperor, marries Ivan II of Moscow.
1473-1481 Sistine Chapel built, under supervision of Giovanni de Dolci
1473 February 19, Nicolaus Copernicus was born.
1475 Aristotele Fioravanti comes from Italy to Moscow at the invitation of Ivan III (the Great, r. 1462-1505), who wishes to see the Kremlin, or city fortress, adorned in a manner worthy of a burgeoning capital. Fioravanti has expertise in designing weapons as well as buildings, and under his direction the Kremlin receives a new system of brick fortifications and a new church, the Cathedral of the Dormition, whose blocky proportions, simple facade, and five gilded domes conform to Russian traditions. Other Italian architects in Ivan's service are Marco Ruffo and Pietro Solario, who design a grand princely residence now known as the Palace of Facets, and Alevisio Novi, whose Cathedral of Saint Michael the Archangel combines the square-in-cross plan and multiple domes typical of Russian churches with the arches, pilasters, and classical massing of Italian Renaissance work. The monumental buildings of the Kremlin form the setting for Ivan's court, where he gathers the many other princes whose lands he has appropriated by diplomacy and force. These aristocrats compete for Ivan's favor while they strive to outdo each other by building fashionable city residences and furnishing them in resplendent style.<RU>
1477 Charles the Bold of Burgundy is captured by the Swiss, and Louis XI recaptures the lost territory.
1477 Erik Axelsson Tott builds a castle at Olofsborg (Olavinlinna) near the border between Finland, then in Swedish hands, and Russian territory. The castle has three fortified towers incorporated into its massive walls and a discrete block inside with separate apartments for soldiers and the family. Olofsborg Castle is representative of the many fortresses constructed throughout the Baltic in the late fifteenth century, when military tensions escalate and war-ready noblemen are eager to strengthen their defenses against firearms, the new weaponry of the age.<RU>
1477 The first book is printed in England.
1478 Inquisition established by Pope Sixtus IV
1480 April A Turkish attack against the Hospitallers.htm">Hospitallers in Rhodes is unsuccessful not because the Hospitallers are superior fighters but because the Janissaries go on strike. Mehmed II orders that they not loot any cities they capture so that he could have all the booty for himself. The Janissaries balk at this and simply refuse to fight.
1480 August Mehmed II Conqueror sends a fleet commanded by Gedik Ahmed Pasha westward. It captures the Italian port city of Otranto. Further incursions into Italy ends with the death of Mehmed and fighting among his sons over the leadership of the Ottoman Empire. Had the Turks pressed forward, it is likely that they would have conquered most of Italy with little trouble, a feat accomplished by the French a few years later in 1494 and 1495. Had this occurred at this time, just as the Renaissance was getting off the ground, the history of the world would have been dramatically different.
1480 Spanish Inquisition
1480 The Pecherskaya Monastery in Kiev, devastated by the Mongols in 1240, begins its resurgence. One of the most important centers of pilgrimage in the Ukraine, the monastery is the site of over 100 saints' tombs and also home to a school of icon painting in the Byzantine tradition. Because icons are supposed to depict Christ, the Virgin, and the saints as truthfully as possible, icon-painters take pains to choose authoritative models, especially works that might be associated with the Byzantine capital of Constantinople. After Constantinople falls to Ottoman armies in 1453 and ceases to be a center for icon production, Ukrainian artists continue to refer to icons painted before then, but they also seek and find inspiration in Central European devotional prints.<RU>
1481 May 03, Death of Mehmed II, the Ottoman sultan who had succeed in capturing Constantinople.
1481 September 10, The Italian port city of Otranto is recaptured from the Turks.
1482Ivan III of Moscow (1462-1505 CE) renounces the Mongol Khanate rule over Russia. The Mongols do not resist in the light of the rise of the Moscow state.
1483-1546 Martin Luther, leader of Protestant reformation, preached that only faith leads to salvation without mediation of clergy or good works, attacked authority of the Pope, rejected priestly celibacy, recommended individual study of the Bible (see 1517, 1522)
1483 The Inca Empire is established in Peru.
1484-1492 Pope Innocent VIII
1484-92 Innocent VIII
1484 pope Innocent VIII orders the persecution of witches
1485-1603 Strong Tudor dynasty in England
1485 The War of the Roses ends at the Battle of Bosworth. Henry Vll crowned king.
1485With the end of the Wars of the Roses in England, the Tudor dynasty replaces Richard III. Henry VII, the first Tudor king, rules for twenty-four years and revives the English throne. He reestablishes royal power over the aristocracy, ends funding of foreign wars and reforms finances. Parliament also becomes a stable part of the governmental system.
1486 Pico della Mirandola, a student of the Kabbalah, tries to reconcile all religions and philosophies
1487 Spanish forces capture Malaga from the Moors.
1488-1569 Miles Coverdale, Augustinian friar who left the Order, repudiated Catholicism, 1st Protestant Bishop of Exeter
1489 Sten Sture, regent of Sweden, and his wife dedicate a magnificent wooden sculptural group in the Storkyrkan (Church of Saint Nicholas) in Stockholm. The image depicts Saint George as a knight in full armor mounted on a richly caparisoned horse and raising a sword above his head in readiness to kill the dragon that writhes beneath his horse's hooves, while a princess kneels nearby, already thanking God for George's certain triumph. The work is dedicated in thanks to God and to Saint George for his victory over a Danish army in 1471. The sculptor may have been Bernt Notke, a native of Lübeck, Germany, who executed many Scandinavian commissions, including a wooden altarpiece for the Cathedral of Århus, Denmark, dedicated in 1479.<RU>
1490 St. Thomas Christians from India travel to the Nestorian patriarch in Gagarta, near Mosul, to bring back bishops for India
1491-1556 Ignatius of Loyola, founded the Jesuit order (see 1534)
1492-1503 Alexander VI
1492-1503 Pope Alexander VI
1492 Bajazet II, Sultan of Turkey, invades Hungary and defeats the Hungarian army at the Save River.
1492 Christopher Columbus's first voyage, discovers San Salvador begins Spanish colonization of the New World
1492 Christopher Columbus discovers the Americas in the name of Spain, launching an era of extensive European exploration and conquest.
1492 Christopher Columbus makes the first of four voyages to the New World, funded by the Spanish Crown, seeking a western sea route to Asia. On October 12, sailing the Santa Maria, he lands in the Bahamas, thinking it is an outlying Japanese island.<AM>
1492 Granada is reconquered by the Christians
1492 January 02, Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile, later benefactors of Christopher Columbus, end Muslim rule in Spain by conquering Granada, last Muslim stronghold. Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile, later benefactors of Christopher Columbus, end Muslim rule in Spain. With the help of Torquemada, Grand Inquisitor, they also force the conversion or expulsion of all Jews in Spain.
1492 Jews and Muslims are expelled from Spain
1492 pope Alexander VI and his son Cesare Borgia become famous for their cruelty
1492 Spanish Christians conquer last Muslim area; all Jews ordered to convert or leave (many local forced conversions had occurred before this); many fleeing Jews murdered en route; Portugal enslaved many Jewish refugees
1492Ferdinand and Isabella annex Granada, expel all Jews from Spain and seek overseas expansion (for example, as patrons of Christopher Columbus). The flow of American gold and silver through Spain, the conquest of Mexico and Peru and superiority on the battlefield make Spain the most powerful state in Europe.
1493-1582 Expansion of Songhay
1493 Dalmatia and Croatia are invaded by the Turks.
1494 November 06, Birth of Sulieman (Süleyman) "the Magnificent," sultan of the Ottoman Empire. During Sulieman's reign the Ottoman Empire would reach the height of its power and influence.
1497 John Cabot of England explores the Atlantic coast of Canada, claiming the area for the English King, Henry VII. Cabot is the first of many European explorers to seek a Northwest Passage (northern water route) to Asia.<AM>
1497 John Cabot sails from Bristol aboard the 'Matthew' and discovers North America
1497 King Manuel of Portugal orders Jews to convert or leave; all children under 14 were to be seized, baptized, reared as Christians; 20,000 Jews who gather in Lisbon to flee are forcibly baptized (Inquisition established in 1536; abolished 1821)
1497 the Dominican monk Girolamo Savonarola is excommunicated and hanged and burnt as an heretic
1498 The Portuguese arrive in India and begin to force many Nestorians to convert to Catholicism
1499-1736 Safavid Dynasty in Persia
1499 Francisco Jime'nez forces the mass conversion of Moors in Spain despite the earlier agreement of Ferdinand and Isabella that Muslims would be allowed to keep their religion and their mosques.
1499 Italian navigator, Amerigo Vespucci, sights the coast of South America during a voyage of discovery for Spain.<AM>
1499 Venice goes to war with the Turks and the Venetian fleet is defeated at Sapienza.
1500 Moors in Granada revolt over the forced conversions but are suppressed by Ferdinand of Aragon.
1500 European Jews divide into "Sephardim" (Spanish and Portuguese Jews) and "Askenazim" (German and Polish Jews)
1500 Founding of Sikh religious sect
1500 Sarmatism, a fashionable attitude among the gentry of the Polish kingdom, is first articulated. The nobility of Poland and Lithuania, spread throughout a vast territory, are a heterogeneous class possessing different roots, languages, fortunes, and degrees of education. According to Sarmatism, they all descend from the Sarmatians, an ancient nomadic people known for their talents as warriors and horsemen. Although without basis in fact, the idea forges national feeling and unity among the nobility, who commission spectacles and works of art to celebrate their alleged Sarmatian pedigree.<RU>
1503-13 Julius II
1503-1513 Pope Julius II
1503 Giuliano Della Rovere is elected pope Julius II
1503 Patriarch Mar Eliyah consecrates Metropolitans for India, Java and China
1503 Pius III
1503 Pope Pius III
1505-1572 John Knox, Protestant reformer in Scotland (see 1560)
1505 Under the patronage of Ivan III, grand prince of Muscovy, the first story of a massive stone bell tower is constructed in the center of the Kremlin. Augmented throughout the sixteenth century, the Bell Tower of Ivan the Great long remains the tallest building in Moscow and a symbol of Russian strength.<RU>
1505Ivan the Great of Moscow extends the Russian border into the Byelorussian and the Ukrainian territories, before his death. Muscovian Russia is recognized as a major Eastern-oriented power in Europe.
1506 Pope Julius II decides to rebuild the Basilica of St Peter
1506 Pope Julius II orders the Old St Peter's Basilica torn down and authorizes Donato Bramante to plan a new structure, demolition completed in 1606
1507 The name "America" is first used in a geography book referring to the New World with Amerigo Vespucci getting credit for the discovery of the continent.<AM>
1508-1512 Michelangelo frescoes the Sistine Chapel's vaulted ceiling
1509-1547 Henry VIII ruler of England
1509-1564 John Calvin, preached predetermination, good conduct and success were signs of election
1509 1547 Henry Vlll succeeds to the throne
1509 Claus Berg establishes a workshop at Odense, Denmark. Born in the thriving northern German city of Lübeck, he travels to southern Germany to learn the arts of painting and sculpture. From his studio in Odense, he produces sculpture in stone and wood, as well as paintings that show the influence of prints by such German artists as Martin Schongauer, Albrecht Dürer, and Lucas Cranach the Elder. Among Berg's most important commissions is the altarpiece for Odense Cathedral completed in 1521, which includes painted panels and an elaborately sculpted frame adorned with portraits of the Danish royal family.<RU>
1509 Henry VIII succeeds his father, Henry VII, for the English crown.
1509 the Dutch humanist Desiderius Erasmus publishes "The Praise of Folie", which advocates a return to the moral values of early Christianity
1512 May 26, Ottoman sultan Beyazid II dies and is succeeded by his son, Selim I. Selim would become the first Ottoman caliph and would double the size of the Ottoman empire, mostly in Asia and Africa.
1513-1522 Pope Leo X
1513-21 Leo X
1513 English defeat the Scots at the Battle of Flodden
1513 Giovanni de' Medici is elected pope Leo X
1513 Ponce de León of Spain lands in Florida.<AM>
1514 A pupil of Hans Memling in Bruges and court painter to Queen Isabella the Catholic of Spain, the Estonian painter Michel Sittow paints a portrait of the Danish king Christian II, one of the first royal portraits executed in Scandinavia. Like many other artists engaged in Scandinavia, Sittow seems not to have maintained a permanent shop but rather moves from one center of patronage to the next. The king does not employ a court artist and does not seem to think it beneath his dignity to sit for an itinerant foreign painter.<RU>
1514 Leo X appoints Raphael chief architect of Saint Peter's Basilica
1516 a Greek translation of the New Testament done by Erasmus (Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus) is printed
1516 a Jewish ghetto is instituted in Venezia
1516 The Ottoman Turks overthrow the Mamluk Dynasty of Egypt and capture most of the country. The Mamluks do, however, remain in power under the command of the Ottomans. It is not until 1811 that Muhammad Ali, an Albanian soldier, undermines the power of the Mamluks completely.
1517-1994 Modern Era of Christianity Luther, Calvin lay the seeds of modern Protestantism, England breaks away from the Catholic Church
1517 95 Theses (Martin Luther)
1517 Martin Luther launches the Protestant Reformation in Europe, bringing an end to the sole authority of the Catholic Church, resulting in the growth of numerous Protestant religious sects.<AM>
1517 Martin Luther starts the Reformation; a century or more of warfare rages across Europe as modern national states come into being; northern Europe breaks away from Rome.
1517 May The Holy League is created. A union of several European powers, it is a Christian fighting force designed to combat the growing threat of Turkish expansion.
1517 Oct. 31 Martin Luther posts 95 theses on church in Wittenberg, Germany
1517 the Ottoman empire conquers Jerusalem
1517 the Protestant Reformation begins at Wittenberg when Martin Luther publishes his "95 Theses" against the Catholic practice of selling indulgences
1518-1532 St Terese of Avila
1518 Khayar al-Din, better known as Barbarossa, assumes command of the Muslim corsair fleet of the Barbary pirates. Barbarossa would become the most feared and most successful of all the Barbary pirate leaders.
1519-1522 Ferdinand Magellan is the first person to sail around the world.<AM>
1519 Hernando Cortés conquers the Aztec empire.<AM>
1519 Swiss Protestant Ulrich Zwingli stirs revolt in Switzerland
1520 Luther excommunicated
1520 September 22, Death of Selim I, Ottoman sultan. Selim became the first Ottoman caliph and doubled the size of the Ottoman empire, mostly in Asia and Africa.
1521 August 01, Suleiman the Magnificent sends his Janissaries to assault Belgrade. Defenders manage to hold out in the citadel until the end of the month, but they were finally forced to surrender and all the Hungarians were killed despite a promise that none would be harmed.
1521 February Suleiman the Magnificent leads a massive army out of Instanbul for the purpose of conquering Hungary from king Louis II.
1521 July Ottoman Turks under Suleiman the Magnificent capture the Hungarian town of Sabac, killing the entire garrison.
1522-1523 Pope Adrian VI
1522-23 Adrian VI
1522 a Dutch is elected Adrian VI
1522 Luther's German NT translation
1523-1534 Pope Clement VII
1523-34 Clement VII
1523 December 21, Hospitallers on Rhodes formally surrender to Suleiman the Magnificent and they are able to secure the right to evacuate to Malta, despite having killed tens of thousands of Turkish troops.
1523 Giulio de' Medici is elected pope Clement VII
1523 Gustav I Vasa (r. 1523-60), who led Sweden to independence from the Kalmar Union, is crowned king. Gustav preserves the kingdom from periodic revolts within and the constant threat of Danish attack. Political differences with the pope cause him to embrace Lutheran Protestantism in 1527. Pressed to find trustworthy ambassadors and ministers within Sweden, he does much administrative work for himself. In 1542, he sits for the German painter Jacob Binck, whose portrait depicts the monarch in dark courtly dress with plumed hat, holding his gloves and wearing a serene, wise expression. The turbulence of Gustav's reign prevents him from becoming a major patron of the arts, but by the late sixteenth century, his sons will style themselves Renaissance princes and commission elegant residences decorated by masters from Italy and Flanders.<RU>
1523 September 04, Suleiman the Magnificent leads the Ottoman Turks in an assault on the Hospitallers.htm">Hospitallers in Rhodes who are able to hold out until the end of the year, despite numbering just 500 knights, about 100 fighting chaplains, a thousand mercenaries, and a thousand islanders. The Turkish force, in comparison, numbers some 20,000 troops and 40,000 sailors.
1524 Giovanni da Verrazano, sponsored by France, lands in the area around the Carolinas, then sails north and discovers the Hudson River, and continues northward into Narragansett Bay and Nova Scotia.<AM>
1524 May 28, Birth of Selim II, sultan of the Ottoman Empire and favorite son of his father, Suleiman I. Selim had little interest in warfare and would end up spending much of his time with his harem.
1524 South German peasant uprising, repressed with Luther's support, begins 1.5 century long religious wars
1525-1534 Tyndale's translation of the NT from Greek text of Erasmus (1466) compared against the Vulgate and the Pentateuch from the Hebrew (1525) compared to Vulgate and Luther's German version (1530), first printed edition, used as a vehicle by Tyndale for bitter attacks on the Church, reflects influence of Luther's NT of 1522 in rejecting "priest" for "elder", "church" for "congregation"
1525 Albert, grand master of the Teutonic Knights, becomes a Protestant and converts his Catholic realm into a secular state. As Duke Albert of Prussia, he continues to control the lucrative trade in amber through his capital at Königsberg (Kaliningrad) on the Baltic coast, encourages the manufacture and export of amber game-pieces and tableware, and engages artists to adorn the city as a Protestant capital.<RU>
1525 January 01, Hospitallers set sail from Rhodes to Malta. the capital of Malta, Valletta, is named after one of the knights at this time, Jean Parisot de al Valette from Provencal. Valette would later become head of the Order.
1525 the grand master of the Teutonic Knights is appointed duke of Prussia
1526 August 29, Battle of Mohacs Suleiman the Magnificent defeats Louis II of Hungary after just two hours of fighting, leading to the Ottoman annexation of much of Hungary.
1526 Martin Luther prints his German translation of the Bible
1528 the Capuchin Order of friars is founded in Italy by Franciscan friar Matteo Da Bascio
1529-1532 Chancellor Thomas More persecutes English Protestants
1529 May 10, Suleiman the Magnificent sets off with 250,000 soldiers and hundreds of canon to lay siege to Vienna, capital of Charles V's Holy Roman Empire.
1529 October 16, Suleiman the Magnificent gives up on the siege of Vienna.
1529 September 23, The vanguard of the Turkish army arrives outside the gates of Vienna, defended by just 16,000 men.
1529 Turkish calvary arrive at the Bavarian town of Regensburg. This is the farthest West that Turkish forces ever reach.
1530 Augsburg Confession, Martin Luther founds the Lutheran Church
1530 defeated at Rhodes by the Turks, the Hospitallers move to Malta under the king of Spain
1530 Hospitallers move their base of operations to the island of Malta.
1531 Earthquake in Lisbon, Portugal kills 30,000
1531 Reported apparition of Mary at Guadalupe, Mexico, considered "worthy of belief" by the Catholic Church
1534-1550 Pope Paul III
1534-49 Paul III
1534 Henry VIII breaks England away from the Catholic church, confiscates monastic property, beginning of Episcopal Church
1534 Henry VIII declares himself supreme head of the Church of England
1534 Henry VIII forms the 'Church of England'. Henry is confirmed as 'Supreme Head of the Church of England 'following a parliamentary Act of Supremacy
1534 Jesuit order founded by Lyola (1491-1556), helped reconvert large areas of Poland, Hungary, and S. Germany and sent missionaries to the New World, India, and China
1534 King Henry VIII creates the Church of England; he is its "pope"
1534 Michelangelo paints the Sistine Chapel of the Vatican Palace in Rome
1535-1537 Coverdale's Bible (see 1488), used Tyndale's (1525) translation along with Latin and German versions, included Apocrypha at the end of the OT (like Luther) as was done in later English versions, 1537 edition received royal license, but banned in 1546
1535 Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, lands in Tunisia and secures Tunis.
1535 Thomas More beheaded for supporting supremacy of pope over English church
1536-1541 Michelangelo paints the Last Judgement
1536 39 Destruction or closure of 560 monasteries and religious houses
1536 Act of Union joins England and Wales
1536 John Calvin publishes "Institutes of the Christian Religion" in response to persecutions of Protestants in France ("Huguenots")
1536 Tyndale put to death, left his OT translation in manuscript, English ecclesiaastical authorities ordered his Bible burned because it was thought to be part of Lutheran reform
1536 William Tyndale executed for his Bible translation (basis of King James Version)
1536 William Tyndale is burned at the stake for translating the Bible into English
1537-1551 Matthew Bible, by John Rogers (1500-1555), based on Tyndale and Coverdale received royal license but not authorized for use in public worship, numerous editions, 1551 edition contained offensive notes (based on Tyndale)
1537 Imperial troops under Charles V secure Rome.
1537 Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent has construction of the walls surrounding the Old City of Jerusalem begun.
1539-1552 Richard Taverner's (1505-1577) revisions of Matthew Bible, mostly NT revisions since he didn't know Hebrew, 1st edition most reliable
1539-1569 Great Bible, by Thomas Cromwell, 1st English Bible to be authorized for public use in English churches, defective in many places, based on last Tyndale's NT of 1534-1535, corrected by a Latin version of the Hebrew OT, Latin Bible of Erasmus, and Complutensian Polyglot, last edition 1569, never denounced by England
1540 Ignatius of Loyola founds the Society of Jesus (Jesuits), which believes in free will and in salvation through good deeds (not just faith)
1541 Calvin establishes theocracy in Geneva, Switzerland
1541 Construction of the walls surrounding the Old City of Jerusalem is completed.
1541 Hernando de Soto of Spain discovers the Mississippi River.<AM>
1542 Conocation makes an unsuccessful attempt to correct the Great Bible against the Vulgate
1542 Mary, Queen of Scots lays claim to the English throne
1542 St. Francis Xavier arrives in India
1543 Parliament bans Tyndale's translation as a "crafty, false and untrue transalation", although 80% of the words were in the RV
1545-1563 Council of Trent, Catholic Reformation, or counter-reformation, met Protestant challenge, clearly defining an official theology
1546 July 04, Birth of Murad III, sultan of the Ottoman Empire and eldest son of Selim II. Like his father Murad would not care much for political matters, preferring instead to spend time with his harem. He fathers 103 children.
1546 King Henry VIII forbids anyone to have a copy of Tyndale's or Coverdale's NT
1546 Master George Wishart burned for heresy in Scotland, inspires John Knox
1547-1553 Edward VI ruler of England
1547 Calvinistic Knox, founder of Presbyterianism, delivers fiery, anti-Catholic sermon at Easter 1547; arrested; made galley slave; freed in 1549, returns to Scotland
1547 Ivan IV (the Terrible, r. 1533-84), who ascended to the throne at the age of three, is crowned at seventeen in a magnificent ceremony. Unlike his predecessors the grand princes, Ivan is named czar, or emperor, a title that expresses Muscovite ambitions to equal the great fallen empires of Rome and Byzantium. In the same year, a devastating fire ravages Moscow, and a suspicious mob threatens violence against the royal family. Ivan emerges from the turmoil shaken but determined and, once he consolidates his power, embarks on a series of military campaigns against the Mongol khanates along the Volga River and the disparate polities of Livonia in modern-day Latvia.<RU>
1547 the Pope convenes the first Council of Trento in response to the Protestant Reformation ("counter-reformation")
1549-1551 Introduction of Christianity to Japan
1549 Book of Common Prayer (Episcopal Church)
1549 the Catholic missionary Frances Xavier reaches Japan
1550-1555 Pope Julius III
1550-55 Julius III
1550 Gustav I Vasa, eager to see Sweden profit from the rich commerce between Russia and the Hanseatic League, founds Helsinki on the eastern shores of his kingdom, and Russian products increasingly flow to western markets through the new port. The settlement has the modest wooden architecture of a trading post and gains the grander structures proper to a city only after it comes under Russian control in 1721.<RU>
1550 St. Thomas More, Cranmer, and Foxe affirm the existence of English versions of portions of the Bible, including the Gospels (11th century), Mark, Luke, Epistles of Paul (14th century), Apocalypse (11th century)
1551 An assembly of Russian clergymen convene in the council known as the Stoglav (Council of One Hundred Chapters). They discuss ways to purify the Russian church of lingering pagan customs, and devise new instructions for icon painters, urging them to imbue their works with allegory and symbolism and to emulate the style of Andrey Rublev.<RU>
1552 Formation of Chaldean Patriarchate (Uniate body in communion with Rome)
1552 Russians capture the Tartar city of Kazan.
1553-1558 "Bloody Mary" Tudor, Philip II of Spain reign as Catholics in England
1553-1558 Mary I ruler of England, publications of English Scriptures cease (except for Geneva NT of 1557), many clerics leave England
1553 Pontifical Gregorian University founded at Vatican City
1555-1559 Pope Paul IV
1555-1560 To express thanks for his victories over the khanate of Kazan on the Volga River, Ivan IV, czar of the Russian empire, erects a church in Moscow. The initial concept is to build a cluster of chapels, one dedicated to each of the saints on whose feast days the czar had won a battle, but the construction of a single central tower unifies these modular spaces into a single church, the Cathedral of Saint Basil the Blessed.<RU>
1555-59 Paul IV
1555 Marcellus II
1555 Peace of Augsburg halts violence in Germany, gives Protestants some rights
1555 Pope Marcellus II
1556 Beza's Latin NT
1556 Russians capture the Tartar city of Astrakhan, far south along the Volga river, giving them access to the Caspian Sea.
1558-1603 Elizabeth I reigns, restores Protestantism
1558-1603 Elizabeth I ruler of England
1558 Elizabeth I begins her 45 year reign
1559-1566 Pope Pius IV
1559-65 Pius IV
1560 Geneva Bible, NT a revision of Matthew's version of Tyndale with use of Beza's NT (1556), OT a thorough revision of Great Bible, appointed to be read in Scotland (but not England), at least 140 editions
1560 King Frederick II of Denmark and Norway initiates work on Frederiksborg Castle in Hillerød. Its pointed spires show Gothic inspiration, and the classical ornament of its gables reflect the influence of the architectural pattern books that are in circulation. Among the favorites are those that showcase the designs of the Italian architects Andrea Palladio and Sebastiano Serlio.<RU>
1560 Scotch Presbyterian Church founded by John Knox (1505-1572), due to disagreement with Lutherans over sacraments and church government
1562-1598 Eight Catholic/Protestant (Huguenot) wars in France
1563 39 Articles (Episcopal Church)
1564 Michelangelo builds the dome of St. Peter's Church in Rome
1565 June 23, The Maltese fort of St. Elmo falls to Turkish forces, but not until the defenders are able to inflict casualties that number in the thousands.
1565 May 19, Suleiman the Magnificent attacks the Hospitallers on Malta but is unsuccessful. Numbering just 700, the knights were aided by several European nations who saw Malta as the gateway to Europe. Tens of thousands of Turks landed at the bay of Marsasirocco.
1565 May 24, Ottoman Turks assault the fort of St. Elmo on Malta.
1565 September 06, Reinforcement from Sicily finally arrive at Malta, demoralizing the Turkish troops and inciting them to abandon the siege of the remaining Christian forts.
1565 The first permanent European colony in North America is founded at St. Augustine (Florida) by the Spanish.<AM>
1566-1572 Pope Pius V
1566-72 Pius V
1566 May 26, Birth of Mehmed III, future sultan of the Ottoman Empire.
1566 September 05, Death of Sulieman (Süleyman) "the Magnificent," sultan of the Ottoman Empire. During Sulieman's reign the Ottoman Empire reached the height of its power and influence.
1566 September 06, Battle of Szigetvar Despite having killed Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent the night before in a surprise raid, the Hungarians lose to Turkish forces.
1566 Sultan Selim II gives the Janissaries permission to marry.
1567 Joseph Karo/Caro publishes the "Shulhan Aruk", the code of Jewish law
1568 December 25, A Morisco (Muslim convert to Christianity in Spain) uprising began when two hundred men wearing Turkish turbans entered the Moorish quarter of Madrid, killed a few guards, and looted some shops.
1569 October Philip II of Austria orders his half-brother, Don Juan of Austria, to quell a Morisco (Muslim converts to Christianity) uprising in Alpujarras with a "war of fire and blood."
1570 January Don Juan of Austria attacks the town of Galera. He had been instructed to kill every person inside, but he refused and let several hundred women and children go.
1570 July On orders from Selim II, Ottoman sultan, Turkish forces commanded by Kara Mustafa land on Cyprus with the intent of reconquering it. Most of the island falls relatively quickly and thousands are expelled. Only Famagusta, ruled by governor Macantonia Bragadion from Venice, holds out for about a year.
1570 May Hernando al-Habaqui, commander of the garrison of Tijola, surrenders to Don Juan of Austria.
1570 November A royal council in Spain decides to deal with the Moriscos by deporting them out of Grenada and scattering them all around Spain.
1570 September Luis de Requesens, vice-admiral for king Philip II of Austria, leads a campaign into Alpujarras that ends the Morisco uprising by devastating the entire countryside.
1570 Sir Francis Drake sets sail for his first voyage to the West Indies
1570, 1571 Inquisition established in Peru, Mexico
1571- Battle of Lepanto a Christian naval fleet organized by the Papacy defeated an invasion fleet of Islamic vessels off the western coast of Greece.
1571 August 01, The Venetians under governor Macantonia Bragadion agree to surrender Famagusta on Cyprus to the Turkish invaders.
1571 August 04, Famagusta's governor Macantonia Bragadion is taken captive by the Turks, contrary to the peace treaty already signed.
1571 August 17, Macantonia Bragadion, his ears and nose already cut off, is flayed alive by the Turks as a signal to the people of Cyprus that a new order was upon them.
1571 October 07, Battle of Lepanto (Aynabakhti) Muslim Turks commanded by Ali Pasha are defeated in the Gulf of Corinth by an alliance of European forces (The Holy League) under the command of Don Juan of Austria. This is the biggest naval battle in the world since the Battle of Actium in 31 BCE. The Turks lose at least 200 ships, devastating their naval forces. The morale of European Christians is significantly raised while that of Turks and Muslims is lowered. At least 30,000 soldiers and sailors die in about three hours, more casualties than in any other naval battle in history. The battle does not, however, result in any major territorial or political shifts. The famous Spanish author Cervantes participates in the battle and is wounded in his right hand.
1571 pope Paul IV issues a list of forbidden books ("Index Librorum Prohibitorum")
1571 Superior force of Turks intent upon conquering Christian Europe is beaten decisively by Christian sailors reportedly calling upon the name of Our Lady of the Rosary
1572-1585 Pope Gregory XIII
1572-1606 Bishop's Bible, an inadequate and unsatisfactory revision of the Great Bible checked against the Hebrew text, 1st to be published in England by episcopal authority
1572-85 Gregory XIII
1572 St. Bartholomew's Day massacre; Roman Catholics slaughter French Protestants
1574 December 24, Death of Selim II, sultan of the Ottoman Empire and favorite son of his father, Suleiman I. Selim did nothing to expand the empire, preferring instead to spend his time with his harem.
1578 Battle of al-Aqsr al-Kabir Moroccans defeat the Portuguese, ending the latter's military excursions into Africa
1578 October 01, Don Juan of Austria dies in Belgium.
1580 In Lutheran Scandinavia, sculpted altarpieces are no longer in demand, and sculptors retool their shops to execute architectural ornament and funerary monuments. Wilhelm Boy, a Flemish architect and sculptor, fashions an alabaster effigy of Princess Isabella of Sweden, who died in childhood eighteen years before. The work, which is still housed in Strängnäs Cathedral, depicts the little girl lying down with her hands clasped over her chest and her eyes closed as though she were asleep.<RU>
1582-1610 Matteo Ricci in China
1582 Pope Gregory XIII institutes the Gregorian Calendar
1582 Rheims NT, based on Coverdale, Bishops', Geneva, follows Wycliffe
1585-1590 Pope Sixtus V
1585-90 Sixtus V
1585 The Ottoman Empire signs a peace treaty with Spain. This would hinder the Ottomans from answering the calls for help from Queen Elizabeth I of England. Elizabeth had hoped to get the Ottomans to send several dozen galleys to aid in the defense of England against the Spanish Armada.
1587 Queen Elizabeth I executes Mary, Queen of Scots
1587 The first English child, Virginia Dare, is born in Roanoke, August 18.<AM>
1588 In Europe, the defeat of the Spanish Armada by the English results in Great Britain replacing Spain as the dominant world power and leads to a gradual decline of Spanish influence in the New World and the widening of English imperial interests.<AM>
1588 The English defeat the Spanish Armada
1590-1591 Pope Urban VII
1590-91 Gregory XIV
1590 April 18, Birth of Ahmed I, future sultan of the Ottoman Empire.
1590 Michelangelo's dome in St Peter's Basilica completed
1590 Sistine edition of the Vulgate
1590 Urban VII
1591-1592 Pope Innocent IX
1591 Decline of Songhay afer defeat by Moroccans
1591 Eufame Macalyane burned in Scotland for seeking pain relief during childbirth, violating god's command in Gen. 3:16
1591 First performance of a play by William Shakespeare
1591 Innocent IX
1592-1605 Clement VIII
1592-1605 Pope Clement VIII
1595 January 15, Death of Murad III, sultan of the Ottoman Empire and eldest son of Selim II. Murad didn't care much for political matters, preferring instead to spend time with his harem. He had fathered 103 children. One, Mehmed III, succeeds Murad and has his sixteen brothers strangled to death in order to avoid any fights over who would rule.
1596 Christian IV, who ascended to the throne of Denmark in 1588 at the age of eleven, is formally crowned king. Throughout his reign, which lasts until his death in 1648, he shores up fortresses, establishes new towns, and adorns existing ones, most notably Copenhagen. An enthusiastic patron of the arts, he favors dignified classical themes and styles of ornament.<RU>
1596 Ukranian Catholic Church forms when Ukranian subjects of the king of Poland are reunited with Rome, largest Byzantine Catholic Church
1598 Edict of Nantes gives French Protestants some rights

From Shakuntala, Part II.

..."Fear not," the Prince replied; "I come!" and sprang across the burning bushes, where he saw a snake, a king of serpents, lying curled in a great ring...

Here's another premonition of future struggles: Sakoontala reveals that Anasuya, a pointed blade of Kusa grass has pricked her foot, and her bark-mantle is caught in the branch of a Kuruvaka Bush. She asks the King if he could be so good as to wait for her until she's disentangled the Kuruvaka Bush.