Timeline; Student Paragraphs:

1267-1337 Giotto

1317 Salic Law: Prohibits women from the French throne

The French monarchy is very much like that of the English serving many of the same functions. However, the fact that they practice Salic Law sets them apart. Developed by the Salian Francs, it is a code of law that prohibits women from succeeding to a throne. This practice accounts for the significant different in the two monarchies. While there have been many significant women in the English monarch, the French have only Kings as Salic Law does not allow women to take the throne

1320 The Divine Comedy

1331-1353 The Black Death

The Black Death originated in the Gobi desert in the Mongol Empire in 1320. It started out as being an illness totally specific to rats. Spread by flees the Plague did not effect people tell the flees ran out of rats to feed on. Between the time of 1331-1353 two thirds of the population of China was decimated by the Plague. After the Plague destroyed the Mongol Empire it moved to India then to Mesopotamia. In 1347 the Plague hit Alexandria Egypt, and was carried up the Nile to Cairo. Five hundred thousand people lived there, but after the Plague hit only 300,000 were left. The Plague then went to Africa and was carried on ships to Genoa Italy. The Plague spread through Sicily and from there went to Spain, Marseilles France, and Pisa Italy. Once in France and Italy it was only a matter of time before it spread to all of Europe. From Calais France the Plague crossed the channel to England. In Norwish England the population was cut from 70,000 to 6,628. From England the Plague made it to Norway and then to Greenland where it killed the entire population. The Plague is thought to have killed one third of Europe’s population. The Black Death as it is commonly refereed to is not just one Plague; it is a combination of two. The Bubonic Plague causes people to become sick after about six days. It causes chills, high fever, swelling in the lymph nodes, and purple blood filled blotches. It kills in about three days. The Pneumonic Plague starts to signs in three days after being bitten. It causes it victims to cough up blood and slip into a comma and die. The most rare type of Plague is called the Septocaemic Plague. It causes rash hours after being bitten and kills within a day. The Plague had two major effects on the world at that time and on the world today. Landlords depended on peasant labor before the Plague, after however there were so few workers that the landlords were forced to pay for their services. Also the church lost so many priests that they were forced to ordain people who were not as educated as their prior priests had been. Therefore these priests did not do a good job and people began to lose faith in the church. The gain of pay for the working class and the loss of faith in the church are two main reasons why Europe moved from the Middle Ages into the modern day era.

Gunpowder is believed to have originated in China before 1000 AD. Gunpowder is a mixture of nitrate, usually potassium nitrate, sulfur, and charcoal. The composition of gunpowder can vary with its intended use, but the nitrate, or saltpetre, is the main component of the mixture. The Muslim world played a crucial role in transporting gunpowder from Eastern Asia to Europe. This scientific exchange allowed European scholars to gain knowledge of gunpowder and firearms. Roger Bacon, Albert the Great, and Marcus Graecus were among the first Europeans to experiment with gunpowder early in the fourteenth century. Each of these scientists alluded to the powerful effects gunpowder could have, and soon gunpowder was being used in a new weapon, the cannon. The development of gunpowder and firearms would soon underlie all European warfare. The fourteenth century catapult was replaced by the sixteenth century gun that fired iron shot instead of stone. Warfare changed significantly in a short period of time, and the constant warfare in Europe during this time period facilitated the faster development of warfare technology. Cast iron cannon balls were invented. These were more effective with less gunpowder. Handheld weapons were invented. Gunpowder was made more effective by several means. Corning powder was developed. This left the mixture of gunpowder in granular pieces instead of a fine powder. This provided better ballistic power and storage capabilities. New processes to take out impurities, such as calcium and magnesium, were developed. Records of how to make gunpowder better were kept. One example is the old manuscript called the "Firework Book." Each copy of this book added new information about the production of gunpowder. It begins with an invitation to any ruler who wanted to know how to defined his territory or attack his enemy. This invitation seems to set the stage for warfare during the Renaissance, warfare that was made possible by gunpowder.

1337-1453 Hundred Years War

1347 The Black Death

1370 The Crossbow

1404-1472 Leon Battista Alberti

1407 Bethlehem Hospital, London England

1412-1431 Joan of Arc

1416 Introduction of Drift Nets

1449-1492 Lorenzo De Medici

The Medici family played a major role in the emergence of the Renaissance by dominating the city-state of Florence from the fifteenth century to 1737. During the fourteenth century, Florence flourished with handicraft industries, specializing in textiles. It also became an important banking center, which led to the Medici domination. The Medici were known for their interests in industry and trade, but most famous for their banking skills. Through their influence in banking, the Medici began to direct the destiny of Florence and Italy. From the Medici family sprang three popes and two queens of France. The most famous Medici was Lorenzo de' Medici, nicknamed the magnificent. Lorenzo was, like his family, a patron of the arts. His own artists include Botticelli and Michalangelo. Lorenzo also ruled Florence from 1469 to his death in 1492. During this time, he helped make Tuscan dialect the language of Italy and helped make his city a center of European and Renaissance culture.

1452-1519 Leonardo Da Vinci

A man of many talents and interests, Leonardo da Vinci perhaps embodies the true spirit of the Renaissance. While his great love and most obvious talent appeared to come in the form of art, da Vinci also amazed instructors with his extraordinary skills in mathematics and discovered that he was also quite proficient at the lyre; as an artist da Vinci dabbled in architectural drawings as well as sculpture and painting. His life exemplifies the contrast of interests in the Renaissance: he is the artist of the Last Supper, a wholly religious painting, and also a man that was quite interested in the mathematical pursuits. He was a man who had fully embraced the Renaissance notion of discovering and enjoying all parts of one’s world.

1451-1506 Christopher Columbus

1453 The fall of Constantinople

1455 The Guttenberg Bible

1473-1542 Nicolaus Copernicus

Copernicus sparked the Scientific Revolution with his controversial theory supporting heliocentric planetary motion. His radical theory would defy church doctrine and shake scientific foundations; Therefore, he published his theory in De Revolutinibus Orbitum Coelestium only when he was on his deathbed. His theories and studies contributed to astronomical, mathematical and trigonometric properties. Those who supported his theories were persecuted: Such scholars were put to death (Giordano Bruno) or put on trial (Galileo). He and others started the movement away from Church teachings of religious significance toward empirical verdicts based on scientific observation and calculation.

1478-1535 Thomas More

1483-1546 Martin Luther

Perhaps the most influential figure of Christianity since Saint Peter is the German theologian Martin Luther. Luther’s discontent with the practices of the Catholic Church led him in 1517 to publish his Ninety-Five Theses opposing these practices. Luther suggested that the Catholic Church of the early 1500s had digressed from God’s original intent in trying to make Law of the Gospel. This was essentially the same as attempting to warrant God’s gift of Christ to humanity—an impossibility in Luther’s eyes.

Luther’s publication sent shockwaves throughout the Holy Catholic Church earning him an excommunication in 1521. This did not stop Luther, however. He continued to publish position papers denouncing many practices of the Catholic Church after his excommunication. Luther’s opposition to Church practices and beliefs led to an explosion of the Protestant Reformation. Protestant denominations attract one fourth of all Christians.

Among Luther’s other major accomplishments were the translation of the New and Old Testaments from the original Greek and Hebrew texts, respectively, into the vernacular.

1491-1547 Henry VIII

1492 Discovery of the 'New World'

1492 The expulsion of the Arabs and Jews from Spain

1493-1541 Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim, Paracelsus

1495 The Last Supper of Da Vinci

1501 Michelangelo's David

1503-1566 Nostradamus

1517 The 95 Thesis

1517 Coffee introduced in Europe

1531 Henry VIII declared supreme head of the Church of England

1533-1592 Michel Eyquem de Montaigne

1533-1603 Elizabeth I

1534 Society of Jesus, Jesuits, founded by Igantius Loyola

1545-1563 Council of Trent

1546-1601 Tycho Brahe

Tycho Brahe (1546-1601) was a Danish astronomer who made precise astronomical measurements of the solar system and more than 700 stars. He also detected major errors in astronomical tables using only a globe and a couple of compasses. In 1572, Brahe discovered a supernova or new star beyond the moon in Cassiopeia. This discovery destroyed the Aristotelian idea that no change can occur in the celestial regions. This supernova, which was to become Tycho’s star, was brighter than Venus and could be seen by the naked eye in the middle of the day for about sixteen months. In 1576 Brahe established an astronomical observatory on the island Hven with help from Denmark’s King Frederick II. After the establishment of the observatory, Brahe set about having instruments of his own design built. Upon Brahe’s death, all of his research and data as well as the observatory was given to his student Johannes Kepler.

1553 Potato described and shortly introduced into Europe

1555 Peace of Augsburg

1556 Tobacco introduced to Europe

Until Columbus’s discovery of America, the use of tobacco was limited to the Native Americans. With the finding of the New World , however, tobacco use spread globally. The Indians had felt that the smoking of tobacco had a very medicinal purpose, and would often smoke it in peace pipes. This medicinal use is the primary reason it was introduced to Europe. Once it was imported to Europe sailors from Portugal and Spain took it with them around the globe. Tobacco soon became a major cash crop for the New World. Since it initial spread tobacco has been a major industry. Chewing tobacco, cigars, cigarettes, and snuff are a few of the forms of consumption today Unfortunately it does not have medicinal purposes, but instead is very harmful. Tens of thousands of people die every year from tobacco related diseases

1564-1609 John Calvin

1564-1593 Christopher Marlow

Christopher Marlowe is one of the most famous British playwrights, superseded only by the great Shakespeare himself. Born February 6 in 1564 to a poor shoemaker, Marlowe spent his childhood growing well-educated, a far cry from the scholarship of his father. At 23, Marlowe (nicknamed Kit by his friends) moved to London to begin his career as a dramatist for the Lords Admiral And Strange. His most famous play, Doctor Faustus, is his most notable piece of work, in which Marlowe portrays the Pope as an imbecile and has the character throw sucker punches at the Pope for laughs. Also, Marlowe's novel use of blank verse and genuine tragedies paved the way for Shakespeare, who came only a few short years after Marlowe. Unfortunately, Marlowe was killed the night of May 30, 1593 in a tavern fight with his friend. His death was caused by a squabble over who was to pay the bill. Some go as far as to say Marlowe faked his own death and became William Shakespeare, though most only know him as the man who paved the way for Shakespeare.

1564-1616 William Shakespeare

We know that it was a series of pamphlets and first-hand reports of a strangely fortunate shipwreck in Bermuda which triggered Shakespeare’s invention of the plot of The Tempest. In September of 1610, surviving passengers and crew of the Sea Adventure, the flagship of a nine-ship expedition that had set out from England fifteen months earlier, bound for the fledgling colony of Virginia, returned to England with a transfixing tale of adventure, shipwreck, and seemingly-miraculous survival. Evidence within The Tempest makes it clear that Shakespeare read the published accounts, as well as a privately circulated letter by one William Strachey, whose description of the hurricane that wrecked the Sea Adventure, along with the narrative of the passengers' and crew's survival for many months on Bermuda, set the popular imagination of London into a frenzy. They amazed their fellow colonists in Virginia by sailing into Jamestown one day; ten months after they had been separated from the rest of the fleet and given up for lost at sea. When the most prominent among the survivors returned to London the following September, their tale set the whole city abuzz with excitement, and the furor was used to recruit new colonists and raise funds for further investment in the Virginia plantation. It was at this point that Shakespeare began writing The Tempest. Shakespeare had evidently pondered the complex problem of colonizing the New World even earlier than the return of William Strachey. One of his other undisputed sources for The Tempest is an essay by Montaigne which was published in France in 1580, and has been available in English translation since 1603, entitled "Of Cannibals." The fact that Shakespeare almost certainly read Montaigne's essay in its entirety conjures visions of a titanic intellectual collision as significant and eventually culture-shaping as the more literal historical collisions of Europeans with the populations and the geography of the New World. The Tempest defies any rules of logic or geographical consistency because it takes place essentially in the mind of the poet. The world as we know it never appears in The Tempest. Rather, it is set, as Ariel reminds us at one of the climaxes of the play (III, iii), in an "island where man doth not inhabit." While it is demonstrably true that Shakespeare's mind was flooded at the end of his career with tales of the New World, he exploited these metaphorically, finding in the idea of colonization and its infinite promise of renewal and regeneration; potent paradigms for redemptive internal processes within individual consciences.

1564-1642 Galileo Galilei

Galileo Galilei is considered a pioneer of modern physics and telescopic astronomy. During his teaching career at the University of Padua he formulated the basic law of falling bodies, proving that Aristotelian physics was wrong.

Galileo’s greatest scientific contributions lie in the area of astronomy. He constructed his own telescopes to observe the heavens, which were considered unchanging by the scientists of the time. Because of his observations of the planets and the phases of Venus, Galileo began believing in the Copernican view of a heliocentric world. Galileo then published Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems, which discussed the Ptlolemaic and Copernican beliefs concerning the universe. The Inquisition tried Galileo on the grounds that he had been ordered to never to defend or teach Copernican beliefs. He was sentenced to house arrest; during this time he continued to study motion and math. In 1638 Galileo published Discourses and Mathematical Demonstrations Concerning Two Sciences which began a new type of physics.

Besides Galileo’s obvious scientific influences, he also led the way for other scientists to question the ideas of the Church. Galileo’s teachings show that one must question and inquire to truly discover science.

1571-1630 Johannes Kepler

Johannes Kepler was born in 1571 and died in 1630. His work with the orbits of the planets helped lead to modern physical astronomy. Kepler believed the Copernican idea that the planets revolved around the sun and thought that they were organized by a higher being, so he thought there must be an underlying unity and perfection to their movements. Combining his own research and observations with Tycho Brahe's data on planetary motion, Kepler accurately described the movement of the planets. He was one of the first people to realize that the force from the sun had an affect on the planetary orbits. His laws correctly explain the orbits of the planets. He used careful calculations and mathematics to show that the planets did not move in perfect, circular orbits. His detailed data proved that the planets move in elliptical orbits with the sun at one focus. He also proved that the area covered from the planet to the sun is equal for equal time intervals anywhere on the orbit. This means that when the planet is closer to the sun it moves faster than when it is farther from the sun. He also used his calculations to show the correlation between area covered and time traveled.

Kepler's breakthroughs had a serious affect on many other scientists and thinkers after his time. Newton used the information proven by Kepler to help form his ideas on universal gravitation. Kepler's law of planetary motion allowed a greater understanding of the solar system as a whole. People began seeing the solar system in a more three dimensional manner, instead of the normal flat view. This first understanding of the orbits of the planets permitted almost every other achievement in space exploration to the present day. The basic understanding was the first step toward any other advancements made in the field.

1572 Supernova in the constellation Cassiopeia

1583 First known life insurance

1588 Defeat of the Spanish Armada

1589 Fork used for the first time in the French court

1596-1650 Rene Descartes

Rene's Descartes stands out in history as one of the greatest philosophers and thinkers ever. His personal, philosophical achievements have been the most important source from which we comprehend our modern intellectual character. For this reason, Descartes is known by the title "father of modern philosophy."

Descartes came from a minor aristocratic family, having been born March 31, 1596, in La Haye, a small village near Tours in western France. At the age of 10, Descartes went to study at the famous French college La Fleche. Though he enjoyed studying under the Jesuits there, Descartes soon became dissatisfied with the philosophy taught at the school. This dissatisfaction led Descartes into a more in depth study of various philosophies, some of which he agreed with and expounded upon further in his writings.

After leaving La Fleche, Descartes studied at Poitiers where he achieved a degree in law. A few years later Descartes set out to travel. In 1618 he went to the Netherlands where he joined the army of the Prince of Orange. As a soldier though he never saw any fighting. Instead, Descartes advanced intellectually.

After more traveling, Descartes returned to France, and, in November 1627, gave a speech at the residence of the French Papal. The speech impressed Descartes' audience to such an extent that the Cardinal Pierre de Berulle approached Descartes after the speech and made him promise to dedicate his entire life to philosophical studies "for the benefit of humanity."

Descartes moved to Holland the following year where he structured his life according to the motto "to live well you live unseen." Strive as he might to maintain a quiet image, Rene' Descartes' views and writings attracted much attention. Some of Descartes' most famous works include: Discourse on the Method, Meditations on First Philosophy, Principles of Philosophy, and The Passions of the Soul. Descartes was a true Renaissance man of his time.

1597 First field hospitals

1600 Giordano Bruno burned at the stake

1600 Hamlet

1605 Don Quixote, (Part 1; Part 2 in 1615)

1608 Invention of checks (cash letters) in Holland

1608-1674 John Milton

1609 First newspapers

1617 Pocahontas, Mrs. John Rolf, died of smallpox in England

1624 Dutch settle "New Amsterdam"

1626 Dueling forbidden in France

1629 Colony of Massachusetts founded

1632 Dialogue on the Two Chief World Systems of Galileo

1633 Galileo's trial

1635 Academie Francaise founded by Cardinal Richelieu

1636 Harvard College founded

1638-1715 Louis XIV

1642-1727 Isaac Newton

1653-1669 The Protectorate in England under Oliver Cromwell

1658 First bank notes (Sweden State Bank, 1718 first in England)

1685-17?? Handel

George Frederick Handel, a naturalized English composer and musician, was born in 1685. Although he wrote over forty operas, twenty oratorios, and many other instrumental and choral compositions his most famous work is Messiah, which was written in 1741. Handel’s music was not written with countermelodies, as was Bach’s. Instead, he used a single psychologically powerful theme. As legend has it, when George II first heard Messiah’s last movement, the "Hallelujah Chorus" being sung, he was so moved that he leaped to his feet. Since none in the crowd were bold enough to sit while their king was standing, they stood up also. To this day, it is traditional for the audience to stand while the "Hallelujah Chorus" is performed.

1685-1750 J. S. Bach

J. S. Bach was a German baroque musician who lived from 1685-1750. This composer,

violinist, and organist is also know as the Master of Counterpoint. This was due to his ability to

combine music of many different cultures of the day into a single piece. In addition to creating

such unique pieces, Bach could also easily translate verbal and concrete ideas into music. His

reputation as a musician was widespread, which led to his position as chamber director in Prince

Leopold’s court. Bach’s career peek coincides with the surge to romantic music of that time.

"Toccata in D Minor," only one of 295 of his toccatas, is probably his most famous piece. His

funeral music "God’s Time is Best" is also well-renowned. He died due to surgical

complications.

1687 Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica

1688-1744 Alexander Pope

1694-1778 François Marie Arouet, Voltaire

1716 Paper currency

During the middle ages, Europe began to see a decline in the value of its money. This was instrumental in the destruction of the feudal system that had been so long in place. There were exceptions, such as Scottish financier John Law and his General Bank, which in 1716 in France began to issue paper currency and provide low interest loans. This led to a short lived economic boom. As people started moving to the new colonies in America, they began to print their own currency. The Proclamation of 1763, issued by the British Government, prevented the use of this money as legal tender, and this became one of the many sparks which led to the American Revolution.

1724-1804 Immanuel Kant

1723-1790 Adam Smith

1730-1774 Oliver Goldsmith

1732 Poor Richard's Almanac

1742 Handel's Messiah

1770-1827 Ludwig van Beethoven

Ludwig van Beethoven was a German composer of the classical period who represents the highest level of musical genius, and is quite possibly the greatest composer of his day. His belief that music was not merely entertainment, but moral force, created new levels of musical expression which continued to influence his successors throughout the nineteenth century. Beethoven’s music formed a transition from classical to romantic composition and many of his innovations were used by later composers. For example, his range of pitch and dynamics was greater than ever before, so that the contrasts of mood and tone were more pronounced. Additionally, Beethoven’s works often had climatic, triumphant finales which were an important change from the light, relaxed endings of his predecessors.

1775 James Watt perfects the steam engine

1665-1685 The development of calculus (Newton~1665; Leibniz~1685)

1776 Wealth of Nations

1812-1870 Charles Dickens

1874 Manifesto of the Communist Party, Marx and Engles