-
Giotto completes his work on the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua. It is one of the most important masterpieces of Western art.
-
Dante writes his epic poem the Divine Comedy. It is long narrative poem.
-
A timeline of the Renaissance and the impact on Europe.
-
Many historians cite this date as the beginning of the Renaissance.
-
The first great humanist, Petrarch, is named the poet laureate of Rome.
-
The Black Death sweeps through Europe. Between 25% and 50%
of the population fall victim to the plague. -
Halley is the only known short-period comet that is regularly visible to the naked eye from Earth, and the only naked-eye comet that might appear twice in a human lifetime.
-
He was an Italian banker and politician, the first member of the Medici family that ruled Florence during much of the Italian Renaissance.
-
Giovanni de Medici, the papal banker, headquarters his business in Florence and becomes involved in Florentine public life and patronage of the arts, laying the groundwork for the rise of his son Cosimo de Medici to power.
-
Architect Brunelleschi designs the dome for the Florence Cathedral. It was constructed with the aid of machines that Brunelleschi invented expressly for the project.
-
Jean Fouquet was a French painter and miniaturist. A master of panel painting and manuscript illumination, and the apparent inventor of the portrait miniature
-
The Papacy, having been located in Avignon since 1305, returns to Rome, bringing with it the prestige and wealth necessary to rebuild the city.
-
Fosari assumes the position of doge and attempts to usurp great political power, to the distaste of the Great Council, Venice's oligarchic ruling body, which asserts its power over the doge and torments him until his resignation.
-
Masaccio painted for Santa Maria del Carmine, the Carmelite church in Pisa his best-documented work. It is an early work, although the painter died at the age of twenty-seven, one year after the altarpiece was finished.
-
Hubert Van Eyck died on or before 18 September 1426, still in his thirties, and was buried in Saint Bavo's Cathedral, next to his sister Margareta
-
The Siege of Orléans (1428–1429) marked a turning point in the Hundred Years' War between France and England. This was Joan of Arc's first major[5] military victory and the first major French success to follow the crushing defeat at Agincourt in 1415.
-
On the morning of May 30, Joan of Arc was taken to the marketplace in Rouen and burned at the stake, before an estimated crowd of 10,000 people. She was 19 nineteen years old.
-
The Medici Family becomes the head of the city-state Florence. The Medici Family ruled Florence for the next 200 years until 1737.
-
Jan Van Eyck paints The Arnolfini Portrait. It forms a full-length double portrait, believed to depict the Italian merchant Giovanni di Nicolao Arnolfini and his wife, presumably in their home in the Flemish city of Bruges.
-
in 1450 Johannes Gutenberg invented the Printing Press. As a result of the printing press, books were published more quickly and less expensively.
-
The gates of paradise are a pair of gilded bronze doors designed by the sculptor Lorenzo Ghiberti for the north entrance of the Baptistery of San Giovanni in Florence, installed at the east entrance.
-
. In 1453, Mehmet II the Conqueror led the Ottoman Empire in capturing Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantium Empire. He turned Constantinople into the capital of the Ottoman Empire and renamed it Istanbul.
-
The Wars of the Roses were a series of English civil wars for control of the throne of England fought between supporters of two rival cadet branches of the royal House of Plantagenet: and the House of York. Eventually, the wars eliminated the male lines of both families. The conflict lasted between 1455 and 1487,
-
In 1456 Johannes Gutenberg printed a complete edition of the bible using the movable type of the printing press.
-
Desiderius Erasmus was born on October 27, 1469 in Rotterdam, Holland. Erasmus was a Dutch Humanist and the greatest scholar of the North Renaissance and the most famous
Christian Humanist -
Cesare Borgia was born in Rome. There is controversy about his date of birth and his father. He is believed to be the illegitimate son of Cardinal Roderic Llancol i de Borja and his mistress, Vannozza dei Cattanei.
-
In 1488, Michelangelo was apprenticed to the painter Domenico Ghirlandaio. He then lived in the household of Lorenzo de' Medici, the leading patron of the arts in Florence.
-
Columbus set sail from Spain in three ships: the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria. On August 3, 1492, Italian explorer Christopher Columbus started his voyage across the Atlantic Ocean.
-
Italian explorer Christopher Columbus "discovers" the New World. He did not really discover it since already millions of people lived there but his journey marked the beginning of many explorations and colonizing North and South America.
-
The Medici family is kicked out of Florence by Girolamo Savanarola
-
Leonardo da Vinci paints the Last Supper. It is one of the Western worlds most recognizable paintings.
-
David became Michelangelo's most famous work of art. It is thirteen feet tall and was the largest statue made since Ancient Rome. It is considered by many experts in art to be a near perfect sculpture.
-
This is Leonardo's most appreciated painting. It is the portrait of Mona Lisa, wife of the Marquese del Giocondo, and da Vinci made it as a request of Giuliani de Medici. Leonardo used a technique invented by himself called "sfumato". It is subtle gradation of tone which was used to obscure sharp edges and create a synergy between lights and shadows in a painting.
-
Julius II asked Michelangelo to decorated the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. He persuaded the Pope to adopt Michelangelo's plan instead of Julius's plan, because Julius wanted paintings just of the twelve Apostles, and Michelangelo painted scenes of the Old Testament.
-
When Henry was seventeen years old his father Henry VII died. Henry decided to marry his brother's former wife, Catherine of Aragon the Princess of Spain. They were quickly married and then were crowned king and queen of England.
-
The School of Athens is a fresco painted by Raphael between 1510 and 1511. It was painted on the wall of the library in the palace at the Vatican. The painting shows many of the philosophers of Ancient Greece including Plato, Socrates, Aristotle, Pythagoras, and Euclid.
-
Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel ceiling first opens to public. On November 1, All Saint's Day, Pope Julius II celebrated a mass in the Sistine Chapel in Vatican City.
-
Niccolo Machiavelli wrote The Prince. This book analyzed the politics of Renaissance Italy. It said that rulers should use force and deceit to hold power. This idea influenced the thought and actions of later political leaders.
-
Martin Luther challenged the traditional practice of the church and Pope Leo X. Luther believed that a persons wealth should not impact their status in their after
-
In September of 1519 Magellan set sail in his attempt to find another route to Eastern Asia. There were over 270 men and five ships under his command. The ships were named the Trinidad, the Santiago, the Victoria, the Concepcion, and the San Antonio.
-
Martin Luther laid the foundation for a new Protestant religion called Lutheranism. Catholicism stressed faith and good works in getting salvation and using the church teaching as a spiritual guide. Lutheranism stressed salvation by faith alone.
-
On April 6, 1520 Raphael's 37th birthday, he died suddenly and unexpectedly of mysterious causes in Rome, Italy.
-
Zwingli wanted to set up a theocracy, or church run state, in the Swiss City of Zurich.He did so by 1527.
-
Rome is sacked by the troops of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V. The Sack of Rome on May 6 1527 was a military event carried out in Rome by the troops of Charles V.
-
Henry VIII separates the Church of England from the Catholic Church of Rome so that he can divorce Catherine of Aragon and marry Anne Boleyn.
-
Henry VIII died on 28 January 1547 when he was 55 years old - a death many believe was hastened by his obesity.
-
Elizabeth I becomes queen of England in 1559 at age 25. She continued ruling England for 44 years.
-
Wealthy merchant Sir Thomas Gresham establishes The Royal Exchange as London’s first center for trading stocks. It is modelled on the Bourse in Antwerp. It is the world’s oldest financial exchange.
-
Flemish painter who was the greatest exponent of Baroque painting's dynamism, vitality, and sensuous exuberance.
-
Off the coast of Gravelines, France, Spain’s so called Invincible Armada is defeated by an English naval force under the command of Lord Charles Howard and Sir Francis Drake.
-
From 1594-1608 Shakespeare worked for the London Theater World. The Globe Theatre became the place to be in London. It could house up to 3,000 spectators and had a uniquely designed stage with a painted ceiling, columns, and stage wall. They had specially trained musicians who made special effects noises during the plays. They even had a cannon that fired blanks.
