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Period: 753 BCE to 1453
Rome
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387 BCE
First Sack of Rome
The story of the first sack of Rome is steeped in myth and legend, but it most likely began when the young city became embroiled in a conflict with a band of Gallic Celts led by the warlord Brennus. On July 18, 387 B.C., the two sides met in battle along the banks of the River Allia. -
44 BCE
Julius Caesar death
Julius Caesar was Assassinated by senators led by Gaius Cassius Longinus, Decimus Junius Brutus Albinus, and Marcus Junius Brutus. Caesar was stabbed 23 times in a location next to the Theatre of Pompey on the Ides of March. -
27 BCE
Roman Empire begins
The Roman Empire began when Augustus Caesar became the first emperor of Rome. Rome controlled over two million square miles stretching from the Rhine River to Egypt and from Britain to Asia Minor. -
117
Rome at the greatest extent
Rome was at its greatest extent in 117 AD encompassing five million-plus square kilometres but the expanse of the Roman Empire wouldn't be enjoyed for much longer. -
293
Rule of Diocletian
During that time each emperor would rule over a quarter-division of the empire. Diocletian ruled the Roman Empire, and even though he became Emperor when the Roman Empire was in decay, he ended the so-called Crisis of the Third Century and returned Rome to its former glory. -
306
Rule of Constantine
Constantine was the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity. He played an influential role in the proclamation of the Edict of Milan, which declared religious tolerance for Christianity in the Roman empire. -
330
Split of the Roman Empire and move to Constantinople
The founder of the Byzantine Empire and its first emperor, Constantine the Great, moved the capital of the Roman Empire to the city of Byzantium in 330 CE, and renamed it Constantinople. Constantine the Great also legalized Christianity, which had previously been persecuted in the Roman Empire. -
337
Legalization of Christianity
During the reign of the Roman Emperor Constantine the Great, Christianity began to transition to the dominant religion of the Roman Empire. -
476
End of Western Empire
In 476 C.E. Romulus, the last of the Roman emperors in the west, was overthrown by the Germanic leader Odoacer, who became the first Barbarian to rule in Rome. The order that the Roman Empire had brought to western Europe for 1000 years was no more. -
Period: 476 to 1453
Middle Ages
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521
Reign of Justinian
As Justin became senile near the end of his reign, Justinian became the de facto ruler. Justinian was appointed consul in 521 and later commander of the army of the east. -
632
Muslims Conquer North Africa
The Muslim conquest of Africa continued the century of rapid Arab Early Muslim conquests following the death of Muhammad in 632 AD and into the Byzantine-controlled territories of Northern Africa. -
732
Battle of Tours
The Battle of Tours marked the victory of the Frankish and Burgundian forces under Charles Martel over the invasion forces of the Umayyad Caliphate led by Abdul Rahman Al Ghafiqi, Governor-General of al-Andalus. -
800
Rule of Charlemagne
Charlemagne, also known as Karl and Charles the Great, was a medieval emperor who ruled much of Western Europe. In 800, Pope Leo III was crowned Charlemagne emperor of the Romans. In this role, he encouraged the Carolingian Renaissance, a cultural and intellectual revival in Europe. -
800
Viking Invasions
They originally settled the Scandinavian lands that are today the countries of Denmark, Sweden, and Norway. The Vikings played a major role in Northern Europe during the Middle Ages, especially during the Viking Age which was from 800 CE to 1066 CE. The word Viking actually means "to raid" in Old Norse. -
862
Missionary of St. Cyril and Methodius
Saints Cyril and Methodius. ... In 862, when Prince Rostislav of Great Moravia asked Constantinople for missionaries, the emperor Michael III and the patriarch Photius named Cyril and Methodius. In 863 they started their work among the Slavs, using Slavonic in the liturgy. -
1054
East-West Schism
The East–West Schism, also called the Great Schism and the Schism of 1054, was the break of communion between what are now the Catholic Church and Eastern Orthodox churches, which had lasted until the 11th century. -
1096
Crusades
The Crusades were a series of religious wars between Christians and Muslims started primarily to secure control of holy sites considered sacred by both groups. In all, eight major Crusade expeditions occurred between 1096 and 1291. -
1215
Magna Carta
By June 1215, England was in a civil war as disaffected barons took up arms against King John. Meeting on a field at Runnymede, the king and barons agreed on to a set of provisions that would become known as the Magna Carta, or Great Charter, of England. -
1236
Mongol Invasion
The Mongol invasion of Europe in the 13th century was the conquest of Europe by the Mongol Empire, by way of the destruction of East Slavic principalities, such as Kiev and Vladimir. -
1296
Architect Brunelleschi designs the dome for the Florence Cathedral
It was begun in 1296 in the Gothic style to a design of Arnolfo di Cambio and was structurally completed by 1436, with the dome designed by Filippo Brunelleschi. -
Period: 1300 to
Renaissance
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1320
Dante writes his epic poem the Divine Comedy.
Inferno is the first part of Italian writer Dante Alighieri's 14th-century epic poem Divine Comedy. It is followed by Purgatorio and Paradiso. The Inferno tells the journey of Dante through Hell, guided by the ancient Roman poet Virgil. -
1337
100-year war
The Hundred Years' War was a series of conflicts waged from 1337 to 1453 by the House of Plantagenet, rulers of the Kingdom of England, against the French House of Valois, over the right to rule the Kingdom of France. Each side drew many allies into the war. -
1347
Plague
The Black Death is the name for a terrible disease that spread throughout Europe from 1347 to 1350. There was no cure for the disease and it was highly contagious. The plague likely started in Asia and travelled westward along the Silk Road. The disease was carried by fleas that lived on rats. The plague lasted in London until the late autumn when the colder weather helped kill off the fleas. Over the centuries Bubonic Plague has broken out in Europe and the Far East. -
1376
The Papacy returned to Rome
The most influential decision in the reign of Pope Gregory XI was the return to Rome, beginning on 13 September 1376 and ending with his arrival on 17 January 1377. -
1415
Jan Hus Dies
Jan Hus, sometimes Anglicized as John Hus or John Huss, was a Czech theologian, philosopher, master, dean, and rector of the Charles -
1439
Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press.
Invented around 1439, Gutenberg's movable type printing press initiated nothing less than a revolution in print technology. His press allowed manuscripts to be mass-produced at relatively affordable costs. The 42-line 'Gutenberg Bible', printed around 1455, was Gutenberg's most well known printed item. -
1440
The invention of the printing press
A printing press is a device for applying pressure to an inked surface resting upon a print medium, thereby transferring the ink. -
1449
Lorenzo de Medici ascends to power in Florence
Lorenzo de' Medici was an Italian statesman, de facto ruler of the Florentine Republic and the most powerful and enthusiastic patron of Renaissance culture in Italy. He is buried in the Medici Chapel in Florence. -
1453
End of Eastern Empire
On May 29, 1453, after an Ottoman army stormed Constantinople, Mehmed triumphantly entered the Hagia Sophia, which would soon be converted to the city's leading mosque. The fall of Constantinople marked the end of a glorious era for the Byzantine Empire. -
1473
The Sistine Chapel
The Sistine Chapel is a chapel in the Apostolic Palace, the official residence of the Pope, in Vatican City. Originally known as the Cappella Magna, the chapel takes its name from Pope Sixtus IV, who restored it between 1477 and 1480. -
Period: 1473 to
Scientific Revolution
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1486
Botticelli completed the painting The Birth of Venus.
A unique mythological painting from the Renaissance in Florence, and the first non-religious nude since classical antiquity, The Birth of Venus (Nascita di Venere) belongs to the group of mythological pictures painted by Sandro Botticelli. -
1509
King Henry VIII
Henry VIII was King of England from 1509 until his death. Henry was the second Tudor monarch, succeeding his father, Henry VII. Henry is best known for his six marriages, in particular, his efforts to have his first marriage, to Catherine of Aragon, annulled.
In my old school, we often had a rhyme to remember the six wives, it went 'Divorced, beheaded, died. Divorced, Beheaded Survived.' -
1511
Erasmus published The Praise of Folly
The Praise of Folly, also translated as The Praise of Folly, is an essay written in Latin in 1509 by Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam and first printed in June 1511. -
1514
Leonardo da Vinci painted the Mona Lisa.
The “Gioconda” or Mona Lisa, probably the most famous portrait in the world, was painted by Leonardo da Vinci between 1503 and 1514 and is on permanent display at the Louvre in Paris. He locked himself in a storeroom overnight and left the museum the next morning with the painting under his coat. -
1517
Martin Luther nails 95 Theses
The Ninety-five Theses or Disputation on the Power of Indulgences is a list of propositions for an academic disputation written in 1517 by Martin Luther, professor of moral theology at the University of Wittenberg, Germany, that started the Reformation, a schism in the Roman Catholic Church which profoundly changed Europe. -
Period: 1517 to
Reformation
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1543
Copernicus’ Heliocentric Theory
Copernican heliocentrism is the name given to the astronomical model developed by Nicolaus Copernicus and published in 1543. It positioned the Sun near the center of the Universe, motionless, with Earth and the other planets orbiting around it in circular paths modified by epicycles and at uniform speeds. -
1545
Start of Counter-Reformation
The Counter-Reformation was a movement within the Roman Catholic Church. Its main aim was to reform and improve it. It started in the 1600s. Its first period is called the Catholic Reformation. -
William Shakespeare builds the Globe theatre.
The Globe Theatre was a theatre in London associated with William Shakespeare. It was built in 1599 by Shakespeare's playing company, the Lord Chamberlain's Men, on land owned by Thomas Brend and inherited by his son, Nicholas Brend and grandson Sir Matthew Brend, and was destroyed by fire on 29 June 1613. -
Elizabeth I became Queen of England.
Elizabeth I was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death on 24 March 1603. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the last of the five monarchs of the House of Tudor. -
Galileo studies planets with his telescope
The View from Galileo's Telescope. Galileo first observed Saturn through his telescope in July, 1610. He had already announced his discovery of the moons of Jupiter, but Saturn, the furthest planet then known and twice as far away as Jupiter, was even more mysterious and difficult to understand. -
30 Years War
The Thirty Years' War was a war fought primarily in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648. One of the most destructive conflicts in human history, it resulted in eight million fatalities not only from military engagements but also from violence, famine, and plague. -
Kepler discovered elliptical orbits
Kepler's Laws of Planetary Motion. While Copernicus rightly observed that the planets revolve around the Sun, it was Kepler who correctly defined their orbits. ... For many years, he struggled to make Brahe's observations of the motions of Mars match up with a circular orbit. -
Bacon published Novum Organum
The Novum Organum, fully Novum Organum Scientiarum, is a philosophical work by Francis Bacon, written in Latin and published in 1620. The title is a reference to Aristotle's work Organon, which was his treatise on logic and syllogism. -
Galileo was warned by the Catholic Church
Galileo was ordered to turn himself in to the Holy Office to begin trial for holding the belief that the Earth revolves around the Sun, which was deemed heretical by the Catholic Church. Standard practice demanded that the accused be imprisoned and secluded during the trial. -
The invention of the microscope
It was Antony Van Leeuwenhoek (1632-1723), a Dutch draper and scientist, and one of the pioneers of microscopy who in the late 17th century became the first man to make and use a real microscope. He made his own simple microscopes, which had a single lens and were hand-held. -
Peace of Westphalia
The Peace of Westphalia was a series of peace treaties signed between May and October 1648 in the Westphalian cities of Osnabrück and Münster, largely ending the European wars of religion.
