Honors World History Timeline

Humanism

1400

Humanism is the study of Greek and Latin classics and the ancient church fathers. Before humanism and the Renaissance, people's lives were not very good and they mainly focused on the after life. Humanism changed this way of thinking and people focused on living their lives happily based on science and logical thinking instead of only focusing on religion.

Perspective

1413

In about 1413 Filippo Brunelleschi demonstrated the geometrical method of perspective. The same method he discovered is used today. When Brunelleschi painted buildings in Florence onto a mirror, he notices at every line of the buildings all went inward to the horizon. This made art much more complex and proportional.

Printing Revolution

1439

Before the printing press was invented, books were a rare, expensive fortune. Everyday people would almost never have access and many were illiterate. In 1439, Johannes Gutenberg invented the first moveable type printing press. This was key to the Renaissance and Reformation. It allowed information to be spread quickly and people could learn for themselves instead of listening to everything the church said.

Leonardo da Vinci

Apr 15, 1452

The perfect example of the renaissance man, excelling in many areas such as invention, painting, sculpting, architecture, science, music, mathematics, engineering, literature, anatomy, geology, astronomy, botany, writing, and history. He is most commonly known for his artwork, such as the Mona Lisa.

Johannes Gutenberg

Feb 3, 1468

Gutenberg was a German blacksmith, goldsmith, printer, and publisher. He is famous for introducing printing to all of Europe, making it easier to spread information and make literacy a possibility for everyday people. He did this by inventing a movable-type printing press.

Pope Paul III

Feb 29, 1468

Pope Paul III became pope following the reformation. It was an era of uncertainty in the catholic church. Pope Paul is famous for conducting the Council of Trent, to eliminate the corruption of the church.

Niccolo Machiavelli

May 3, 1469

Machiavelli was an Italian diplomat, politician, historian, philosopher, humanist, and writer during the Renaissance. He is known as the father of modern political science. He was the senior official of the Florentine Republic and the author of the famous book, The Prince.

Albrecht Durer

1471

Albrecht Durer was a painter, printmaker, and theorist of the German Renaissance. He applied new techniques from the renaissance to his engravings. These engravings often portrayed realistic religious themes.

Nicolaus Copernicus

Feb 19, 1473

Nicolaus Copernicus was a mathematician and astronomer. He is famous for developing a model of the universe that had the earth revolving around the sun. This view was rejected by many because the Church had always believed in the Earth being the center of the universe. However, Tycho Brache had careful observations that supported Copernicus's model.

Michelangelo

Mar 6, 1475

Michelangelo is a very famous artist from the renaissance. He was a painter, sculptor, architect, and poet. His famous works included David, The Sistine Chapel, and Pieta

Thomas More

Feb 7, 1478

Known as a saint by the catholic church, Thomas More was a famous author of the book Utopia. Also, when the king of England broke away from the catholic church Thomas refused to convert and was executed for his faith.

Raphael

Apr 6, 1483

During the renaissance, Raphael was a painter and architect. He had a series of paintings called the "Madonnas". He was heavily influenced by Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo and Masaccio. The pope also appointed Raphael as head architect.

Martin Luther

Nov 10, 1483

Martin Luther was a famous professor who reformed against the Catholic church after the practice of indulgences. He broke away from the church and formed his own based on faith only. He was excommunicated from the Catholic church and declared a heretic.

Thomas Cranmer

Jul 2, 1489

Thomas Cranmer was the archbishop of the Church of England. He annulled the marriages of King Henry VIII. Cranmer was also the author of The Book of Common Prayer. Once Mary Tudor took power, she tried to restore Catholicism and had protestants such as Thomas burned at the stake.

Henry VIII

Jun 28, 1491

Henry VIII was a young, strong, healthy young man when he went into power. He is known for his six wives. After a disagreement with the pope he broke away from the Catholic church. This was called the English Reformation. As he got older, he become obese and had many health problems until his death in 1547.

Sale of Indulgences

1500

The Catholic church believed after death, you would spend time in a purgatory before going up to heaven. Indulgences would take away time spent in purgatory, for a fee. This allowed the church to profit significantly, but sparked revolt in the church. Many believed the sale of these indulgences went against the teachers of the church.

John Calvin

Jul 10, 1509

John Calvin was a french born priest and lawyer. He was strongly influenced by the reformation and broke away from Lutheranism to form his own religion. He believed when you were born you were either a saint or sinner. This belief is known as Calvinism.

Elizabeth I

Sep 7, 1533

Elizabeth was the daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, his second wife, who was executed two-and-a-half years after Elizabeth's birth. When she was 25 she took throne. She united England's religious feuds by compromising. Elizabeth did not allow any king or queen to be the head of church after she was in power.

Heliocentric Theory

1543

Until the 1500s, people believed Earth was the center of the universe. This was also what the Catholic church believed. In 1543 Capernicus proposed a heliocentric model, but it was not accepted because people had always believed otherwise. However, Tycho Brache, Johannes Keepler, and Galileo all used observations and data to prove Capernicus to be correct.

Council of Trent

1545

Corruption in the Catholic Church was a huge problem that was the cause of the reformation. The sale of indulgences drove some people away from the church. Pope Leo called the Council of Trent in 1545. He wanted to end corruption and settle the issues of the church doctrine. Indulgences were banned and the council declared salvation is achieved through faith and good works.

Francis Bacon

1561

Francis Bacon was an Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England. He was influential in the Science revolution and used the Scientific method. Instead of gaining knowledge through the church, he made observations from nature to further his scientific knowledge.

Galileo Galilei

Feb 15, 1564

Galileo was an Italian polymath astronomer, physicist, engineer, philosopher, and mathematician. He is known as the father of the scientific method and the father of science. He studied how things moved and how the world around him worked. He also invented a telescope and discovered the moons of Jupiter.

William Shakespeare

Apr 26, 1564

An English author who wrote many poems, plays, and other works that are still being performed and read today. Over 20 years, he wrote 37 plays. They would be focused around histories, tragedies, comedies and tragicomedies.

Scientific Method

1600

During the scientific revolution, science progressed because of the increasing knowledge of the word around them. Instead of assuming some things to be true, scientists from the renaissance would repeat an experiment several times to prove it to be true. The steps of the method include: state a question or problem, form a hypothesis design and conduct an experiment the test the hypothesis, measure the results of the test, analyze the results to determine if the hypothesis is correct.

Isaac Newton

Dec 25, 1642

Isaac Newton was an English mathematician, astronomer, and physicist. He is known as a key figure for the scientific revolution. He published a book in 1687 where he introduced the foundations of classic mechanics. Newton also built the first practical reflecting telescope.