Renaissance, Reformation, Age of Discovery

  • Nov 19, 1400

    Paper was invented by the Chinese

    Paper was invented by the Chinese
    Paper was invented in ancient China during the Han dynasty (206 BC – 220 AD) and spread slowly to the west via the Silk Road. Papermaking and manufacturing in Europe was started by Muslims living on the Iberian Peninsula, (today's Portugal and Spain) and Sicily in the 10th century, and slowly spread to Italy and Southern France reaching Germany by 1400
  • Nov 20, 1400

    Jesus began the Christian religion

    Jesus began the Christian religion
    Jesus was a Jew. He observed the Jewish faith and was well acquainted with the Jewish Law. In His early thirties, Jesus traveled from village to village, teaching in the synagogues and healing those who were suffering. Jesus' teaching was revolutionary. He challenged the established religious authorities to repent from their self-righteousness and hypocrisy and realize that the Kingdom of God is rooted in service and love
  • Jul 6, 1415

    Jan Huss was burned at the stake for being a heretic

    Jan Huss was burned at the stake for being a heretic
    Hus was a key predecessor to the Protestant movement of the sixteenth century, and his teachings had a strong influence on the states of Western Europe, most immediately in the approval of a reformist Bohemian religious denomination, and, more than a century later, on Martin Luther himself.
  • Nov 20, 1439

    Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press

    Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press
    Around 1439, Gutenberg was involved in a financial misadventure making polished metal mirrors (which were believed to capture holy light from religious relics) for sale to pilgrims to Aachen: in 1439 the city was planning to exhibit its collection of relics from Emperor Charlemagne but the event was delayed by one year due to a severe flood and the capital already spent could not be repaid
  • Nov 19, 1492

    Christopher Columbus was sponsored by Queen Isabella to sail westward to reach Asia

    Christopher Columbus was sponsored by Queen Isabella to sail westward to reach Asia
    Columbus was an Italian navigator sailing for the Spanish Crown. He sought a westward route to Asia, which led to the discovery of a New World. Believing they had arrived in Asia or the Indies, they coined the misnomer "West Indies" for the Antilles, where they arrived.
  • Nov 17, 1496

    Leonardo Da Vinci painted the Last Supper

    Leonardo Da Vinci painted the Last Supper
    1495-1498.
    Leonardo chose to capture the moment in which Jesus announces to the apostles that he knows one of them will betray him.
  • Sep 19, 1498

    Michelangelo sculpted the Pieta

    Michelangelo sculpted the Pieta
    Michelangelo did not want his version of the Pietà to represent death, but rather to show the ¨religious vision of abandonment and a serene face of the Son¨,thus the representation of the communion between man and God by the sanctification through Christ.
  • Oct 31, 1517

    Martin Luther nailed 95 Theses to a church door

    Martin Luther nailed 95 Theses to a church door
    Acting on this belief, he wrote the “Disputation on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences'
  • Jan 1, 1521

    Hernando Cortes the Navigator and his forces overthrew the Aztec Empire

    Hernando Cortes the Navigator and his forces overthrew the Aztec Empire
    The first Spanish account of the conquest was by lead conqueror Hernán Cortés, who wrote a series of letters to the Spanish monarch Charles V, giving a contemporary account of the conquest from his point of view, but also justifying his actions
  • Sep 6, 1522

    Ferdinand Magellons' crew was the first to circumnavigate the globe

    Ferdinand Magellons' crew was the first to circumnavigate the globe
    They were the first known Europeans to see the great ocean, which Magellan named Mar Pacifico, the Pacific Ocean, for its apparent peacefulness, a stark contrast to the dangerous waters of the strait from which he had just emerged.
  • Nov 19, 1522

    Slaves were shipped along the Middle Passage of Triangular Trade

    Slaves were shipped along the Middle Passage of Triangular Trade
    The Middle Passage was the stage of the triangular trade in which millions of enslaved people from Africa were shipped to the New World for sale . Ships departed Europe for African markets with manufactured goods, which were traded for purchased or kidnapped Africans
  • Jan 19, 1533

    Henry the VIII broke from the church in Rome and divorced his wife

    Henry the VIII broke from the church in Rome and divorced his wife
    Henry petitioned Pope Clement VII but was rebuffed due to pressure from Catherine’s nephew, the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V,Henry ultimately decided that he didn’t need the pope’s permission to rule on issues affecting the Church of England.
  • Jun 9, 1534

    Jacques Cartier explored the St. Lawrence River to Montreal for France

    Jacques Cartier explored the St. Lawrence River to Montreal for France
    The king had previously invited (although not formally commissioned) the Florentine explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano to explore the eastern coast of North America on behalf of France in 1524
  • Nov 19, 1536

    John Calvin developed the idea of predestination

    John Calvin developed the idea of predestination
    Predestination, in Christianity, the doctrine that God has eternally chosen those whom he intends to save. In modern usage, predestination is distinct from both determinism and fatalism and is subject to the free decision of the human moral will; but the doctrine also teaches that salvation is due entirely to the eternal decree of God
  • Sep 27, 1540

    The Jesuits were created during the Catholic renaissance

    The Jesuits were created during the Catholic renaissance
    The Society of Jesus is a male religious congregation of the Catholic Church. The members are called Jesuits. The society is engaged in evangelization and apostolic ministry in 112 nations on six continents. Jesuits work in education (founding schools, colleges, universities and seminaries), intellectual research, and cultural pursuits
  • Nov 19, 1546

    Followers of Catholicism met at the Council of Trent

    Followers of Catholicism met at the Council of Trent
    Council of Trent, 19th ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic church, highly important for its sweeping decrees on self-reform and for its dogmatic definitions that clarified virtually every doctrine contested by the Protestants
  • Nov 19, 1558

    Elizabeth I became the head of the Anglican Church

    Elizabeth I became the head of the Anglican Church
    Although Elizabeth had adhered to the Catholic faith during her sister's reign, she had been raised a Protestant, and was committed to that faith. Elizabeth's religious views were remarkably tolerant for the age in which she lived
  • Sir Francis Drake defeated the Spanish Armada

    Sir Francis Drake defeated the Spanish Armada
    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
  • Henry IV issued the Edict of Nantes

    Henry IV issued the Edict of Nantes
    the edict put a temporary end to the ferocious religious wars between Roman Catholics and Protestants which had torn France apart since the 1560s
  • Cardinal Richelieu got France involved in the Thirty Years' War

    Cardinal Richelieu got France involved in the Thirty Years' War
    The war began when the Holy Roman Empire tried to impose religious uniformity on its domains. The northern Protestant states, angered by the violation of their rights, banded together to form the League of Evangelical Union. The Empire soon crushed this perceived rebellion