History timeline

In the year of Our Lord 1348 the deadly plague broke out in the great city of Florence, most beautiful of Italian cities. Whether through the operation of the heavenly bodies or because of our own iniquities [sins] which the just wrath of God sought to correct, the plague had arisen in the East some years before, causing the death of countless human beings.

In 1434, he won control of Florence’s government. He did not seek political office for himself, but influenced members of the ruling council by giving them loans. For 30 years, he was dictator of Florence. Cosimo de Medici died in 1464.

Around 1440 Johann Gutenberg, a craftsman from Mainz, Germany, devel- oped a printing press that incorporated a number of technologies in a new way. The process made it possible to produce books quickly and cheaply. Using this improved process, Gutenberg printed a complete Bible, the Gutenberg Bible, in about 1455.

Leonardo da Vinci is born in 1452. he dies in 1519

Third, Christian scholars in Constantinople fled to Rome with Greek manu- scripts when the Turks conquered Constantinople in 1453

By 1450 the population of northern Europe, which had declined due to bubonic plague, was beginning to grow again. When the destructive Hundred Years’ War between France and England ended in 1453, many cities grew rapidly. Urban mer- chants became wealthy enough to sponsor artists. This happened first in Flanders, which was rich from long-distance trade and the cloth industry.

Donatello’s statue was created in the late 1460s.

His grandson, Lorenzo de Medici, came to power in 1469.

Michelangelo Buonarroti is born in 1475. He dies in 1564

The women writers who gained fame during the Renaissance usually wrote about personal sub- jects, not politics. Yet, some of them had great influence. Vittoria Colonna (1492–1547) was born of a noble family.

In 1494, a French king claimed the throne of Naples in southern Italy and launched an invasion through northern Italy. As the war dragged on, many Italian artists and writers left for a safer life in Northern Europe. They brought with them the styles and techniques of the Italian Renaissance.

In 1509, she married the Marquis of Pescara. He spent most of his life away from home on military campaigns.

The Prince (1513) by Niccolò Machiavelli (MAK

Baldassare Castiglione wrote the book the courtier in 1528.

The Flemish painter Pieter Bruegel’s paintings provide information about peasant life in the 1500s.

The Renaissance spread to England in the mid-1500s. The period was known as the Elizabethan Age, after Queen Elizabeth I. Elizabeth reigned from 1558 to 1603. She was well educated and spoke French, Italian, Latin, and Greek. She also wrote poetry and music. As queen she did much to support the development of English art and literature.

Shakespeare was born in 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon, a small town about 90 miles northwest of London. By 1592 he was living in London and writing poems and plays, and soon he would be performing at the Globe Theater.