DATES |
EVENTS
|
|---|---|
| 1348–52 | The Black Death; death by bubonic plague of 1/3 to 2/5 of the population of Europe |
|
1348 |
Foundation of the Knights of the Garter, first of the chivalric 'Orders of Knighthood'—play-acting rather than serious warfare, romantic rather than realistic. If knighthood was still in flower, the scent was patchouli. |
|
1338–1453 |
The Hundred Years War (France & England)
|
|
1378–1417 |
The Great Schism: two popes (Rome, Avignon) and then three (Pisa) at the same time. Ended by an Ecumenical Council at Constanz in Switzerland (1417) which deposed the various pretenders and elected a new pope (Martin V). Despite papal claims, it seems that at least once a Church Council was superior to the popes. There is actually another case: Pope Honorius I (625–638) was condemned for heresy by an Ecumenical Council (Constantinople, 681). [See: J. Chapman, The Condemnation of Pope Honorius I (1907).] |
|
1420's |
Henry of Portugal ('Prince Henry the Navigator', 1394–1460): organization of the first expeditions to the Canary Islands, Central Africa, Madeira (1438), Sierra Leone (1450's). |
|
1452 |
Moveable type. The printing press: first wood-block prints by 1423, popularized by Johann Fust, his son-in-law Peter Schöffer, and the former's partner, Johannes Gutenberg, in Mainz ('Gutenberg's Bible': 1452-1456). Presses established at Strassburg (1460), Subiaco (1464), Cologne (1464), Rome (1467), Basel (1467), Venice (1469), Nuremberg (1470), Paris (1470), Utrecht (1470). See: S. H. Steinberg, Five Hundred Years of Printing (Penguin 1955). |
|
1453 |
May 29: The Fall of Constantinople to Mohammed II. End of the Byzantine Empire of Constantine XI. |
| 1485 | England: Wars of the Roses end. Tudor Dynasty: 1485–1603. |
|
1492 |
Spain: The Reconquista and the founding of the Spanish Inquisition, under the direction of Cardinal Ximenes and the Dominican priest Tomas de Torquemada. |
| 1492-1498 | The voyages of Christopher Columbus. Discovery of the 'New World' (though Columbus always thought and wrote that he had discovered the western route to India). |
| ca. 1498 | (Allegedly) first case of syphilis in Europe (a gift to one of Columbus' sailors from the New World). See Girolamo Fracastoro (1478–1553) Syphilis, sive de morbo Gallico (1530). |
| 1517 | Prof. Dr. Martin Luther, an Augustinian brother, teaching in the University of Wittenburg, posted his "95 Theses" on October 31. |
John Paul Adams, CSUN
john.p.adams@csun.edu