Technology - Efficient clocks common by 1500. By the end of the decade, the compound microscope is invented by Zacharias Janssen of Denmark, which pioneers the study of microorganisms. A traveling German notes the blackness of England's Queen Elizabeth's teeth, which leads to the first recorded connection between tooth decay and sugar. French mathematician Francois Viete, the father of algebra, introduces the use of letters into mathematics. (Gee, someone to blame for algebra!)
1504 - Erasmus, a great Roman Catholic scholar, who remained in the Catholic church even
after Martin Luther was excommunicated, published "A Handbook for the Christian
Soldier." It advocated a return to primitive simple Christianity, leaving aside the
complicated ritual and ceremonials of the church, and interpreting Christian doctrine and
duty by the teachings of the early church fathers and the Bible itself.
1512: Spanish Laws of Burgos forbid enslavement of Indians and advocate Christian
conversion
1513 - Juan Ponce De Leon establishes the 1st colony in what is now the United
States (St. Augustine, Florida).
1516 - Ottoman Turks rule Jerusalem.
1535 - Jerusalem - Suleiman rebuilds the city walls.
1517-1555 - Timeline of the Protestant
Reformation: The church started by Martin Luther in the mid
1500's. One of the great truths that Luther rediscovered in the Bible: that each person may
come to God by himself. He does not need a priest or a saint to intercede for
him, that is
to speak to God for him. Jesus' death on the cross reconciled us to God and made any other
go-between unnecessary. This has become the principle of Protestantism. The key to
understanding the Lutheran faith and practice is to remember that it is halfway between
Roman Catholicism and the more liberal types of Protestantism, such as the
Congregationalist, Baptists, and the Methodists, in architecture, liturgy, form of
services and articles of faith. Luther translates the Latin Bible into German allowing lay people to have access to God's Word.
1519-1521 Cores' conquest of Aztecs in Mexico - PBS Documentary Guns, Germs and Steel- takes an interesting view on how the Conquistadors managed to conquer the Aztecs.
1533-34 - United Methodist Church - United Methodism is
not a direct descendant of the Protestant Reformation but -- as an offshoot of the Church
of England -- is a descendant of the English Reformation, which led to the establishment
of the Church of England by Henry VIII. Henry split from Rome for a number of reasons. One
contributing reason was that the pope delayed and ultimately refused to annul Henry's
illegal marriage to Catherine of Aragon, the aunt of Charles the V, who was putting
considerable pressure on the pope to delay the annulment. Another contributing reason was
the influence of Lutheranism in influential circles of Anglican theology.
1553 - Official census counts the number of Jews as 1500 exceeding the Ottoman quota for
Jews. Jews are forced to pay bribes to remain in the city.
1562 - The religious wars began with overt
hostilities in 1562 and lasted until the Edict of Nantes in 1598. It was warfare that
devastated a generation, although conducted in rather desultory, inconclusive way.
Although religion was certainly the basis for the conflict, it was much more than a
confessional dispute.
1570s - The population of China reaches 60 million.
1580s - Sir Francis Drake completes the first English circumnavigation of the globe.
Cocoa becomes a popular Spanish drink. The first black slaves land in North America when Phillip II of Spain sends them to St. Augustine. Imprisoned by the English, Mary Queen of Scots is found guilty of conspiring to murder England's Queen Elizabeth, and she is beheaded.
1590s - The key trading agency called Dutch East India Company is formed after Lisbon closes the spice market to the English and Dutch.
Non-Catholic Henry IV secures the French throne and lays siege to Paris, starving 13,000 inhabitants of the city. He later becomes Catholic in order to satisfy his country's cry for a Catholic King saying Paris is worth a mass.
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1400's