Age of Exploration

The **Age of Exploration** is period in history, part of the Olden Times of Earth. It began in 1492, following the Renaissance, and lasted until 1600, the beginning of the Baroque Era.

## Individuals

### Britain

* Henry VII of England, founder of the Tudor dynasty. (1457 – 1509).
* King Henry VIII of England, founder of Anglicanism (1491 – 1547).
* Anne Boleyn, second wife of King Henry VIII. She was the first Queen of England to be executed, and the mother of Queen Elizabeth I. (c. 1501 - 1536)
* William Shakespeare (1564–1616) English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language.
* Elizabeth I of England (1533 – 1603). She was the granddaughter of the aforementioned Henry VII, daughter of Henry VIII and paternal half-sister of Mary I.
* Lady Jane Grey (1537 – 1554), Queen regnant of England and Ireland. Notably deposed by popular revolt .
* Mary Queen of Scots, First female head of the House of Stuart (1542 – 1587).
* Sir Francis Drake (c. 1540–1596) – English explorer. The first English captain to sail around the world.
* Mary I of England. Attempted to counter the Protestant Reformation in her domains. Nicknamed Bloody Mary for her religious persecution (1516 – 1558).
* John Knox (c. 1510 – 1572), Scottish clergyman, founder of the Presbyterian denomination.
* John Donne, English metaphysical poet (1572 – 1631)
* Ben Jonson, English dramatist (c.1572 – 1637)
* Edmund Spenser, English poet (c. 1552 – 1599)

* Sir Francis Bacon, (1561 – 1626), philosopher, statesman, and essayist; catalyst of the scientific revolution.

* Christopher Marlowe (1564 – 1593), English poet and dramatist.

* Thomas More (1478 – 1535), English politician and author .

### France

* Michel Nostradamus (1503 – 1566), French astrologer and doctor, author of Les Propheties, a book of world prophecies .
* Jacques Cartier (1491–1557) – French explorer who sails to Canada.
* King Henry IV of France and Navarre, ended the French Wars of Religion and reunited the kingdom (1553 – 1610).
* Michel de Montaigne, French essayist (1533 – 1592).
* François Rabelais, French author (c. 1493 – 1553).
* John Calvin, theologian, and reformer. Founder of Calvinism (1509 – 1564).

### Germany

* Martin Luther, German religious reformer (1483 – 1546).
* Albrecht Dürer, German artist, (1471 – 1528)
* Hans Holbein the Younger, German artist, (1497 – 1543)
* Johannes Kepler, (1571 - 1630), mathematician, astronomer, and philosopher who played a major role in the scientific revolution.
* Gerardus Mercator (5 March 1512 – 2 December 1594), famous cartographer

### Holland

* Desiderius Erasmus (October 27, 1466/1469, Rotterdam– July 12, 1536 Basel) was a Dutch Renaissance humanist and Catholic Christian theologian.
* Pieter Bruegel the Elder, (c. 1525 – September 9, 1569)
* Jan Brueghel the Elder (1568 – January 13, 1625)

### Italy

* Leonardo da Vinci, famous artist and inventor and scientist (1452 – 1519).
* Michelangelo Buonarroti, Italian painter and sculptor (1475 – 1564).
* Raphael, Italian painter, (1483 – 1520)
* Caravaggio, Italian artist (1571 – 1610).
* Titian, Italian painter, (c. 1485 – 1576)
* Galileo Galilei (1564[10] – 1642) was a Tuscan (Italian) physicist, mathematician, astronomer, and philosopher who played a major role in the scientific revolution.
* Niccolò Machiavelli, Italian author (1469 – 1527)
* Giordano Bruno (1548 – 1600), Italian philosopher and astronomer/astrologer .
* Andrea Palladio (November 30, 1508 – August 19, 1580), architect (Venice)
* Giovanni da Verrazzano (c. 1485–1528) – Italian explorer for France. Explored the northeast coast of America, from about present day South Carolina to Newfoundland.

### Portugal

* Vasco da Gama, Portuguese navigator. The first one to sail around the Cape of Good Hope (c. 1469 – 1524).
* Ferdinand Magellan (1480 – 1521), Portuguese navigator who sailed around the world .

### Spain

* Charles V (1500 – 1558), Holy Roman Emperor and King of Spain. Involved in almost constant conflict with France and the Ottoman Empire while promoting the Spanish colonization of the Americas .
* Ignatius of Loyola (1491 –1556), founder of the Society of Jesus .
* King Philip II of Spain, self-proclaimed leader of Counter-Reformation (1527 – 1598).
* Francisco Pizarro (c. 1475–1541) – Spanish explorer. Conquered the Inca Empire.
* Hernando de Soto (c. 1496–1542) – Spanish explorer. Explored Florida, mainly northwest Florida, and discovered the Mississippi River.
* Vasco Núñez de Balboa (c. 1475–1519) – Spanish explorer. The first European to cross the Isthmus of Panama and view the Pacific ocean from American shores.
* Francisco Vásquez de Coronado (c. 1510–1554) – Spanish explorer. Searched for the Seven Cities of Gold and discovered the Grand Canyon in the process
* Hernán Cortés, Spanish Conquistador (1485 – 1547).
* Juan Ponce de León (c. 1460–1521) – Spanish explorer. He explored Florida while attempting to locate a Fountain of Youth.
* El Greco (1541 – April 7, 1614) was a painter, sculptor, and architect of the Spanish Renaissance
* Miguel de Cervantes, Spanish author (1547 – 1616).

### Other

* Paracelsus (11 November or 17 December 1493 in Einsiedeln, Switzerland – 24 September 1541 in Salzburg, Austria), Renaissance physician, botanist, alchemist, astrologer and general occultist.
* Suleiman the Magnificent, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire. Conqueror and legal reformer (1494 – 1566).
* Montezuma (1466-1520), Aztec emperor at the time of Cortez's invasion
* Cuauhtémoc, the last Tlatoani of the Aztec, led the native resistance against the Conquistadores (1502 – 1525).
* Ivan IV of Russia, first Russian tsar (1533–1584).
* Akbar the Great, third Mughal emperor, who led the Mughal Empire to its zenith (1542 – 1605)
* Miyamoto Musashi, famous warrior in Japan, author of *The Book of Five Rings*, a treaty on strategy and martial combat. (1584 – 1645)
* Tycho Brahe, (1546 – 1601), Danish astronomer.
* Nicolaus Copernicus, (1473 – 1543), Polish astronomer, developed the heliocentric (Sun-centered) theory using scientific methods.

## Timeline

**1492**

**January:** The Emirate of Granada relinquishes sovereignty to Aragon & Castille.

Rodrigo Borgia becomes Pope Alexander VI.

**October 12** Christopher Columbus sails the ocean blue in the *Nina*, *Pinta* and *Santa Maria*.

Spanish Inquisition expels the Jews from Spain.

**1494**

**June 7:** Spain and Portugal divide the New World between themselves.

**1495**

Albrecht Durer opens his engraving workshop--Nuremberg

The last unicorn is hunted down, an incident immortalized on tapestry--Brussels

**1496**

Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) tests a flying machine.

**1497**

**June 24:** John Cabot, sailing from Bristol, England, reaches Newfoundland.

**July 8:** Vasco de Gama sails from Lisbon on a voyage that will round the Cape of Good Hope, reach India and return to Portugal on August 29, 1499.

**1499**

Revelation of the Sikh religion--Nankana Sahib, Pakistan

**June:** Amerigo Vespucci reaches the coast of Brazil, realizes that a New World has been discovered.

**1500**

Extinction of the moa, the giant flightless bird of New Zealand

**August 18:** Cesare Borgia (1475-1507) murders the husband of his sister, Lucrezia Borgia (1480-1519).

**1502**

The trans-Atlantic slave trade begins.

**1503**

Hieronymus Bosch (1450-1516) paints *The Garden of Earthly Delights*--Brabant, Netherlands

**1504**

Michelangelo (1475-1564) unveils *David*.

**1507**

Leonardo completes the *Mona Lisa*.

Smallpox brought to the New World--Hispaniola

**1508**

Raphael (1483-1520) paints the *Stanza della Segnatura* in the Vatican--ruining everything, according to the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood.

Othello, General of Venice, kills his beloved wife Desdemona at the instigation of Iago, his ensign.

**1509**

Henry VIII (1491-1547) becomes king of England.

Henry marries Catherine of Aragon (1485-1536).

**1510**

Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa (1486-1535) writes his *Three Books of Occult Philosophy*--Wurzburg, Germany.

**1512**

Michelangelo completes the Sistine Chapel ceiling.

Nicolas Copernicus proposes that the Earth revolves around the Sun rather than vice versa.

**September 29:** Vasco de Balboa sees the Pacific--Darien, Panama

**1513**

Niccolo Machiavelli (1469-1527) writes *The Prince* for the head of the Medici family--Florence

Titian (1488-1576) opens his workshop on the Grand Canal in Venice.

**April 2:** Ponce de Leon (b. 1460) reaches Florida on his search for the Fountain of Youth.

**1516**

Sir Thomas More discovers Utopia off the coast of Brazil.

Queen Catherine gives birth to Mary, her only child to survive infancy.

## The Reformation

**1517**

**October 31:** Martin Luther (1483-1546) nails his 95 Theses to the door of Castle Church in Saxony.

**1519**

**September 19:** Ferdinand Magellan begins the circumnavigation of the globe--Sevilla, Spain.

**1519**

**February:** The Conquest of the Aztecs by Hernan Cortez begins.

**June 28:** Charles V (1500-58), already King of Spain and Lord of the Netherlands, becomes Holy Roman Emperor.

**1520**

The Aztec Emperor Montezuma is imprisoned by Hernan Cortez.

Chocolate introduced to Europe.

**September 30:** Suleiman the Magnificent becomes Sultan of the Ottoman Empire.

**October:** Magellan reaches the Straits that bear his name.

**1521**

**April 27:** Magellan killed off the coast of the Philippines.

**July:** Ponce de Leon returns to Florida, only to be fatally wounded by a poisoned arrow.

**August 13:** Cuauhtemoc (1495-1525), the last Emperor of the Aztecs, is captured by Cortes.

**1522**

**September 6:** The survivors of Magellan’s expedition return to Spain in 1522, having successfully circled the Earth.

**1525**

The pirate Barbarossa becomes Pasha of Algiers.

**1529**

**October 15:** The Ottomans are defeated by the Austrian Empire at the Siege of Vienna.

**1531**

**February 11:** Henry VIII breaks with the Catholic Church in order to annul his marriage to Catherine and wed Anne Boleyn.

The Spanish first hear word of El Dorado from a shipwrecked sailor.

**1532**

Incan Empire overthrown by Pizarro.

**1533**

**September 11:** Anne Boleyn gives birth to Elizabeth, her only surviving child.

**1534**

**August 15:** Ignatius Loyola forms the Society of Jesus, known as the Jesuits.

**1535**

**July 6:** Execution of Sir Thomas More (b. 1478) for refusing to condone Henry VIII’s marriage to Anne Boleyn.

**1536**

**February 2:** Founding of Buenos Aires.

**May 19:** Henry VIII has his second wife Anne Boleyn beheaded for treason. He marries his third wife, Jane Seymour, eleven days later.

John Calvin expounds the doctrine of Calvinism--Geneva, Switzerland.

Christopher Walker (b. 1516) takes on the identity of The Phantom to avenge his father's death by pirates--the first of a long line of Phantoms. Bangalla.

**1537**

William Tyndale translates the Bible into English.

January 27: Prince Edward of England changes places with pauper Tom Canty; high-jinks ensue--London

**1539**

Knights of Malta send a bejeweled falcon as tribute to King Charles of Spain

**1540**

Vasquez de Coronado sets off in search of the Seven Cities of Cibola.

Dr. Johann Faust (b. 1480), his 24-year pact come due, has his soul taken by Mephistopheles--Wurttemberg

**1541**

Spanish explorers name the Amazon River after a tribe of female warriors they encounter on it.

**May 8:** Conquistador Hernando de Soto reaches the Mississippi River, having marched across southeastern North America from Florida.

**August 23:** Jacques Cartier establishes the colony of Quebec.

Pizarro sets off in search of El Dorado.

**1542**

Ludwig Prinn writes *De Vermis Mysteriis*--"Mysteries of the Worm."

 Sir Francis Drake

1542-1596 Hattori Hanzo

**1543**

Copernicus asserts that the Earth travels around the Sun.

**1544**

The Philippines named for King Philip of Spain.

**1546**

Grace O'Malley, the Pirate Queen (1530-1603), takes to the sea.

**1547**

28 January: Death of Henry VIII, survived by his sixth wife, Catherine Parr.

Ivan the Terrible (1530-1584) becomes the first Tsar of Russia.

**1549**

Witch-hunter Solomon Kane born in Devonshire, England.

**1550**

Hiawatha helps found the Iroquois Confederacy. Minnehaha

Nostradamus (1503-1566) begins to publish his prophecies.

**1553**

**July 19:** Rein of Bloody Mary (b. 1516) as Queen of England begins, and persecution of Protestants ensues.

**1554**

*Popul Vuh* written--Santa Cruz del Quiché, Guatemala.

**1556**

**January 16:** Philip II becomes King of Spain; a Philip will be on the throne until 1665.

**February:** Akbar the Great (1543-1605) becomes Mogul of India--Delhi.

**1557**

**December:** Scottish dissidents sign the First Covenant, the foundation of the Presbyterian Church.

**1558**

Pieter Breugel (1525-69) paints *Landscape With the Fall of Icarus*--Antwerp

**1559**

**January 15:** Queen Elizabeth (1533-1603) is crowned Queen of England--on a date chosen by John Dee (1527-1609), the wizard who serves as her secret agent and adviser.

**1563**

Seventeen thousand die in the Plague of London.

**1565**

**August 28:** Saint Augustine, Florida, is founded by the Spanish Empire.

**1567**

Mary Queen of Scots imprisoned in the Tower of London.

**1572**

**August 23:** Catherine de' Medici orders thousands of French Hugenauts murdered in the St. Bartholemew's Day Massacre--Paris

**September 23:** Tupac Amaru (b. 1545), the last Inca, executed by Spanish.

**November 11:** Tycho Brahe (1546-1601) observes a supernova in Cassiopeia that proves the Heavens are not unchanging--Herrevad Abbey, Sweden.

**1577**

Doménikos Theotokópoulos, known as El Greco (1541-1614), moves to Toledo, Spain, where he paints his greatest works.

**1578**

Sir Francis Drake in the *Golden Hind* captures the Spanish treasure ship *Cacafuego* off the coast of Ecuador.

**1581**

John Dee and Edward Kelly attempt to contact angels.

**1582**

**February 24:** Pope Gregory XIII establishes his calendar.

1584-1656 Myles Standish

**1584**

**August 18:** An expedition sent by Sir Walter Raleigh establishes a colony of the island of Roanoke, in what will later become North Carolina.

Sir Simon de Canterville, who murdered his wife in 1575, becomes a ghost upon his own death--Canterville Chase, near Ascot

The beautiful orphan Emily St. Aubert is held prisoner in the Castle of Udolpho--Apennines, Italy

**1585**

Young Will Shakespeare moves from Stratford to London, seeking a career on the stage.

**1587**

Sir Walter Raleigh (1554-1618) founds a colony at Roanoke; three years later, it is the Lost Colony.

**1588**

Defeat of the Spanish Armada by Sir Francis Drake (and John Dee's hurricane).

Rabbi Judah Loew (1525-1609) moves to Prague, where he creates a Golem to protect the Ghetto from pogroms.

**1589**

The first flush toilet invented--Bath, England

**1592**

William Shakespeare (1564-1616) writes *Richard III*, his first major work.

Caravaggio (1571-1610) comes to Rome, where he begins his career as a professional painter.

**1593**

Christopher Marlowe (b. 1564), playwright and spy, killed in a “tavern brawl.”

**1594**

**February 27:** Henry of Navarre, having converted to Catholicism under the principle that Paris is well worth a mass, becomes Henry IV of France, launching the Bourbon dynasty.

**1595**

Sir Walter Raleigh searches for El Dorado along the Orinoco.

***1597***

Ben Johnson (1572-1637) begins his career as a playwright.