ISLS - Autumn 2003

 Timeline & Maps of the Era

 Background Resources

The Prince Online

 Organizing Principles

 ISLS Home Page

Machiavelli's Italy - Historical Timeline

Timeframe 1400 - 1450

1450 - 1475

(before/during M.'s birth in 1469)

1475 - 1498

(M.'s youth)

1498 - 1512

(M.'s rise in Florence)

1513 - 1527

(M.'s exile & slow return)

1527 - 1550

(After M.'s death)
Events in Italy
  • Rise of the Medici family in Florence
  • Venice acquires Padua while Florence subdues Pisa
  • Roman Revolt - Pope flees to Florence (1434)
    • Lorenzo de' Medici assumes control of Florence (1469)
    • Sforza's rule Milan
    • Peace of Lodi between Venice and Milan
    • Venice controls Cyprus
    • R. Borgia becomes Pope, appoints C. Borgia a cardinal
    • France invades Italy, takes Florence, deposes Medici's;
    • Pope raises an army to fight; they lose.
    • Savonarola in Florence
    • French take Milan (1499)
    • Naples ceded to Spanish
    • Turks defeat Venice, then Austria, Spain, France unite to despoil Venice; France invades.
    • Savonarola burned at stake; rise of Republic in Florence; famine in Florence.

    G. de' Medici becomes Pope Leo X;

    M. arrested, tortured, exiled, writes The Prince

    France & Venice fight and take Milan from Swiss

    The sack of Rome - the end of the renaissance - by France (1527)

    Charles V of France declared King of Italy; Holy Roman Emperor (1530)

    French ejected over many wars; Spain takes over control of Italy

    The Prince is published; M. reviled, esp. in France.

    Political Events across Europe
    • Pope (re)estab'd in Rome. End of "Great Schism" (1417)
    • Turks expand their territory
    • Turks take Constantinople, then Athens, Herzegovina
    • Peace between England & France, then Scotland
    • Ferdinand & Isabella; Sp. Expands territories in N. Africa
    • Spanish State grows; Sp. Inquisition.
    • Tudors assume control in England
    • Charles VIII takes control of France, invades Italy
    • Pope "divides the New World between Spain & Portugal
    • King of Portugal marries Queen of Sp.
  • Pope starts crusade against Turks
  • Marriages of rulers between England & Austria; Spain & France, France & England.
  • Pope forms holy league with Venice & Spain to eject French from Italy.
  • Slave Trade grows
    • Portugal estab. Colonies in India, Africa, Asia
    • Treaty of Vienna units Austria, Poland, Hungary
    • Germany & Spain fight French & Swiss
    • Growth of Protestants
  • English abjure authority of Pope (Henry VIII)
  • French Reformation (Calvin)
  • Wars grow between Prot. & Catholics
  • Turks continue to attack across eastern Europe
  • Artistic Milestones
    • Donatello's Sculptures for the Medici
    • Florence Cathedral comp.
    • Florence becomes the center of Renaissance & Humanism
    • Music printed
    • Leonardo
    • Dante's Commedia printed
  • Botticelli et. al. Paint frescoes at the Sistine Chapel
  • Verrocchio's sculture
  • Manutius publishes Greek Classics
  • Da Vinci's Last Supper
  • High Italian Renaissance
  • Da Vinci's Mona Lisa
  • Michelangelo's Pieta, David, Sistine Chapel
  • Titian, Raphael, Durer
  • Da Vinci, Raphael, Durer die; Titian, Michelangelo still working
  • Chaucer's works published.
  • Michelangelo's Last Judgement
  • Italian artisans spreading influence across Europe
  •  

    Timeframe

    1400 - 1450

    1450 - 1475

    (before/during M.'s birth in 1469)

    1475 - 1498

    (M.'s youth)

    1498 - 1512

    (M.'s rise in Florence)

    1513 - 1527

    (M.'s exile & slow return)

    1527 - 1550

    (After M.'s death)
    Changing View of the World
    • Universities flourish across Europe.
    • Portuguese sailors sail to the Azores, the west coast of Africa, slave trade starts.
    • Growth of Humanism
    • Gutenberg printing books
    • Portuguese still exploring Africa
    • Genoese sailors expanding trade routes with Turks in Near East
  • Columbus discovers West Indies
  • The world seen as a "globe", with much to discover.
  • Pope "divides the New World" between Spain & Portugal
  • Syphilis epidemic spreads from Naples
  • Cabots (venetian navigators hired by English) seek trade route to Asia, find N. America.
  • Vasco de Gama (Portugal) rounds Cape of Good Hope; sea route South/ East found to India
  • Cabral (Portugal) claims Brazil
  • Vespucci (Sp.) seeks S. America
  • More's Utopia
  • Balboa (Portugal) discovers the Pacific. Port. colonies estab in New Guinea
  • Magellan (for Spain) circumnavigates the globe
  • Spain estab. Colonies in Mexico; Cortes
  • Cartier locates St. Lawrence, Quebec.
  • De Soto explores Florida; Coronado explores Mexico, Texas, Oaklahoma, Mississippi R.,
  • Portuguese land in Japan
  • Science
    • Alchemy & Magic dominate over "science"
    • Faith still more important than "science".
  • Copernicus studying Greek records & ideas of the Solar System
  • Glass making in Venice; ship building in Genoa
  • Da Vinci's ideas move into practical production
  • Copernicus' ideas are published
  • Mathematics developing quickly
  • Ideas for a "steamboat"
  • Copernicus' ideas move across Europe.
  • Thoughts & Questions

    Simony (selling Church offices) is common; the Papacy struggles; the 4 major Italian city/states (Milan, Venice, Rome, & Naples) along with Florence compete and fight constantly.

     

    • How did Humanism effect the growth of a republican ideal in Italy?
    • How did an expanding world of trade influence the politics?
  • Imagine growing up in a world that is constantly expanding, explored by everyone BUT Italy.
  • The Borgia's reign of terror.
  • M. makes many trips to France, Germany, Spain; what might he bring back in terms of ideas for "his" Italy?
  • M. hopes The Prince will be useful to the Medici; gradually returns to visibility through his writing of history.
  • What trends are constant in this 150-year period?
  • Data from: Grun, B. (1946) The Timetables of History. (3rd. Ed. Rev.) Simon & Schuster, NY. Scott Hildreth, Chabot College

     Timeline & Maps of the Era

     Background Resources

    The Prince Online

     Organizing Principles

     ISLS Home Page