Renaissance Timeline
1401: Ghiberti lands commission for Baptistry doors 1402: Giovanni di Bicci elected Prior of Florence for first time Baldassare Cossa made a Cardinal 1404: Donatello begins working for Ghiberti 1406: Filippo Lippi born 1410: Baladassare Cossa elected Pope John XXIII with the financial help of the Medici 1412: Medici family made official Papal bankers 1415: Henry V of England wins famous battle of Agincourt Jan Hus questions the authority of multiple claimants to papacy and is burned at the stake. Baldassare Cossa deposed from papacy, flees to Florence 1416: Piero de'Medici born 1418: Brunelleschi, the Renaissance's premiere engineer, starts work on Church of San Lorenzo 1419: Brunelleschi begins work on Ospedale degli Innocenti Donatello unveils tomb of Baldassare Cossa Baldassare Cossa, the Pope who fled, dies in Florence 1420: Brunelleschi commissioned to erect the dome of Florence Cathedral 1421: Giovanni di Bicci elected Gonfaloniere, head of state in Florence 1424: Goldsmith and artist, Ghiberti's first set of baptistry doors unveiled 1425: Ghiberti starts his second set of baptistry doors 1427: Medici list 31 family branches in city tax return 1429: Giovanni di Bicci dies Led by Albizzi, Florence declares war on Lucca Brunelleschi unveils tomb of Giovanni di Bicci, San Lorenzo 1430: Plague in Florence 1433: Disastrous war with Lucca ends in defeat for Florence. Cosimo de'Medici banished from Florence by the Albizzi family: a public vote banishes him for 10 years 1434: The Albizzi family collapse after making war against Duke of Milan Pope Eugenius IV demands Cosimo return from exile 1436: Brunelleschi's dome complete 1437: Cosimo opens world's first public library at San Marco 1439: Council of Florence: leads to a temporary union of the Orthodox and Catholic Churches 1440: Florentine victory over Milan at Battle of Anghiari. 1445: Botticelli born 1446: Donatello unveils David Brunelleschi dies 1449: Lorenzo de'Medici born 1450: Cosimo's friend, Francesco Sforza, becomes Duke of Milan
Johannes Gutenburg publishes the first printed book - the Bible 1452: Leonardo da Vinci born Ghiberti's Gates of Paradise unveiled Savonarola born 1453: Constantinople falls to invading Ottoman Turks Giuliano de'Medici born 1455: Donatello carves Penitent Mary Magdalene 1459: Gozzoli begins Medici chapel frescoes 1464: Cosimo il Vecchio dies; Piero il Gottoso takes over 1465: Botticelli apprenticed to Filippo Lippi 1466: Lorenzo de'Medici foils plot against his father 1468: Lorenzo de'Medici marries Clarice Orsini 1469: Piero il Gottoso dies; Lorenzo de'Medici takes over Flippo Lippi dies 1470: Leonardo starts working for Andrea del Verrocchio 1472: Verrocchio begins Baptism of Christ 1473: Medici bank beginning to lose money 1475: Giovanni de'Medici born Michelangelo born Botticelli paints Adoration of the Magi Savonarola runs away from home to join a monastery 1478: Pazzi conspiracy - Lorenzo's brother Giuliano murdered in brutal Easter Sunday attack Allies of the Pazzi, including Pope Sixtus IV declare war on Florence after Lorenzo murders Pazzi Giulio de'Medici born Botticelli paints Primavera 1480: Lorenzo strikes deal with King of Naples and returns to Florence as il Magnifico 1481: Leonardo da Vinci leaves Florence to work for the Duke of Milan 1482: Savonarola arrives in Florence, begins preaching against the Medici 1483: Martin Luther born 1485: Botticelli paints Birth of Venus 1487: Lorenzo's wife, Clarice, dies 1488: Michelangelo's talent is noticed by Lorenzo 1489: Giovanni de'Medici made Cardinal 1490: Savonarola preaches inside Florence Cathedral 1491: Savonarola made Prior of San Marco 1492: Christopher Columbus lands in the New World Lorenzo de'Medici dies 1494: Charles VIII invades Italy Florence: Medici expelled , Michelangelo flees, Savonarola seizes control
1497: Savonarola excommunicated; initiates the Bonfire of the Vanities 1498: Machiavelli begins working for Signoria Savonarola executed 1501: Michelangelo returns to Florence to carve David 1503: Medici cousins - Giovanni and Giulio - arrive in Rome David unveiled outside Palazzo Vecchio 1504: Michelangelo and Leonardo design competing frescoes 1505: Luther enters Erfurt monastery 1508: Michelangelo begins Sistine Chapel 1510: Allessandro de'Medici born Botticelli dies 1511: Giorgio Vasari born 1512: Machiavelli exiled Luther made Professor of Theology at Wittenberg University 1513: Giovanni de'Medici elected Pope Leo X Machiavelli writes The Prince 1514: Giulio de'Medici made a cardinal 1515: Leo X unveils a "jubilee sale" of Papal Indulgences 1516: Conspiracy against Leo X 1517: Martin Luther publishes 95 Theses 1519: Leonardo da Vinci dies in France Michelangelo begins work on Medici tombs 1520: Martin Luther excommunicated 1521: Leo X dies Luther resists pressure to recant and is kidnapped by his protector, Frederick the Wise 1523: Giulio de'Medici elected Pope Clement VII 1525: Luther marries 1526: Henry VIII of England asks Pope Clement for a divorce 1527: Sack of Rome Medici expelled from Florence Michelangelo's David broken 1529: The "Protestation" of German followers of Luther is published, coining the term "Protestant" 1530: Siege of Florence ends, Alessandro de'Medici made Duke of Florence 1534: Catherine de'Medici marries Prince Henri of France Clement VII dies Michelangelo begins the Last Judgement The Church of England breaks away from the Papacy Luther publishes a German Bible
1537: Allessandro de'Medici murdered 1540: Vasari's renovation of Palazzo Vecchio begins The Jesuits are officially founded 1541: Last Judgement unveiled 1542: The Roman Inquisition is officially set up 1543: Michelangelo's David restored 1544: Council of Trent begins 1546: Martin Luther dies 1547: Catherine de'Medici crowned Queen of France 1549: Ferdinando de'Medici born 1550: Medici royal family move into Pitti Palace
Vasari publishes the Lives of the Artists
1555: Michelangelo tries to destroy his Pieta
John Calvin transforms Geneva into a protestant theocracy
1558: Elizabeth I is crowned Queen of England 1559: The first Index of Forbidden Books is published 1560: Vasari begins work on the Uffizi 1562: Accademia del Disegno founded in Florence by Vasari
French wars of religion begin
1564: Michelangelo dies
Galileo born