Watersheds and Notable Events
Unit IV - The Enlightenment
The English Civil War and Glorious Revolution - by 1642, conflicts between the English king Charles I and Parliament over issues ranging from taxation to enclosures to just how closely Charles might work with Catholics erupted into civil war. The Parliament forces, eventually led by the Puritan Oliver Cromwell, came to be known as the Roundheads (because of their "bowl" haircuts) while the better armed, better dressed, fancy-horsed forces for the king are often called the Cavaliers. Ultimately, the Parliament forces won, and arrested, tried, and beheaded (January, 1649), Charles. Parliament ran things for a bit, but Cromwell became impatient with them and took over. His rule was characterized by both positives (major advances in education, rights, and religious tolerance (uh, unless you were Catholic)) and some negatives (no fun, horrific repression of the Irish). At his death and after some dithering, Parliament invited Charles' son to be restored to the throne as Charles II. He was succeeded by his brother James, whose Catholic leanings were more apparent. Parliament invited a prince from the Netherlands, William of Orange, to take over and James abdicated; this came to be known as the Glorious Revolution. The following spring, in 1689, Parliament also instituted more formal restrictions on the king in the English Bill of Rights. This document established, once and for all, that Parliament had supremacy over the monarchy.
Unit III - Scientific Revolution and the Age of Exploration
The Discovery of the New World - Although any Europeans thinking about such things would have accepted that the earth was a globe, there were varying calculations about its size (actually, one of the scientists in the Hellenistic Era, Eratosthenes, had it pretty close). Columbus' was a "small glober", and got the Spanish goverment to supply him with three ships to make it to India. On October 12, 1492, he bumped in to something else. This marked the beginning of extensive trans-Atlantic contact, leading to the Columbian Exchange and eventually the taking over/colonizing of the Americas by European powers
Unit II c&d - Renaissance and Reformation
Luther and the 95 Theses - with no intention beyond improving the Catholic Church, Martin Luther posted 95 criticisms of Church practices on the Wittenburg Cathedral on October 31, 1517. These included questioning things like indulgences, and many claims of papal authority that were not supported in the Bible itself. He questioned the exceptional status (in terms of facilitating salvation) of the clergy and urged christians to read the Bible themselves. The church was not pleased. Luther was tried at the Diet of Worms, but refused to recant. With the help of German princes who wanted to get out from under church control and taxation, he escaped his death sentence. Meanwhile, thanks to the invention of the printing press, word spread (imagine if they'd had Twitter!). Although this was not the first signficant challenge to RC authority, it was the first that the church couldn't quash. Shortly thereafter, Calvin got his thing going, and Henry VIII severed England's relationship with the pope (a saga that became even more complicated when one of his heirs, Mary, reinstated that relationship; that was, in turn, reversed by her successor, Elizabeth)
The Spanish Armada - as Spain was basking in the gold flowing in from its new territories and largely controlling the Atlantic, King Philip II (widower of the aforementioned Mary) decided quell rebellion in some of his northern holdings (Flanders) as well as make clear to Elizabeth that he probably should control England. He sent what was expected to be an overwhelming naval force, but a series of mishaps caused them to lose miserably. Elizabeth prompted the English to take this as a sign that God was on their side (that "protestant wind") and that folks should eat goose for Christmas dinner.
The Spanish Armada - as Spain was basking in the gold flowing in from its new territories and largely controlling the Atlantic, King Philip II (widower of the aforementioned Mary) decided quell rebellion in some of his northern holdings (Flanders) as well as make clear to Elizabeth that he probably should control England. He sent what was expected to be an overwhelming naval force, but a series of mishaps caused them to lose miserably. Elizabeth prompted the English to take this as a sign that God was on their side (that "protestant wind") and that folks should eat goose for Christmas dinner.
Unit II a&b - Lead up to the Renaissance
Crusades - a series of wars between 1096 and about 1450, all involving Western Europeans (led by Knights, but including commoners) travelling to the "Holy Land" - what we call the Middle East - in attempts to take control of land from Muslims. Though first 'sold' to the public as a holy war, and indeed the First Crusade did succeed in capturing Jerusalem in 1099, pretty quickly there was very little 'holy' about it. The Crusades DID, however, somewhat unify the feuding feudal kings of Europe against a common enemy, increase the power of the RC church, and increase European awareness of and contact with the rest of the world. It also failed in its original aim (Saladin took Jerusalem back in 1187) and left a legacy of deep mistrust of the West in the Muslim world.
The Plague; The Black Death; Bubonic Plague - refers to the horrific end-of-the-world-seeming events that swept the Eurasian continent in the 1300s. It peeked in Europe from 1348-1350, with the rapid death of at least 1/3 of the population (some estimates are much higher). Nasty, nasty disease. Really gross way to die. Really depressing to have it all around you. Looked like God's judgment, but how come the Church, which we had been counting on to make sure we didn't tick God off....how come the Church couldn't stop this? The plague did, however, shake up political and economic structures, and reduced the hold of the RC Church.
The Plague; The Black Death; Bubonic Plague - refers to the horrific end-of-the-world-seeming events that swept the Eurasian continent in the 1300s. It peeked in Europe from 1348-1350, with the rapid death of at least 1/3 of the population (some estimates are much higher). Nasty, nasty disease. Really gross way to die. Really depressing to have it all around you. Looked like God's judgment, but how come the Church, which we had been counting on to make sure we didn't tick God off....how come the Church couldn't stop this? The plague did, however, shake up political and economic structures, and reduced the hold of the RC Church.