IMPORTANT EVENTS
BEFORE AND DURING
THE RENAISSANCE
THE BUBONIC PLAGUE
On the eve of the Renaissance, the Bubonic Plague struck Europe. Historians have many theories about where the disease came from and how long it had been around before the outbreak. The plague was likely caused by a bacterium called Yersinia pestis and spread throughout Europe on the backs of rats carrying disease-infested fleas. This horrible sickness was first noted on the continent of Asia. It was then found among the Mongol Golden Horde soldiers when they attacked a Genoese trading post in Crimea in 1347. The disease spread from the Mongol army to the people at the trading post, and visitors likely brought it back to Europe as they traveled by land and ocean trade routes. Over the next years, the plague spread around the world to Central Asia, Turkey, and, eventually, all of Europe. It infected many people from the rich to the poor, the young to the old. It was particularly bad in cities with large populations where it spread very quickly. Once someone caught the disease, they became sick with a fever, vomiting, and, eventually, got large boils on their skin. More than half of the people who caught the plague died within four days. For this reason, the disease came to be called the "Great Mortality," which means the great death. Historians believe that about 25 million died from this terrible sickness.
That is between 30-60% of all people in Europe at the time. People in Medieval Europe were devastated by all of thisdeath, and the plague caused a period of great change. There were fewer people than before, so peasants had more power to make requests as wealthy nobles who owned land desperately needed people to work their farms. The plague also contributed to a decline in the power of the Roman Catholic Church. A new generation of intellectuals and artists rose, bringing with them fresh ideas and a rebirth of old ones.
HENRY VIII & HIS 6 WIVES
When Henry VIII became king, England was ready for a time of peace and prosperity after years of unrest and uncertainty. Unfortunately, Henry's rule was just as troubling as his father's. After his older brother died unexpectedly, Henry was engaged to his brother's widow, Catherine of Aragon. The Bible forbids a man from marrying his brother's widow, so before getting married, Henry had to get special permission from the Pope in Rome. With the head of the Catholic Church's approval, Henry and Catherine married shortly after Henry took the throne in 1509. During the next 15 years of their marriage, they had many children, but only one child, a daughter named Mary, survived. As they were unable to have a son, Henry was convinced that his marriage to Catherine was cursed. He looked for a new wife who could give him a male heir to the English throne. By 1527, Henry had decided to marry a woman named Anne Boleyn. As he was already married to Catherine, Henry need permission from the Pope to end his marriage and take a new wife. In 1533, Henry married Anne Boleyn in secret and had his marriage to Catherine annulled.
When the Pope later declared their marriage invalid, Henry had the English Parliament declare that the king was the head of the Church of England instead of the Pope. This meant that he no longer needed the Pope's permission for his marriage to Anne to be valid. These events sparked a religious revolution and encouraged the Protestant Reformation in England. These events are, perhaps, the most significant part of Henry's reign, as even today, the king or queen remains the head of the Church of England.
What Henry is often remembered for, however, is his many, many wives. Like Catherine, Anne was unable to give Henry a living male heir and only had a daughter named Elizabeth. This made Henry furious, and he decided to have Anne executed as a traitor as he took a new wife, a woman named Jane Seymour. Henry and Jane's marriage took place only 11 days after Anne's death. This new queen, Henry's third wife, finally gave the king the male heir that he so desired when she gave birth to the future King Edward VI. To Henry's dismay, Jane died from childbirth two weeks later. Henry went on to marry three more times. In a political alliance with Germany, he married Anne Cleves. This marriage was short-lived and ended in an annulment after only a few months. His fifth wife, Catherine Howard, followed in the footsteps of Anne Boleyn and was executed for treason less than two years after their marriage. Finally, alone and in ill health, Henry took his sixth and final wife, Catherine Parr in 1543. Their marriage was surprisingly peaceful. Catherine was an ally of the Reformation and used her position to influence the king until he died in 1547.
THE BUBONIC PLAGUE
The Protestant Reformation began as a series of movements by people who were not happy with the Roman Catholic Church. While much of the European population looked to the Church for spiritual instruction and comfort, many people with political power were tired of what they saw as corruption in the Church. Some of these people spoke out to change things. Martin Luther, an Augustinian monk, published his "95 Theses" to criticize the Church's use of indulgences. Indulgences were ways for people to buy forgiveness or penance from the Church. Luther believed that the Church did not have the power to forgive people of their sins. In Switzerland, John Calvin, a French lawyer, also published his ideas about religious reform.
His writings and ideas about Christianity became known as Calvinism. In England, Henry VIII joined the Reformation movement after Pope Clement VII refused to grant him a divorce from his first wife, Catherine of Aragon. As a result, Henry established the Anglican Church and declared that the king had the final say in all matters relating to the Church in England. Not only did the Reformation spark significant changes in politics,
it also marked the first time that the Bible was widely available in languages other than Hebrew, Greek, and Latin. When the Bible was printed in German and English during this time, many people were able to read and study the Bible on their own for the first time. As these new religious ideas spread, Catholics and Protestants began fighting. This conflict lasted for centuries in the form of rebellions, the Counter-Reformation, and inquisitions.
THE AGE OF DISCOVERY
The beginning of the 15th century marked a period of great discovery. European ships took to the sea, and men like Christopher Columbus, Ferdinand Magellan, and Vasco de Gama searched for new trade routes to bring wealth and knowledge back to Europe. Many of the trade routes that had been used before this time were becoming unsafe. The Mongolian Empire was on the verge of collapse, and the Ottoman Turks and Venetians had gained control of the Mediterranean and sea routes to the East. This meant that the growing nations of Western Europe needed to find new avenues for trade. Portugal was one of the first nations on the continent to brave uncharted waters. Under the direction of Prince Henry the Navigator of Portugal, explorers searched for new trade routes along the coast of Africa. They were hoping to regain the access that they had lost to the gold and ivory trade of North Africa.
In 1445, an expedition led explorers all the way to the mouth of the Senegal River, and in 1482, the first Europeans found the Congo River, the second-longest river in Africa. After Henry's death, King John II continued to support these expeditions. Explorers mapped the coasts of Africa and the Indian peninsula. Portugal, though, was not the only nation looking for new routes to India and Asia. Under the patronage of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain, the Italian navigator Christopher Columbus set out to find a northwest passage from Europe to Asia that was less treacherous than the long and dangerous journey around Africa's tip. No one could have foreseen that when Columbus set sail in 1492 with three ships, Niña, Pinta, and Santa Maria, that he would find lands and people that Europeans had never encountered.